Authors Note: The hiatus ends! This chapter is what you get when I work on and off on a chapter for a couple of weeks. Though the hiatus is over, posting will not be on a regular basis. The night chapter that accompanies this day will be up as soon as I can write it. Also, new page breaks! They're kinda overkill, but I like them. I put them up on google images, you should be able to find them if you search Shining End. Sorry for the huge delay, and Have a good chapter!
I open my eyes and am met with an unusual sight. I'm still laying in the pile of hay, but above me are three fillies. When and how did this happen. I think this as I slowly regain my senses. The filly on the right is a yellowish color with a red mane tied back in a bow. She shares a slight resemblance with Applejack. The filly on my left seems to have a small air of grace, she has a white coat that is slightly dirty and a purple and pink mane. A horn rests atop her head and she reminds me of the white mare that I sat next to on the train yesterday.
The third and most notable of the small females is an orange one with a purple mane. The wings that she has are smaller than most fillies I've seen and I know exactly who she reminds me of. She reminds me of my old friend that fell in the battle with the changelings, the friend that died in my arms, that as a last action she told me that she loved me. As I thought of her I found that tears had started to well up in my eyes, I quickly blinked them away.
"Could you please get off me so I can stand up?" I ask quietly, causing them to jump. Not the most observant of foals then. The orange one recovered first, her wings buzzing as she righted herself. Her eyes were wide and I realized that I probably kept my eyes closed just enough that they didn't notice that they were open.
"I heard you beat Rainbow Dash in a race!" The filly announced loudly. I snickered as I got to my hooves, the other two fillies recovering. The yellow one was the next to speak, and I was proved right in the fact that she shared her sisters drawl.
"Yea, Applejack done says that ya'll sneaked up on 'er too." The third filly face hoofed and I suppressed a laugh when she did. Not because it was funny as much as the fact that these three fillies where perfect friends for each other.
"Sorry for my friends rudeness, they are a trouble a lot of the time." The white filly said in a casual manner. In the background both of the other fillies shared a simultaneous 'Hey!'. The white filly ignored them and continued on. "I'm Sweetie Belle, the insane orange pegasus is Scootaloo and the yellow earth pony is Applejack's sister Apple Bloom." We shook hooves and in the background I could hear Scootaloo complaining about not being insane.
"Nice to meat you, I am Commander Aevus, head of Her Majesties Solar Guard. To answer your questions yes, I did beat Rainbow Dash in a race, and no I didn't sneak up on Applejack I just surprised her." I said as I checked to see if all my things were with me and intact from the night. Everything was in order and I wanted to leave, but it was obvious that I wasn't getting out anytime soon. Then a plan came to mind.
"Wait, commander? I thought that Twilight's brother was in charge of the guard." Sweetie Belle asked before the others could ask anything.
"Twilight has a brother? Oh, wait you mean Prince Shining Armor. While technically he is in charge of the guard itself, there are also Commanders for each of the branches of the guard. One for Solar, Lunar, Air and Magic. The Solar and Lunar are self explanatory, the Air guard consists of the Wonderbolts and a few squads of elite pegesi, and the Magic guard is made up of extremely important spell casters." I explain as I inch closer to the door. "I will tell you more later, but right now I have to go!"
With that I sprinted off, leaving three very unhappy and confused fillies behind me. I ran for a while towards town and then started slowing down as I got to the town market. It was relatively early for a Friday, so only a few of the stands were set up. One of them is run by a stallion with a brown coat and mane, his flank adorned with what looks to be an hourglass. His stand advertises watches that will never, ever be wrong. This catches my eye and I trot over, time to pull an evil trick.
"Hello my good sir!" He exclaims as I trot over. "What can I do for you today?"
"I was just wondering if you had any watches that will stay accurate through even time travel?" I ask casually. His eyes go wide for a second then he asks the weirdest question I have ever heard somepony ask.
"Are you a dalek?" His tone suddenly becoming more serious. I held my face in an equally serious manner, I was sticking with this to the end.
"Of course, why would I ask otherwise." I say with a very serious tone. I must have slipped, because he started laughing and continued for a while. "What's so funny?" I ask in the serious tone once again. When he finally composes himself again his tone is much less serious.
"Nothing, it's just you had me going for a while there, but I know for a fact that you are not a dalek. Now, with that matter over, and to answer your question, yes. My watches are guarantied to stay accurate, no matter what happens to them. If you aren't satisfied with that you get your money back and you can keep the watch. One watch costs fifty bits for silver and seventy-five for gold." I nod and had him ten gold bits, the equivalent of one hundred bits.
"I'll have two silver watches, please." He nods and hands me the watches, which I slip into one of the compartment inside my overcoat. I turn to leave and I start wandering around town, I stop by a small cafe and grab lunch, and eventually I find a small schoolhouse. To my partial dismay, three familiar fillies are outside, but the thing that troubles me is that two other fillies are standing in front of them. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are standing defensively over Scootaloo, who is crying and clutching one of her hoofs.
Bullies, just what I needed to ruin yet another good day. I walk over and position myself in front of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The bullies roll their eyes, not a good move. I recognize lying almost as good as the bearer of the element of honesty.
"What exactly is going on here?" I ask. I'm trying to catch them in a situation where they would get in trouble.
"Nothing, nothing at all sir." One of the bullies replies, the venom obvious in her voice.
"Yea, that crap isn't going to work on me. I'm not in the mood for games right now and I'm not as oblivious as most other adults. So I ask once again, what is going on here?" I am not in the mood for taking crap right now, especially from two stupid foals.
"Look, if you don't go away, I'm gonna tell my daddy." And she fell for the trap, perfect.
"And who, pray tell, is your daddy?" I asked, still emotionless. I couldn't let the emotions show, unless I wanted to blow the idea.
"My daddy is a very rich pony and he will get you in trouble. He has connections with the royal guards." Oh, she is just begging for this to happen. This is going to be good.
"What branch of the guard?" I ask
"What?" She replies in a clueless manner.
"I said, what branch of the guard?" I reiterated.
"Um, the royal one?" She replies utterly lost. Just as she says this, her father trots up behind her.
"Is this stallion giving you trouble honey?" He asks. The filly gives an evil grin and I start to mentally cheer. I knew this idiot, he was the one that tried to convince Princess Luna to give him her personal protection. That was one hell of a shouting match. At the end of it he was permanently banned from the castle, with a spell cast on him to stop him from entering. Well not as much stop him as make him explode if he stepped inside the castle. What can I say, I was bored and hated his guts, I think he deserved more than just a shock if he ever defiled the castle with his presence ever again.
"Yes daddy, I was just telling him that you would have him arrested if he didn't stop an-" I just cut her off.
"Actually she was just proving to me that you don't have the connections to do such a thing. This fact was reinforced when I saw your ugly face, which I personally cast a prevention spell on a couple of years back. The reason I was talking to your poor excuse for a filly was because she and her friend were bullying these innocent girls. Now if you would please punish her and get away, it would spare me the problem of arresting both of you idiots." By this time a crowd of ponies had gathered around us, most of them here to pick their kids up.
"What do you mean prevention spell, I don't know what you mean." He was stumbling on his words, a good sign that he was lying through his white teeth. "Also, you should stop making empty threats."
"So you don't recognize me, well I guess that was to be expected. Let me introduce myself. I am Commander Aevus of Her Majesties Solar Guard." Several of the ponies in the crowd gasped. "And by prevention spell I mean the one that will cause you to explode if you go anywhere near the castle gates. I cast it on you the morning after you yelled at Princess Luna. That was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen anypony do, and that's saying a lot considering I've been Princess Celestia's personal guard for over three years."
"Even the one griffin assassin was smarter about her job that you were about trying to get Luna's personal protection. I mean seriously, you just barged in and started spouting random requests. My good friend Nightflare said the headache he had didn't go away for at least the next few days!" By this time the other filly that had been with the bully had started to walk away. The remaining one was standing next to her dad, who was completely flustered.
"And next time you go spouting lies about the royal guard and it's protection," I took a step closer. "You'll have to deal with more than just my words." I took another step and he fell back. He quickly recovered and trotted away, his filly following him closely. As I turn back around I see that Applejack and the white mare from the train have started trotting in the direction of the fillies. After a second the air is just silent, and then one pony stops her hoof, followed by the rest of the crowd. A couple of ponies even shout out things like 'Go Aevus!' or 'That was awesome!'.
I could care less about the crowd and I start to walk to were Sweetie Belle and her friends are now standing. Applejack is talking to Apple Bloom and the same is true for the white mare and Sweetie Belle. As I walk over I notice Scootaloo is still crying and I can now see that there is a small cut along her hoof. The gash was more than likely to heal quickly, but I cast a small time increase spell on that part of her hoof anyway. The three fillies and the two mares watch in wonder as the cut closes up.
"Hello Applejack!" I say as I walk up from behind her. Her reflexes kick in and she bucks, but this time it misses me just to the right. "Goodness, I thought you bucked trees for a living, not ponies!" I exclaimed in fake surprise. Another thing guards are really good at, fake emotions. She turns and rubs the back of her neck, looking guilty. The white mare takes this opportunity to introduce herself.
"Hello, I am Rarity, and I do have to thank you for what you did. I would usually criticize you for making hollow threats, but I realize that those weren't hollow." Her voice is more of an upper class one. I recognize that she is trying to hard not to mess up in any way, which confuses me. I know I can be intimidating if I want to but why would sh-. Oh, right. She saw what I did on the train. I decide to be overly formal, to make a good impression. I gently take one of her hooves in mine and kiss the tip, drawing the exact response I wanted, a small blush.
"It's a pleasure to finally know your name. I would have talked to you on the train here, but honestly I was exhausted. I had to listen to that idiot Blueblood whine in court earlier that day." I said. She probably didn't know who Blueblood was, but it was worth at least a shot.
"Oh, I feel sorry for you. At the last Grand Galloping Gala I tried to put up with him, but I simply couldn't. He made me open doors for him, made me pay for things, and overall just acted like and idiot." She says, anger slowly creeping into her voice.
"Wait a second, are you the one mare that shoved cake into his stupid face?" I asked excitedly. This mare might be the thing that caused Blueblood to be made fun of among the nobles.
"Yes I was in fact. I would love to do it again." She says in an equally exited voice.
"The nobles made fun of him for days after that, and I'll tell you one thing, both of the Princesses want him gone for good. He is such an mindless fool, the day I left Canterlot he tried to punch me. Can you believe that him, a weak spoiled noble, tried to attack a Commander of the guard. I swear that half the ponies in Canterlot can only act better than other ponies, and then sit back while those ponies do the work." I notice I'm rambling and shut up.
"I know darling, if I were part of the Canterlot political system I would try to do things that benefit the whole country, not just the nobles of Canterlot. Some ponies in this world just need to learn the meaning of Generosity." As Rarity finishes the sentence I realize that I just had an actual conversation, with a civilian, about something other than the weather. I also notice that I have an insistent urge to keep talking with Rarity. I am overwhelmed by a strange mix of warmth and nervousness, two feelings that I had not felt since recruitment. Great, did I seriously just fall for Rarity, just what I needed. Great going brain, I hate you too.
"If the ponies of Canterlot knew the meaning of Generosity, we wouldn't have needed to fight off the changelings." I murmur as thoughts rush through my head. Ones of the last mare I loved, the one that died saving me. A single tear drips from my face. The first tear I have shed since the day she died. Rarity sees this tear, just by chance and avoids the subject. I blink and my face once again returns to its neutral state. A second later I see Twilight Sparkle approaching from behind Rarity, she wears a small smile and is flanked by the pink pony that somehow avoided my chronomancy.
"Hi Twilight." I say, bringing Rarity's attention to the two ponies approaching. Twilight waves and the pink pony is suddenly right next to me.
"HiI'mPinkiePieandyoumustbenewbecausetheonlytimeIsawyouwasyesterdayandthenIrandoffandthenIwaslike-" Applejack shoves a hoof into Pinkie Pie's mouth and gives me an apologetic smile.
"What Pinkie is trying to say is that she wants you to come to the party tonight at the library." Twilight explains. Pinkie nods and I smile.
"I didn't know that the library was also a party center, but if there's a party, I'm there." I say. Pinkie runs off again and the remaining mares all face hoof.
"Well, I better go and get ready for the party, what time is it?" I ask.
"It will start at six thirty and run until around nine. The only ponies there should be me, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike." Twilight replies happily. I nod, freeze time, walk to the barn, lay down, and unfreeze time. I simply lay there for a couple of hours, thinking of what I'll do for the next few days. I've got enough bits to last me a couple of days, but I need a source of income, I also need a more permanent place to call home. Eventually I pull out one of the watches and sure enough, they stayed accurate through time travel. The watch reeds six, so I gather up my things, setting one of my watches in the hay, and start for the library.
When I arrived at the party, Twilight was proven correct. Only six other ponies and one dragon were there. The library seemed to be alive with pure fun. The lights were tinted different colors and streamers were put all across the floor. A table stood in the middle of the room, completely covered in different sweets and drinks.
"Isn't this a little overkill for just eight of us?" I ask nopony in particular. Greetings are made and the party kicks off, as I look around the decorated room one pony in particular draws my attention. She looks like she's going to die of nervousness and is sitting near the corner, hiding under her own mane. I slowly begin to walk over to her, she doesn't notice me and I realize that her wing is hurt in some way. I'm low on magic for the day, but I spend the last of it repeating what I did with Scootaloo's hoof.She sits there for a second then lets out small gasp as the healing is completed, she flaps her wing a few times and I finally reach her.
"Hello, who are you?" I ask in a quiet voice.
"I'm Fluttershy." She responds in a small voice. Evil plan activate. My horn glows and I stress just a small amount of magic out. As of now the magic I use spends the magic of my other form, yet another advantage to my situation, and cast the royal Canterlot voice on the mare.
"What was that?" I say in a gentle voice once again. This time when the mare speaks, she surprises the whole room.
"I Said My Name Is Fluttershy!!" Fluttershy freaks out and I remove the spell. The others are puzzled until I break out laughing.
"Best use of royal Canterlot voice ever!" I say as I roll around laughing. Soon the others join in with me, but Fluttershy's eyes start to well up with tears. This situation just went from good to terrible. Before I can react she rushes out the door. I rush after her, but a blue hoof stops me.
"I'll go talk to her, she doesn't take to pranks very well." Rainbow Dash explains as she takes flight. The others agree It's probably a good idea to turn in early and I agree, we part our ways and I go to the barn. As I'm falling asleep all I can think about is a way to say sorry to Fluttershy.