“...and that is the history of the revolutionary syndicalist zone of Canterlonia. I’d certainly like to go into it in more depth, but then I’d be standing on a political soapbox that I’m sure not everyone here would appreciate.”
Sunset leaned forward as Dr. Turner finished his lecture. History was one of the subjects that she’d most been interested in since arriving in the human world, and Dr. Turner’s class had gone a long way in helping her understand the world that she’d found herself in. The class continued to fascinate her even after her ascension as the Spirit of Harmony: sure, she could just look back and see what had actually happened herself, even if it was sometimes difficult to make all of it out, but she still preferred to narrow her perceptions of time to something more-or-less linear whenever possible.
Dr. Turner glanced at his watch, and then glimpsed out the window, towards the clear springtime skies. “Well, it looks like we’ve finished exactly ten minutes and three... two seconds early. Since it’s such a lovely day out, I’ll go ahead and dismiss you. Don’t worry about the reading, we’ll cover it tomorrow.”
It didn’t take any further coaxing from Dr. Turner to get the entire class to pack up their books and scurry out of the room. It was seventh period and everyone was itching to return home, so much so that some pegasus-aspect students were already sprouting their wing-like magic as they dashed through the door. As Sunset left, she heard the distinctive sound of metal scraping against piano wire as Dr. Turner vanished. Where he went, she didn’t know, and his ability to disappear didn’t match up with any magic she’d known to exist. Pinkie Pie’s impossible movements almost made sense when thought of in terms of quantum waveforms, and Sunset had seen Ditzy Doo literally falling out of the universe into higher dimensions, but the enigmatic Doctor simply... disappeared.
This was certainly the strangest habit of his, but it wasn’t the only one. He’d always dismiss class between five to ten minutes before the bell, yet somehow never seemed to have any trouble fitting in a full lesson into that time. Even Twilight, who was initially horrified at the mere idea, had now gotten used to leaving class early. Sunset had first thought it was just a matter of Dr. Turner’s efficiency, and he certainly did like to talk fast, but it didn’t take long to realize it was something else. She still transcended time on some level, after all, and could perceive when something was wrong with it. The feeling was subtle enough that she had trouble noticing it between all of her other innumerable senses, but now it had become unmistakable.
Time was passing differently inside the classroom. Dr. Turner was manipulating time so his students could spend more of it outside class.
————————
The next day, Sunset had spent lunchtime explaining the situation to her six closest friends. It had taken some coaxing to shoo other students away from the table to hold a relatively private conversation, but she’d gotten used to that by now. At the very least, she’d managed to get people to stop referring to her usual seat as “the Holy Bench Space.”
“Chronomancy?” said Twilight. “Are you sure?”
“It’s the most reasonable explanation I can think of,” replied Sunset. “But I don’t get how an earth pony-aspect can have that kind of power. Pinkie Pie aside, I’ve never seen someone with abilities so far outside of their own aspect.”
Applejack raised her brow. “Ain’t you capable of perceiving time different from the way other folks do, though? Ah’m not sure how you could have gone so long without noticing.”
Sunset shook her head. “It’s not so simple. The time dilation effect is extremely subtle, easy for me to miss while spending so much effort shutting out my nonlinear time perceptions. I’d prefer not to see the entire history of the universe as just one big ball of timey-wimey stuff.”
Rainbow snickered slightly. “Timey-wimey? Really?”
Sunset shot Rainbow Dash a glare. “I think you know your brain isn’t capable of handling a full explanation of what I could see time as if I chose to. And that’s not an insult, information that complex would quite literally take up more storage space than the human brain can hold.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. I really don’t see why this is such a big deal.”
“Because it isn’t just the chronomancy,” said Sunset. “It’s the way he just vanishes. I can make sense of what Ditzy does. I can kind of make sense of what Pinkie does. I can even just barely make sense of what Mr. Discord does sometimes. But when he disappears? Nothing. If it’s magic, then I don’t think it’s a magic like anything that exists in our world or Equestria.”
The girls all shared another look with each other, anxiety working its way into the lines on their faces. Sunset could feel trepidation flooding into her chest, drawn from the bond she shared with her friends. Magical or not, empathy was certainly one of her strong points.
“Well darling, if this is such a concern, why don’t you ask Dr. Turner about it?” said Rarity.
Sunset sighed. “I’m planning to after class, but I somehow I don’t think I’ll be getting a straightforward answer.”
“Still, it’s gotta be worth a shot,” Applejack remarked. “Ain’t no harm in trying.”
Sunset shrugged. “No, I guess not. But if any of you say ‘what’s the worst that could happen,’ I swear to myself I’ll slap you.”
“Wow!” said Pinkie. “You’re really catching on! I mean, do you remember the last time I said that?”
“Unfortunately,” Sunset grumbled. She didn’t think it was possible for cake batter to stain her clothes in six different dimensions, but Pinkie had managed to do it.
The bell rang, and Sunset moved to clear her tray, before heading off to her next class.
————————
Dr. Turner’s lecture concluded just as it always did, but Sunset couldn’t rightly bring herself to pay attention. It was another lesson about the Esponish Civil War, most likely. Either way the class had once again ended early, and once again people had packed their bags and hustled outside the room.
Before Dr. Turner could disappear, however, Sunset turned around to face him. For some reason, she felt nervous just approaching him, even though by all means she shouldn’t have. Dr. Turner had never been anything but friendly in all circumstances, if a bit unglued at times.
“Ah, hello Sunset,” said Dr. Turner. “How can I help you?”
Sunset breathed in deeply, then exhaled, letting her body’s tension loosen. “Dr. Turner. I... I wanted to ask you about something. About your magic. I’m pretty sure you’ve been using time magic to give us all more time to spend outside class. Am I crazy?”
Dr. Turner’s toothy grin glinted under the fluorescent lighting. “No, not at all. In fact, I dare say you’ve got it spot on. I’m honestly surprised you didn’t notice sooner, considering what you are now.”
Sunset flushed. “I, uh, prefer to see time from a normal perspective whenever I can.”
“Well, that’s awfully boring, isn’t it?” said Dr. Turner. “I don’t quite like the idea of being so limited, myself. I take it you’re wondering how an earth pony-aspect like me can use that kind of magic, is that correct?”
Sunset’s body jostled mildly. “Wha—boring? Excuse me? What exactly do you know about that? Are you saying you can perceive nonlinear time?”
“Not exactly,” said Dr. Turner. “But I do like to think of ways around the restrictions of my own perceptions.”
“Ugh, whatever,” said Sunset. “The important thing is, I don’t get how your magic can exist. And considering I’m more or less responsible for maintaining all of the magic in this world, you can understand why that has me concerned. I need to know. And I also need to know how you keep managing to disappear off the face of the universe.”
To Sunset’s surprise, Dr. Turner’s face folded into a frown. “Well, no offense to someone as important as you, but I don’t rightly think that’s your place to know.”
“And why not?” said Sunset. “I’m the one that’s holding this entire universe together, aren’t I?”
“Not everything is about this universe, Sunset,” Dr. Turner replied. “I’ve my own matters to attend to, and because of my circumstances I’m not too keen on letting anyone know what exactly they are. Probably more than a little bit paranoid of me, but if I were you I’d avoid trying to press the issue further. But I do promise you, nothing I’m doing is of any threat to you or this world.” His frown faded, and his usual cheerful grin returned as though it had never left. “But enough about that! It’s a very nice day today. Why don’t you go and spend some time outside with your friends?”
“You know what? Fine,” Sunset relented. “Just forget the whole thing. I don’t care.” She turned around, slung her backpack around her shoulder, and walked away in a huff. Just as she was about to pass through the door frame, however, she heard it. The same metallic sound, the same sound of scraping wire. The same sound of Dr. Turner disappearing, vanishing to who-knows-where.
Sunset’s fingers tensed briefly. Curiosity burned inside of her chest. She couldn’t let it go. She had to know just what Dr. Turner was doing, and where he was going.
Plan B it was, then. Sunset focused inward on her power, and the gem on her forehead pulsed with magic. Her human body vanished in a flash of light, and her consciousness shifted, her attention moving to the space outside of the boundaries of the universe. There, Sunset could see infinity.
Countless bubbles of light and color surrounded her, each a world of its very own. Tree-like structures sprouted from most of them, their branches connecting and weaving into each other in a canopy of crystalline magic that spread across the space between spaces.
And then, above her own universe, was Sunset herself. A human mind might say that she resembled herself as a human, her impossibly vast torso sticking out from the edge of her own universe, with more than a dozen arms snaking out in more than three dimensions, patching the cracks in the universe’s edges. In truth, this was merely a mental representation that any mortal mind gazing upon her would construct to fully make sense of what it was seeing. She was something bigger, something even she couldn’t fully find a way to explain. While it took most of her power to heal the fissures in the fabric of the universe, she’d found herself quickly settling into auto-pilot, not really needing to give the task her entire attention. This allowed her to condense and narrow her perceptions into a mostly-human body, which was the closest thing she could have to living a normal life.
Of course, that wasn’t why she’d decided to move her attention back to the outside, to the probability space that made up the interstice of all of known reality. When Ditzy stumbled outside the three-dimensional space of the universe, Sunset could usually see where she went just beyond the universe’s edge. But Dr. Turner had no such path. Not one that Sunset could track while she was focusing her mind into human existence. She had to turn to her full, unrestrained sight of the multiverse. She didn’t enjoy doing it, but it was the only way she could think to find an answer.
What she saw was not what she expected. There, trailing from the universe she maintained, was a thin ribbon of magic that she immediately recognized as Dr. Turner’s essence. It moved outside the universe, which was unsurprising, but what was much more surprising was where it moved to. Sunset believed that as the Spirit of Harmony, she could perceive all dimensions, even the ones that mortal minds couldn’t comprehend. But clearly that was not the case. Somehow, Dr. Turner was moving in a direction that even a mind as great as hers couldn’t wrap itself around. He was moving beyond probability space.
Somehow, Dr. Turner was moving outside of the multiverse.
What Sunset felt next could be called curiosity, anxiousness, or foolishness. It didn’t really matter, all that mattered was that she couldn’t leave what she was seeing alone. She hesitantly reached out towards Dr. Turner’s essence and touched it as it passed hoping she could feel where it was going...
...And then her focus was promptly yanked back into the universe. She found herself back inside her own body, though this time she was no longer in Dr. Turner’s classroom, but just outside the front entrance of Canterlot High. She barely stood up on two feet, her head spinning as her legs wobbled beneath her. As she regained her balance, she looked up to see Dr. Turner glaring at her. His brow was heavily creased, and his frown hovered somewhere between anger and disappointment.
“...You really, really shouldn’t have done that, you know.”
“Ugh...” Sunset clutched her forehead by the jewel, trying to keep it from spinning. “Done what?”
A sudden rumbling in the air gave her an answer, followed by a rumbling of the earth. She stumbled as the ground beneath her shook violently, threatening to sweep her off her feet. Her knees buckled, and she could distinctly hear the sound of shattering glass windows behind her.
And then the sky tore itself open.
It came with a sound like reality itself unzipping its pants, and then a sound that wasn’t even a sound at all. A cacophonous silence, a silence so loud that it was nearly deafening. The hole appeared in the sky, a rift in the very underlying fabric of reality itself, beyond which was a void so black that the darkest of midnights looked absolutely blinding by comparison. Then, after growing to roughly the size of a football field, it stopped.
Sunset felt terror clutch at her heart. “W-what is that?”
“A time rift,” said Dr. Turner. “You see Miss Shimmer, the multiverse you know is vast, boundless even, but it doesn’t encompass all of reality. All of probability space, every single one of the infinite number of Equestrian worlds normally accessible through multiversal travel, are all contained within a single cosmological body known as a time stream. There are infinitely many time streams, and the result is a reality so vast that it’s literally impossible for even an omnipotent, omniscient being to understand it all. I just so happen to have invented a means of traveling between time streams, but it’s a very precise and dangerous form of magic.”
Sunset gulped. She realized the hole in the sky wasn’t actually in the sky at all. Looking outward from the universe, she could see the hole, much larger, just outside her own world. It wasn’t the size of a football field, in fact it didn’t truly have a size at all, but it always appeared to be the same proportion to her own size no matter how big she was.
“A-and by interrupting your trip between time streams?”
“You created a time rift,” Dr. Turner said matter-of-factly. “Now, let’s not panic just yet. I still believe it’s possible to repair it, but it will take some finagling. While I don’t know what time stream it leads to, I don’t believe it’s likely that something especially dangerous will come out of it...” He paused, his eyes widening briefly. “...Oh, dear. I just went and jinxed it, didn’t I? I might as well have just gone ahead and said ‘what’s the worst that could hap—’”
A sudden jolt ran down Sunset’s spine. “No, don’t say it!”
There was an unearthly noise, and a mass of immense purple tentacles violently burst through the time rift.
Dr. Turner inhaled sharply. “Ah. That’s probably not good.”
————————
Outside of the universe, in the space between worlds, Sunset struggled against the incomprehensible being that assaulted the realm that she protected. A giant fleshy thing, so large that it absolutely dwarfed her by comparison. If a mortal mind were to look upon it, it might look like giant, mountain-sized mass with a distinct bilateral symmetry, fleshy lattices growing within a deep cleft in the front, and a writhing mass of hundreds of gargantuan purple tentacles. What Sunset saw was not that, but the abomination’s entire being, an entire body where others in lower dimensions would see nothing but a single part.
The eldritch monster lashed out with its tentacles, wrapping itself around Sunset’s existence in ways that she couldn’t rightly describe in words. The monster let out beastly howl that reverberated through the interstice as she struck it with something that might have almost been an analogue to a fist. (Again, it was difficult to describe in words.)
So much of her efforts were spent pushing back against the monster, slamming her attacks into it with literally world-shattering force, that she could no longer focus her attention towards patching up the cracks in the universe she embodied. Slowly, yet surely, they began to widen.
————————
Back within the boundaries of the world, Sunset doubled over, clutching her head in pain. Screams echoed in her eardrums as the students of Canterlot High scattered. Above them, the tentacles continued to push their way through the rift, slowly but surely extending closer to the ground. It would not be long before they were close enough to reach the city.
Sunset doubled over and clutched her head in pain. “I... I can’t hold the universe together like this! Not while it’s attacking! What do I do?”
Dr. Turner winced. “Oh, dear. That could be a problem, couldn’t it?”
“I-I...” Sunset could barely speak through her trembling body, and she couldn’t concentrate on her magic enough to speak telepathically.
Dr. Turner reached out with a hand. “Here, let me help. I’m not strong enough to defeat this, not on my own. But if you let me channel your magic, I’ll be able to hold it back until we can work out a solution.”
Sunset nodded, feeling a thick lump in her throat. She sucked in as much air as possible, and reached out to grab Dr. Turner’s hand. Screwing her eyes shut, she concentrated as much magic as she could through the abomination’s stifling grip on her, and pushed a small sliver of it into Dr. Turner’s body. She didn’t dare think to give anything close to her full power, no human could possibly handle it.
Yet what she gave was more than enough. Dr. Turner’s body glowed with a golden light, and he held out a hand towards the descending tentacles. Then, all at once, they stopped. Immediately the horror’s continued assault on Sunset faded away, until she could no longer feel it battering against herself and the walls of the universe. It was still there, awaiting just outside the boundaries of three-dimensional space, but it was no longer making any further attempts to reach into it.
Sunset stood up, breathing out heavily. The threat of the abomination had not ended, but she still felt the tension in her chest fade away. She was already holding the universe together once more, already working to patch up more of the cracks in its shell.
Sunset stood up and stared at Dr. Turner. “What did you do?”
“I put it to sleep,” Dr. Turner responded. “I’m obviously not strong enough to do that to a being that immense on my own, so I needed you to lend me your own power. It won’t last forever, though.”
“R-right,” said Sunset. “But how are we going to deal with this?”
Dr. Turner’s eyes drifted grew distant, looking as though deep in thought, if only for a moment. “Not to worry, I have a plan. Now you listen closely, Sunset, because it is of vital importance that you follow these steps as exactly as possible. First, go find Mr. Discord and tell him to make me an effigy. It doesn’t matter what it’s an effigy of, but it absolutely must be fragile. Brittle enough to shatter into pieces easily. Take that effigy and give it to me.”
Sunset nodded. “Will do. What else?”
“Go to Ravnica High and find a student named Domri Rade,” said Dr. Turner. “Though he isn’t aware of it currently, he possesses something deep within his soul that’s the only thing I know to be capable of mending a time rift.”
Sunset blinked. “Wait, what? Why him? Couldn’t I mend them myself?”
Dr. Turner raised an eyebrow. “And do you know how to do that?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Exactly,” said Dr. Turner. “Now go on, there’s no time to waste.”
Sunset sighed. She decided it wasn’t a time to argue. “Alright, fine.” With a flash of her forehead gem, she teleported away.
————————
Sunset teleported straight into the center of Mr. Discord’s laboratory (now called the Alright Maybe It Is A Human Testing Installation But Just Try Prying It From My Cold, Dead Hands, or AMIIAHTIBJTPIFMCDH for short). She never quite knew what to expect whenever she set foot inside, but what she saw was... something else.
Gagged with a cloth and strapped to an operating table was Miss Cheerilee. A variety of sensors were placed on her body, each connected to a large, beeping machine by a wire. Mr. Discord stood by the machine, wearing his usual mismatched, vaguely lab-coat-ish outfit, observing the readings carefully. Sunset didn’t want to think too hard about the fact that Cheerilee seemed to be enjoying it.
Cheerilee blushed deeply as Sunset approached. Mr. Discord turned around, his eyes briefly going wide, before breaking out into a very characteristically Discord-like grin. “Ah, hello Sunset! Don’t mind us, we’re simply going doing a bit of testing on magical output. Perfectly consensual, not to worry.”
“Getting dangerously close to too much information there,” Sunset remarked. “Anyway, I need your help. There’s this gigantic reality-breaking eldritch monster attacking, and Dr. Turner says we’ll need an effigy to deal with it. A brittle one, for some reason.”
Mr. Discord scratched his chin. “A brittle one? Hmm... Yes, I think I can search one up for you. Well, probably.”
“Probably?” said Sunset. “What do you mean probably? This isn’t the time for uncertainty! The universe is in danger!”
Mr. Discord gave Sunset a very cheeky smirk. “Chaos magic is always a gamble, my little apotheon. I have just the spell that can find your effigy, but it may just end up discarding it instead.”
Sunset’s arms tensed by her sides. She inhaled deeply through her nostrils, then exhaled through her mouth. “...Fine, whatever. Just do it. But if it doesn’t work, I’m blaming you when the world is destroyed.”
“As you wish, Your Most Exalted Holiness,” Mr. Discord said, giving an extremely insincere little bow. He snapped his fingers, and a spinning wheel appeared hovering upright beside him, like a miniature Wheel of Fortune. The wheel was divided into seven slices, six of which were labeled ‘effigy’ and one of which was labeled ‘bankrupt,’ and a single arrow on the top that fit between the wheel’s pegs. With a swipe of his hand, the wheel began to spin, clicking rapidly as the arrow passed each of the spaces. “Round and round and round it goes! Where it stops... well, you know the saying.”
Sunset bit her fingernails as the wheel spun, gradually slowing down. When it began nearing a stopping point, her heart sank into the pit of her stomach as the arrow hovered briefly over the ‘bankrupt’ space. Just as it looked like it would finally stop, the wheel slowly began turning in the opposite direction, before landing on the space just next to ‘bankrupt.’
A sigh of relief escaped from Sunset’s lips. Another flash, and the wheel was gone. Mr. Discord now held in his hand a small, gleaming, delicate crystal sculpture with a golden light trapped inside of it. Its base was made of purest silver and gold, and attached to it by a chain was a tiny golden hammer etched with shifting magic runes. The sculpture itself, Sunset realized, was shaped like a strikingly familiar middle-aged woman.
“Wait,” said Sunset. “Is that Principal Cinch?”
“Never let it be said that I’m above being petty,” said Mr. Discord. “Now, I do believe you have a universe to be saving. Best you let Cheerilee and I continue our little experiment in privacy, hmm?”
Sunset’s eyes darted briefly to Miss Cheerilee’s bound figure. Her face flushed, and she grabbed the effigy as quickly as she could without breaking it, before teleporting away.
————————
Ravnica High was... diverse, to say the least. Not just in the sense that it had students of all colors and aspects, but in that there were students there of every imaginable size, shape, personality, interest, hobby, political outlook, or anything else. It was a wonder that Principal Mizzet ever managed to keep anything resembling order, though Sunset had heard that the Vice Principal was the one who really held everything together.
The school, a strange construct of pseudo-Gothic architecture, had only just dismissed its final classes as Sunset teleported just before the front entrance. Most of the students outside had continued to stand, gaping at the hole in the sky and the motionless tentacles emerging from it, but a few of them immediately turned their attention to her. More worshipers, most likely. Annoying, but they could prove to be useful.
“Alright!” Sunset called out. “Does anyone here know where I can find someone named Domri? It’s important!”
A swarm of raised hands erupted from the students. Sunset reached up with an arm and pointed to one at random, a very weird-looking unicorn aspect whose blue skin shifted and bubbled like liquid. Sunset figured it was just a trick of the light, but she’d worry about that later. “Yes, you.”
“I believe he’s currently out in the fields,” said the student. “He usually spends his spare time beside the groundskeeper’s shed.”
“Thank you,” said Sunset. Her gem pulsed with magic, and she found herself standing in the school’s fields.
Ravnica High, she realized, didn’t do a very good job of keeping their fields looking presentable. The sidewalks leading into it were so cracked and broken that they were practically entirely rubble, and weeds and underbrush dominated most of the outdoor space, with only barely enough of it kept trimmed to maintain working athletic facilities. And just in front of her, covered in a spider-web of leafy vines, was the groundskeepers’ shed. Sitting with his back against the shed’s wall was a student she presumed to be Domri.
Domri was a very scrawny-looking kid, most likely only a freshman, and quite possibly the purest distillation of ‘punk’ that Sunset had ever laid eyes upon. His skin was a brownish color, and he was most likely an earth pony aspect, though it was difficult to tell for certain with the thick layer of grime covering his fingertips. His black hair was shaved into a crude mohawk, he wore tight-fitting denim jeans that were so torn that they had to have violated some dress code, and he wore a cheap brown jacket stuck with pins and buttons of various radical environmentalist groups. At least it had presumably once been a jacket: numerous patches were haphazardly sown into it to keep it from falling apart, so much so that it was more a conglomeration of ripped-up T-shirts than anything else.
A ratty-looking stray cat lay within Domri’s gently stroking hands, only to jump away and flee when Sunset approached. He turned and shot Sunset a glare. “Hey, what gives?”
“No time to explain,” said Sunset. “You’re coming with me. I need you to help me save the universe.”
Domri frowned. “And why should I do that?”
“Excuse me?” said Sunset. “Exactly what part of ‘save the universe’ did you not understand?”
Domri shook his head. “No, not that. I mean why should I do something just because you told me to? Because you’re some kind of god or something? I don’t know a lot about religion, but anything with a god bossing people around sounds like a pretty bad religion to me.”
Sunset threw her arms into the air. “Forget about religion! And stop calling me a god! Now come on!” She lunged forward and immediately seized Domri by the arm.
“W-what? Hey! Ho! Let go!”
Sunset ignored Domri’s plea, and promptly carried the boy with her as she teleported away.
————————
Sunset arrived just before the entrance to Canterlot High, gently cradling the effigy in her hands. As she appeared, Dr. Turner’s eyes brightened visibly.
And then, immediately afterward, Sunset arrived carrying Domri in tow.
“Whoa,” said Domri breathlessly. “There’s two of you?” Both Sunsets turned to face him.
“Now’s really not the time—”
“—to be limiting myself to just one body.”
Dr. Turner coughed. “Much as I would like to fully explore the metaphysical implications of being able to exist in two different places at once, I believe we have a job to do. Sunset, the effigy, if you will?”
The body that was holding the effigy handed it to Dr. Turner. Now that she no longer needed it, Sunset dismissed it back into nothing, her physical presence in the world now limited to just one avatar.
“Thank you,” said Dr. Turner. “Now then, let’s take care of the most pressing matter first.” Grasping the base of the crystal sculpture in his hand, he gently picked up the tiny hammer attached to it. Sunset felt a pulse of unfamiliar mana as Dr. Turner struck the effigy, and the crystal shattered into a million tiny pieces, each of which vanished into thin air.
Then, all at once, an immensely powerful force of magic burst from the base where the sculpture had stood. Golden light erupted and shot towards the sky, higher and higher, until it reached out to a space higher than the dimensions of the universe itself. The light spread itself outward and upward, enveloping the entirety of the tentacled horror, both inside the universe and out.
And then, when the light faded, the monster was gone, leaving behind nothing but an empty time rift.
Sunset’s jaw hung loose. “Did you—”
“It’s not dead,” Dr. Turner hurriedly replied. “You can’t really kill a cosmic-level force of planar destruction and rebirth, at least not permanently. It will likely reconstitute its form after a few eons, but the important thing is that it’s no longer immediately threatening to our world. The only thing left is to seal the time rift so it doesn’t come back to this time stream once it revives itself.”
“So how do we do that?” said Sunset.
“Ah, well...” Dr. Turner looked at Domri, cringing slightly. “Domri, I just want to say in advance that I am really, truly sorry for what I’m about to do here.”
Domri’s eyes went wide. “What? What are you—”
Dr. Turner pushed his arm forward, and a powerful magic surged from between his fingertips. A thin, transparent bubble surrounded Domri’s body, and all at once his body went perfectly still. Sunset’s eyes widened in recognition. He had trapped Domri within a bubble of distorted time.
“What are you doing!?” said Sunset
“Forcing his spark to ignite,” Dr. Turner shot back. “And you’re in no position to be acting upset with me, since you’re the one that got us into this mess to begin with. I will tell you, I am only doing this because what I am doing is necessary to save the universe.”
“And your solution is to trap him within some kind of time-altering stasis bubble? With all due respect, Dr. Turner, are you out of your mind!?”
“I am aware that my actions are not particularly ethical, Sunset Shimmer,” said Dr. Turner, “but I do recall you’ve used some fairly unethical mind-altering magic on a global scale to prevent a nuclear apocalypse. What I am doing here is hardly any worse than what you’ve already done.”
Sunset felt as though she had been punched in the gut. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Dr. Turner was right. “I... Alright. Fine. Just promise me he won’t be hurt.”
Dr. Turner’s lips curved up into a smile. “He’ll be alright. Just keep an eye out for him on the outside, because he’s going to be leaving the universe shortly. Make sure you grab him and pull him back in as he does.”
Another pulse of chronomantic energy came from Dr. Turner’s hand, and then Domri’s body exploded with power. It was like an ignition of purest magic, akin an electrical current that surged outward with the combined energy of a hundred power plants. And then, she saw it. Not with her human body, but with her full existence outside the world itself. A being that could only have been Domri burst from the bubble-like boundary of the universe, rocking outward in a trajectory that would lead him to another world. Sunset quickly reached out, grabbed him, and placed him back within the universe.
A flash of red and green light, and Domri was once again standing beside Sunset outside Canterlot High. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath from the sudden shock of leaving and then re-entering the universe. “W-what the fuck did you just do to me? I feel like I’ve been hit by a freight train!”
“Again, I’m really, really, truly sorry about this,” Dr. Turner said. His reassurance didn’t do much to calm Domri down. “I promise I’ll make it up to you later, but for now the important thing is you have exactly what we need. Hold still.”
Dr. Turner held out a hand towards Domri, and little arcs of magical energy danced between his fingertips. Domri’s chest glowed for a moment, and he stumbled back for a bit as a bright, sparking mote of purest magic pulled itself out of his torso. With another motion of his hand, Dr. Turner directed the glowing object upwards. It flew at his command, flying up and outwards, flying far above the normal boundaries of space.
Then the spark reached the time rift, and the time rift disappeared. There was no sound, no flash of light, nothing to signify anything magical had happened. It had simply been there, until a moment later it was not.
“Whoa,” said Domri. “What just happened?”
“I saved the universe, I believe,” said Dr. Turner. “Of course, I couldn’t have done it without your help. Again, sorry for having to put you through that, but I do believe everyone in this universe owes you some gratitude now. I promise I’ll compensate you for being such a good sport.”
“You know what, I don’t care,” said Domri. “Just don’t put me through that again.” A snort escaped from his nostrils, and he stormed off, his feet stamping loudly against the ground.
“I’ll admit, I still don’t know what exactly that spark thing was,” said Sunset. “How’d you know Domri would have it?”
The corners of Dr. Turner’s lips slowly curved upwards. “I may have met someone like him before.”
“Well, in any case, thanks,” Sunset replied. “I just wish you’d just told me about the whole time rift thing before, though. I’m pretty sure I would have understood.”
Dr. Turner’s pupils dilated momentarily. “Ah, right. Of course, that would have probably been wiser in hindsight. This is why I like having a companion around, it helps keep me grounded.”
“It’s fine,” said Sunset. “I’m just glad everything worked out.”
————————
The next day, Sunset had been sure to pay as much attention as possible to Dr. Turner’s history lesson. The Second World War was very far from a pleasant subject to cover, even less so now that she represented the antithesis of everything that war was, but she knew it was necessary to understand. Another such conflict could well happen in the future, and she wanted to know how it could start, and what she could do to prevent it.
“Now then, before I dismiss you, there is one matter I wanted to discuss with all of you.” Dr. Turner’s eyes scanned the classroom. “You’ve all been wonderful learners, and I couldn’t be happier to have you as my students. That said, like all good things, it must eventually come to an end. After this year, I’ll be retiring from teaching.”
Confused murmurs immediately broke out among the classroom. Sunset felt something bubbling up within her stomach, something she somehow knew was coming, yet never wanted to acknowledge.
Trixie’s hand shot up. “Is this about that giant tentacled thing yesterday?”
“Or that student you trapped in some sort of weird bubble?” Ditzy spoke up. “I heard you got in trouble for that.”
Dr. Turner chuckled slightly to himself. “No, nothing like that. I’ve been planning this for a long time now, actually. I’ve done a lot of things in my life, but I believe it’ll be time for me to settle down soon. In any case, I’m glad I had the opportunity to get to know you all.”
More confused murmurs came forward, but then they were interrupted by something unexpected. The final bell of the day, the one that was supposed to end seventh period. Sunset didn’t ever recall hearing it before Dr. Turner dismissed class himself.
“Oh dear, I’d forgotten about that!” said Dr. Turner. “I suppose it’s been more difficult to keep track of time with all the excitement from yesterday still fresh on our minds. I’ve kept you here long enough, so consider class dismissed.”
As the students flowed out of the door, Sunset stayed behind. As she turned to approach Dr. Turner, the sunlight shining through the windows glinted off his hourglass lapel.
“Hello, Sunset, how can I help you?”
Sunset’s head lowered slightly. “You’re really retiring, huh?”
“That’s correct,” said Dr. Turner. “It’s been fun, but I don’t rightly think I can keep doing this forever.”
Sunset looked Dr. Turner straight in the eyes. There was something alien about them now, something she was absolutely certain wasn’t from the reality she knew. “Is it because you’re leaving this time stream?”
“That I am,” Dr. Turner replied. “You must understand, Sunset, I’m not strictly even supposed to be here. It’s very dangerous business, crossing time streams the way I have. Besides, I’ve lived for a long, long time. Not as long as a being like you will, but many times longer than any ordinary human would live. When I return home, I don’t plan to be living for much longer.”
Sunset was taken aback. “You... you want to die?”
“Not in the sense you’re probably thinking of,” Dr. Turner replied. “I’m not tired of being alive or anything, I’m simply perfectly willing to accept that I’ve accomplished nearly everything my life was meant to accomplish. I’ve spent many centuries building a legacy of my own, and I hope that it will one day make a lasting difference in my world.”
“Right... of course,” said Sunset. Her muscles felt heavy with sorrow. She hadn’t known much of Dr. Turner, but his class was always her favorite.
“Come on now, chin up,” Dr. Turner reassured. “There’s no reason to be sad after I’m gone. You transcend time, after all. Not only will I be kept alive in your memory for all eternity, you’ll always be able to look back and experience all our time together over again.”
Sunset sighed. “Yeah... I guess you’re right. It’s just... I don’t know. I really don’t know how to feel about it.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” said Dr. Turner. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be going. I’m a very busy man, and I have someone waiting for me besides. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”
With his signature grinding noise, the enigmatic history teacher faded out of view, disappearing from the time stream. A smile crept its way across Sunset’s face.
“Thank you, Dr. Turner. It was nice getting to know you.”