Kronos sat at his chair in the control room and watched the fight between Laeyoon and his allies against Twilight and her friends. Noticing that Laeyoon and his allies were getting their arses handed to them, Kronos decided to take matters into his own hooves.
"Donkey!" he called out.
Cowardly Donkey quickly ran through into the control room as quick as his legs could carry him.
"Yes, master?" Cowardly Donkey asked anxiously.
"Would you kindly keep an eye on the seals in my absence? Oh, and summon more guards here while you're at it too."
"Right away, master!"
Kronos then made his way to the battle royale going on between the corridors of the ship. When he arrived, he quickly cast a spell that froze all of time. He looked at the still scene and noticed Laeyoon roaring at Twilight, Starlight shooting a blast of magic at Broonmark, Pierce being hit on the head with his own helmet by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Jaesa duelling Luna. He then casually trotted towards Luna and tapped her on the head to activate the spell that allowed Sanies to take control of her. And as he did so, he hummed a tune that sounded like a song that was about saving time in a bottle and what one would do with it. He then used his magic to levitate Starlight and carry her to one of the anti-magic chambers he has on the ship. As he sealed the chamber door and unpaused time, Starlight charged into one of the walls, thinking she was still in the battle. When she noticed her surroundings, she tried to use her magic, but with little result. Kronos walked over to a speaker attached to the chamber.
"Don't bother using your magic. This chamber was specifically made to stop anypony inside from using magic."
"If so, then why didn't you put us in one of these?" Starlight asked in a dry tone.
"Because, my little pony, I expect you and your friends to have better luck finding the seals than me and my forces have for months. All I had to do was manipulate events in a way that will have you and your friends steal one of my ships in an attempt to escape and then do a few subtle manipulations here and there to get you to land to where I would assume one of the seals would be. Complex, I know. But the last time I tried to get one of the seals on my own, it buggered off before I had the chance to catch it."
Kronos then tilted his head and looked at Starlight inquisitively.
"Have we met before?"
"What do you mean?"
"I swear I was trying to persuade a pony such as yourself to join my side. Let me think, where have I seen a face like yours before?"
It was another day of spying on Twilight and her friends as Starlight plotted her revenge. She hid in a bush and watched through her binoculars as they talked. Her hatred for them burned even more when she noticed they had the spirit of chaos and disharmony himself for a friend. How the Tartarus is that even possible? Although she did find some satisfaction in seeing Twilight's befuddlement. And then she heard a noise.
"Life's not fair, is it?" a male voice said.
Starlight turned around and noticed a grey bulky unicorn with a black slicked-back mane and a goatee. He also had a pair of yellow snake-like eyes and a cutie mark in the shape of a clock.
"Shh!" Starlight went at the unicorn "Could you keep it down?! I'm trying to figure out the source of their friendship!"
"Oh, don't worry. They're not going to hear you. I took the liberty of pausing time so we can have a private chat."
Starlight looked at Twilight and her friends and noticed they were paused in one position.
"Oh, but where are my manners?" the unicorn said "My name is Kronos. I am what is referred to as a Time-Turner. That means I specialize in magic that involves time travel."
"What do want from me?"
"Nothing much. I believe our goals align. Plus, just between the two of us, I don't like that Princess Twilight either."
Kronos opened up a portal with his magic, with the portal showing a translucent hallway with cogs and gears in the walls.
"I have something to show you. And trust me when I say you're going to like it."
Kronos then lead Starlight through the portal and into the cog-themed corridor. As they walked, they engaged in some small talk.
"I heard you're a fan of equality, Starlight."
"If anypony is different, then there's going to be arguments. And then they will start to hate each other. Or worse, somepony goes on a different path to you because of their differences!"
"I know the feeling. I used to have a friend I did stuff together with as well. We even had what appeared to be the same destiny. But sadly, there was one small difference between us that ended our friendship."
"What's that?"
"He had a conscience," Kronos said bitterly.
Starlight couldn't help but be unnerved by what Kronos had said. What did he mean by his friend having a conscience? Does that mean she's walking around with a sociopath? She may have done some things that haunt her dreams but they were all in the name of maintaining harmony. What did Kronos do that horrified his friend? But she quickly brushed it off. After all, being acquainted with Kronos is bound to be the lesser of two evils in comparison to being friends with Discord.
"What happened?" Starlight asked nervously.
"I'd rather not say. Wouldn't want anyone to think of our reasons for separating to be, oh I don't know, petty. Besides, I'm sure your reasons against differences are better than mine."
"I'd rather not get into it."
"What's the matter? Don't trust me?"
"I could ask the same about you."
"I trust you enough to know we have the same goals. Tell you what, you tell me your reasons and I'll tell you mine. Do we have a deal?"
Starlight then lowered her head and closed her eyes, trying to hold back tears.
"You really wanna know? Fine! I had a friend that did everything with me. I can't even remember a time where we were apart. But then he just had to get his cutie mark before I did! And then he got sent off to Canterlot, leaving me alone for the rest of my life!"
Kronos tried to stifle back laughter, only to let it all out and fall to the floor on his side.
"That's why you don't like cutie marks?! Because your friend had one before you did?! Oh, this is too good! Ha! And they say I'm petty."
Starlight levitated Kronos and angrily pinned him against the wall.
"It wasn't funny!" Starlight tearfully yelled out.
"But it is!" Kronos said while chortling "Clearly, you never asked your parents for playdates. Surely, they can make the trip to Canterlot. Or have you ever thought about sending him letters and postcards? There's a thing called "long-distance relationships", you know."
"Shut up!"
Starlight swung her hoof right into Kronos' jaw before doing so repeatedly, only stopping because she was slowly getting exhausted. She let Kronos go from her telekinetic grasp.
"I admit, I probably deserved that. After all, it's hard to make allies by taking the mick out their past. I mean, my friend suffered more than you ever did. But enough of that, let's continue."
Starlight then reluctantly followed Kronos to where he was leading her. If he turns out to be as bad as she suspects him of being, regardless if they have the same goals or not, she will not hesitate to turn on him. They then made it their destination, with Kronos opening a door to a room and letting Starlight inside. And what she saw confirmed everything she knew about Kronos.