Chapter 15
"So you're telling me that because I've been with Big Mac so often, the spell didn't have time to build up?" Conrad asked, cocking an eyebrow at the brown stallion walking beside him.
"Exactly," replied Turner, "As you know, it's called a want-it-need-it spell. Naturally, you can't want-it-need-it if you have it, you follow? So the spell had no reason to increase its effect." The former pegasus looked ahead distantly. "But what with the recent events, you being repeatedly taken from his custody, and everypony trying to get at you at the same time, I believe the spell's amplification was agitated to the point where it sped up exponentially until it reached full strength in a short time."
Conrad snorted out his nose. "OK, I gotta ask, why do you know so much about how magic works? You can't use it, except for that time stuff you do."
Time Turner chuckled. "Well, when you've been cursed by the spirit of chaos, it's always a good idea to look into possible side effects."
"Right," the human said with a nod, "So do you understand how your powers work?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," the pony replied, "Are you in the mood for a little magic lesson?"
Conrad shrugged. "I don't care what we talk about right now. I'm just glad to be somewhere quiet for a change."
Turner nodded. "Well, you know how an hour glass works, right? You flip it upside down, and the sand starts to fall back to the start. You turn it sideways, and the sand stops. My power works a lot like that, which is also why I can't go into the future."
"What do you mean?"
"Tell me, have you ever been able to make sand fall faster?"
Conrad shook his head.
"Exactly. You can't. You can force it back to the top, or hold it in place. But once you let go and allow it to fall, it will fall at its own speed."
"So then, every time you freeze time or go back, you're giving up a piece of your future..." Conrad looked at Turner sullenly. "You've been giving up your time just for me. More so every time you use your powers."
Turner smiled at his human companion. "Conrad, don't feel down about it. You're my friend, and a very good friend at that. Spending my time helping you makes it all feel worth while to me."
Conrad smiled back. "Thanks." He reached down and scratched Turner behind the ears, then withdrew his hand. "Gah, uh, sorry about that. I dunno if that's allowed here."
Turner shrugged. "I don't mind. Though I have to say, you don't seem afraid of me at all anymore."
"Well, you're the only pony so far who's tried to protect me without trying to keep me as a pet or... whatever Lyra wanted me for." Conrad shuddered.
The pony laughed. "Yes, well, honestly, I'm sure if you'd met anypony else, they'd be just as willing to help you... uh, that is, besides Lyra. I have a feeling she'd behave much the same way."
Conrad shuddered. He looked into the sky as he pondered about meeting another pony. Would they really be so kind?
"I'm sorry, where were we?" Turner suddenly blurted out.
Conrad looked back at him. "Uh, we were talking about magic and meeting other ponies?" He blinked in realization. "OK, where and when did you just go?"
"A few hours ago," Turner said, "I went to go see Twilight and try to turn things around with her. Try and get her to help us, you know?"
"And?" Conrad asked.
Time Turner knocked on the door of the Books and Branches library several times.
"This is a public building!" Twilight Sparkle shouted from inside, "You ponies can just come right in, you know!"
"But I hear you get frustrated when your studies are interrupted," Turner called back. He grinned when he heard the rapid clopping of hooves growing louder.
The door glowed purple and then flew open, nearly coming off its hinges. Twilight stared at Turner for a moment before glaring at him. "You."
"I need your help," Turner said simply.
"Not until you tell me everything about the human!"
Turner smirked at her. "If I remember correctly, Princess Celestia ordered you to leave him alone."
The unicorn gasped. "How did you know about that?!"
Turner's expression turned serious. "What matters more is the ponies still under your spell. Lyra and Big Macintosh need to be dispelled before they cause any serious damage. Big Mac already tore a hole in the Apple family's barn."
"But... that can't be right." Twilight rubbed her head. "The princess already broke that spell. I saw her!"
"I know," Turner said with a nod, "I've just come back from speaking with the princess. She believe's Lyra's previous fixation on humans may have acted as a sort of mental anchor for the spell. A controlled burst of the counter spell directed at her may be able to break the spell, but that would only stop her obsession from growing. We'd need something else to convince her to leave him alone. I'm sure I could think of something for that, but I need you to help me lift the spell on her and Big Macintosh."
Twilight took a moment to digest the information. "Alright, I'll see what I can do. If Princess Celestia wants it, I'll do all I can. I'll get to work on the research for the strongest variant of the counter spell I can come up with. You just make sure to get Mac and Lyra together so I can hit them with it."
"Alright," Turner said, "I'll let you know when I have something set up."
"Any chance, if all goes well, I could ask Conrad a few questions? I promise I won't hound him like before."
The earth stallion sighed. "Alright, fine, but onpy if he agrees."
Twilight squeed slightly. "You've got yourself a deal!"
Turner nodded. "Thank you, Twilight. I owe you for this."
"My pleasure." Twilight stepped back and shut the door, and her warm smile slowly shifted into a sinister grin. "Special research assignment for the princess, and a chance to meet the alien up close! Ooh-hoo-hoo! This day just got good!"
The unicorn began levitating books off the shelves, leafing through them. An hour later, she cracked open a new book and took a closer look.
"Hmmm," she said as she observed the picture of a black, insect-like equine, "Changeling? What is that? Let's see." She read quietly to herself about the strange creature in the book, while dots in her mind began to connect. An answer formed in her mind, and she gasped when it all clicked.
"The pegasus who looked just like Turner, Turner being in two places at once, him befriending the alien... it all makes sense now." She tilted her head up with a determined look. "Time Turner is a changeling!"
Hurrah! I can't wait to see more and oh god Twilight being a moron.
YEAAAA
YAAAA YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEAAA
Fukken finally updated!
and he has risen from the dead to deliver forth another script
Huzzah we have an update! Any hints to a new one being released.
Soon perhaps.......?
@ last paragraph;
Uh oh.
And that's how Twilight Sparkle learned to add two and two and make five.
2188700
Well if ya think about it him being a changeling would be a lot more believable then him making a deal it the God of Chaos.
Just saying, it's perfectly acceptable for Twi to think he's a changeling.
Lovely, the first chapter in a while and everything is already going back to falling apart at the seams. Too bad Twilight couldn't have found this book before the Changeling invasion.
Twilight, that isn't how logic works.
yay! updates, now for moar
I wouldn't say that Twilight was being stupid when she came to the conclusion that Time Turner is a changeling. She's just more inclined to believe that anypony who would so cruelly keep her from her research must be an evil, love-devouring parasite...
Okay, that is kind of stretching it, but she is biased against him already.
FINALLY!!!! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR LIKE....FOREVER!!!!
Also here is a little error.
'only'
Five...months. It has been five months since this last updated.
2188723
Oh yeah. It's a perfectly logical conclusion given what information she has, but unbeknownst to her it happens to be hilariously wrong.
That said, the fact that she knows what changelings are early is going to make things Interesting with a Capital I once the events of Canterlot Wedding happen in this story.
From the summary alone I can see that this is gonna be good. Alas, no sleep for me tonight it seems.
Or that could be a sibling Twilight. Silly pony.
IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!
No more caffeine for me.
Uh oh, this is bad.
Murphy's law is still alive and well, just like this story!
Lyra scares me on a fundamental level.
Twilight Sparkle goes running through town screaming at the top of her lungs, "TIME TURNER IS A CHANGELING!!! THERE'S MORE THAN ONE OF HIM!!!"
At the noise, several dozen copies of Bon-Bon and Colgate stare at Twilight in bewilderment... and then shrug and go back to draining the poor Ponyville citizenry of all their love.
I think you've typed "pony" too many times. Either that or your finger slipped
Interesting talent Time Turner has got......but after reading this story so far, all I can say is....
i.imgur.com/1Zfnv.gif
Wait, what? You say final chapter, but for this to become a conclusion, you'd need to write twice as much as all the other chapters combined! How exactly do you mean to do that?
We thought you were dead...
*tosses grave shovel out of sight*
My reaction to Twilight
images.wikia.com/dragonball/images/0/03/Epic-facepalm-when-you-just-know-you-messed-up-demotivational-poster-1253705267.jpg
But it does makes sense if you think about it...
2189493 Thanks a lot mate.
The safest place may be locked in a nice suite in the castle.
Worth the wait.
I have the feeling Discord will get some more freedom when the next chapter hits... Oh the chaos thats going to happen...
MOAR! TWILIGHT, YA SO WRONG, YA GUN BE SORRY!
"Onpy" should be "Only".
Aww come on! So short! Why?! Are you doing this to torture us?
I wonder what happened to the Twilight of the MMMystery Express episode who advocated for gathering proofs before junping into conclussions and making accusations.
I really like this, please don't make me wait five months for the next chapter, please?
That was interesting.
This is a prime example of the Conflict Ball.
The Conflict Ball is worse than the Idiot Ball.
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6528852480/h7688F586/
I wish I could downvote chapters individually, because the rest of this story has been pretty good.
2205427 it may be something of a conflict ball but Twilight does not know about Time Turner's problems or powers. She's just jumping to conclusions based on the little information she has right now. That and she's probably still a bit out of it from Lesson Zero and the deviations this story has made.
Truth be told, this looks about the time when the show would go to commercial.
2217663
The issue isn't that she jumped to conclusions about Turner, the issue is that she began a divergent path of study for no reason other than to create conflict in the story.
If she had reason to look up changelings, or if she were studying a bestiary or something, that's one thing. But she's researching a counterspell, and there's no reason for changelings to come up.
2217673 well that's understandable but Twilight's also looking foreward to meeting Conrad so it's possible she may have checked out a creature compendium or 2 that she hadn't looked at before.
Ya got a typo there.
2190295
I loved that movie.
meanwhile conrad constructs handgun to defend himself from psycho ponies
I'm glad this story is still alive. Keep up the good work.
2188645
In all fairness, with the information she has, that was a decent conclusion. How is she to know he can travel through time?
2279315
Memetic Molester ponies?
Actually somewhat logical reaction from the Human?
No cheap Romance plot?
Take them!
Take all my likes!
Okay...So ,anyway,I hope tou're able to finish this some day.
Good luck!(Yes, I know I'm cheesy)
2790943
I didn't expect a serious explanation for my conundrum, but I'm glad you did give one because it was pretty good
twi..fucking idiot..