Sunny watched with bated breath as Sandbar nosed through the pages. Her mind raced with possibilities
“Just a second…” Sandbar muttered, “It was somewhere around… Aha! Here! Got it! It’s a bit involved, so I’ll read it out for you...”
Sunny sat down and made herself as comfortable as she could on the mossy ground. Judging by Sandbar doing the same, minus the moss, it looked like this was going to be a bit of a read.
Temporal Tide
First observed in Côte-Du-Percheron, Prance, following the defeat of the Chaos Lord Discord in what would become Year 1 of the Diarchic Age, temporal tides are known to occur in times of great magical upheaval.
Sufficiently intense thaumic surges are known to cause fluctuations in the flow of time. In the case of islands and coastal cities, the resulting disruption can cause the course of chronal thaums—the magical components of time—to align with that of nearby aqueous thaums—the magical components of water. This alignment typically causes the course of time in a limited area to align with the flow of water.
At least, that was what Sunny was getting so far. Sandbar had tripped over some of the more complex words, but all in all, she’d been able to follow.
She wished she could know more about magic. Maybe if she could figure out where he was—or when, because that was a possibility now—she’d be able to do some reading and investigation of her own.
“You know…” Sunny smiled while Sandbar paused for a breath. “...you have a very nice voice for reading.”
Then, she buried her face in her hooves, blushing copiously.
… I can’t believe I just said that.
Thankfully, he couldn’t hear her now.
Unfortunately, he’d definitely hear tomorrow.
Temporal tides typically have two components, referred to as the Wave and the Tide:
The Tide is the more easily observed effect, which the phenomenon was named for. Typically coming between twice a day to once every three days, a visually anomalous tide will come to the coast. These visual anomalies have been theorized to stem from luminous thaums and ordinary minor debris being washed off to sea. Tides are not believed to present significant risk. The resulting disruption is not of sufficient magnitude to carry more than small debris, and the simple factors of dispersion and environment make the propagation of pathogens—disease and bacteria—all but impossible.
The Wave, however, is another matter entirely. Temporal waves, either preceded—Retrograde Temporal Tide—or followed—Anterograde Temporal Tide—by temporal tides are at the very core of the phenomenon, provoked directly by the initial impetus. Due to the risks involved and the rarity of the event, such waves have only been observed incidentally and from a distance. It is theorized by expert chronologists that their effects would be similar to their precursor or successor tides but to a much greater effect.
It is believed that the Early Andalusian monuments located near the coasts of Old Manehattan in Year 432—Diarchic Age…
“Wait, wait, wait,” she interrupted, losing track for a moment. “Diarchic Age?”
She’d never even heard of a Diarchic Age. It was just the Sisters’ age, then the Union Age, the Great Upheaval—that word again—, and finally the Earth Age, right?
Sunny shook her head, desperate to straighten her ideas out.
“Sandbar, what year is it for you?”
She’d have to wait tomorrow for the answer.
Sandbar closed the book and slumped a bit. “So… Hopefully you caught all that. I’m not too sure what some of this means, but if I’m understanding correctly, something big happened—or will happen—that’s making water and time flow together around this beach and cave.”
It was by far the best explanation Sunny had gotten, and judging by a little something she had in her bag, it was looking more and more credible.
“About this whole tide,” Sunny asked while he was putting the book away and catching his breath. She produced the Mustache Mousse lid out of her bag and made sure to hold it out between her hooves for Sandbar to see clearly. “Do you know anything about this? I found it on the beach on the first day I saw you, and it really doesn’t look like any brand I’ve ever heard of.”
“I have to leave a bit early today,” Sandbar replied. Yesterday. Because he couldn’t hear her right now. Oops. “It’s my little sister’s birthday and I have to help with the party. I’ll have more time tomorrow, so I’ll bring back this book and a few others I found. If you have some questions, feel free to ask, and I’ll answer them as best as I can. I’m pretty sure you’re wondering the same thing I am, so… It’s Year 1003 of the Celestial Age, though Canterlot—That’s where the Princesses are, if you don’t know—is talking about calling it year 3 of the Sisters Age.”
He looked down to his hooves, then nervously back at her. Did he dread her answer? “What year is it for you? Are you before, or after me? You’ve mentioned some stuff I’ve never heard of… but it seems like there’s not a lot of magic where you are. Is ‘where’ even right? When you are? Wow, that’s weird to say.”
Still pondering that conundrum, he gave a hesitant little hoof wave and left the cave. “See you tomorrow, Sunny.”
“Sandbar… You’re… In the Sisters’ Age? But that’s…” It was a Rockhoovian task just to think about it, never mind speaking it out loud. “That’s over six hundred years ago!”
That’s… that’s amazing. Think of all the things we can learn about back then! Maybe… Maybe…
Sunny briefly considered the possibility that they might be able to prevent the tribes from splitting up in the first place, but… The simple idea of it was so staggering it shut itself out of her mind.
Probably best to avoid mentioning the tribes splitting for now. If he truly was that far in the past, he didn’t need that looming over him, plus she was a little bit afraid of messing things up by saying too much. Could any of this change the flow of history? What would that even do?
She had questions. She had so many questions. Yet, faced with the opportunity to have any of them answered, there was a single front-runner to that race.
“Sandbar, would you read more history to me tomorrow? I don’t even know where to begin asking. Pick whatever you feel is most important. Anything you’re comfortable with. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have, but it would mean a lot to me if you’d keep going.”
Slowly, Sunny recovered from the shock of it all.
She had to get going, the day was still waiting for her, but…
Everything else was going to feel so mundane in contrast.
Maybe this once, just this once, she should take a break. She was still pretty sleepy.
Sunny unclasped her saddlebag and allowed it to roll off her side, before laying her head on it and tucking her forelegs under herself. The mossy floor wasn’t the comfiest thing, but the ocean’s song—the waves, the wind, the occasional seagull—was nice and soothing.
She hoped he’d agree to read to her again tomorrow. He had such a nice voice. It was calm and soothing, just like the sea. She bet he was all cool and collected when he wasn’t dealing with a once-in-a-lifetime magical occurrence. His was a voice that said “don’t worry”.
So she didn’t. There would be time for worries later. Right now, it was time for a nap.