FINDING TIME
<Chapter 1 - Part 1>
An Unearthly Stallion
It was a bright sunny day in the town of Ponyville. The usual day where colorful ponies went about their business doing what needed to be done for the day. Stores selling their wares, children playing in the streets, and all other manner of the everyday humdrum things you often see in a dinky little rural township. The same kind of day where you see everypony with a smile on their face and none of them needed a reason to have one. Well.. almost everypony.
Within the heart of the village, just across the block from the shop that sells quills and sofas, was a confectionary shop by the name of Sugarcube Corner that sold such marvelous sweets and the like. And just outside sitting under the shade of an umbrella table was a unicorn. A purple unicorn to be exact. Now mind you, there is nothing particularly worth noting about a unicorn sitting by herself in a busy afternoon. Unless of course, if you had the same problem that she was having.
Maybe he's on vacation? No that wouldn't make sense..
Twilight Sparkle thought to herself while eyeing her strawberry sundae.
Urgent business maybe? But it's been over a week..
Now given the usual scene that somepony is talking to a dessert, naturally others would take note of this and imagine that she had a few bolts loose from her sockets. But Twilight Sparkle was a different sort of pony, far from the usual garden variety you might say. And due to her... eccentricities, the ponies of Ponyville have grown accustomed to her quirks and occassional deviant mannerisms. So sadly, very few can really tell if there was something truly bothering her that is worth anypony's time to assist. Luckily, one of those few, who could tell if she was different from her usual self, was uncoincidentally just nearby.
"Heya Twilight!" greeted Pinkie Pie in her usual perky way. "You know your sundae is melting right? Can I have some?"
"Sure, Pinkie" replied Twilight, pushing the bowl of sundae to her friend.
"What's going on Twilight? You seem pretty down than usual, and I can tell because you're not panicking or screaming or teleporting everywhere or doing this with your face," Pinkie said while doing her best imitation of a psychopath seconds away from horribly murdering a victim. Twilight Sparkle, although took offense to this, let it slide knowing she's well aware of how Pinkie Pie is. So she simply sighed and prepared to share her burdens.
"You know that pony I told you and the girls about?" Twilight asked her friend.
"You mean that old stallion you keep complaining about? The one with the gray mane who wears an old grampa suit? The one who keeps asking weird questions and goes on and on about your library not having enough books because he could read one in under a minute and says mean things about Ponyville and talks to himself like you are now? The one who nopony never ever ever ever seen before except you, and everypony thinks you're just imagining him because you spend too much time in the library nowadays and going crazy from lack of social interac-", Pinkie took a very deep breathe. "-tion and basically just studying too much on things you don't really need to study? That pony?"
Twilight was dumbstruck at the fact that her friend was able to be that precise about description, while managing to tell her what everypony in town thought of her.
"Yes Pinkie, that pony." She said while trying (and failing) to resist rolling her eyes.
"Well, what about him?"
Twilight reached back for the sundae and ate a little before replying. "He's gone."
"Yippee!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "That means your problems are solved, right? Now you can get back to studying those books you don't really need to study."
"A-ha-ha, very funny." said Twilight mockingly. "And I know it's probably a good thing that he's out of my tail now, but I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong.."
"Why do you say that?" Pinkie asked while eating the melted sundae.
"Well first off, ever since he came to the library over a month ago, he's always been precise about everything. He arrives at the library EXACTLY at 3 pm, everyday. He brings his things and sets them beside him while reading, and ALWAYS leaves at midnight and carries his things with him."
"So?" Pinkie asked.
"He's been gone for a week. Just... gone." Twilight said grimly. "He came and annoyed me everyday. For a month. And just like that, poof! Disappeared."
"Maybe he went home? I mean, we know he's not from here. After all, I know every pony in Ponyville. And I mean, every single ONE!"
"I thought so too. But the last time he visited, he left all his things in the library. I thought he'd pick them up eventually, but he never did. It's not like him." Twilight mused while taking another scoop of the sundae. "I mean, I can't tell you how frustrating it was for somepony to lecture me about the proper way to clean clocks and lab equipment or the supposed inaccuracies of Equestrian History. After a month of going through somepony like that, it's hard for me to accept he's the type to forget his belongings."
"It is kinda weird though. I've never seen anyone like that pony come in or out of the library. And I was waiting outside everyday hoping to meet him and throw him one of my surprise Welcome to Ponyville parties!"
Morbidly surprised at what her friend just revealed, could only utter one comment.
"...what?"
"I was starting to believe that you are going crazy. Still do actually." Pinkie said with a squee.
"I'M NOT GOING CRAZY! He's real! And I don't think daily stalking is normal behavior either!"
"Silly Twilight. It's not stalking, it's reconnaissance."
"URGH! Whatever! And y'know what? I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I'm gonna find him and show you all how perfectly sane I am! SANE!" Twilight said, now standing on the table pointing her hoof at Pinkie.
"Okey dokey lokey! Good luck!"
"URGHHHH!" Twilight stomped off with a huff, determined to solve the mystery that was on her back.
"And tell your imaginary friend I said hiii!" Pinkie shouted as she waved her friend off with all the sincerity and innocence that a friend like her can give.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
It was quiet in the library. Of course, that was natural. Spike liked it that way, but for today it was more so. Twilight was out for the whole morning and Spike thanked Celestia for it. It was getting late in the afternoon though, and the little dragon knew closing time was coming near. He was hoping things would stay the same until then or at least until he finishes cleaning up. His keeper may have been out for the day, but even then she manages to still leave something for him to clean up.
Spike knew that Twilight has been strangely anxious lately. Ever since this stallion she always talked about stopped coming, she's been asking about him a lot. Spike has never actually seen the guy really. Which was strange, considering he worked there all the time and the only ponies he ever saw coming in were Twilight's friends and the occasional visits from some of the other residents of Ponyville. Oh, and Lyra too and her usual obsession. What is with that pony anyway?
I think I'll start with the Main Study,
Spike thought to himself.
She'll probably do another all-nighter again. Wonder where she is righ-
*thud*
"OW! What the-" Spike stubbed his foot on something hard near one of the shelves. Looking closer at the obstacle, he noticed it was a medium-sized satchel, filled to the sides from edge to edge. With books no doubt, Spike presumed.
"How long's that been there?" Spike carried it over to a nearby table and realized something important about this object. Something he remembered from a conversation a few days ago.
"Wait a minute! Is this th-"
Suddenly, the doors slammed open revealing the form of none other than Twilight Sparkle, with a look of determination in her eyes.
"Whoa!" yelped Spike, "Uhh... Hey Twilight. Where've you been?"
"That's not important right now," replied Twilight, still maintaining her focus. "What IS important is that we find him!"
"Who?" Spike asked.
"The old pony."
"Urgh.. Come on, Twilight. It's been a week. Can't you give it a rest? He's gone. I don't see why you need to make such a big fuss out of this."
"Why? WHY?! I'll tell you why! Because everypony in this town thinks I'm CRAZY! I'm not crazy! Do I look crazy to you?!"
"Uhhh..."
"Don't answer that!"
Twilight was steaming right now. It was probably not a good idea to tick her off any further. Spike considered this and just went along with her like he always does. No point in arguing now, since Spike did just find a little evidence that his friend wasn't completely insane after all.
"He's real, okay? And I'm gonna prove it!" Twilight said. She started pacing through the room, looking for something amongst the clutter. Soon enough, she managed to find the object of her interest. She approached the table near Spike with devious intent. "With this!" Twilight proclaimed while raising the satchel in her hoof.
"Oh yeah, about that... It's funny, but I just saw that now. So that's the bag you were talking about. The one the old pony left behind. Wonder why I never noticed it before.." Spike mused. He rationalized that it was probably just because of all the mess that's usually in the place. Wouldn't be a surprise if there was a misplaced scroll or two somewhere. Who knows?
Before Twilight could open the bag though, Spike interrupted. "Wait.. wouldn't going through another pony's things be, well y'know.. bad?"
"I'm glad you asked that, Spike." She placed the satchel back on the table and pulled out a standing chartboard from the corner. "Although, it's true that by opening this bag we are invading another pony's privacy, which is as you said, 'bad'". Twilight started writing this point on the board with magic. "But! Consider the following.."
Spike could only grunt, expecting the worst from this scenario.
"This bag belongs to a pony who clearly left it here. Possibly by mistake. And so? What would a normal law-abiding Equestrian citizen do?"
"Turn it over to the Lost & Found department?"
"We look inside to see if the aforementioned owner has any identification within. And once we assess his identity and contact information if any, we can safely return it to his personage. Which is.." Twilight quickly wrote on the board again, "..good!"
"You just wanna look inside, find out where he is so you can drag him to show everypony in town, don't you?"
"Yes, and since that helps me too. That's goes in the 'Good List'. That's 2 vs 1. Logic demands we have to open and search it."
This won't end well...
Spike sighed and surrendered to the inevitable.
With a surge of triumph in her stride, she gracefully pushed aside the chartboard and flipped the satchel's cover open to see what's inside.
The first thing she saw inside the old pony's bag was, unsurprisingly, the books he borrowed from the library. Most of them were a mix of magic books, relating the use of 'living forces', and history books, usually covering pre-equestrian dates and events. There were also some publications that dealt with more scientific topics. A couple of novels too, all of which tackled science-fiction. As she carefully set aside the books on the table to see further inside, she noticed that there were quite a lot of books inside the satchel, despite it being relatively small. About a couple dozen or so. She suspected that the bag itself was enchanted, which was impressive considering such a charm was somewhat difficult to perform since it meant having to create matter and bend space. A hallmark of high-level spells.
But how can he do magic? He's an earth pony,
Twilight thought.
He must know some pretty skilled unicorns to have something like this.
Spike, although still reluctant at browsing through another's personal space, was still somewhat curious about the mysterious pony's inventory. "Well? Did you find an ID or something?" he asked while leaning in to try and get a better look.
"Let's see.." She noticed that there weren't a lot of things in the satchel aside from the books. Twilight started using her magic to pick the items, since they were all a lot further in than she thought. She pulled out a couple things, namely a pair of binocular glasses, a box of matches, a compass, and a fob watch.
"Is that it?" asked Spike, mildly disappointed.
Twilight lifted up the bag for a closer look. She peered her head inside the bag. The inside was a lot bigger than the outside as she predicted. But it was pitch black, like a room during a blackout. She illuminated her horn for a clearer view and saw something chained a little bit further in. "It looks like there's something else here." She said.
"Well, what is it?"
"It.... looks like a key? Wait, hold on.." Focusing enough of her magic, she managed to levitate the key out from it's hold towards the opening as Twilight popped her head back out. "Hahah!" Twilight said victoriously. The item now held in her astral grip was indeed a key.
"...okay? It's a key. Now what?"
Twilight pondered while observing the item. It didn't seem anything out of the ordinary, except for the fact that it was chained a lot deeper in the container. It was most likely meant to open something important. But of course, it served no purpose to state the obvious, and they didn't know what lock it was for. And with that, her attention went back to the stack of books on the table.
"Maybe, I can find some clues in the books. Spike, could you please take them to my room? I'll see if I can find anything else in the bag."
"Alright. But if you ask me, we should just give this stuff to the Lost & Found and call it a day."
Spike started carrying the books to Twilight's room, leaving his friend behind discontent at the meager discovery they were given. Which of course, remained that way until Spike was almost finished moving all the books. It was late in the evening now, and while further attempts at finding anything else worth of value inside the container proved fruitless, Twilight was still not ready to call it quits.
There has to be something here.
She mused to herself. And after a while, her attention went back to her last item of interest: The Key.
It looked normal enough really. Something that could probably fit any old lock in any old door in any old house. But upon closer inspection, there was something that Twilight noticed. The key was connected to a long chain, which made it look something like a necklace. With very little to do with it, she put it around her neck.
".....now what?" she asked herself.
The unicorn sighed then, suddenly dawning on her how ridiculous she must seem in retrospect.
"Maybe everypony is right.. maybe I am just studying too hard."
She wasn't completely in despair however, there were still the books to read. Maybe there could be something there that could point her in the right direction. If nothing else, it would allow her to brush-up on her science and history. "Guess, it's not a total loss.." she said sarcastically.
Twilight slowly headed back upstairs. It was almost midnight now. Eerily reminding her of how weary everything made her. She didn't look forward to plowing through another night's worth of tomes, but if it meant reaffirming her own state of mind, she had little choice. Personally, anyway.
Upon entering her bedroom, she noticed that her assistant has managed to complete his task, and stacked all the books appropriately in the manner that Twilight was accustomed to. This made Twilight smile of course. Spike was already sound asleep in his bed, and looked exhausted by the way he lay on his belly, without a blanket no less. Twilight fixed it promptly by levetating the nearest blanket and tucking him in.
"Thanks, Spike. I'm glad someone believes me."
The candlelight raged on well into the twilight hours, and from the outside, it was the only light still awake. As the rest of Ponyville slept soundly in the wee hours of the early morning, a soft humming stirred in the dark. Waiting. Waiting for the right time. For it's keeper to return.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
"Who?"
What in all of Equestria are you doing child?! That's not how you categorize those compendiums!
"I don't know.."
Strange, these texts are all wrong. Are you sure this is the history section, young lady?
"Why?"
No no no no, that's not what happened at all!
"...do I want to know?"
Could you fetch me that omnibus, Ms. Twinkle?
"Who?"
yes yes yes, I know your name!
"That is his name."
I don't discuss my private life with strangers.
"Who."
Oh for heaven's sake child! It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Why are you sleeping?
"A question."
Honestly, this nightly habit of yours will eventually be the death of you!
"With all the answers."
Oh wake up! Wake up why don't you?!
"Who?"
Wake up!
"WHO!"
WAKE UP!
".....who."
WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUP!
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Light. Everywhere there was light.