All and all, Whinnistrad was a fairly nice town. The ponies didn’t seem to ask too many questions, and they seemed all too willing to leave other ponies to their own business. Still, Ditzy was glad to be leaving it at long last. Her boss had finally shown up to assess what could be done about the cart she had smashed in the process of interrupting Righteous Fury.
He had been furious, but her work record meant that she was too valuable an employee to simply let go. In the end, he decided that she’d at least be getting her pay docked for quite some time, as well as working a few extra hours
Nopony was happy about the outcome, but the money to replace the cart had to come from somewhere.
And there was one more thing that needed addressing, something her family had been asking about since it had happened.
“And they mentioned her father for some reason.”
Ditzy's good eye swiveled back and forth between her daughters and Time Turner, her ‘lazy’ one a few seconds behind, as she finished telling the story of her second summoning. Walking back to Ponyville was going to take some time, but Ditzy wasn’t a pegasus to begrudge ground travel. Besides, it made it easier to talk with ponies who couldn’t fly.
“Weird,” Sparkler said, rubbing at her chin as she walked. “What do you think they'd want with him?”
“Something to do with necromancy, no doubt,” Time Turned scoffed. “Lyra's skill with the craft is as much inherited as it is a natural gift. Before she was making a name for herself, old Harpsichord was quite the boogeypony.”
“Last I checked,” Sparkler spoke up, “magic wasn't something that got passed along bloodlines.”
“No,” Time Turner admitted. “But magical power is, and Harpsichord wasn't short on that, I can tell you. Plus, by the time Lyra would have been born, he would have been deep into the necromantic arts. And probably crazy enough to try and make it a family thing; at least, as far as Lyra was concerned.”
“How do you know so much about this anyway?” Sparkler turned her head to face Time Turner, an eyebrow raised. “I don't recall Lyra being all that open about her past.”
“One of the benefits of nearly a thousand years of experience,” he responded with a roguish grin. “I know how to get a good read on most ponies. Besides, Harpsichord was hardly a secret when he was at the height of his power, and I know Lyra's age; the rest is simple deduction. Takes a little while to get the technique down, but Chronomancers have a lot of time on our hooves.”
Sparkler still gave him a skeptical look. “Right...” she deadpanned, then turned back to the road ahead. “Okay, assuming all that's true, then what would they want with Mom?”
Time Turner's smugness went away as he scowled at the ground. “That... I have no idea about,” he finally admitted. “I mean, I'm definitely going to have a word with the town watch. If somepony is willing to go to the trouble of summoning her, I wouldn't put a bit of stalking past them.” He paused and then looked at Ditzy, placing a hoof upon her back as trotted beside her. “You are feeling alright? Mentally, I mean, right?”
Ditzy, having been lost in thought, blinked a few times to get out of her stupor as he addressed her. “O-oh, I'm fine.” She put on her best cheerful grin... as her eyes swiveled away from looking at any of them directly.
Even Dinky wasn’t convinced.
“Ditzy...” Time Turner stopped, as did Sparkler and her sister, all three of them looking at Ditzy as she refused to meet their gazes.
Eventually, the undead mare let her smile drop and cast her gaze down at the dirt. “I just.. I've been wondering... what if they're onto something?”
Sparkler's jaw nearly fell off. “Mom! You can't be serious about that!”
“I don't want to lose either of you... I know it's selfish, but... you're my babies!”
“I'm not a baby!” Dinky shouted, stomping one of her hooves in frustration. “And didn't you tell us to not do dark magic stuff?”
“Yes, but...”
“Butts are for crapping, Mom,” Sparkler cut her off, earning a half-hearted glare from Ditzy at her crass remark. “Don't start turning into a hypocrite on us.”
“More to the point,” Time Turner interrupted. “Given how much they seem to know about you, it's blatantly obvious they're trying to manipulate you. I may not know to what ends, but I know that those that resort to such chicanery are rarely up to much in the way of good things. Trusting somepony you know nothing about when they know everything about you is a fool's move. We all know you're smarter than that, Ditzy.”
As if to punctuate his statement, the chronomancer leaned over a gave Ditzy a quick kiss upon her cheek, making her giggle a bit and hide her face behind her wing. “Okay, I suppose you're right.”
“Of course I am,” Time Turner said, holding his head high as he trotted along, only to trip on a rock before Ditzy could call out to him. “...I really need to stop doing that when I don't have a recall point set,” he muttered from the ground.
Sparkler rolled her eyes, letting him pick himself up. “Anyway, so we're right back where we started: what do they want from Mom? I mean, they made it clear they know she's not a normal lich, and she's not interested in power, so...”
“I think I might be able to answer that, if you'll be willing to come with me.”
Everypony stopped in the middle of the road, looking around for the source of the voice, before Ditzy gasped in shock. “Wait a minute, I know that voice!”
“Hello, Miss Doo,” the cloaked mare that had summoned her seemed to appear out of nowhere, standing in the path before them. “Sorry to come calling again so soon, but our time table has been changed severely. We would like you to come with us. If you don't mind.”
Ditzy didn't move, simply standing far stiller than a living pony would have been capable of.
The cloaked mare sighed. “Please, Miss Doo, I am trying to help you. If you'll just come with me, we can offer you help in preventing all that you're afraid of.”
Sparkler stepped in front of her mother, glaring at the mare in the cloak. “I think she's made it very clear that she's not interested in joining your little club to defy death and play like you're gods. So beat it!”
The cloaked mare didn't respond immediately, simply shifting her head a bit to gaze at Sparkler more clearly. The unicorn's scowl wavered a bit as the seconds ticked on, her hooves twitching in place a bit before the cloaked mare finally spoke up. “You are... Amethyst, correct? Amethyst Star?”
Sparkler physically recoiled at the mare's words, then shook her head. “I– I don't use that name anymore, I haven't in years.”
“But that was the name you were given,” the mare pressed. “After your birth mother, wasn't it? You saw her die and you were barely older than ten.” She took a step forward. “Would you want another child to experience something like that? Wouldn't you stop it if you could?”
Sparkler opened her mouth to respond, but the words didn't come even as she worked her mouth several times.
“You know I'm right. Why deny what is true?”
“How about the fact you're making a lot of promises, but not telling how you're going to follow through on them.” Time Turner stepped around to face the cloaked mare, who turned her gaze to him now. “I mean, I'm sure your response is some variation of 'magic', but would you be able to go into more detail than that? 'Magic' is a very vague term, after all, and what you want to do is a pretty major endeavor. So, mysterious miss, care to tell us how you're going to retool how life itself works?”
The cloaked mare was silent as she looked at Time Turner, like she had been with Sparkler, but after several seconds, the hood of her cloak tilted a bit. “Strange... I can't read you.”
Time Turner smirked. “Another one of the benefits of being around several hundred years; you're not going to get into my noggin without a lot more effort than you're used to.”
Sparkler started, her glare snapping back into place as one of her eyes twitched. “You were in my head?”
The mare went back to being silent for a long moment, then sighed. “I had really been hoping to avoid this,” she said as she reached beneath her cloak. “But... well, it appears that things are going to be difficult.” She removed her hoof, carrying a small gem with it, before throwing the crystal down and letting it shatter upon the ground.
Nopony knew exactly how to respond to that, but Sparkler finally spoke up. “What was–”
A whistle interrupted her, just before Time Turner bellowed out “Down!”
Having had far more experience with such things than she liked to admit, especially prior to being adopted by Ditzy, Sparkler didn't even hesitate to drop to the ground despite her distaste for Time Turner. Just as well, too, as a translucent spear whistled over her head not even a moment later.
“Sparkler!” Ditzy's wings flared open as she got ready to take to the air, but a second whistle and spear put a stop to that, skewering her straight through both wings in one shot.
“I've still got it~” The melodious tone of a mare's voice preceded the rustle of leaves as an earth pony without a cutie mark stepped out from within a bush. “Hey there~,” she trilled. “Sapphire Shores, pleasure to meet you~”
The cloaked mare’s coverings shifted as she flinched, turning to the grounded pegasus. “Sorry about this, I would have preferred another way, but our hoof was forced by–” This time, she jumped back as a bolt of arcane energy shot at her.
“Damn, thought I could get her during a monologue.” Sparkler's horn was still smoking as she readied another bolt. “And why aren't you doing anything?” she yelled at Time Turner.
“I can't!” he shouted back. “That was a Still Time spell she set off! My chronomancy won't work on any events that happen here!”
“Pace has his uses~” Sapphire sang, followed by a “Hey~” A wall of sound sprang up and Sparkler's blast splattered against it. “You're outclassed, kid~” The earth mare flashed a flirtatious smirk at the unicorn. “Give it a few more years, and– Hey~” Another wall of sound sprang up, just barely matching Ditzy's hoof force for force as the limb slammed into it.
Cracks splintered around Ditzy's hoof, but – much like her wings – the wound wasn't even acknowledged as she reared back and slammed her other hoof into the barrier, shattering it as that hoof split with a sickening 'crunch'. “Stay away from my family!” The lich swung wildly at Sapphire, who just barely danced away from the blows.
“Whoa; careful there, you might–” Sapphire stumbled in mid-step, her body twisting as her eyes widened in shock, before she cried out in pain as Ditzy's broken hoof slammed into her barrel and sent her flying. “Wh-wha?”
“How's that for 'outclassed', bitch!” Sparkler's horn was still glowing as she gritted her teeth, Sapphire’s hoof still held in the unicorn’s magical aura. “Don't think I can't follow those steps of yours!”
“Please, stop resisting,” the cloaked mare pleaded. “We only want to help you!”
“You've got a pretty strange way of showing it,” Time Turner countered, standing in front of Dinky with his body lowered and preparing to spring at a moment's notice. “Considering you just attacked us and all.”
“A necessary evil. Surely, after living so long, a chronomancer–”
“Let me stop you there; in nine hundred and sixty-seven years, I've heard just about every permutation of the 'I'm only doing the bad stuff for the greater good' speech there is. So please, don't try and give it to me and think it'll be any different than them. If you actually believed that, you would have joined up with the Lunar Order by now.”
“They wouldn't listen!” the cloaked mare suddenly screamed. “They're too focused on the potential consequences to see the potential rewards!”
“And I could say the same thing about you in reverse,” he countered with a smirk. “That's the thing about your types of goals, once you start justifying the means by the end, your morality doesn't take long to start slipping.”
“Do not quote such fallacies at me,” she replied with a stomp of a hoof. “My ends do justify their means! Do you know what I could–”
“Yes, yes, what you could do, not what you will do. All you're doing is speaking in hypotheticals and potentials. You have nothing to stand on save for what might happen.”
“Can we have a debate some other time?” Sparkler shouted, blasting another arcane bolt at Sapphire just as she whistled again. “Having a fight right now!”
Sapphire managed to avoid the bolt as her spear slammed into Ditzy, knocking her backward as it impaled her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa~” A blast of sonic energy barreled into Sparkler, who dropped to the ground and conjured a shallow shield around her prone form. The sound waves hit her barrier, and washed over them like a wave, missing the unicorn entirely.
The second they passed, Sparkler was back on her hooves and charging up for another blast.
“Hey~” The bolt was intercepted by another wall of sound. “Neat trick, kid, but don't get–” Sparkler interrupted Sapphire by rushing forward, shooting off five bolts seemingly at random. “Hey~” The wall sprang up again, and the shots all impacted it in rapid succession as Sapphire recoiled a bit. “Wha?” That was all she managed to get off before Sparkler slammed her shoulder into the wall, causing it to shatter with a painfully out-of-tune cacophony.
It took a moment for Sparkler's ears to stop ringing following that, but Sapphire's head was outright spinning from having her spell smashed to bits by the unicorn. “Everything has weak points,” Sparkler said with a smirk, her horn flaring up once more. “Even spells.” This time, her bolt slammed into Sapphire's face, and she toppled to the ground in an undignified heap.
The cloaked mare looked back between Time Turner, Sparkler, and Ditzy as she got back to her hooves. Though her face remained hidden, the rapid movements of her head left little doubt of the expression beneath that hood.
“I'm guessing you didn't think this through,” Time Turner finally broke the silence between them.
“We underestimated one of her daughters,” the mare said in return. “But don't think we can't improvise either.” The mare suddenly let loose with a shrieking cry, words and phrases in countless languages all blended together and formed into such a garbled mush of sound that caused everypony to stagger back. Not wasting a moment, the mare rushed forward and barreled into Time Turner, knocking him aside before he could recover.
Still pressing her advantage, she grabbed Dinky with one of her hooves, and held her close even as she started struggling. “Hey! Lemme go!”
“Get your filthy hooves off my daughter!” Ditzy, now so enraged that thinking wasn't necessary for action, managed to charge forward on her broken hooves... only to pass straight through the mare and Dinky.
“You'll find that my bag of tricks runs deep,” the mare said as she turned around, standing firm under Ditzy's furious glare. More blows from the undead mare continued to pass through her body, and Dinky remained firmly held despite her struggles. “And that I can keep this up for quite some time.”
Time Turner groaned, finally pulling himself up off the ground as he tried to clear his head. “Time...” he muttered. “Time enough... for a distraction!” He suddenly turned back to where Sapphire had collapsed, only to find her up and scratching a symbol into the dirt with her hoof. She stomped on it, and a shimmering portal appeared in the air, just before Sapphire dove into it.
Time Turner shook his head once more, red light flickering around his hooves as he tried to get his magic to work, but nothing came. “Sparkler! The symbol, smash it!”
“Huh?” Sparkler had gotten the worst of the effects from whatever that mare had done and could barely stay on her hooves. Blinking her unfocused eyes, she tried to light her horn, but the glow fizzled before she simply fell the the ground, holding her head in pain.
“Ditzy, we have to–” Another of the mare's cacophonous shrieks had Time Turner joining Sparkler on the ground, and Ditzy barely able to stand.
Dinky's struggles continued for a moment longer before her body went limp in the mare's hold. “She's still alive,” the mare assured Ditzy. “She's just passed out. Come with me, and I can promise that's the worst that will happen to her.”
“Get, get your...” Ditzy's words became unintelligible as her breath ran out and she still kept trying to talk, but as another swing phased through the mare, Ditzy found herself sagging in defeat. “...okay.”
“I'm sorry about this,” the mare said as she trotted over to the portal, still carrying Dinky with her. “It's not how I would have preferred our next meeting to go. But, as I said, our hoof was forced.”
Time Turner groaned, light still flickering uselessly at his hooves as he tried to break through the Still Time spell. “Ditzy,” he gasped out. “Ditzy, please...” He fell back to the ground as his vision swam, watching as Ditzy paused just beside the portal to look back at him.
She slowly lowered her gaze to the ground, no longer meeting Time Turner's eyes. “Take care of Sparkler for me,” she said at last, before turned back and stepping through the portal and vanishing.
The cloaked mare, still holding the unconscious filly in her grasp, hesitated as she stood beside the portal herself. “For what it's worth,” she finally said, “I really am sorry about all this. You'll thank me for it one day.”
Time Turner mustered as much of a glare as he could at the moment, still defiantly trying to call up some form of a spell. “I wouldn't count on that, if I were you.” His voice was level, barely even harsh enough to consider what he said a threat, but the mare still shivered as she looked into his eyes.
Shaking her head, the mare said no more and simply trotted into the portal, the symbol on the ground blasted away as the tear in space snapped shut behind her.
Several moments passed before the Still Time spell wore off, and it was another moment longer before Time Turner and Sparkler managed to get their hooves back under them.
“What are you waiting for?” Sparkler snapped at him, still a bit pale from what the mare had done. “Do your thing, pop back and–”
“I've been trying!” Time Turner's bellow rang out loud enough that several birds took flight in fear. “Don't you try and tell me you can't sense my echoes! Or feel the chronomancy I've cast at least five times now! The Still Time spell has set my time line in stone; those events are fixed and I can't alter them!”
“Then what's the bucking point of you?” Sparker shouted right back. “You useless, sick, freak! You failed! You let my mom and sister get taken away! Now they're going to die, or whatever they plan to do with Mom, and it's all your Luna damned fault! You fu–”
SMACK!
Sparkler's entire head was left spinning as Time Turner backhoofed her right across the face, even managed to draw a bit of blood from a cut lip.
“Enough!” he shouted, looking angry for the first time Sparkler could remember. “You don't like me, that's perfectly clear, but yelling at me will do neither of us any good, nor will it bring back you mother and sister. Do you understand me?”
Her ears still ringing, and her face still sore, Sparkler could only nod mutely as she stared, wide-eyed, at the stallion before her.
“Good. Now get ready to run.”
Blinking a few times as Time Turner turned away from her, Sparkler finally found her voice. “Run?”
“We're going to going to Canterlot,” he responded curtly. “Now, move.” He broke off into a gallop at high speed, leaving Sparkler in his wake for several moments before she finally managed to catch back up to him.
“Why are we going to Canterlot instead of trying to track down my mom?”
“If they went to all the trouble of getting a kidnapping set up, they're not going to leave a scrying spell overlooked. And even if you tried to summon Ditzy back to us, there's no telling what they'd do to Dinky if she's not there.”
Sparkler winced as she ran; she hated to admit it, but she had been thinking about doing just that, and Time Turner was all too right about the risks it posed to Dinky. “So, why Canterlot?”
“Remember what Ditzy said they asked her about? If we want information about Harpsichord, we might as well go right to source.”
Sparkler found herself losing any of the spare breath she had as she galloped after Time Turner. “You think they're just going to let you talk to someone like Harpsichord? After everything you've told me about him, only the paladins are going to have access to him!”
“I'm calling in an old favor the crown owes me; you can get a lot of ponies in your debt in nearly a millennium of living.” With that, the conversation finally ceased and Sparkler ran out of breath to talk, the only sounds coming from the pounding their hooves. Canterlot wasn't terribly far, and both of them had quite the reason to hurry on despite their bodies' eventual protests.
In the back of her mind, Sparkler found herself quietly praying to Luna to keep her mother and sister safe from harm, and that Time Turner's favor was still in good enough standing for this. She'd already lost one family in her life; she didn't want to lose this one, too.