Fate Revoked

by AvidSeason

The Beginning

Things could be better for me. So, so much fuckin' better. Currently, I'm...I'm just waiting for my death really. I can't even do anything about it either, since if I do, Fate will change even more so than it already will, but that doesn't mean I can't relish in the briefness of my existence. So here I am, at the "Leaking Keg". It's the most-out-of town joint I could find that actually had some form of alcohol in this damned country. The only thing that they sell here though, is hard cider, so I don't really get that much of a buzz from it.

The reason I'm even here in the first place was because I had just received some news from one of my Canterlot informants. What was basically passed on to me was that, Twilight was coming back from a lecture. Now normally it wouldn't have been that big of news in the grand scheme of things, but this lecture was special, in that she had made it. If my knowledge of mlp history or ,more accurately, Equestrian future events were correct than that means that this is the day where she meets up with Starlight for the second time. Since my network is usually only made up of two-to-three ponies per town at a given time, that could mean her train is on its way here currently, or that she could already be here in Ponyville on the way to her castle. This, could then eventually lead her to find Starlight in her crystal palace with her hooves upon the magical friendship map. I don't really care all that much though. I would try and stop it or avoid it, but I don't think I can. Fortunately, it hasn't even happened yet, so I can still enjoy the alcohol that I had bought.

I am still thankful for all these moments that I can have before the time travel spell erases my current existence, you know. However, ponies are staring at me as if I'm some sort of oddity. Which is sort of right, I guess. I mean, a human isn't really one of the most normal creatures in Eques is it? However, at this moment, I don't give a shit about what they think of me. I just want to drown my inhibitions before I get revised in this wondrous fate I've found myself in. I mean sure, the country of Equestria is a great place to be in. You get to explore countless lands, experience the great differences between many species' cultures, discover the glory of magic, heck, you can even find out how the hell this place works with the supposed geocentric system that they got here. However, that is only when you have a say in the first place though.

I've lived most of my time here as a sort of apprentice/helper to Zecora as well as a practitioner of spiritualism and thaumaturgy. Yeah...those are actual things here. It's just really hard to do when you have absolutely no natural reservoir of magic like all of the other creatures here do. Mostly I just borrow anything else's magical springs to do the spells, incantations, and all that crap. Now, I'm a Brony at heart, so I've tried to explore some of the place around here by way of Zecora's guilt money, as well as my own, but I can't really do that though since every time I come onto a train, or another form of transportation, everyone would see me. It gets really annoying after a while when the elderly start asking, "Where are your horns, young bull? You look to be at that age already. Did you cut them off?" Yeah. Seriously getting tired of everything mistaking me for a minotaur. I don't even have fucking fur on me!

It's not like I can't explain to them what I am, but I just don't really want the full frontal assault of all the paparazzi, scientists of the world, as well as, the mane 6 on my back about this issue on my moral standings. I have to avoid them enough as it is. Now you all might be like, "What?!?! A brony who doesn't want to hang out with them? He must be such an asshole, as well as a moron! Who wouldn't want to spend their day with cute ponies? Hadoy!!". Now that, my friends, isn't really true. I'm no moron or asshole. I do want to hang out with them. Not all the time, but it would be great to actually know someone personally besides Zecora. The only reason I even am personally known by Zecora was that she was the first pony/being I had seen. I do want to be in a part of their adventures as much as the next guy. It's just that I really don't want to mess up the natural causation of the world. Think about it for like a few seconds right. Guy/Gal pops up in Equestria to have some pony fun. Talks to all of the main 6. Gets Twilight on their side to either A) figure out a way for them to get home, which may disrupt Twilight's studies into Friendship and other forms of magic which would then causes nasty/stupid/sometimes awesome villians to conquer Equestria/Eques, B) stay with them, hang out, disrupt Twilight's alicornization in your constant involvement, disrupt her natural path to 'Godhood', Celestia then becomes angry because her laid out plan to actually have someone else do the paperwork is foiled, and now you're stuck in all of the horrendous escapades and might just end up killing yourself or, finally, C) even if human does find a way out of all this without messing up timelines, would going back home really be a good option? If the Equestrians found a way to find Earth, any number of things could happen, including the annihilation of this world, Earth, or even just other sapient beings. Not really a fun picture now, is it?

These are the main reasons I decided to try and avoid the main 6 entirely. I have no doubts that you may think that those reasons are entirely pieces of shit, but I have no vanity. I know I can't take on anybody at the power levels of somebody like that of a regular unicorn with the Alicorn Amulet. I can probably take on the average unicorn, but it's not really all that good since I have to use someone else's magic to do it. Anyway I probably shouldn't be reminiscing on my whole history and regrets while I'm here at such a shoddy place. I need to keep my wits about me after all, even if they aren't all that much.

Sighing, I grab the side of my hole-filled jeans and take out my scratched-up phone. It's been with me through a lot of moments when I need my peace and quiet, but it looks like it's about to run out of battery. Thankfully, I've become a better alchemist, which means that making and diluting lightning in a bottle is simple enough. It has also made it easier to get a charge out in the Everfree too, with all of its 'wild' weather. Right now though, it's only good enough to be a paperweight since I don't have that on me. With a huff, I shove it back in my pocket and reach around to feel Tim.

My handmade rifle was a thing of beauty. At least, in my eyes. It had taken me nearly 2 whole months to make the firing mechanism alone. It was probably my best achievement to date ever since I tried dabbling in metallurgy. It was one of my first projects in that field. The whole gun itself wasn't really all that hard to do, but just knowing the chemical reactions doesn't made it easier. The only hard part was that you still have to find something hot enough to actually melt the metal so as to mold it. Thankfully, that was solved when I found that dragon's cave. It had a lake of lava running n the deeper parts of it. That was probably why it chose that location to begin with. I haven't even told any other being about Tim since, technological boons be damned, guns should not really belong to ponies. Something about tiny ponies shooting each other's brains out just doesn't seem all that appealing to me.

Anyways, no bandits had stolen it yet, so they probably just thought it was a weirdly shaped metal club. Means I won't have to resort to violence. I'm sort of happy for that. I was never much a fan of killing things, but it was made easier ever since I got here. It gets tiring enough when I have to show the monsters how tough I can be when pushed to the limit. How Zecora can get through that place without nary a scratch, I'll never know.

Damn it. Why don't they have anything better? I don't want to think. I want to kill my brain cells. Sighing, I put down the cider and get out of the stool. Standing, I look around at the drabness of the bar. Many ponies are just sobbing their hearts out on the tables, or passed out at various places. There was even a pony drunk on the chandelier. The barkeep, with her hooves washing her glasses, and her wings dusting the place, stared at me as I got up. I threw her some bits I've gotten from Zecora for the 'helpful work' I've been doing. Honestly, that mare. I should've refused them and told her that her tutelage was payment enough, but God knows that you can't really do that much in a world like this without the bits or skills necessary to survive.

Grumbling, I shuffle away from the barstool and pass by the old tables and chairs. I move a sleeping pony off the floor and onto a chair before I walk towards the entrance. Opening the swinging doors, I can see the brightness, that is the mid-morning sun. I push through my temporary blindness, before coming to see what was around. The Everfree Edge was near twenty feet away to my right. To my left, branching pathways lead to several cities. Judging by the signpost there, the paths led to at least 4 before branching off. Behind the bar, stood the town of Ponyville in all its country-like glory.

I will definitely miss this town when I'm gone. The rolling hills, the birdsong, heck, even the night sky is better than where I used to live. Even if dulled by lights, it still leaves its mark on me. Glumly walking along, I push through towards the town center which takes me through the town marketplace. Thankfully, ponies have seen me here before, usually working on Zecora's shopping list, so they've gotten used to me over the frequency of the visits. Unfortunately ,with all of those visits, I had met Pinkie Pie. Now no offense to her, but she's kind of the last thing I need when keeping a relatively low profile. Thus, I had a Pinkie Party despite my wishes, but thankfully she had respected my opinion to make it a very tiny one. I avoided Twilight's Library and Castle at any cost while I was here. If she were to ever find out about me, well you kind of already know my paranoia, so I'll leave it at that. I went over to Fluttershy's from time to time, but besides that, I avoided everyon---ahem, sorry everypony else in the mane 6. Gotta remember the terminology when referring ponies.

Anyway, I succeeded in not making a mockery of the timeline. I can at least get some sense of accomplishment. I head towards the town park and decide to watch the foals play for a while. Some of the parents are staring at me, which is understandable. I look strange, I smell like crap, and I carry strange equipment on my body. Might as well scream kidnapper or child molester with all I have going on here. However, I just sit there. Not really caring one bit. It's not like I haven't gotten strange looks before. Heh. From here I have a perfect view of everyone's demise. It's ironic isn't it. Usually when one knows they're about to die, they rage against the unfairness of it all. I've known it for a while however. If it wasn't by dissection, wild animals, or villains it was probably going to be by this if I didn't screw with the timeline. That's what I get for being watching that one finale instead of skipping it I guess.

Getting an idea, I begin to mutter incantations under my breath while pulling a potion from my belt, I gulp it down, not quite ready for the horrible taste. Then the effects kick in. I can SEE. Everything magical now has a field around it which permeates through. Sure, you can already see the magic color of the being using it, but that's only for unicorns. Theirs is a more directed and manipulative version, so there's more build up around their horns when they use more complex spells, like producing light. My potion is different as it sees the interactions of magic, objects, and every creatures magical wells. If there's a pegasus shaping some cloud, there's its faithful magical color surrounding its being and the cloud ,as well as, its own fading aura which goes into the background energy in the immediate surrounds. It was a pretty neat potion when it came to what it did. I'll have to thank Zecora again for her tutelage sometime if I'm alive to do it.

It's a little hard to find what I'm looking for all with all of this background magic 'radiation'. Thankfully, I have some binoculars that I bought earlier from one of the market vendors. They were primitive compared to my old stainless steel ones, but they'll do good with a little enhancement. I put down the binoculars and reached into my belt. I pulled out some sand and some herbs. Saying apologies under my breath, I take the two ingredients and I ram them together. Briefly whispering hexes, I take apart the sand and eat it. It's not the most enjoyable of rituals. It tastes bad going down the throat, but it does what it needs to do and drains the plant of its magic. Thankfully, its only left without magic for a brief period before the background radiates into it, so it essentially is replaced fairly easily. Now if I were to do this to a living, breathing animal, it would probably take them a while to actually get their magic/personality/soul back, but with plants its a heck of a lot easier since they don't have neural networks or anything else of the like. Unless you were to stuff a soul in one, but let's not go down that path shall we.

Now, I only have enough magic for it to last about five seconds before it dissipates back into the world, so I have to be quick. Picturing what I want in my mind, I put my hands out towards my binoculars and focused. Green magic pours out of my fingers towards them. They swirl around the lenses before turning them purple. I wait a few seconds until all of the spell finishes and the magic stops flowing from my fingers. Unfortunately plant magic doesn't really do all that well when being used for anything other than growth, light, or any other plant stuff, so the spell would only last for a little while when using it for something else. A little while, however, was all I really needed.

Putting the plant back in my belt, I look up and spot almost all the parents staring at me. I wave hello and reach for my binoculars. Instantly an orange aura appears around it and floats it further away from me. I sigh and turn away from the binoculars. In front of me, there stood a purple unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane. "What do you want?"

The unicorn flinched before replying. "I...um.........What are you doing here exactly? It doesn't seem like somepony like you would have a kid here."

I could tell him that I want to witness everyone's demise, but what good would that do? Just panic him for no good reason or make him think I'm crazy, which I don't really need with the rep I have. "Bird watching gentlestallion. There's some fine canaries over in that tree over there."

Of course, I was pulling this out of my ass, but it was the most convenient of excuses. Some of the pegasi glared at me at the comment though. Must've thought it was a slang term or something. Thankfully the stallion looked towards the tree, so now I can do something whilst his attention is away. Reaching for my tool belt, I release a phial filled with gas. As it falls to the floor, I quickly cover my mouth and nose with my clothes. When it breaks the gas inside billows out like a fog settling in. The surrounding parents look to their hooves in surprise before the gas finally settles in their lungs.

Sleep soon befalls the pony parents, and I was left alone in the land of consciousness. Reaching my other hand to my tool belt, I pull out a specific jar. In it contains the one thing to get rid of this gas, pure carbon dust. I release the cap and throw the dust to the wind. The gas dissipates leaving none the wiser. Removing them from my lips, I sigh and take the downed binoculars. Thankfully, the enchantments still active, so I wouldn't have to use even more ingredients.

I bring them up to my face and look towards where the castle should be. The enchantment was thankfully still working, so all I could see was the castle and the signatures inside. However, these giant signatures emanating from the tower, were blending in a mirage of color and light. I couldn't pick out anything from that. Just great....Can't see shit. I...I didn't really want to use this. I was saving it for a special occasion, but I guess I have to take it out now, don't I? Grumbling I reach into my tool belt once again. Trembling, I pull out a few things. A dragon scale, a lock of hair, and some ground up dust. These three things I had gotten on somewhat questionable means. I'm not even sure if that hair even belongs to Twilight. All I have is the word of one crazy fanatic. I at least know the other things are real. The dragon scale had fallen off during Spike's premature growth, and the dust was just something of a spell enhancer. I don't really know how it works, but who am I to question how dandelion powder could do that in this type of world?

Trembling, I bite back the tears and cut myself with the scale. Blood shimmers along the edge. I sprinkle the hair along it. Muttering incantations as blood dripped down my hand, I shove some leftover magic into it to give the necessary kick. The spell activated, and the ingredients are used up and turned into spellwork. Now the glasses can pinpoint Twilight's magic. However, I have no real way to locate Starlight's. Thankfully, I have the dandelion essence, so I can rule out some unnecessary magic levels, such as an average unicorn's wellspring. Some fine tuning, is all it needs anyhow. Bringing the binoculars one again to my face I notice that

Using the ol' technique of incantation, the spells effects finally are being performed. Now I can only see two magic signatures. Twilight's and Starlight's. She has entered her crystal palace, but I'm not exactly sure if she's on her way to the map room or not. She is moving but it really isn't towards the map room because ,according to this spellwork of mine, Starlight is at least seven rooms away from her. Heh. Nothing profound. Nothing wise. Nothing. All I can feel is acceptance. Even as she gets closer, I don't feel any remorse. Not even anger. I did what I was able to do. I got to do some things no other person can admit. Oh look. They finally meet.

Some choice words. Choice actions. Then all that will be left of this world will be altered. Gone will be these people. Gone will be this world. The only thing left will be the alterations. None of the same experiences. Just....different. Different lives, different people. Maybe I wouldn't have ever arrived in Equestria, and just stayed on Earth trying to get through college. Or maybe I will be stuck in Equestria, just not ME, me. A different version of my existence.

Wait..that's new. A little sphere of sorts just appeared in the air. It's faintly glowing blue. I expected something to appear just...not this tiny. Sure, I know a spell of this magnitude has to have some sort of power behind it, but...this is just pitiful. It's only slightly larger than an adult stallion. How can something of this size, affect the whole time-space continuum? Aww who am I kidding, why do I care? I can't meddle in the affairs of ponies anyway. If I were to my faults and mistakes would haunt me for years to come from them. What I could've done better, and what I could've done worse. Eventually I resume my stalking of Twilight, Spike and.....

And Starlight's gone. It's only a matter of time before Twilight and Spike head on through. Bringing my binoculars down, I sighed and thought about all my troubles and tribulations. All of my history here and anywhere else. Are you telling me I wasted my alcohol money on this? Oh wait! There was a delay wasn't there? In the finale? We had a shot of Pinkie with some baked goods afterwards... How..how do we know when it happens? How are we supposed to know?

I bring the binoculars back up to my eyes. I see nothing. Twilight's essence and Starlight's have disappeared. There's nothing left. How long? How long till' non-existence? Sighing I begin to put my binoculars down, but then I see a faint glimmer. Bringing them back up, I notice a faint ring of blue. Starlight's magical spell no doubt, but....something isn't right here. The spell was already performed, so why would there be a thing happening. Confused a focused as far as I could on it. Then, somehow, it activates, pulsing in rhythm and gyrating beyond my comprehension. Then it stops before becoming a bolder color. It then grows. Not slow mind you, it seems like it as it gets bigger it becomes even faster. Most likely, it'll soon envelope this entire planet in a few more minutes. I feel a touch upon my back. I look and there before me lies a slowly coming to conscious parent.

An orange pegasus was slowly getting up using my back as support. Oh crap. I forgot about the time. It looks like the parents are getting up. Have to get the hell out of here. Quickly, getting off the bench, I begin to sprint as they awaken. At least one is delayed since it must've fallen as soon as I had gotten up ,so I have to at least be thankful for that. Knowing that I can't head towards the ever growing dome, I start to head off towards the Everfree Forest. It is my only hope for surviving this whole mess, since ponies don't go in there without a good reason. I looked behind me. Instantly my legs kicked into high gear as I began to see what I feared. The parents were getting up, but the bubble was fastly approaching. Some of them noticed me, but before they could have even acted on it, they were swallowed by the growing sphere. Then poof. Nothing was left. I couldn't even see the playground anymore. It was just consumed by the glowing blue magic spell. Not even the magic was left behind. It just got changed to the same type of blue. I ran through town. Ponies who were walking by, looked at me in confusion, before walking right into it. It was about five yards behind me and gaining with every second.

I looked back in front of me. I passed the final lengths of houses and kept going into towards the Everfree. I conjured up the insane idea of saving myself by hiding in that 'wild' magic. I know it is pointless, but my heart, driven by adrenaline, coursed me onwards to what it thought was safety's reach. Only 4 feet away. It caught a bit of my leg, but I managed to pull it free and accelerate towards the forest edge like a madman. Further and further it went. it had consumed almost all of the backhalf of my body. Somehow I was keeping up with it. I didn't question how. Only my head was left untouched. I know that if it gets that, I'm doomed. I reached with my hand towards the furthest looking branch, grabbed it with all my might, and pulled my body forward. I couldn't do it in time.

The last thing I saw was Zecora up ahead picking some herbs and my 'magic vision failing. The last thing I heard was her speaking her rhymes in greeting and the howls of the forest. I closed my eyes and thought my last, which mainly included, 'Fuck me, if this is it. I can't go out like this. Scared and alone....',amongst some situation appropriate curse words. Then that was it. Nothing more was to happen to me except a brief pain and a sudden darkness.

Author's Note:

Time is rewriting itself and a new existence takes hold. This is only the beginning.

I have no excuse.

Comments

[Lord_01010000]

The thing that gets me, something that the season 5 finally didn't address, was that if the whole of history changed, how were Twilight and Spike still the same? If it were a true time alteration they would be where their counterparts would be, with no knowledge of the other timeline. What I think really happened was that they created alternate timelines, like in Dragon Ball Z in the Android/Cyborg Saga with Future Trunks. So really, our human friend should be perfectly fine.

But I don't believe that's where the author is going with this.....

[AvidSeason]

6927191 I guess you'll just have to wait and see.

[Sigmacipher]

Good concept...I've thought about it too actually...I honestly would have used my knowledge to mess with the timeline regardless...because reasons...