"I did what?!" The incredulous voice of Bryan Herring echoed through the frozen living room. The strange, anti-gravitational form of Quantum Senior grinned at the human before him. The stallion had been waiting for some excitement, and he was over the moon with his most recent incarnation's curiosity.
"Ya froze time buddy," he replied, still grinning, "Must've been because you touched that glowing blue clock, there. See, you aren't trained in Time Magic yet, so it's kinda wild and unpredictable in terms of what it'll do when you activate it," The blue stallion explained, rolling softly through the air. "See, if you imagine a normal unicorn has say, a pond size of magic reserves, then a mortal Time Mage has one comparable to a lake. A normal alicorn, while not gifted with Time, has reserves comparable to an entire ocean. An alicorn linked to say, the Sun, Moon, Time, or Space itself will have, say, an entire Universe-sized reserve," Bryan's jaw dropped, "Now, you may be thinking, 'I sure as hell don't feel that powerful,' but that's because there are certain conditions to an alicorn accessing so much power, to stop them from becoming some sorta Hyper Mary Sue." Now, Bryan was intrigued (i mean, i'm already super interested).
"What're the conditions?" The human asked, now sitting/squatting on the ridiculously sized sofa, hard to think I struggle to climb on this in my pony form. Quantum grinned.
"First and foremost, there's this sort of Order to how magic works in relation to Space," The stallion began, "While we may have an unholy amount of magical power in reserve, there's a limit to how much our body can take, which actually explains why you're in human form," Quantum drifted around to the side of Bryan, and poked him in the bicep, "Right now, your pony form is too small, and too fragile to actually take all the magical energy required to pause the Flow, and you subconsciously constructed a new body, one that was capable of withstanding so much magic," The alicorn drifted in front of the human's eyes, "Don't worry, though, this form will disappear once the Flow resumes, and you'll be back to falling in your normal body. Actually, the bipedal form you have now is constructed of Time Magic, hence the similarity to our mane and coat." Bryan rubbed under his nose with his index finger.
"So, what I've done is pause time, and made myself a body that can handle it. Is that it?" The temporal human asked, tilting his head.
"Right, because of the Order, your physical body can't take it, as it is now, that is," Quantum confirmed with a smile.
"So, there'll be a point when I can enter this state in my pony-body?" Bryan further questioned, now interested on how to get to that stage.
"Of course, your ability to handle vast amounts of Time Magic will come as you grow, and eventually, you'll be able to perform these stunts at will," The equine Time Mage surmised, and grinned again, floating away from his human counterpart. "Anymore questions? The Order, magic reserves, Time Magic in general? We've got some time before the Flow Stasis ends, so fire away."
"Well, yeah. Of course I have questions," Bryan said, cocking his head, and scanning the room, "The real question is, of course, can anypony else move around during a 'Stasis'? I'd hate for somepony to walk in and see some strange biped like myself."
"Ordinarily, there would be a few ponies capable of movement during a Stasis, unfortunately," Quantum grimaced imperceptibly, "Two of them are incapacitated, to my knowledge at least. The last of them, however..."
A white dot in the sky gradually increased in size, visible from the window of the Herring living room.
A blue wave pulsed over her surroundings. It was strong, comforting even. Familiar.
The first time she felt the wave of magic, she'd been surprised, even mildly relieved that her suspicions had been correct. It had been a relatively nice change, being awake, and somewhat lucid. The second time Luna was woken by the magic of the Flow, she felt alive. A calm blue washed over her, and with it, the Nightmare and all its decadent thoughts of demented grandeur, disappeared. Her mind fell silent, and the Princess of the Night felt a feeling of relief.
Now, the moon's prisoner knew the feeling would be temporary; of course it was. But even after nearly a thousand years of isolation, her mind, and its contents, had not rusted and fallen apart. No, she still remembered the key rule that Tia had drilled into her many, many years ago.
"Listen to us, Luna! This is of the highest importance," Celestia's royal dialect rang through the room of Gods, "Time Magic is the anti-thesis to the Root, that is why Infinitus is still lucid!"
Luna felt a feeling very much akin to hope in her blue-painted frozen world; soon, she would see her beloved sister again, and the one she regarded as a brother would help her beloved, and everything would be fine.
Well, not before someone got that blasted Nightmare out of her head. She knew she couldn't spend eternity at the side of Quantum upon her release, and she knew well enough already that the only permanent cure were the Elements. Maker, the surprisingly calm mind of Luna thought, I do hope she hath found the Sacred Tools. The Dark Mare grimaced at her dialect, We suppose thine Equestrian Language hath changed verily. Luna sighed, there would be much to catch up on once she returned to Equus.
The continued feeling of emptiness within her head surprised her. Truthfully, she had thought the Stasis would have finished by now. Not that she was complaining; no, it was rather nice being able to think freely without her thoughts being interrupted. Luna knew the Nightmare would make up for it, once the damned thing returned and realized what had happened. Oh well, she supposed she would just live with it. Luna had faced worse, truthfully. Like say, entrapping her beloved in stone, for example.
Her thoughts returned to the topic of Infinitus; Discord. The thought of a once blue alicorn with a gentle smile, plagued sickly green, sneering at his brother appeared in her mind, and the prisoner of millennia felt sick.
"Such power! My, you were keeping such things from me?" A voice, decidedly not Quantum's but coming from his own mouth rung out, "Ah, the ever flowing Stream, I can see into Eternity!" A double-layered voice rang from the alicorn's mouth, "Now, how about I test my newfound power."
Bitter rage flooded her; they had let that evil live too long; and they had paid the price for it. But she wouldn't despair; no. Her resolve was stronger than ever, the Alicorn Four would soon reunite. She had hope, something she really, truly hadn't felt in centuries. The thought of her sister, the bright Sun and all it's glory, Luna felt ridiculous for even thinking of fighting it, all those years ago. The Moon's prisoner thought of Quantum, her should be in-law, his return and the Great Flow beneath his hooves.
And she thought of Infinitus. Her love. The very complexities of Magic and Matter itself flowing through his veins. The image of early white armour gleaming in the twilight as he grinned at Luna confidently filled her mind. The Night Princess' heart fluttered, long still from centuries of isolation.
Yes, she had hope. Mind had once destroyed and separated them. They would not make the same mistakes this time, however. No, Luna was sure that she would reunite with them all soon, and then, they would strike.
Payback would be oh so sweet.
Hegese was sorting through Celestia's paperwork, early morning sunshine flittering through the office windows, catching on the small framed photo of her family on the desk. She smiled; it had been taken on the day of her son's birthday. The photo showed herself and Bow, a foreleg around each other as Rouge was on her side on the left, while Philips and Cindy was on the right, beside the red pegasus' husband. On the floor before them, it showed an off-balance Quantum, a purple mass of Twilight hanging from his neck. The picture made her heart feel warm every time she gazed upon it.
A much needed support when faced with her daily mountain of work.
The office Hegese was in had been inhabited by Herring mares for generations, as the role of Royal Adviser went from clan head to clan head. It was a lush red, with an oak desk in the centre of the room, and a large, decadent window behind her, overlooking all of Canterlot; she could see her home from where she worked. Her mother, Rouge, had been an Adviser, too, but much preferred her treasure hunting, despite it only being a hobby. Hegese too, had a knack for finding hidden rarities, but actually preferred the role of Adviser, and more importantly, mother, than Rouge did. Hegese frowned.
The thought of the elderly Herring clan head worried her again. As of late, Rouge had been ill; and it didn't seem to be letting up. If anything, the illness seemed to be getting worse for the old mare, and Hegese was getting more and more worried at the prospect of losing her. Celestia, to her credit, had cut no corners when she heard of her former adviser, and long time friend's situation. She had recruited the best doctor in Canterlot to look after her, and made specific effort to visit Rouge whenever she could. Hegese suspected that it was because Celestia didn't have very many friends left, being immortal and all. A breeze rustled through the opened window, and Hegese snapped back to reality, slamming a hoof down onto the piece of paper in front of her, to make sure it didn't blow away.
The Royal Adviser scowled at the sheet, as if her look may make the paper disappear, and with it, her work. The paper was detailing the trade agreement reached with the Griffons; the trade agreement that was literally the same as the one Forsake had had before the meeting. Hegese's brow further furrowed in remembrance of the meeting, the side of Celestia that even she rarely saw had appeared before the three rulers. The tips of the mane of the Sun Goddess glowed slightly in her ire, like embers off a flame. The adviser shuddered at the thought; she herself had thought she may become a fiery inferno in her ruler's presence. But, surprisingly, the room had not gone up in flames. If anything, the Griffon king ended up calming down significantly, and the meeting was actually boring from then on. Still, Hegese had the feeling of standing on the very edge of a cliff, upon her hind hooves, when around the Princess that day. A most uncomfortable feeling, she thought.
The pegasus rubbed the sides of her head with her hooves; she just couldn't focus today. With Rouge ill, and the memories of a particularly angry Princess of the Sun, Hegese couldn't do what she needed to and finish the paperwork. She was worried for her mum, of course, but she felt a little safety knowing that her Bow would look after the elderly pegasus when he returned home.
A a bright flash of light caught the Advisor's eye; what was that?
The pegasus' eyes scanned her office looking for the source of the distraction. Hegese was sure she didn't have anything that could cause such a bright flash. But then, she caught sight of the offending object at the end of the room. Hung on the wall was a very mundane, and what she thought, normal, clock.
It's blue glow was fading... Hm?
Hegese rubbed her eyes with her hooves, and when she reopened them, the glow was gone. Like it was never even there.
"Huh," The crimson pegasus shook her head, "Weird."
When Discord looked at the huddled form of the colour-drained Draconequus, he was confused. Not long ago, the physical form of his insanity had taunted him, and threatened those he held dear. But now? The sanity-sapping apparition looked terrifying, and decidedly still. Odd.
Discord moved towards the alter-ego of his, and reached a hoof out to poke him. He didn't move.
Wait. Hoof?
The white space that was his prison had been formed into a battleground of sorts. On one side, there was a blissful, normal nighttime landscape with twinkling stars and a great big moon. Canterlot castle in the distance. On the other side, anarchy. Chessboard floors, pink clouds, lime green sky... Absolutely no cohesion. So upon seeing his opponent in the battle for control, still and hunched in a feeble little ball, Discord quickly swept the rest of the space to look like the beautiful night, and willed a mirror to appear in front of him. A draconequus did not stare back at him.
Oh.
His thoughts weren't hazy or even remotely random, and he supposed that should've been the first indication of something being off. Or on, in this case. No, the combination being of multiple animals was not the reflection in the mirror. Instead, a strong, emerald green alicorn stallion looked back at him. Pale blue eyes glowed with energy untapped for millennia, with a white mane running into green highlights, and a tail of similar description, well brushed. The mane fell over the body unseen for a long time, brushing over pearly white armour, as pristine as the day it was forged. This pony, mouth agape, was decidedly not Discord.
The long forgotten face of Infinitus stared into his own reflection.
"Maker..." The alicorn breathed, his head turning to stare at his own self. On his flank was the cutie mark he'd forgotten he'd even had; a swirling mix of deep purples, blues and white resembling a rather artistic black hole, surrounded by bright stars. Perfectly symmetrical. Just how he liked it. His white chest plate gleamed with a bright green emerald in the centre. Water hit the floor. Hm? I don't remember creating rain, His front right hoof brushed the small drop on the blade of grass in his night time country haven. Another drop hit his outstretched foreleg. He stared back into the mirror. O-oh.
He was crying.
He, the tyrant that had once ruined the land he loved, was crying at the sight of his own reflection. Feared Discord, loathed King of Anarchy, and yet, forgotten Prince of Order, was crying. His chest ached. Infinitus was suddenly very aware of the atrocities he had committed as Discord. The magic of The Root had blocked him from feeling guilt, pain, regret, and even revelled in the suffering he had caused. But now, Infinitus, the Corrupted Prince, felt years of agony befall his poor heart.
The floodgates opened. A strangled sob escaped the muzzle of the Prince. The families he had ruined, the villages he had destroyed, allied with the dragons, there was chaos, there was screaming and there was fire. The Mind had made especially sure that Infinitus-turned-Discord of the time had thrived in the destruction, the anarchy. The Prince of Order had blood on his hooves, too much blood. The longing to atone and make amends for his many, many sins struck him hard, and Infinitus was powerless to sate it.
The emerald pony's eyes, still streaming with long-held tears, caught sight of the colour-faded draconequus still curled on the floor. Sorrow turned to rage, and the bitter Prince fixed his fury on the source of his madness, his suffering. The embodiment of The Root's magic were the strings that held his marionette of a life up, and Infinitus resolved himself to no longer be controlled. He turned, and bucked the colour-drained beast with all his strength. It may not have done anything, but it makes me feel at least a little better, he thought.
The night sky, the country landscape, bled back to infinite blue. The blue was familiar to Infinitus, comforting, like a warm blanket protecting him from the elements. The colour of The Flow, of his brother, Quantum. All at once, the tears gained new reason. His brother was home. They had a chance to finish Mind off, once and for all. A plan began to form in his head, I always was the strategist of the four, he mused with a weary grin. Infinitus wiped his eyes with a fetlock. The time for crying had passed, he had things to plan, things to do. He looked up.
The moon continued to look down on the endless prison. A constant reminder to Infinitus for who he was waiting for, even as the blue faded and the breathing of his crazed counterpart restarted, Infinitus did not lose his grin of confidence. He had waited to long, cowered away. He looked down, and stared directly at the slowly rising form of the colour-drained Discord. The stallion grinned.
He was going to cut those damn strings loose.
Celestia was off of the throne and into the air within seconds of the Stasis. The magic was painfully familiar, and she found herself having to viciously crush the hope of her Quantum being back. But no, she knew it was too soon; and it'd be too easy, of course. She was gliding through the halls of her castle, the attendants and Canterlot staff all frozen in their duties, overlapped with a layer of translucent blue. Briefly, she passed the door to Hegese's office, and stopped just to check on her, to be sure that she too had frozen, being the mother of Quantum may have excluded her from the Stasis effects, but no, she too was still, staring at the clock which Celestia was sure had been glowing blue previously.
Celestia passed by a large door in the same corridor as her chambers, as she was having to ascend the castle in order to leave through the top. The door was intense. It flared and pulsed a deep, deep blue, the artefacts behind the long-sealed door (by Celestia herself) finally able to come to life, to restore their energy. The Sun Goddess was sure she would be reopening that room soon (with any luck, at least, she thought).
It didn't stop her from soaring out of the Castle, however. One thing she had remembered from long ago, was that teleportation never worked in a Stasis. You'd be stuck within the teleport until the Flow restarted, where you'd appear at your destination immediately after. She smiled a nostalgic smile. Celestia remembered the quarrels that Quantum and Infinitus would get into about how the Order was affected by the Flow.
The blue-washed city of Canterlot was a sight to behold. Ponies frozen in the air, as they walked. The marketplace was full of temporary-statues, their colours overlapped by the faintest of cyans. Beyond her was a beacon of cerulean light; the epicentre of the Stasis; Herring Manor. Celestia made a beeline for the noble home.
As Celestia landed in the courtyard of the manors, she gazed briefly at the Mi Amore residence. Of course, the Solar Princess knew that Cadence had her suspicions. There were a few scrutinising looks she had noticed recently, whenever they were together. And why wouldn't she be curious? The red ribbon between her and Quantum was obviously still intact, and if anypony could see it, then it was Cadence. Celestia though was mildly disappointed in her niece; why hadn't she seen the obvious yet? There should be another red ribbon in Canterlot, one more obvious than all of them, after all, it did lead from the Gardens, right into the night sky.
Celestia took a quick moment to stare up into the blue-washed sky. It wasn't night yet, no, midday more like. Even so, there had been a time where Celestia herself could see the ribbons, thanks to a spell she had learnt many, many years ago.
The Sun Goddess hadn't the need to use it for a very long time. It hurt too much.
Celestia shook her head, she was wasting precious time. The Stasis wasn't going to last forever, after all, and the Equestrian Princess made for the Herring Home.
"The last of them... what?" Bryan asked, his counterpart having trailed off, "Is there someone coming towards us? Should I be worried?" The temporary-human worried slightly; he didn't want to be found out, after all. Quantum tutted.
"Worried? Maker, no. If there's anypony in this world that you can absolutely trust, it's her. She should be here any moment, anyways," Quantum waved a hoof dismissively. It betrayed his inner thoughts. Truth be told, the stallion was incredibly worried about seeing the Solar Goddess, again. How will she react? Will she still feel anything for me? Will she even remember me? Quantum knew that most- if not all -the questions he was asking himself were baseless, they were of course, bound by that ever-flowing string.
The front door creaked open; Quantum's heart leapt into his throat. She's here.
Light hoofsteps echoed through the house, like a feather touch, gliding over the wooden floors. Bryan felt his magically-created heart thudding. The floating blue stallion slowly turned towards the living room archway. His mind went blank.
A gold-adorned white hoof stepped into view, followed by another. A sharp horn, flowing mane of many colours. Bright pink eyes, like the breaking dawn in her irises themselves. The regal form of Celestia appeared before Quantum, and her mouth fell agape. The lost Time Mage could neither speak, or move. Bryan, at least, had the tact to remain silent.
The silence stretched on, and on, and on. Bryan swallowed, and broke the silence, and took the plunge.
"Hey, Princess," The biped said rather lamely. He struggled to think of something else to say. The Sun Goddess snapped out of her reverie, and directed her look at the human. She scrutinised him closely; his form was different to what it was in that memory. His hair was a different colour. There was no blood splattered on his clothes. No cuts along his form. No, the 'human' was pristine in every way; even his entirely blue clothes looked brand new, as if only just woven. His hair shimmered with a strange sort of glow, it's colour similar to his mane as a colt. The Sun Princess looked into the teal eyes of the human, once brown.
"Quantum, is that you?" She asked, and a sudden sinking feeling befell the blue stallion as the Princess moved forward, "Or... the you from, well, before you came here?"
"Ah," Bryan cleared his throat, "Yeah, it's how I was in my last life." He looked himself over, suddenly very self-conscious of his appearance, but his eyes inevitably drifted to the slowly despairing form of his stallion counterpart.
Celestia continued forward, eyes not even catching the floating form of Quantum.
She passed right through him, like he was just air. The blue stallion chuckled mirthlessly, a bitter smile on his face.
"I knew it wouldn't be that easy," he muttered. Celestia didn't turn towards him.
Bryan stared, as Quantum drifted away from Celestia, his back-turned and his eyes overcast by his mane. The human was floored; she couldn't see him, and so only he could. True enough, Bryan didn't fully understand the nature of Quantum's relationship with Celestia (and to a lesser extent, his own), but she must be important to him (them) judging by the look on his Equine counterpart's face.
"Quantum, are you okay?" Pink eyes stared directly into his own, and Bryan snapped out of his confusion, though still a bit shocked. He shook his head, and smiled weakly. He lifted a finger to the slowly drifting form of the ethereal stallion.
"You..." He began, voice cracking, "You really can't see him, huh?" The stallion looked up with a resigned look. Bryan thought he'd never looked this tired before.
Celestia's eyes drifted to where the biped's appendage was pointing. Somewhere in the air, towards the wall adorned with the Ancient Rubrum Herring's painting. She saw nothing, but, 'Him'...? There's nopony here but us, unless... Her breath hitched. It wasn't- shouldn't be- isn't possible.
More importantly; it wasn't fair.
The silence lingered. Celestia stared at open air for what felt like an eternity, willing herself to see the impossible, knowing that there was only one other pony who could possibly be seen by the human, and not her. The apparently invisible form of Quantum stared back at her, silently pleading to whatever higher power that she be able to see him. There was no such luck. Their eyes were glazed, as if they knew one another were just that close.
And yet so far.
"Do you know of the magic you just performed?" Celestia asked, eyes not moving from the seemingly empty air. Her voice was quiet, monotone. Bryan considered his answers. It'd be cruel to explain how I know, he affirmed, I'll bluff. The atmosphere is thick now, anyhow. The human was relieved that Celestia was seemingly distracted enough to not hear his thoughts.
"Froze time, I guess? It's been like this for a while so I'm assuming it's gonna fade soon," Bryan looked up at the ceiling, eyes trying to avoid either of the two ponies he could see.
Quantum started to fade from view, the usually happy quirky stallion completely downtrodden. Bryan was inclined to apologise to him, to comfort him.
He knew it would do no good.
"You're correct. The magic itself is called 'Time Stasis'. Most Time Mages have struggled to bring the Flow to a complete halt, usually isolating only small areas and holding the magic within them," Celestia mused, and turned to the human, her eyes damp, "Never you, though," she smiled, sadly, reminiscing of days gone by, "You always were stronger than them all."
I'm not strong, Bryan thought to himself, I'm weak; I'm barely a year-old in this world. The Stasis was accidental, and I have no idea why I'm so goddamn important, besides having a horn, wings and a mark on my arse, he chuckled humourlessly, Strong? Pfft. I was never strong.
'You are strong. You're so important to Equus, to me,' Celestia interrupted his thoughts 'The Stasis may have been accidental, Quantum, but everypony starts from somewhere. There are two very special ponies that have been waiting for you, you know,' she smiled at him.
How can I be strong, though? The biped argued, glaring at the floor, In both lives I've seen so far, I've been powerless to stop the ones I loved from getting hurt; killed, even. And when something bad befalls me? The first thing I hoped for was a new chance, or death itself. Two images flashed in the human's mind: the much expected room of shattered glass and blood, prone forms and a sobbing child. The second was an image of a boy wrapped in tattered clothes, surrounded by steel-plated soldiers, a blade to his neck as a two precious objects were ripped away from him. Celestia inhaled sharply.
"Was- Was that...?" She trailed off, not sure how to phrase her question.
"...My first human life," Bryan finished, previously clenched hands hanging loosely at his side, "I was executed like a lamb. A weak lamb."
"'Two sisters, two brothers, connected by string...'" Celestia recited, lines spoken for the first time some long years ago, but never forgotten. She smiled at the human, who's head tilted in confusion, a frown knitted into his brow. "They must have felt your magic- powerful magic -by now. I'm sure they're happy you're back, and soon, I'm sure you'll know why. No pun intended but, these things will take time, but, I'll be with you every hoofstep of the way, and so will your parents, and Rouge, and one day," she moved forward, and embraced him with her forelegs, the human frozen to the spot, 'You'll understand everything.'
The blue started to fade away, and with it, the human form of Bryan Herring. The Princess stepped away, and smiled a hopeful smile at him.
Bryan opened his mouth to speak; no words came out. He turned to where Quantum once floated; empty air, a lack of blue washing the surroundings. Bryan turned back to the princess, and she was gone, and with it, the rest of the Stasis.
And Quantum the alicorn colt, fell from his tower of books, hoof outstretched towards the clock.