“Good afternoon, Spike! I’ve come to return these.” Dr. Hooves says, stepping into the Golden Oak Library.
“Oh, hey Doctor,” Spike replied, “I’ll take em, thanks.”
“I’m sorry for being overdue on returning them, it ended up being a… harder project than I first believed.”
“That’s no biggie. You did bring them back and all.”
Soon, the large stack of books were handed to Spike. How the tiny dragon could handle that many books with ease was a question Time Turner couldn’t help but wonder.
“Hello, Mr. Turner!” Twilight said as she walked down the library stairs. “Did you succeed with that personal project you had?”
Dr. Hooves tried to keep a smile, but after multiple weeks of no progress, he was struggling to keep it up. “I am… afraid not, but that is alright, I will be trying some new ideas instead!”
“That’s good to hear that you haven’t given up on… well whatever it is you’re doing.” Twilight smiled.
“On that, actually, may I poke your brain for a moment, Miss Sparkle? I had a question regarding magic that I hope you may have an answer for.”
A new chance to lecture and teach magic? It was to nopony’s surprise that Twilight jumped at the opportunity, approaching the Doctor with a big grin. “Absolutely! What were you hoping to learn about?”
“It was in regards to a hypothetical, if you do not mind. Say that a pony had a spell cast upon them, and that spell was sustained by the one who casted it upon them. How would one go about dispelling the spell that was cast?”
Twilight thought about his hypothetical situation, tapping her chin as the ideas ran through her head. “Hmm, the simplest answer is to use a dispel enchantment upon the pony who casted it. However, not every unicorn is capable of dispelling magic.”
“I see, does that mean there are, possibly, more mundane methods to break a spell?”
“Yes, indeed! Some spells are harder to break than others, but with the right circumstances, it can be done. A spell that affects the mind can be dispelled by knocking the pony affected unconscious, for example. Not every spell can be dispelled in such ways, however. It would really be a case by case basis.”
The answers Twilight gave him were mulled over. She couldn’t quite tell if he was satisfied with what she had said, but it was clear she told him something that caught his interest. Maybe, just maybe, this would be her opportunity. She turned around, and saw that Spike was still busy shelving. He wouldn’t question what she said while he was busy. Twilight looked back at Time Turner, and took the chance while she had it.
“Does this have anything to do with the time travel project you were working on, Mr. Turner?”
He looked up in surprise, as if she wasn’t supposed to connect those dots. “In a way, yes, but again, it’s purely theoretical interest.”
“I understand, and how has High Rise been doing?”
“Quite alright, I didn’t know you had any interest in the lad?”
“Nothing more than simple conversation.” Twilight smiled. “You’ve been friends since Trottingham High, it must be nice to have an old friend here in Ponyville with you.”
He was apprehensive in his response. Taking the time to carefully choose his words. Even Twilight could see that. “Yes, indeed. It has been quite nice to reconnect.”
“That is great, and what ab-“
“Hey, Twi, can I get some help over here?” Spike asked, the last book in his hands needed to go on a shelf he couldn’t reach. Twilight’s horn glowed and the book levitated from Spike’s grasp to its spot on the shelf. She didn’t need to look back at him to complete the spell.
“Thanks, what were we talking about now?” He asked after climbing down the ladder.
“Just some small talk, Spike. Nothing important.”
“Quite, unfortunately I must get going. Thank you for your time, Miss Sparkle, and thank you for your assistance as well young man.”
Dr. Hooves then departed the library. Twilight noted how guarded the doctor had become when she began questioning him. She didn’t ask any hard hitting questions, but it was clear he was hiding something. The questions he had for her left her interested as well. A fascination with time travel fits with Time Turner’s interests already, but the sudden interest in magic? Dispelling magic was a difficult skill that most unicorns struggle with, what could an earth pony like him want to dispel?
“You’re zoning out again, Twilight.”
“Oh! Sorry Spike, let’s get back to it.”
Before they could get back to it, a knock came at the door.
Knock… Knock-Knock Knock
“Twilight? It’s Ditzy! I have your mail.”
There were always some days where you wondered how you got into the situation you did. This was one of them for High Rise. Sitting next to Crescent Sun as they watched the scene unfolding before them.
“We must destroy Discord!” A noble stallion in the crowd of ponies exclaimed. “Find him and evaporate every atom!”
“If we destroy Discord, how are we going to find the Princess?!” Another noble bit back. “When Discord is found, he must be captured, and tortured for the location of her highness!”
“That is enough!” A new, more powerful voice rose above the cacophony. The tallest pony in the room, a pink alicorn with flowing multicolored mane of pink, purple and cream. On her flank was the cutie mark of a crystal heart. She was Princess Cadance, ruler of the Crystal Empire and temporary ruler of Equestria.
Princess Cadance was also not very happy.
“To think that this group of nobles would fall so far! Death and torture for a longtime friend of Equestria? What monsters have you become in my sister-in-law's absence?!”
Most of the room fell silent, but a few of the nobles present were especially confident in themselves. “A long time friend who has foalnapped our ruler! Are we to take this lying down, Princess?”
“I would advise you to not forget yourself, High Lady Blueblood.” Cadance’s rage at the crowd was now pointed solely at the mare who thought to speak back at her. Even somepony as haughty as Blueblood realized when she should stop talking.”
“You all know that none of us truly understand what happened one year ago. None of us know why both Princess Twilight Sparkle and Discord have disappeared. I, out of anypony present today, feel their absence the most. A trusted friend of the royal family, and my sister, both gone. Assumptions about who or what is to blame will not solve anything!”
High Rise finally remembered exactly why he was there. Today would be the day Crescent Sun would attempt the new modified time travel spell. She had wanted her best friend to stay by his side, and that included the court meeting that she had to participate in. To say that he felt out of place among the elites of Canterlot was an understatement. He wore a bow tie, but he still felt underdressed!
A drummer like him had no place alongside royalty.
“Know that we tirelessly search for the missing Princess, and we shall continue this search following the example Princess Celestia and Luna had set when they first founded Equestria. You are all dismissed.”
According to Crescent, a lot of court meetings ended like this. With very little policy discussion, and far too much outrage and hostility. Even the Princess of Love was finding it difficult to keep her patience with them. She had to leave her home and her daughter in the Crystal Empire, Princess Flurry Heart took the reins of her home while she was gone. High Rise couldn’t imagine the kind of pain Cadance was in, having only lost her husband a few years before that, and now unable to see her own daughter.
“Crescent Sun, I hope that you will have better things to discuss than they did,” Princess Cadance said as she approached the two. High Rise instinctively brought himself down low before her.
“Oh? And who is this?” She asked when she saw him bow.
“This is my best friend, High Rise, and I do have great news. Everything is in place.”
“That is good, you may rise, High Rise.” Cadance held back a snort at the double use of rise. Sometimes you had to find humor in the little things.
“Thank you, y-your highness, ma’am, miss.” This moment was a reminder for High Rise, about how nervous he became in front of an alicorn. He had only once before met an alicorn, and their intimidating grace left him stumbling over his words. He felt like a rat in front of cat.
“Will he be with us when you attempt this new spell, Crescent?”
“Yes, if that is alright, your highness.”
“It is, I can understand the wish to have a friend at your side. Especially in times such as these.”
High Rise remembered the warmth that emanated off of Cadance in that moment. If he truly focused, he could feel it even now. The compassion she had for others was truly limitless. It almost eased the tension that he felt standing before her, almost.
“Let us waste no time then.” Princess Cadance stepped away from the two, moving towards a nearby hallway. “Today is the day we bring our friends and family home.”
High Rise followed behind Crescent into the hallway, but a nipping feeling at his neck made him turn his gaze backwards. He didn’t remember feeling watched in this memory, but he sure felt it now. Nothing stood behind him when he searched, and the dream ended before he could think on it any further.
“So, any new experiments today, doc?” High Rise asked Dr. Hooves. The day had been slow, so he decided to see how his scientifically minded friend was doing. The two sat together in his basement lab, a series of different test machines scattered throughout the room.
“I’m afraid not, nothing that will work as we hoped.” Dr. Hooves sighed. He had been like this ever since the first failed experiment. His attempt at “pulling time to High Rise” ended with a bruised barrel and dizziness. Several other experiments were tried as well. Each new attempt was followed by a decreasing amount of enthusiasm from the doctor. His excitement over his research and studies had fallen to the wayside. Frustration and doubt was taking over.
“Hey, that’s alright. That one with the chair and the strainer hat felt like it was close!” High Rise tried to cheer up the doctor, but it fell on deaf ears.
“Look, doc,” High Rise said, “It’s alright if it isn’t working, we can try something different. Who knows, maybe we’re just looking at this in the wrong way?”
“There is no ‘maybe’, High Rise.” The Doctor sighed, pinching his muzzle between his two hooves. “I know it is the wrong way. The technology required to travel through time is far beyond my capacity. I doubt it is even possible to travel through time with mundane methods in your own time.”
“No, but-!” High Rise realized he couldn’t protest that point. “Yeah, you’re right, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think you can do it.”
“Your belief in me has never wavered, High Rise, and I thank you for that.” Time Turner tried to give him a smile, it wasn’t a big one, but the effort was there. “I am not giving up, I can assure you. I am currently working on a different idea that should, hopefully, prove more fruitful than a vain wish to create a time machine.”
High Rise wanted to protest his use of “vain” in that sentence, but a knock at the door upstairs stopped him before he could.
Knock… Knock-Knock Knock
“I’ll go get it,” High Rise said, getting up from the chair he sat in as he made his way upstairs. He already knew who was at the door. Her knocking pattern was distinct, and surprisingly consistent with every visit she made. Ditzy Doo the mailmare was here.
The door opened and, just as he predicted, Ditzy was there with her trusty mailmare hat and saddlebags. High Rise had no idea why, but every time they greeted each other, Ditzy’s cheeks would turn a tinge of red. “Morning, Ditzy, what’s up?”
“Oh, hi Mr. High Rise!” Ponies didn’t often wag their tails like dogs, but Ditzy did. It was cute, even if it made little sense. “I’m just dropping off the mail, like I usually do, because that’s what I do, I deliver the mail!… Hehe.”
Her embarrassment went right over High Rise’s head. “Cool, what do you got for the doc today?”
Ditzy reached into her bags and pulled out a handful of letters, as well as a newspaper. “Looks like some bills, an ad for the Rich’s Barnyard Bargains store, and the latest issue of the Foal Free Press.”
She handed off the mail to High Rise, and soon after moved on to her next stop. Which ended up being a light pole she bumped into. After the light pole stop, she went on to her actual next stop.
The bills and ad were placed on the table as High Rise shut the door. He, however, took the Foal Free Press newspaper for himself. The foal-run newspaper had grown pretty popular as of late, with many ponies around town talking about it. Mainly because of a new column that had been started in it. The Gabby Gums gossip column.
Everypony has those things they never want to admit to enjoying. A bit of hard cider here, laughing at somepony’s misfortune, or gossip. Ditzy brought the first issue with Gabby Gums over to have the two brown stallions check it out, and while Time Turner wasn’t interested in the slightest… High Rise secretly asked for future issues.
He knew what was being mentioned in these columns were bad. They were either intruding on somepony’s privacy, or completely made up. Nopony should enjoy this type of thing, but he just couldn’t help himself! High Rise wanted to know what the next Gabby column revealed, he had to know! It was too juicy not to!
That feeling was about to change, however.
Time Turner: The fantasies of Dr. Hooves.
Ponyville’s resident clockmaker has a great secret he is hiding. Time Turner, who has repeatedly asked to be referred to as “Doctor Hooves”, believes that he is a time traveling pony from one hundred years in the future!
This column reports that Time Turner has been attempting to create working time machines in his basement in an attempt to “return home”. Is the clockmaker really a pony from the future, or is he just a pony who has fallen down the loony bin?
Gabby Gums.
High Rise had to pull his jaw off of the floor below him. Gabby Gums had made a gossip column on the doctor?! The story she told in this piece was completely false, but the details weren’t entirely off. A stallion who’s one hundred years in the past, attempts to get back home via time traveling devices? Whoever this Gabby was, they had found out very specific details about High Rise’s circumstances, and pinned them on Dr. Hooves.
“Who was it?” Time Turner asked as he ascended the stairs. High Rise quickly hid the newspaper behind his flank.
“Nopony!… I mean, it was Ditzy, but nothing important!”
“…Right.” He narrowed his gaze at High Rise. There surely was no reason for him to grow suspicious of his housemate, right? Definitely not the way he held a manic smile towards him, or the fact he was hiding something behind him. “At least Ditzy has learned to knock, I appreciate that. What did she need?”
“Just some mail, like normal! Nothing weird or freaky off here, just normal, simple mail.”
High Rise gestured to the small stack of letters on the table. Desperately trying to pull the doctor’s attention away from the paper behind his back. When you try to make somepony stop doing something, it only makes them want to do it more. Such as how Dr. Hooves was now trying to get a look at the paper on High Rise’s flank.
“What are you hiding, High Rise?”
“Nothing import- I mean, nothing at all! Why would I be hiding something, doc?”
“Because you are hiding something right there, is that part of the mail?”
“Yes- no, no it is not. Just some paper, really.” High Rise tried to chuckle, but it came out as a full blown laugh.
“Let me see it.”
“Doc, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“It’s my mail, and whatever it is will not harm me.”
“…Fine.” His hoof came around to hand the newspaper to Time Turner. “Just don’t freak out…”
Time Turner then freaked out.
“Great withering stallions!!”
The Foal Free Press was no longer allowed in the Time Turner household, and for good reason. The foals who wrote for Gabby Gums had utterly humiliated the doctor, painting him as a lunatic stuck in some time traveling fantasy. Time Turner repeatedly fumed as he read the column, reminding High Rise that he did actually have a doctorate, and it was well within his right to go by the name Dr. Hooves.
The past week was spent with Time Turner refusing to leave the basement. High Rise wanted to get him out for a day of fun again, promising a great time at karaoke like he enjoyed before, but not even the promise of Brown Saddle Band music was enough to get him out of the basement. Nothing would get him out of there, and High Rise eventually had to leave him be.
In fact, most of the ponies in town had been behaving similarly to Time Turner. The victims of Gabby Gums’ articles have sequestered themselves from the public eye. Twilight Sparkle had placed an entire shield around her library after Gabby wrote a piece about her being a Canterlot snob. High Rise’s friend Fluttershy was hidden away in her cottage, often crying her eyes out after her tail extensions were exposed. Ponies that weren’t affected by Gabby still acted similarly. Some members of the press club tried to search for stories the other day, and all the ponies in town started to become guarded around any foal who came their way.
There was nothing like this in the history he knew of Ponyville. High Rise really had no idea how to handle it. The way ponies stopped trusting each other, hiding away? It reminded him too much of the future he had to get back to.
A disturbing thought passed through his mind. Maybe his presence was making this time more like his own? All this negative energy that surrounded Ponyville could have been all his fault! There was no reasonable way to prove that, because it wasn’t true at all, but one cannot reason with a panicky stallion using a set of cups as drums to ease his stress.
“Will you stop that?” Time Turner called from the basement. “I know you do not have real drums to work with, but using my dishware was not a good replacement!”
“…Sorry.” High Rise called down to him, now tapping to ground in a simple 1-2-3 pattern.
“Look,” Time Turner poked his head out of the basement, “If you require something to do to get your mind off of… whatever it is you are panicking about this time, why don’t you handle a delivery for me?”
That was how High Rise got roped into making a delivery to Sweet Apple Acres. The Apple family had requested a repair on one of their household clocks, and Time Turner had finished with it. Since he didn’t want to go out into town, much like other ponies at the moment, High Rise went out in his stead. All he had to do was drop off the clock and head back after.
What Time Turner failed to mention was the size of the clock. It wasn’t just any old clock, it was a Grandfather Clock! The doctor had been gracious enough to lend him a cart to use, but even on wheels this behemoth was heavy. His spindly legs struggled with each step while this gigantic weight was hauled behind him. Why, out of all things, did he lose out on the natural earth pony strength?
Several hours passed, but eventually High Rise had gone past the town and towards the main house of Sweet Apple Acres. The last time he was in the orchard was during his first few days of Ponyville, bringing up unfortunate memories of a panic attack underneath an occupied apple tree.
He was drenched in his own sweat, legs shaking underneath him. Every muscle in his body screamed for High Rise to cease this torture, but he didn’t stop until he was right in front of the household. The moment he did, he freed himself of the great clock that sought to destroy him.
Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to flop on the ground and stop moving for anywhere between a few minutes to a few days, he still had to knock on the door. The evil clock no longer burdened him, but his legs still felt weak. High Rise pushed through his feebleness and meekly knocked on the door.
High Rise was expecting that this would be his first meeting with the Element of Honesty, Applejack. She was the only one of the six he hadn’t met. At this point, it was far too hypocritical of him to say he is avoiding the elements outright. Given his new weekly cooking sessions with his friend Fluttershy, he had no right to pick and choose when he decided to follow that rule now. So he put that worry to rest well before he got here. It wasn’t like they had any reason to interact to begin with.
The one who answered the door was not Applejack,
“Hello” A deep, masculine voice said as the door opened. High Rise found that he was now in front of one of the few stallions that matched him in height. This stallion, however, had powerful muscles to match his height, unlike himself. The red fur coat he had did little to hide his strong physique. The heavy wooden work collar that rested around his neck did little to hinder his movements. Orange mane and tail cut short so as to not get caught in any harnesses or farm equipment. His large, warm green eyes half lidded, and a piece of straw dangled from his mouth and below his broad jawline.
High Rise’s heart skipped a beat.
“U-Uuh, Hi, hello, good morning.” The sun was already past its peak in the sky. “I’m High Rise, what’s your name?”
“Big Macintosh Apple, you can call me Big Mac.”
Big Mac held out his hoof for High Rise to shake. Which he took, feeling his powerful grip over his own hoof. His whole body shook as Big Mac merely moved his fetlock. At this point, High Rise’s mind became far too muddled to be considered coherent.
“Nice to meet you, Buff Ma- I mean, Big Mac.” High Rise chuckled nervously, nearly forgetting why he was here.
“How can I help ya, High Rise?” Big Mac asked him.
“…Oh!” He stopped staring at Big Mac to finally do what he was here for. “I’m here on behalf of Time Turner, he finished the repairs on your clock.”
High Rise stepped to the side to show the cart with the grandfather clock in it. Big Mac stepped out of the house to approach it, inspecting it with an appraising eye. When he finished his appraisal, Big Mac gave High Rise an approving nod.
“Eeyup, looks good,” He said right before he picked up the clock. Not by using the cart, mind you, but with one hoof wrapped around it. He brought it up onto his shoulder, and with little effort at all, walked back up towards the house with it.
Never before had High Rise wished to be a clock so badly.
“Thank you fer’ bringin’ it over. Do ya need anythin’ before you go?”
He had to hold back the thirstier requests he could have made. “Would it be alright to have some water?”
“Eeyup, you look like ya need it.”
Once Big Mac had the gigantic clock inside, he came back with a glass of water for High Rise. He hoped that he would be able to show a bit of decorum in front of the work pony, but his actual thirst saw the glass and threw that idea in the bin. As soon as Big Mac handed that glass to High Rise, he began chugging it down in sloppy gulps.
“Ha… thanks,” The completely flushed High Rise said, before returning the glass to Big Mac. His brow was up in the air, and a chuckle escaped him.
“Eeyup, see you around.” Big Mac gave High Rise a nod, and stepped back into his house. There, he left a stupefied High Rise. The thoughts the drummer boy had were left in a puddle of his giggling. He couldn’t get the images of a certain red stallion out of his head. There was nopony he had met in this time that he ever actually thought of as attractive. Dr. Hooves was okay, but he never thought of him in such a way. Big Macintosh, however?
That was one lean Apple.
“Was that Applebloom?” Applejack called from the upstairs of the Apple family household.
“Nnope,” Replied Big Mac
“Who was it then?”
“High Rise, came to drop off the clock Time Turner fixed up.”
“It was High Rise?”
“Eeyup.”
“Well dagnabbit,” Cried Applejack, “Ah still haven’t met that fella.”
“Eeyup.”
High Rise kept thinking about that big stallion he just met, when a sudden feeling of familiarity came over him. He had seen Big Macintosh before, but where? There was nothing in major history books about a random farm pony from the Apple family, he was sure of that. So it couldn’t have been from the future. Which meant he saw him recently…
Gabby Gums! A column from that newspaper from some time ago flashed in his mind. A piece about the Apple siblings, where Applejack was caught sleeping on the job, and a picture of Big Macintosh with a child’s Smarty Pants doll. They had been victims of the Foal Free Press too! Was there anypony in Ponyville that hadn’t been exposed by these foals?… Well, perhaps High Rise himself, but that’s because his details were pinned onto Dr. Hooves instead of him. If he ever found out who it was that made the Gabby Gums column, he would give them a piece of his mind!
…High Rise then suddenly felt a wave of unfamiliarity. He took a single look around and realized why he felt that way. He was lost in the Apple family orchard. While he was off in his fantasies thoughts, High Rise didn’t realize that he had veered off the dirt road back towards Ponyville. Between images of Big Mac and anger towards Gabby Gums, High Rise was now in the middle of a sea of apple trees. One may not expect it to be difficult to see landmarks in between evenly spaced, perfectly groomed apple trees, but it actually was incredibly hard!
No landmark from Ponyville was visible, nor was the Apple family’s house or barn. Just trees in every direction High Rise looked. The mountain that housed the city of Canterlot could be seen, but that hardly helped him! He needed to remember if he was north or south of Ponyville first to use that landmark!
There was absolutely no need to panic, of course. This was a farm, not the Everfree Forest. All High Rise had to do was pick a direction and walk that way. No matter which way he went, he’d eventually reach something that isn’t a farm!
Perhaps that something could be the Everfree Forest?
“Oh horseapples…”
“Oh horseapples!”
Wait a minute, High Rise only said that once, and he certainly didn’t say it in a little filly’s voice! His head snapped around towards the sound of the filly. Somewhere just past a set of evenly spaced trees. It was better to go in that direction than any other one! Whoever that filly was could help him get back on the path.
Only a few trees had to be passed for High Rise to hear the voice of the filly again. His eyes caught the sight of a tree house hanging from a larger tree nearby. Inside of that tree house was where the voice first came from, but as High Rise got closer, he could hear two more filly voices inside.
“..-Maybe we should make a story about Diamond Tiara herself! Maybe that will teach her a lesson” An energetic filly exclaimed.
“And how is that supposed to help us, Scootaloo? Then she’d publish those pictures the very next day!” The filly that High Rise initially heard responded.
“Exactly, an’ how do we fix all the hurt we caused by causin’ even more hurt?” A third filly said, this one had a similar accent to Big Macintosh.
“Well I don’t know, but it’d certainly make me laugh watching her read it…”
“Come on, girls!” The accented filly cried out, “We gotta figure out somethin’!”
“Excuse me? Hey? Are you up there? I could use some help!”
High Rise’s call to them was met with a moment of silence, before three small fillies poked their heads out of the tree house door. One of whom High Rise recognized, a unicorn filly with white fur and a curled pastel pink, purple and white mane. Rarity’s little sister Sweetie Belle. The other two were fillies High Rise had never seen before. The first was an orange pegasus with a short, reddish-pink mane, and smaller than usual wings on her back. The second was an earth pony with a light yellow mane and a bright red mane and tail. Her mane tied with a comically large bow behind her head.
“We’re sorry if we wrote anythin’ that offended ya’, mister!”
“Yeah, we really are!”
“Oh, that’s High Rise!” Sweetie Belle said, “I don’t think we wrote anything about him, did we?”
“High who?” The one called Scootaloo asked, after matching her voice to what was said earlier.
“High Rise. I went to his welcome party with my sister.”
“Never heard of him.”
“Yeah, ah got no idea who yer talkin’ about Sweetie Belle.”
“Ugh, that doesn’t matter, you two!” Sweetie Belle huffed and looked back down at High Rise. “Did you need something, Mister High Rise?”
“Yeah, I did… but before that, what did you mean by ‘writing about me’ exactly?”
The trio froze above High Rise, the bow tie filly choosing to respond first. “Well, uh, ah guess you didn’t hear anythin’ then, our bad.”
“About what?”
“About uuuh,” Scootaloo chimed in next. “Just some uh, story book we are writing, is all.”
“A story book?” Sweetie Belle glared at Scootaloo. “We shouldn’t be hiding the truth about it! We know we did something bad. We have to make up for it!”
The other two fillies lowered their heads and ears, even as they both nodded. Sweetie Belle looked back towards High Rise, and with her ears lowered as well, explained.
“I’m Sweetie Belle, this is Scootaloo, and this is Apple Bloom. We’re the ones that wrote all those Gabby Gums columns for the Foal Free Press.”
“Yeah..”
“Yeah….”
“…what?”
After Time Turner’s article, High Rise had wondered what he would do when faced with the pony behind those intrusive stories. How he would yell and bite at them for what they did. For making Fluttershy cry, for turning Time Turner into even more of a hermit. For bringing Ponyville down to the same level of mistrust and isolation that High Rise had back home. He wanted to say so many awful things…
But when he saw the three fillies. Their big, regretful eyes staring back at him. He lost all of that anger, and was only left with frustration he couldn’t release.
“…So you’re the ones who wrote that gossip about Time Turner?” He asked them.
The trio decided to come down from the tree house to meet him. Each of the three had a different look on their faces, but they all translated to the same thing. Guilt.
“Yeah, I wrote that one,” Scootaloo said, “I overheard some recording he was doing in his house and… made up a story from it.”
“And Fluttershy?”
“Ah found out about that when she was babysittin’ us this one time…”
High Rise sat down in front of them. His face painted a look of patience, even if he did a lot to rein it in. “Do you understand how much pain they have felt because of what you said? Doc believes that everypony around us thinks he’s a lunatic now, when his work was meant to-…meant to be personal to him. Fluttershy didn’t do anything to deserve being outed like that either. Imagine if somepony found out you were bald and wearing a wig, and told everypony you met that?”
“…Yeah” The three said in unison.
“And that’s only two of the many columns you made. How did you even find out about Time Turner’s recording?”
“…I followed him back to his house after hearing him talk to Twilight. He said he had some sorta special project he was doing. I just wanted to find out what it was.”
“So you stalked him back to his home, and purposely overheard his self recordings?”
“I didn’t stalk him! It was just a little spying!” Scootaloo tried to protest, but the sudden glare from High Rise shut her up.
“The difference between stalking and spying is incredibly slim,” He said to her. A sentence that made her head fall even lower.
“Why would you girls even think to do something like this? What could possibly motivate you to keep going?”
“We was just wanting to get our cutie marks, mister!” Apple Bloom said, tears forming at the bottom of her eyes. “I-I thought that if we joined the Foal Free Press, we could find our cutie marks in journalism…”
“And then…” Sweetie Belle took over, the filly struggling to hold in her own emotions. “We started the gossip column, and it got really popular. We thought we were doing something right because of that! So we… ignored the bad feelings it left us.”
“But we know now that it was wrong!” Scootaloo joined in at the end, streams of tears falling down her face. “We hurt everypony we cared about, nopony wants to be near us, and we really want to stop, but… but…”
All of the fillies in front of High Rise suddenly burst into tears. No other noise could overcome the sheer volume of their wails. High Rise winced and tried to cover his ears from the sudden spike in noise. His hooves were incapable of drowning out the fillies, and he eventually had to give up that trivial effort.
He was frustrated with these three fillies, but High Rise couldn’t help but feel for the foals. His time spent in this era had left him feeling regretful for many of his choices, and these girls were coming to terms with a great amount of regretful actions. Not to mention that he, like many other ponies in town, fed the popularity of it by coming back for more. As much as he wanted to scold them, he couldn’t help but reach out instead.
The three fillies were wrapped up in High Rise’s forelegs. Giving them a gentle squeeze as they cried into his chest. Much like Fluttershy during the dragon migration, this was his first instinct when he saw a pony like this.
“It’s alright, girls. I understand, I'm not angry with you” He said calmly to them. High Rise had waited for their wails to become sniffles to speak up. So that they could respond to him.
“You… you do?” Apple Bloom asked, a huge snot bubble dangling from her nose. It took all the willpower in his body to not look down at the snot they covered his fur in.
“You’re not mad at us?” Said Scootaloo.
“Well, I am unhappy, but I see how you are now. You feel guilty, and you want to make things right, is that correct?”
Sniffles hindered Sweetie Belle’s response for a few moments. “…Yes, but we can’t…”
“Why can’t you?”
“Cuz’ of Diamond Tiara! If we stop writin’ these Gabby columns, she’s gonna publish these embarrassin’ pictures she got of us! We can’t let her do that!”
High Rise prayed to Celestia that Diamond Tiara was another foal and not a full grown pony. If an adult were threatening these children like that, there would be Tartarus to pay.
“So you want to stop writing embarrassing things about other ponies’ secrets, but if you stop, your embarrassing secrets will be exposed to everypony. Did I get that right?”
“Yes!” All of them replied.
“Well I take back what I said, I am mad at all of you.”
His forelegs were immediately vacated, and the trio of fillies looked at him with shock. “What, why?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“Why wouldn’t I be? You don’t want your secrets to be shared, but you’ll share other ponies’ secrets to keep yours safe. That isn’t making things right, that’s hurting others to keep yourselves safe.”
Two of them looked like they were about to protest, but Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom kept silent. Scootaloo, on the other hand…
“But that’s the point! We don’t want to do this anymore! We’ve been in our clubhouse all day trying to figure out how to do it!”
“What is there to figure out?” High Rise retorted. “You tell the truth.”
“That we’re being blackmailed?”
“No, tell them what you just told me before. You are sorry for all the hurt you caused?”
Nod Nod Nod.
“And you learned your lesson, that you shouldn’t do anything like this ever again?”
Nod Nod Nod.
“Then you tell everypony in town that. You apologize to every single pony you hurt, with no exceptions. Make sure they understand that you learned your lesson, and will never do it again.”
“And how is that supposed to help us? Diamond Tiara will still publish our pictures! And why would anypony forgive us just like that?!”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom watched as Scootaloo fought against High Rise’s words. They knew what he was implying, but they still awaited the words that they both expected him to say to her.
“There is no guarantee it will do anything at all.” He said, his tone harsh against the combative pegasus filly. “Your pictures can still be shared, and you aren’t owed any forgiveness from the ponies that you hurt. But you can end this knowing you did the right thing.”
Finally, the weight of those words set in to Scootaloo. She turned to face her friends, and saw that they had been wearing the same sorrowful expression she now had. Her flank fell to the ground. No more tears were shed, nor did any eardrum rattling wails come from them. Only a bitter, quiet acceptance of the truth.
“…We understand,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Yah…”
“Yeah…”
“Good.” A smile formed on the face of High Rise, and he tapped his hoof to the top of each of their heads. “If it means anything, I forgive you, and I am sure a lot of ponies in town will as well. As long as you are honest about how you feel.”
These simple pats on the head helped to alleviate some of their sorrow. They still looked guilty and regretful, but they saw a path ahead now. Something they could work towards.
“So… how are we gonna tell everypony?” Scootaloo asked her friends.
“Ah dunno… it’d probably take us a few days to personally apologize to every single one…”
“…GASP. I got it!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she jumped into the air.
“You do?” Apple Bloom asked. Both she and Scootaloo rose from their rumps to watch Sweetie Belle bounce in excitement.
“Yes! I got the perfect plan, come on, we got a lot of work to do!” The trio rushed back towards their clubhouse, but Sweetie Belle stopped just at the first rung of the ladder.
“Oh, right! You needed help with something, right Mister High Rise.”
All three stared back at him, and he now chuckled nervously.
“Well… I actually got lost in the orchard. Could you point me back towards the dirt road back to Ponyville?”
“Ya got lost?” Apple Bloom asked with a tilt of her head. “But the house is right there.”
She pointed her small hoof towards the very visible Apple family farmhouse. Clearly able to be seen from their clubhouse’s hilltop. It was not that far away after all.
“…Oh.”
A week had passed since the final Gabby Gums column was printed on the Foal Free Press. Unlike the normal columns, this one was an open letter by the fillies behind Gabby Gums. In it, the fillies Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom apologized for the harm they caused, explained why they did what they did, and promised to never use gossip like that ever again.
Maybe other places in Equestria wouldn’t be so quick to forgive the three foals for what they had done. Ponyville, however, was quick to open up their arms for the girls that spoke the truth and asked for forgiveness. It was just one of those special communities that learned to let bygones be bygones, and accept each other as they are today.
High Rise couldn’t help but feel envy in his heart. If only his band could’ve done the same. So everything could be normal again, just like Ponyville was.
“I’m happy that you learned your lesson, girls,” Twilight said to the three fillies in her library, “Are you still planning to write for the paper?”
“Yeah!” Came Apple Bloom’s voice, “With Featherweight as the new editor-in-chief, he wants us to write about all the special events happenin’ soon. So we’re gonna need books on all the special holidays and events. Like the upcoming National Dessert Competition!”
“Oooh yeah, I hope we get to try some of the desserts ourselves!” Said Scootaloo
“Everything did turn out for the best. I’m glad we listened to his advice.” Sweetie Belle said to her friends, who gave enthusiastic nods in return.
“His? Did somepony help you with something, girls?” Twilight asked while her magic picked out a few books that would suit the three fillies’ needs.
“Mhm, High Rise stumbled onto our clubhouse, and told us that we should be honest,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Honestly? We already knew that was the answer when he said it, but we was bein’ stubborn about things…”
“But hey! It all worked out, and now we get to have cake!”
Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cheered. Their hooves came together in a trio of hoof bumps, and Twilight chuckled. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, as this group of friends was called, was always known for getting themselves in trouble and needing to learn a lesson from it. It really shouldn’t be surprising that somepony helped them come to terms with what they already knew.
But Twilight was stuck, once again, on the fact that it was High Rise who helped them. It really shouldn’t be a big deal at all that it was him. Anypony could have told them that. High Rise being the one helping them didn’t matter at all…
Twilight Sparkle tucked the newspaper she had under the table a little farther in. This newspaper had a particular Gabby Gums column on it, with the name Time Turner written in large title font.
“Hey, you three. Would you like to do something nice for High Rise, since he helped you out?” She asked them.
“Huh? Oh, that does sound like a good idea!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“Oooh, but what should we do?” Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle shrugged in response.
“Don’t worry, girls. I think I have the perfect idea for you!” Twilight smiled as the three gave their full attention to her.
It was time she figured out why she was so bothered by him, and she’ll figure it out from the pony’s mouth himself!