//------------------------------//
// 5. The Metal Mare 
// Story: Chasing Paradox 
// by Foreshadow 
//------------------------------//

	Lit with blue magic and the light of the moon seeping through the domed skylight fused into a grand, vaulted ceiling, the library inside Canterlot Castle was a little eerie, but it glittered and seemed strangely magical all at once. The floor was polished marble and the walls were a soft blue, though most were masked under a lining of bookshelves that spread out to become little corridors of their own.

Princess Luna was almost silent on glimmering hooves as she prowled the floor, leading the two ponies to the center of the shelves where an old, wooden table was placed, laden only with a golden hourglass and a candlestick inside a silver holder. Around the table were weathered but cozy-looking sitting cushions in purples and blues. Luna glanced back and forth amongst the towering walls of books and then turned to the smaller ponies with curiosity.

“Tell me,” she said, looking more specifically at Time Turner, “how exactly did your ‘time travel’ work?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” the stallion admitted. “We were in danger. My... My body was suddenly full of a strange energy and for a second all external stimuli cut out and then we were... here.”

Luna looked a little concerned and Time Turner looked to Derpy, asking, “Was it like that for you as well?”

“Y-Yeah, mostly,” she said, nodding.

The Princess’s head tilted ever so slightly.

“I see,” she said. “I will take my leave for now. Good luck.”

She left with swift, soft steps, her magic giving light to a few candle stands, and left the two ponies alone in the library. Derpy took a deep breath through the scent of old book covers and dust that lingered in the air and looked at Time Turner curiously.

“Split up or together?” she asked.

“Hopefully the library won’t be too dangerous,” he said, smiling a little. “If we look separately, we’ll see many more books.”

Derpy nodded and spread her wings, but then quickly reconsidered and trotted off down a nearby corridor of shelves.

Anatomy, animals, astronomy... No, none of these. Umm...

She frowned to herself and followed the shelves down to the section about magic. Of course, she had no idea if what Time Turner was doing even was magic, but she could think of little else his power reminded her of.

“Time Turner?” she asked.

“Yes, Miss Derpy?”

“I’m looking in magic, how about you?”

“Ah!” 

She heard his hooves clattering and he poked his head around the shelf and gave her a grin.

“I’ll be in the science section!”

He disappeared behind the shelf and Derpy could hear his hooves and the pages of books flipping through the air. 

Derpy frowned to try to force her eyes straight-- or at least, a bit straighter-- and skimmed the spines of the books intently. She found one called Mastering Teleportation and pulled it, but a quick look told her it was not what they needed. She pulled a few more carefully and still found nothing, and soon enough she began to check through anything that sounded even vaguely related. 

The grey mare was surrounded by a fort of books pulled down, staring at one in her lap intently when Time Turner joined her over an hour later, announcing, “Not a thing on my end. How goes it over here?”

“Weird,” Derpy said, shaking her head; she flipped through the last few pages and then looked up at him worriedly. “Nothing in here about time travel except how it’s... not possible.”

“Not entirely true.”

The ponies jumped and both turned to see the dark form of Princess Luna standing before them. Hurriedly, Derpy got to her hooves and dipped in a quick bow as the dark alicorn approached, a book suspended in the glittering blue of her magic. 

“Curiosity got the better of me. I took a look in the collection of Star Swirl the Bearded. Have you heard of him?”

Awkwardly, Derpy shook her head, and Time Turner put in an, “I’m afraid not.” The Princess passed the book gently to them; Derpy took it in her wing with surprise.

“He was one of the most powerful, and magical, unicorns to ever inhabit Equestria. He wrote a great many books, a few concerning time travel. I thought it might be of use to you.”

“Th-Thank you so much, Princess!” Derpy said brightly, bowing again.

“We appreciate it very much,” Time Turner added with a smile.

Luna nodded and with a simple magic pulse, sent the books on the floor back to their places.

“If you would just return that to a guard once you’re done...” she said as she turned to go.

“Of course! Thank you again!” Derpy said.

The Princess seemed to vanish as soon as her frame was obscured in the shadow of the next shelf. Derpy couldn’t help but feel in awe of her. She clutched the book close for a moment before she turned around to face her friend. 

“Well?” she said.

“Let’s look at it together,” he said.

He doubled back for a moment and peeked around the shelf and then looked back at Derpy, eyes wide.

“She cleaned up those books, too. Amazing,” he said.

Time Turner ducked out of the shelves and to the table just beyond, settling down on one of the cushions. Derpy joined him quickly, gently placing the old, thick book between them and opening it up gently with her wingtip.

Star Swirl’s book was well preserved despite its age, and it contained pages upon pages of detailed, magical instruction. When she saw Time Turner frowning at the pages of detailed formulae, Derpy wasn’t embarrassed at all to admit she didn’t understand a single complicated word of it. In fact, it made her dizzy just trying to keep all the symbols on the pages straight.

“Now,” Time Turner mumbled, “this is something my brain will not translate. Interesting.”

“What do you mean?” Derpy asked.

“When I first began reading, I didn’t understand the meanings of the symbols at all, but it quickly became clear without much work,” he explained.

Derpy was confused and clearly looked it.

“What...? But isn’t that how learning to read happens for most ponies?” she wondered.

Time Turner looked at her with puzzlement for a moment before his face relaxed and he laughed, shaking his head and saying, “Sorry, I meant when we were searching for books in Twilight Sparkle’s library.”

“What? Before that you couldn’t read?” Derpy asked quickly. “Oh no! I’m sorry!”

“It’s quite all right,” he assured her, “I assume it’s the fault of the amnesia. Unfortunately, I still can’t make heads nor tails of this.”

“Neither of us are unicorns,” the mare said with a sigh, resting her cheek on her hoof, “and I bet most unicorns can’t even read this.”

She flipped through a few more pages until she came upon a bit of plain text:

Time travel is a fickle and dangerous power. Though interacting with oneself in the past to present may be tempting, to do so will merely cause one to become caught in a time loop wherein the events of traveling to the past will simply cause the past self to, in the future, become the one to engage in time travel, et sic in. To ensure that these loops, should they come into being, are as brief as possible, my time travel spells are forged with a very strict time limit in place, none lasting for longer than sixty seconds.

Derpy looked to Time Turner with her brows raised.

“We’ve been here way longer than a minute,” she said.

“Definitely. I suppose it isn’t one of this unicorn’s spells, then,” he replied. 

They continued:

 The time loops that will occur are minor paradoxes*, but due to the time limit, the risk of damage is extremely minimal. 

*A paradox, in this case, is damage to what has been called “the timeline”, usually only noticeable to the one who has been involved in the damage. This, theoretically, may occur when the traveler interacts with themselves.

I have heard of only one pony whose special, inborn talent was time travel. According to many ponies, sourced in the index, he was able to spontaneously move his body and that of those around him through both time and space simultaneously. At this moment, more studies must be conducted to determine the validity and consequences of such actions. 

Derpy tilted her head back and forth and looked at Time Turner. He seemed a little troubled but he said nothing. 

“May I move on?” he asked.

The pegasus nodded, so Time Turner flipped through the remainder of the book carefully, skimming each page. There was no more plain text until a huge index of sources and equation elaborations at the end. By the time they were done, Derpy’s wandering eye seemed to want to run far away from that book, and though it made her dizzy and gave her a headache, she really couldn’t blame it.

“So,” Time Turner said as he closed the huge tome, “we have learned something, I think.”	

“Not to read weird, complicated equations that make no sense to non-unicorns?” Derpy asked, rubbing her brow.

Time Turned looked at her with a sympathetic smile, but he shook his head, “Not that. That we should do our best to avoid ourselves.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Your worry from before seems well founded. We should be in Ponyville right now,” he explained. “Or at least, you should. The other you, from four days ago.”

“Oh! Right! We don’t want to make a... a paradox, or whatever, right?” Derpy asked.

“Exactly,” Time Turner said.

“So what do we do?” the pegasus wondered nervously.

Time Turner frowned with confusion and scratched his chin 

“I... hmm... I’m not sure,” he admitted. “That house of Pecan Posy still feels a little suspicious to me, but it did also seem to be empty. Maybe we should head back there?”

Derpy didn’t have a better idea, so she nodded and let out a sigh, closing the large book gently. 

Getting up after being still for so long set Derpy’s body all aching again, but she gritted her teeth and said nothing about it as Time Turner stood up and stretched. He nodded towards the door and Derpy grabbed the huge book carefully and followed him as he made his way out.

As requested, Derpy passed the old magic tome off to one of the guards near the palace doors as she and Time Turner left. The stars glittered above and the night air was warm, wrapped in a cool breeze. Derpy couldn’t help but admit that it was lovely. She took a moment on the stairs outside of the castle, gaze up on the dark and the stars, letting her eyes finally relax. 

Time Turner stopped at her side and looked up at the sky as well. The glittering of the stars was oddly alluring, and comforting as well. He smiled to himself and then looked at his friend, asking, “What are you looking at? Anything in particular?”

“No,” she said, “just... It’s nice, tonight. And... well, tomorrow’s that meteor shower again. The night I found you.”

Her ears drooped a little as she thought about it and she looked at him out of the corner of her wandering eye. He had looked so pitiful and weak, then. The change in him was drastic, but she was happy for him even though his memories were still lost. 

“I wish I could go back there,” she said, “to see what happened to you. But... I guess I’d just run right into myself, huh?”

“I suppose so,” he admitted. “But... aside from that, I’d be excited to see this meteor shower you mentioned.”

Derpy smiled and fluttered her wings a little, admitting, “It was really nice.” She couldn’t help a laugh and began down the stairs; her friend followed.

“Happens once every ten years,” she commented. “I guess I’m lucky. I get to see it twice in a week.”

“That’s the spirit,” Time Turner laughed.

It was getting late, but much of Canterlot was still alight. Highfalutin ponies of all stripes shopped and dined at the fancier restaurants and boutiques still open in the late night hours. Derpy insisted that they keep the shadows; a few ponies in Canterlot knew her, and though she had no idea if any of them would be in this crowd, she decided she didn’t want anypony to recognize her. Her stomach grumbled and Time Turner looked at her with a raised brow and she grimaced. 

“Are you hungry?” he asked. “Shall we stop and get something?”

“I didn’t bring enough bits for fancy places like this,” she said, ears drooping.

“What about a less fancy place?”

“I know some, but the owners know me, so--”

“Ah!” he said brightly. “No trouble at all, give me your bits and I’ll go in instead.”

“Oh! ...You don’t have to--” she began, but her growling tummy said otherwise.

He laughed and she blushed and said, “Fine, fine, follow me.”

Time Turner seemed rather pleased with himself, trotting alongside Derpy as she lead them to a building with large windows and bright lights, with a thick-bodied, yellow stallion in a clean white smock and hat behind the counter. 

“Donut Joe’s,” she explained, and she reached into her bag to get a small bag of bits.

Using her wings, she opened it just to count and then quickly passed him the bag. 

“Ask for a dozen donuts, that should be fine for a while,” she instructed. 

He nodded and trotted into the building as she ducked out of the light, between the donut shop and a building beside it. She took a deep breath, trying to settle herself, but couldn’t help but jump when she heard a bright, female giggle. She spun on her rear hooves and cast around quickly. She was struck by light flickering back at her off yellow, dragon-like eyes just a little-ways off the ground, the body of their owner hidden in the darkness. Derpy felt a sting of nerves.

"Hello?" she asked cautiously.

The eyes looked suddenly amused and another giggle tickled the night air before the shape turned and bounded away, disappearing into the shadows. Derpy couldn’t help but feel a chill, wondering if, somehow, that had been a filly. She had been about the right height. Hesitantly, Derpy edged down the alleyway and took a look around. She was surprised to see nopony there, and was about to proceed just a little farther when she heard her name being called. She whirled and quickly headed back to find Time Turner casting around worriedly, a pink-and-white cardboard box near his front hooves. She waved to him and he looked immediately relieved, saying, “Ah, there you are! Brilliant! Where did you head off to?”

“Oh, I just thought I saw somepony... Maybe a lost filly or something, but I think it wasn’t really anything,” she tried to explain.

Time Turner looked a little confused but he nodded.

“Shall we head back to that empty house? And hopefully it’s still empty.”

Derpy nodded and her friend smiled and her brightly and bent down to gingerly take the box in his mouth, jerking his head down the road. Derpy cocked her ears back and forth and she wondered, “Why don’t you just carry that on your back?”

He seemed to try to convey that he couldn’t balance it, but she couldn’t really understand his words and she laughed, reached out with her wings to take it and placed it on her back.

“I’ll do it,” she said.

“Much obliged,” he said, ears drooping bashfully. “The pony in the shop suggested the same, but I simply couldn’t.”

“Oh. Strange,” Derpy said, scratching her head with a wingtip. “Back-balance seems to be a sort of in-born thing in most ponies. But then again, you’re still new even knowing what a pony is.”

She shrugged and began on her way down the road with Time Turner sticking close by as she assured him, “I bet you’ll get it with practice.”

“That’s encouraging,” he replied.

The ponies made their way back through the town, out of the lights of the restaurants and to the darkened market. Derpy was nervous despite herself as they went down the small side-street towards the vacant house of Pecan Posy. Nothing strange happened at all, though, and a bit cautiously, the two ponies edged through the open door. It was dark in there, but there was a little bit of furniture and, after stumbling around for a bit, Derpy found a small gas-lamp and turned it on. She squinted in the new light and then placed the box of donuts onto a coffee table in front of a green, flower-print sofa.

“Not bad in here,” Time Turner commented.

“And now we’re squatters,” Derpy laughed tiredly; she opened the box of donuts and took a sprinkled one with pink frosting and began to eat it as she took a look around the place.

It was a very average home; not a thing out of place or alarming-- at least, nothing she could see. Timer Turner grabbed a donut as well and then began to peek out all the windows, and then found a set of stairs. He trotted up them and, after just a little while, he called down, “Derpy, there are some beds up here! Doesn’t look like they’ve been used in a while. Do you think it’s all right to sleep in them?” 

“Sure," she said, going upstairs to join him, "unless you want to sleep on the floor.”

He snickered and said, “I think I’ll take a rest for now.”

“Good night,” she said. 

He smiled, trotting off to one of the rooms. She heard the bed squish and the springs creak, and she was immediately jealous. She went to the other bedroom and found a bed with a star-patterned blanket draped across it. A bit hesitantly, she snuck on top of it and lay on her back, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling. Despite the sugar of the donut, her eyelids began to droop-- she couldn’t control it, and was asleep within minutes.


---


In the other room, despite claiming the bed excitedly, Time Turner didn’t sleep. He lay down, cozied in a plaid blanket, munching his donut, his mind slogging through all the information of the day-- or, he supposed, of two rather disparate days. Though he supposed it was selfish, he was glad that whatever he had done had brought Derpy with him. 

She must be bruised, though, he mused, cringing. She ran straight into that metal creature. That must have hurt. 

His ears flopped and he kicked his back hooves through the blanket before flopping back and staring out the window on the wall. His mind wandered for a long while, only being startled out of his thoughts when a glimmer of sun shone into his eyes. He rolled upright and stumbled out of bed, pressing himself close to the window and peeking out. He wondered if that creature was out there now.

Has she been watching me? he wondered. What could I have done to make her so angry?

He bit his lip and his ears drooped as his gaze wandered down the tight alleyway where they had been-- or, he supposed, would be-- attacked. He was sure it had to do with his missing memories, and the very notion of it made his chest ache. 

Maybe... Maybe I was bad before, he thought. Maybe I was awful.

He sighed to himself and then spun in place, trying to think, before he made the decision to check outside a little more thoroughly.  First, though, he made to go check on Derpy.

He found her on her back on the bed in the other room on top of a starry quilt. He felt a spring of fondness and he quietly edged to her side and scooted the blanket down, and then back up and over her. She slumped a little and seemed a little more relaxed and Time Turner felt a little proud of himself, but only for a moment before he starting to fret again.

Can I really be bad? All I want to do is explore with Derpy and help out. Would I really be so different with my memories?

He recalled what Pinkie Pie had said about the subject and his heart sunk.

	Maybe I would be.

He grimaced and paused a while longer, absently watching his friend snooze, the rhythmic rising and falling of the star-blanket around her a bit mesmerizing. Once he caught himself staring, he shook his mane and straightened up, trotting from the room quickly and quietly. 

He paused just outside the door for a moment and then turned back in. He was still exhausted, but he thought maybe, just maybe-- He hurried to keep Derpy close, putting a hoof on her shoulder just in case, and he scrunched his eyes shut. He concentrated hard, trying to find that energy that had sent them back to begin with. For second he felt something-- or at least he thought he did-- but then, quite abruptly, there was nothing. Cautiously, Time Turner opened his eyes; his ears drooped low. 

It didn’t work... Just my luck.

He frowned and drew his hoof away from his friend as he settled down onto the floor properly, his mind tumbling over the possibilities of why it didn’t work. Perhaps because he had no idea how even to choose where to go, let alone how to activate the power?  He had to settle with simply not knowing and, reluctantly, left the room once more.

Outside, he checked the door for the flower mark, but there still wasn’t one. It unnerved him, but also made him very curious. He trotted a bit farther down the alleyway, checking cautiously back and forth before he whirled around to stare the small house down. 

Nothing...

He grimaced and, though nervous, he headed down the tiny side street and back towards the market district, trying to be quick and quiet all at once. He hoped for a guard-- They’re supposed to uphold the law, right?-- wondering if anyone had seen the strange mare.

The golden sunlight was warm on his fur as he emerged from the shadows of the alley and he checked around a little suspiciously. Though it was quite early, there were still a few ponies around. Shop owners, probably. Time Turner checked around, his tail swishing, and he saw, a little ways away, patrolling near a fountain, a white stallion garbed in golden armour. He looked much like the guards he had seen at the palace. Time Turner checked behind him quickly, just in case, and then trotted up the the armoured stallion.

“Excuse me, sir,” he said as he got closer, “you are a guard, yes?”

The armoured stallion turned on him, looking a bit confused for a moment before giving him a polite nod.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “What can I do for you, sir?”

“I was just wondering if you’ve seen anyone a little suspicious around here,” Time Turner said, “specifically, a silver mare in a dark robe. I believe she was stalking me a bit earlier.”

The guard tilted his head very slightly and frowned a little before he shook his head.

“I’m afraid I haven’t,” he said. “I’ll be on my guard, though.”

“Oh. That’s all right. Thank you for your time.” 

The guard nodded and Time Turner grimaced and turned to observe the market cautiously. There still wasn’t any sign of the metal mare, but he supposed she probably wouldn’t be so blatant. It was making him feel a bit paranoid nonetheless. 

He rushed back to the tiny house and checked all the rooms, just in case, and then peeked in on Derpy. She was still asleep; hadn’t moved an inch. She was rather cute as she slept, he thought. Then again, most ponies seemed to be very cute to him. They were, in general, quite an adorable species in his eyes. Admittedly, he still felt a bit separate. He continued to watch a bit absently, perhaps for a little too long; then took a deep breath and went on back to the room he had been in and settled down to try to order his thoughts.

Time travel, huh? 

He rubbed his forehead with his front hooves and glowered at the bedspread.

How did I do that?!


---


Light tickled Derpy’s eyelids, making her see pale pink and red spots until she opened her eyes, seeing not much more than the window before her. She was confused for a moment: the window wasn’t familiar, nor was the bit of roof or skyline she saw beyond it. She remembered where she was after a couple of frowning seconds, and hurriedly she sat up, slipping on skittering  hooves and throwing her wings out for balance. She let out a squeak despite herself; her body was sore still, and it all rushed back to hit her in an instant.

Before she could say a word, she whirled to look in the doorway as she heard another set of hooves. Time Turner, a little scruffier than usual, was in her field of vision in an instant and he asked, “Miss Derpy, are you all right?”

“Wha--? Oh! Uh... Yeah, I’m...” She took a deep breath and ran a hoof through her mane, folding her wings back. “Yeah, I’m fine, I guess I just forgot where I was.”

Time Turner looked relieved and a smile crossed his face, his short tail wagging.

“Oh! Well, we’re the first day towards catching up with ourselves,” he said brightly. “Oh! Hang on just a moment!”

The stallion rushed away and Derpy heard his hooves clattering all over the house until he got back into the room, carrying the box of donuts precariously on one hoof. He nodded at the bed and asked, “May I?” 

Derpy nodded quickly and Time Turner moved to sit on the bed, offering her a donut as he took one as well. The pegasus sat on the other side and took one a bit tentatively. It had gotten a little dry overnight, but it wasn’t bad.

“So,” Time Turner said, obviously shifting a bite of the donut to his cheek, “I talked to a guard. No sign of that pony. He said he’d watch out, though, so that’s something.”

He swallowed heavily and Derpy nodded, saying a quiet, “That’s good.” 

He tilted his head and he asked, “Still worried, right?”

“Yeah,” she admitted. 

“I am as well, but you and I, we’ll stick together and we’ll be just fine.” He grinned. “We can go see that meteor shower tonight. That would be something, eh? I mean... if you want to.”

He looked at her a bit bashfully, and his ears perked when she nodded.

“That’ll be nice,” she said. “But... what should we do for the rest of the day? Just lay low?”

“Maybe,” he confessed, and then tilted his head back and frowned. “Blast it, that sounds painfully boring.”

“What would you rather do?” the pegasus asked with a laugh.

“Almost anything,” he sighed. “Though I’d like to explore the city, I suppose staying out of sight should be our main priority.”

“My main priority,” Derpy corrected. “Some ponies know me here, and I really don’t want to have to end up explaining to the Equestrian Postal Service how I could have been in Canterlot and doing my job in Ponyville at the same time.” 

Her ears drooped and Time Turner frowned in thought before he got up and paced a circle on the floor for a moment before his ears perked and he gave her a grin.

“I know what to do!” he announced, before galloping from the room. 

He was gone before Derpy could stop him or ask what he was up to; she even heard the front door slam.

She sighed to herself and finished her donut slowly, listening to the birds chirp and wondering what in Equestria to do with herself. She got up an decided to fix up the beds, and check the house once more for anything suspicious. She soon heard the door slam again and Time Turner met her in the living room, tossing a bag that appeared to be from a souvenir shop to her.

“What’s this?” she asked as she caught it close against her chest.

“I hope you don’t mind, I used a few of your bits,” he said. “The nice pony said if you don’t like it, you can bring it back, I expect, in return for your bits.”

Derpy looked a bit puzzled but checked the bag. Inside she found a large, baggy black hoodie with wingslits and earholes, simple sunglasses, and some pale purple hoof-polish.

“Oh!” she said. “Actually... that’s kind of smart.”

“Thank you!” he said. “I know your Cutie Mark is supposed to be quite a significant indication of who’s who, so that large comfy torso covering should be long enough that you can cover it just a smidge.” 

“It’s called a sweatshirt, by the way. That’s great, though,” Derpy said. “At least this hoof-polish will kill a bit of time. I might need you to double check it for me when it’s done, though. I don’t usually use this sort of thing.”

Before he could ask, she smiled embarrassedly and pointed to her wandering eye.

“Oh! Right, of course, I’d completely forgotten. Sorry!” he said, eyes widening.

Derpy was taken aback, but found herself to be grinning before she could help herself. 

“That’s okay!” she assured him brightly. “I’ll be in the bathroom, is it okay if I let you know if I need help?”

“Absolutely,” the stallion said.


---


After painting her front hooves, Derpy hovered to do her back ones. It was time consuming and she had to be cautious not to get the colour in her fur or fly into the walls, but all things considered, she was sure she did an acceptable job. When she opened the door and fluttered out, calling for him, he arrived quickly.

“Can you check?” she asked as she held out her hooves.

“Oh! Yes, let me just... umm...” He darted under her, peeking at her hooves and pulled back with a smile, assuring her, “You did just fine.”

“Phew!” she sighed. 

She waggled one hoof, checked the bottom, and then landed carefully on the floor, shaking her fur carefully. 

“Looks okay, I think,” she said, shrugging.

“Looks about right,” Time Turner agreed. “I hope it suits you! I picked a colour that matches your bubbles.”

“Oh!” 

Derpy blushed despite herself and said a high, “Thanks,” before she hurried to grab the sweatshirt. She put it on, slipping her wings through and pulling the hood up.

“Out?” She jerked her head towards the door.

“Brilliant,” the stallion said with a smile.

The two ponies left the house and Derpy put on the sunglasses as well. Time Turner checked the front of the door once more and, finding nothing, they left down the small side street and headed back into the market district. 

Derpy was surprised to see some extra stands set up, with ponies hocking shooting star themed wears in preparation for the upcoming star shower in the evening. 

“Seems like it’s gonna be a big thing,” she commented.

“Hmm?”

Time Turner looked at her curiously.

“Oh! Sorry, the shooting stars.”

“Ah. Right. That’s exciting, eh? I’ve always liked shooting stars. At least, I think I have.”

He took a moment to think about it and Derpy looked at him over her glasses.

“Yes!” he decided. “I have. That seems like a thing I’d like quite a bit, for some reason.”

Derpy snickered to herself, wondering, “Time Turner? You know how sometimes you sort of recall liking something? Do you think the way you are right now is a lot like you were before you lost your memories?”

“I certainly hope so,” the stallion replied.

He smiled bashfully and shrugged, and then hurriedly pointed out a stand selling enchanted snowglobes, dashing to it to look into the sparkling glass curiously. Derpy tilted her head and followed him, and then shot him a questioning look. He didn’t say anything for a moment and gently lifted one of the globes, but something about his expression worried the pegasus. 

He was distracted, even if forcibly so. His bright eyes stared through the polished glass, but seemed to be looking much farther. Inside shone with tiny specs of white and blue sparkles and showed the ornate and splendid castle that towered over the city. He stared into it a bit blankly for a moment and Derpy scanned his face.

he smiled just a little before he confessed, “It’s something I’ve been worrying about a lot, to be honest.” 

Derpy opened her mouth to reassure him, but before she could, the stallion’s front hooves slipped, and with a sharp, “Oops!” he dropped the orb to the ground and it rolled quickly. 

“Sorry!” he exclaimed as the purple vendor-mare jumped with alarm, assuring, “Stay here. I’ll get it!” as he galloped after it. 

The vendor shot Derpy a questioning look and the pegasus grinned bashfully, assuring her, “I’ll pay for it if it breaks.”

The snowglobe clinked across the stone and Time Turner darted around a few other ponies to chase the surprisingly speedy object. It bounced awkwardly against the corner of a bakery and wobbled down the space between it and the neighbouring clothing boutique. Hoping it had stopped, Time Turner hurried into the small alleyway, cursing himself for being so distracted and half-expecting to see the thing cracked, but stalled in his tracks as he came upon something quite odd. The snowglobe had stopped. certainly, but was suspended in a purple-blue glow of magic emanating from the pointy horn of a small and strange creature, the likes of which Time Turner had never seen.

She looked like a pony at first, a young one with big yellow eyes and a long, black mane, streaked with a light and darker turquoise.  The little creature had shaggy, dark grey fur over most of her body, but her limbs didn’t match. He couldn’t describe them much other than that one of her front legs seemed to be much like a bird’s, but the other was ended with a dark, spotted paw instead. Strangely, her back legs were different once more, one with a purple hoof while the other was a scaled, toned-down blue limb with claws on the foot. Behind feathered ears was each a long, deep purple horn that curled down and forward, and she bore on her back two bird wings tipped in white feathers with a patch that changed colours between green and purple in the light as she shifted. She stared at him, tilting her head as she gave him an amused smile, a long, purple tail tufted and maned in black swishing behind her. 

“Uh... Hello,” Time Turner said. “Sorry, may I have that back?”

He nodded at the snowglobe, and the small creature tilted her head the other way.

“Hello,” she said, her voice high and bright, and she grinned, “having a good time in Canterlot?”

The way she said it divulged some sort of deeper knowledge, and Time Turner was instantly uncomfortable; he did he best not to check back over his shoulder.

“Um... Yes, quite a good time,” the stallion said, unable to help the tinge of skepticism that crept into his voice. 

The creature before him laughed.

“You don’t have anything to be scared of, we haven’t even met yet!” she chided, and then  grinned with little fangs in a way that made his fur bristle, “I suppose this is our first time! But don’t worry, we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other. What are you called now? Time Turner?”

Time Turner’s blood ran cold and his ears drooped backwards; he took an unconscious step away.

“Doesn’t really make a difference to me.” She bounced the snowglobe from side to side in the air. “Strange to see you just like this. Meeting backwards is always a funny thing, isn’t it? Oh well. I’m Paradox, so you know.”

“Paradox?” Time Turner repeated, “But... who are you?”

“Just wait and see,” she said quickly, her grin quickly turning into a sneer. “You won’t like it. But that’s half the fun, isn’t it? Catch!”

She tossed the snowglobe towards him quickly and was gone before he could blink, seeming to simply not be there anymore. With a yelp, the stallion reared back and tried to catch the thing in his hooves, balancing it awkwardly only to have it fall as he stumbled awkwardly on his hindlimbs. The sharp cracking sound made him wince and he dropped down onto all fours, his ears pressing back as water filled with little sparkling specs puddled out onto the ground.. 

“Oh, horsefeathers!” he cursed quietly.

Puzzled, scared, and defeated, he gently pushed the broken thing back into the alley and returned, head hung, towards the souvenir stand.

When Derpy spotted Time Turner out in the crowd, she didn’t even bother to wait for him before turning to the vendor and paying her the small cost of the snowglobe. She trotted to meet him and he quietly said, “It broke.”

“I could tell from your face,” Derpy assured him. “It’s okay, it wasn’t very expensive. Don’t worry.”

When the stallion didn’t look the least bit cheered, she peeked at him over her glasses and then took them off, folding them in and pocketing them.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Can we speak in private?” he asked.

“Wha...? Oh! Um, yeah, of course,” Derpy said quickly. “Wanna go back to the house?”

He nodded and didn’t say another word, raising his head a bit and determinedly making his way back to the vacant abode of Pecan Posy. The pegasus watched him worriedly but they didn’t speak until they were back indoors.

Derpy was about to ask him what was wrong when he whirled on her, blurting a quick, “There was a small creature in the alley and she knew me, and I have no idea what she was, and she said--”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Derpy said quickly, raising her front hooves, “slow down. What happened?”

Time Turner sucked in a deep breath and bounced back and forth on his hooves, eyes wide.

“All right,” he said, visibly trying to calm down, “when I followed that glass ball I dropped, I ran into a creature that was as if she were a patchwork of other creatures, and she said she was called Paradox and that we had met backwards. She knew my name. The name you’ve given me, I mean.”

Derpy didn’t know what to say other than, “Oh,” as her eyes widened, and then asked, “But... who was she? Did she tell you anything?”

“She was quite sinister, if I’m honest,” he replied. “But... But meeting backwards, that’s a rather specific thing to say, eh? She must be traveling through time then as well, right?”

Derpy hadn’t even considered it. She rubbed her forehead.

“Yup, guess so,” she said before she let out a worried sigh and looked at her friend quizzically. “But... you said she was ‘sinister’?”

“Yes, yes, just her tone, I... I don’t know! I don’t know what to make of it at all!”

He dropped back onto his haunches and put his face in his front hooves, his ears drooping back. He was starting to get quite the headache.

Derpy’s ears drooped and she sat beside him, patting him gently on the shoulder.

“I guess there’s just a lot we don’t know right now,” she said quietly, “but... I’m sure... I’m sure we can get this all figured out. It’ll just take some time. Just gotta keep going up, right?”

She shot him a smile when he finally looked up again, enough so that he managed to crack one himself.

“Always so positive,” he chuckled. “I suppose you’re right. I’m sorry for collapsing like that.”

“Time Turner, you’re having weird time travel experiences and you have no idea who you are, and you expect to not have to stop and just get a hold of yourself every once and a while?” Derpy asked, raising her eyebrows a bit skeptically. 

Time Turner opened his mouth as if to argue something-- Derpy had no idea what he could possible object to--  but he faltered, and then smiled and rubbed a hoof through his forelock. 

“Thank you,” he said. “Sorry for costing you for that-- what was it?”

“Snowglobe. It’s fine, really,” she assured him with a laugh. “Anyway, we’ll just keep our eyes open for this ‘Paradox’. What did you say she was, again?”

“Can’t really describe, I mean... I still don’t know the names of all the creatures here, but... she looked almost like a pony in the face and body, and a very dark colour, but she had three horns and wings and each limb was totally different.”

Derpy was taken aback and she suddenly felt a bit cold. She only knew of one creature even remotely similar to that, but he was currently encased in stone and in the care of Princess Celestia. The last time he had been out and about, he had literally turned Ponyville upside down and had really worked a number on the minds of the townsfolk, including herself. She shuddered, and though Time Turner gave her a worried look, she stood up, gathered herself.

“I’m not positive what she would be, but we should probably stay away from her if you think she might be trouble.”

“Right,” the stallion agreed. 

He got to his hooves and, nonetheless, checked the windows cautiously. He didn’t really feel safe. He shot Derpy a nervous glance, but she merely tilted her head as she looked at him. Finally, he smiled and nodded his head at the door. 

“No use holding up in here, for now. Shall we make a few more inquiries about that strange pony that attacked us?” 

Derpy nodded and pulled out her sunglasses to put them back on, saying, “We’ll figure this out,” as she did.


---


Unwilling to split up, the two ponies bounced from guard to guard, making inquiries about the mysterious silver pony, though after the first four refused to believe a creature like Paradox even existed, they dropped her from their line of questioning. No one had heard or seen anything like the hooded assailant they had described, and of course, it was impossible to report the attack that hadn’t happened yet.

As afternoon crept in and their hooves started to tire, they took a rest near a coffee shop, where Derpy bought them each a smoothie. She sipped hers, a chocolate chip and mint something-or-other, delicately as she sat beside her friend on a stone bench, watching past him a bit absently as a unicorn guard bee-lined between small groups of ponies a little ways away. Time Turner stared at his drink: the straw seemed to confuse him at first, but he was rather pleased as soon as he got the hang of it, and was even more pleased with the sweet lemon smoothie when he tasted it. 

“I can’t believe we haven’t gotten a single lead,” Derpy grumbled as she leaned back against the bench. “...Maybe she’s not here yet.”

“Could be,” Time Turner agreed.

He said nothing more and sipped at his drink and the pegasus beside him watched him for a moment before she tentatively asked, “So... did you have a plan? For what to do when we find her, I mean.” Time Turner stuck his tongue out.

“No plan, really. I suppose I’d like to knock her out?”

“Knock her out?” Derpy repeated with wide eyes. “What for? And how?”

“Well, just think about where we came from, Miss Derpy,” he explained, and his hoof drew in the air as if trying to make a map. “We were three days ahead of now, but at that moment during the attack, we must have vanished. Now, we are living through the days to catch up with the moment we left. Following me?”

Derpy nodded and he smiled.

“I’m sure on that final day it shouldn’t be too hard to track a cloaked mare in the market district in the afternoon.  We can wait in the house, I suppose. I suspect that mare will be quite startled when we vanish, and at that point we can... I’m not sure? Tackle her or something along those lines. To prevent more damage.”

His ears perked and Derpy tilted her head.

“So, wait... I thought you didn’t have a plan.”

“I didn’t, I just made that up as I went. Clever, eh?” 

“...Yeah. Yeah, I think so. But to knock her out...” Derpy shook her head. “I have no idea.”

Time Turner shrugged.

“We have a few days,” he assured her.

“How could I forget?” Derpy joked.

She sipped at her drink and then stretched her forelimbs up above her head tiredly, only to immediately wish she hadn’t as her bruises quickly flared up. She cringed but kept herself quiet, and then wondered, “Now what?” Time Turner shrugged and slurped his drink until it was gone.

“Such an interesting taste!” he said brightly, “What is it?”

“Lemon,” Derpy said. “A fruit. Don’t try eating one on its own, though, normally they’re really sour.”

“Oh! Never would have guessed,” he laughed. “Ready to get going again?”

Derpy held up one hoof and finished her own drink quickly, and then said a quick, “Yep.” She took his empty cup and, along with hers, threw them out in a trash bin before joining him again. 

They began on their way again, but Derpy was starting to ache. She tried to ignore it, but didn’t even notice that she had started to walk funny until Time Turner stopped her with a hoof on her shoulder.

“You’re limping a little,” he said.

“Me? Oh,” Derpy said, a bit surprised, “I didn’t notice.”

“You’re hurt, aren’t you?” he asked, ears drooping.

“Just bruised,” she assured him, “don’t worry about it.”

She shot him a smile and he seemed a little reassured, though his brow was still creased with worry. She laughed and was about to reassure him again when the sound of heavy hooves approaching them startled her badly and she jumped, only to see a guard approaching them quickly. Even though he looked stern and she couldn’t help but shrink away, she was immediately relieved that they weren’t being accosted by that silver mare. 

The guard was a pale grey unicorn dressed in a slightly lighter and more ornate, golden armour than was familiar to Derpy and he stopped short of them and looked them up and down intently. 

“You two are visitors, right?” the guard asked.

“Y-Yes,” Derpy replied quickly.

“First time here,” Time Turner said with a smile.

The other stallion nodded and then his horn lit up with blue; he produced a pale golden envelope and passed it to them. Derpy took it and looked at the guard curiously.

“You are cordially invited to the palace grounds to watch the shooting stars this evening,” he said. “Bring any friends you wish. The grounds are open to all, tonight.”

“Oh!” Derpy said a bit shrilly, her ears perking high. “Wow, okay. Thanks, sir.”

He nodded and smiled before heading off as he spotted another small group, to whom he soon presented another golden envelope. 

Derpy raised her eyebrow and cast a glance at Time Turner. The stallion looked thoughtful and he peeked in at the envelope. Derpy opened it with one of her wings and, as expected, it was a letter emblazoned with a sun and crescent moon, expressing the same invitation the guard had repeated. 

“Nice,” Derpy said. “What do you think? Want to watch from there tonight?”

“Sounds lovely to me,” he said, “but for now, would you like to call it a day?”

Derpy tilted her head and stared at him blankly before asking, “Why?”

“Take a bit of a rest,” he said with a shrug. “I honestly don’t think that mare is in town yet. I’m not sure we can actually do much more today.”

“If you think so,” Derpy said with a shrug.

“I do,” he said, steadfast.

He looked so serious that the pegasus couldn’t help but laugh.

“All right, all right!” she said, waving a hoof at him.

Though he still looked worried and although she was sore, she ruffled her wings and pawed the ground, saying, “Race you!”  She took off before he could answer, prompting him to give chase.

He reached the house before she did, but she didn’t mind. She grinned at him and fluffed her wings as her rather quick friend held the door open for her.

“Silly girl,” he commented, sticking his tongue out at her. 

She laughed and took off her sunglasses before she flopped down onto the couch in the living room, cozying into her sweatshirt. Time Turner followed and sat at the other end, stretching his hooves up into the air. His rest was short, though; he was soon up and patrolling the rooms once more.

As Derpy heard Time Turner’s hooves reaching the far rooms upstairs, she called, “Anything?” She heard more hooves and he poked his head down the stairs.

“Absolutely nothing.”


---


The little pegasus napped without realizing it for a bit of the afternoon, cozy where she had settled on the sofa. Time Turner couldn’t sleep, but was glad his sore friend was able to. He could barely relax. Paradox’s words played in his mind. He didn’t know what she meant, but he didn’t think he liked it.


---


Time Turner only woke Derpy when the sun had started to set, and, finally with a bit of excitement, the two of them headed towards the palace. 

The sky was clear with the few remaining clouds being gently pushed away by pegasi in the distance. Derpy was beginning to feel a strange sense of nostalgia already, simply by looking at the sunset. As the city began to level out towards the palace, smoothing the skyline a little, Derpy couldn’t help but pause and stare at the sky, eyes wide; her roaming pupil took in a little more than she could handle. Time Turner inclined his head as he watched her and when she caught him staring, she skittered on her front hooves a little.

“Ack, it’s so weird!” she exclaimed. “I’ve seen this exactly before! And this isn’t even the special bit.”

Time Turner laughed and followed her gaze before giving her a smile.

“Truth be told, I’m a little jealous,” he said. “But I’m sure I’ll know that feeling in a few days.”

“So weird...” Derpy muttered, still a bit awed.

They hurried on their way, though Derpy quickly began to feel a little self-conscious as she noticed the elaborate, graceful dress of many of the mares up the road. Many ponies seemed to have their manes carefully coiffed and shimmering gowns, many even star-themed, covered their bodies. She pulled her wings in close and bit her lip. The stallion by her side looked at her questioningly but didn’t say a word. 

The palace before them was sparkling in the orange-and-pink glow of the setting sun, the shining towers stretching up towards the sky.

“Oh, this place is really lovely in the light,” Time Turner commented as they got closer, “don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Derpy agreed. 

She ruffled her wings and picked up the pace just a little and before long, they were able to slink past a few of the groups stalled and chatting in the lanes and into the courtyard.

Before them was laid out an elaborate party spread, with tables covered with elegant blue tablecloths and laden with some of the fanciest looking pastries and cakes that Derpy had ever seen in her life. There were elegant, well-dressed ponies everywhere, crowding the grass, and there was even a small, classical band playing at the far end of the meadow. Derpy again felt severely underdressed, but beside her, Time Turner’s face lit up and he grinned, taking off to bounce around the area, checking out ponies and tables all around. The pegasus laughed at him quietly and waited a little, trying to keep herself off to the side and out of the way of the incoming guests. When the stallion rejoined her, he presented her with a brownie frosted with dark chocolate and a white chocolate paisley pattern, garnished with a bright red cherry. 

“Thanks!” she said brightly, and then laughed and took a bite. “We’ve just been eating desserts for days.”

“Ah, well, desserts are cheap,” the stallion chuckled. “Or free.”

“...And delicious.”

Time Turner laughed and took an inquisitive look around at all the ponies. 

He found it so interesting how all the ponies seemed so different in terms of the colours in their fur, and to see so many in one place was fascinating to him, especially since there were such physical differences. Feathered wings or occasionally wings of a membrane spread between long fingers, horns, or nothing like that at all. All the ponies seemed to get along nonetheless, and that made Time Turner happy.

One pony a ways away, speaking to a few fancy-looking mares, really stood out. She was very tall and her pelt shimmered white, and he mane billowed with pale turquoise, green, blue and pink, glinting as if producing its own, tiny flecks of light. She also bore both wide, elegant, feathered wings on her back and a horn on her brow. He had only seen that combination like it once before, on Princess Luna, though the dark-pelted mare had much more rounded wings. The golden crown perched on her head, behind her horn, made her stand out as someone quite extraordinary; he poked Derpy and pointed at her, wondering, “Who’s that?” as he noticed his familiar Princess join her, whom he was surprised to see was quite a bit shorter. 

Derpy’s gaze followed his hoof and, quickly, she slapped it down as her eyes widened, and she squeaked, “That’s Princess Celestia!”

“Princess Celestia?” It took Time Turner a moment to recall the name. “Ah, right, the queen-- no, the ruler, right? Co-ruler?”

“Right, co-ruler with Princess Luna,” Derpy explained.

“My, my, she looks quite extraordinary, doesn’t she? Brilliant,” he said brightly. “She’s a pony as well? She looks quite different.”

“She’s something called an ‘alicorn’. They’re really not very common at all.” She edged in closer to him and lowered her voice. “I heard that she and her sister might be the only two ‘natural’ ones left. They’re really old.”

“How old?” Time Turner asked curiously.

“Over one thousand years, definitely,” she said with a serious nod.

“That’s amazing,” the stallion said, eyes wide.

He looked at the tall, glittering mare again and couldn’t help but wish he could speak to her. A mare like that would have so much knowledge, wouldn’t she? 

She must be just fascinating! he thought.

Derpy watched her friend seeming to slip off into daydreams as he stared at the Princess, and she really couldn’t blame him. It was starting to get a little darker and the crowd was thickening and getting quite loud. The pegasus wasn’t exactly a huge fan of large groups and she took a few steps back and turned to survey the area, wondering if there was another place they could watch from. 

A little ways back, she spotted a small balcony protruding from the palace that was barely a floor off the ground. She tilted her head. 

I wonder...

She grabbed Time Turner and pulled him back towards it, and before he could even ask her what she was doing, she was testing a small ledge on the wall as a foothold and then lifting off and making a landing on the low stone railing bordering the balcony.

“Can you make the jump?” she asked.

“What? To up there?”

He looked confused but went up onto the ledge, only to freeze as a gruff voice shouted, “Hey!” Derpy’s blood turned to ice and she plastered herself against the stone and Time Turner jumped and whirled to see a unicorn guard in golden armour trotting up to them with a stern face, demanding, “What are you two doing?” 

Derpy shakily pointed to the end of the balcony, squeaking out, “W-We just w-wanted to s-see the-- oh feathers, um...”

“We just wanted to see the shooting stars from up there, is that all right?” Time Turner asked calmly.

The guard looked at both of them before tilting his head.

“You should have just gone through the palace, friends,” the guard said.  “Carry on, friends.”

He turned and headed off without another word and Derpy let out a breath so deep that she seemed to completely deflate. Time Turner shot her a compassionate smile and then braced himself to jump. She quickly held out both hooves.

“Wait! He said you can go through the palace!”

“Very kind offer, but this seems much quicker," Time Turner said.

“If you can make it...” Derpy pouted.

He seemed to ignore her, braced his back legs, and then leaped straight up towards the balcony. To Derpy’s shock, and to his, he easily cleared it, landing on skittering hooves just a bit beyond the pegasus.

“Wha...?! What?! How did you--? WHAT?!” Derpy cawed. “Did you see that?!”

“I lived it, my friend,” he said, his eyes wide, and he checked his hooves carefully. “How did I...? Oh, my, I suppose that must be about the hundredth strange thing about me.”

“Super jumping. G-Great,” Derpy stammered. “Um... Actually, that was really cool.”

She laughed and pushed down her hood to rub her mane and Time Turner smiled bashfully. He trotted to the edge of the balcony and took a seat before he beckoned for his friend to follow. She took off her sunglasses and pocketed them before joining him, taking a tired seat beside him. She noticed he was breathing a little too hard and she grimaced before gently patting him on his shoulder, trying to reassure him. He took a deep breath and smiled just a little.

Night set in rather quickly, the sky a deep, saturated purple, glittering with stars. The crowd below was still all a rumble, but before long, they silenced themselves as the first twinkling began to tumble downwards. Chatter was replaced with oohs and aahs, marking each trail of the shooting stars that set the night aglow. Derpy watched with awe, her chest tightening. It felt so unreal. She turned her eyes on Time Turner. He was staring so intently and the sparkling sky shone brightly reflected in his glossy, blue eyes. 

The stallion felt overwhelmed. He couldn’t explain it, but something about the sight of the shining stars barreling at hundreds of miles per hour down across and through the atmosphere made his throat become taut and his heart soar. He felt shoved outside of time. He gulped, blinking tears from his eyes and felt like he had to ground himself through his hooves. 

His body started when he felt Derpy’s gentle hoof grab onto his and he finally tore his eyes away from the sky to look at her. Something about the starlight on her face set her yellow eyes alight and when she smiled and assured him, “You’ll be okay,” he felt himself start to shake.  He pressed a bit closer to her

“Thank you,” he muttered, before turning his eyes skyward. 

A blue light drew his gaze and he saw Derpy point it out in particular.

“That one crashes,” she said.

Time Turner followed it and saw it disappear; from where they sat, they couldn’t see it properly, but after a moment there was a slight tint of black smoke in the deep night sneaking up from where it had vanished. 

“This is... This is just... so weird,” Derpy muttered, “because I know that I’m seeing this same thing, right now, in Ponyville.”

“That is a bit of a blast to the old brain, isn’t it?” he agreed. “And I must be somewhere there as well.”

“I found you just a few minutes after seeing that,” she said. “I thought for sure it was a piece of rock or something that hit you in the head.”

“And was it?” Time Turner asked, eyes wide.

Derpy shook her head and he looked puzzled, wondering, “What was it, then?”

“You know, I never found out,” she said with an embarrassed laugh.

Time Turner shrugged and turned his eyes back on the skies as the sparkling trails began to fade. They sat quietly until all that was left were the distant stars twinkling, and before long the stomping applause of hooves erupted from below before chatter began again, loud and even more exuberant that before.

Time Turner flicked his ears back and forth and grinned at Derpy.

“That was fantastic,” he said. “Thanks for bringing me to this spot.”

“No problem,” she assured him, and she stood and stretched her wings up and back, taut, before folding them back in and ruffling her feathers. “Want to head back? Or grab some more desserts?”

The stallion shook his head and wobbled to his hooves before stealing a glance back towards tiny spec of dark smoke in the sky. 

“I sort of wish I could have seen myself just before,” he admitted, “But I suppose that’s not possible, eh?”

“Not unless you want to do one of those time loop thingies. Oh, and also you’d have to be able to send us back in time again,” Derpy said, “and... then there’d be three of us in the same relative spot, and that seems sort of like pushing it, doesn’t it?”

“You’re dead-on,” Time Turner agreed, “plus I don’t actually know how to send us back in time.”

“Fair enough,” Derpy laughed. 

Her friend couldn’t help a yawn and he blinked heavily, his head suddenly swooned and his vision went a bit blue. 

“Oh my,” he said, cringing, and when the pegasus gave him a questioning look, he admitted, “Getting a little lightheaded, I’m afraid.”

“Oh! You’re not feeling well?” Derpy asked a bit shrilly. “Oh! Okay, let’s get back then.”

He nodded and forced a few more blinks, trying to clear his eyes as the blue, very slowly, began to drain away. Derpy bit her lip nervously and scooted to his side, nudging him with her head.

She helped Time Turner down and hurried him out past the partygoers and the guards, despite the fact that his hooves were getting heavy. He was getting more lethargic; Derpy practically had to hold him up as she took him back to the house as fast as she could. When he began to stumble close to some market stalls, she stopped abruptly and stared at him worriedly, demanding, “Time Turner, do you want to go to the hospital? Is it your heart?”

“I... No, I’m just very tired,” he said quietly, and he forced his head up and glaring ahead. “I’m fine.”

Derpy didn’t believe a word of it, but she nudged him on farther and down the side street that lead to their temporary house.

The alleyway was very dark and quiet; Derpy’s heart beat double time, but there didn’t seem to be anything amiss. She rushed her friend inside and closed the door tight, and before his wobbly legs could give out, she helped heave him up the stairs.

“I truly apologize,” he said quietly. “I... I don’t know what’s come over me.”

“It’s fine,” Derpy said quickly; she nudged him into the closest bedroom and all but pushed him down onto the bed.

He collapsed in a heap on the blankets and rubbed his forehead almost in slow motion, taking a deep breath.

“How are you feeling?” Derpy asked. “Seriously, tell me? Is it your heart?”

Time Turner tried to force his eyes open a bit wider and he shook his head, but put a hoof against his chest to check just in case. He couldn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. 

“No.” 

Derpy stared him down, her wandering eye seeming almost to scan him and she frowned suspiciously. She bit her lip and pushed in closer as the stallion folded his forelegs up against his chest tiredly.

“Move, let me listen,” she insisted.

“I assure you, I’m fine,” he said, yawning, “just tired. Rather suddenly, I admit, but--”

Derpy ignored him and shoved his forelegs aside, plastering her ear against his chest and listening closely. She felt a strike of panic in her heart when she heard his beating strong and strange, not the regular thumping she expected, but an unusual beat repeating in threes.

“T-Time Turner,” she began, drawing back with eyes wide, “th-that doesn’t sound normal.”

He didn’t answer, merely waving a hoof sleepily in the air before he slumped in place, his limbs going limp and his lids drooping closed. Derpy’s heart sunk and she grabbed his shoulders, and then patted him all over, muttering, “Oh no,” to herself. 

“Time Turner?!” she demanded a bit shrilly. 

He let out a small sound as if to say he had heard her and she gulped and sat back a bit, ears drooping. She got up and pranced anxiously, her wings flaring.

Um... Medicine? Should I get him medicine?

She was about to head toward the door but then stopped short and whirled to stare at him, thinking, No, stupid! You can’t do that! You don’t even know what’s wrong with him, you can’t just give him whatever heart medicine from a pharmacy! That’s a terrible idea!

She pawed the floor and then pulled off her sweatshirt and, after hesitating for a moment, draped it over him. It wasn’t big enough to substitute a blanket and Derpy flinched --Of course it isn’t! Ugh! -- and she hurried to the other room. She grabbed the quilt in her teeth and yanked it off the bed, dragging it back to her friend and tossing it over his still frame.

Derpy felt her heart beating too fast as she watched him, her ears drooping low. After considering for a moment, her mind racing with worry, she clambered up onto the other end of the bed and sat down, propping her back up against the low hoofboard and setting herself up to watch him. 

His breathing sounded normal, so that was a relief, but she couldn’t even bring herself to move to check for something to read to pass the time. She got off the bed and went to his side to check his forehead before taking her seat again, folding her wings in close against her sides. She couldn’t feel a fever, but he was shaking a little. She folded her forelimbs tightly against her chest and tried to make herself comfortable.

That’s it, Time Turner, I’m not letting you out of my sight! Not even for a second!


---



She felt like she had blinked. Just for a moment. She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until sunlight hit her straight in the face.

Derpy yelped and instinctively retreated, only to hit the hoofboard awkwardly. She waved her forelimbs trying to regain her balance but to no avail; she toppled with a thud off the back of the bed and to the floor. 

“Ooww...” she whined quietly.

She got up, rubbing her bruised back, and then quickly darted to Time Turner’s side, checking his brow for any sign of fever. He seemed fine, but something about him looked a little different; she couldn’t place it. Quietly, she asked, “Time Turner?” He didn’t answer but one of his ears twitched towards her and she sighed with relief. 

“Hey,” she said quietly, “are you awake?”

“...Sort of,” he replied quietly.

“Oh good, she said. “I was worried about you. I’m glad.”

A small smile spread across his face and he quietly assured her, “I’m okay. Thank you, Miss Derpy.”

He frowned a little and it seemed to take a bit of effort for him to open his eyes. Derpy grinned and her ears perked. 

“I was really worried, you know.”

“I believe you,” he said with a quiet laugh, “I’m sorry. I’m not sure what came over me.”

He started to sit up a bit but Derpy held up one hoof, saying, “Wait a second. Just relax. You want some food?”

“I, uh...” 

He paused to consider. His stomach was starting to feel uncomfortably achey, now that he thought about it.

“I think that may be a good idea,” he admitted. 

Derpy nodded and she tilted her head, mentally calculating the amount of bits she had left and she mumbled, mostly to herself, “We can have a proper breakfast if we just go for snacks until we get to go home. Okay.”

“What?” Time Turner asked.

She quickly assured him, “I’ll be right back!” before she took off out the room and down the stairs.

“Wait!” he called, but she didn’t seem to hear; he heard the front door open and close again and he managed to sit up a bit, his ears drooping. “But... you forgot your sweatshirt...”

He shifted in bed and found the aforementioned thing around him and he got up, stumbling for only a moment before he planted his hooves on the solid floor. Something about his legs felt weird-- not bad, mind you-- and he looked at his hooves and spun in place. He couldn’t really place it, but something in his movement felt smoother, as if he had more control. He didn’t feel lethargic or bumbling at all, and his mind quickly snapped back into focus. He felt fine. In fact, he felt so incredibly fine that he looked at himself suspiciously.

Testing his legs, Time Turner ran down the stairs; then up, and then down once more. He tilted his head. He went up and down once more. His legs felt strangely strong. He frowned: something was odd, for sure.

Trying to put it out of his mind, Time Turner did his regular routine, checking carefully through each room, inspecting for any changes at all or anything suspicious, and then pulled the quilt he had been under back into the other room and then took Derpy’s sweatshirt and brought it downstairs to the sofa and draped it across the back. He was about to take a seat to wait for his friend when, to his shock, he heard her voice shriek from outside.

He was throwing back the front door almost instantly. Before him stood Derpy, ears back,  wings out, eyes wide and scared, and a large, brown paper bag dropped onto the ground before her.

“Derpy! What’s wrong?” he demanded.

He rushed to her side and grabbed her hoof, and she squeaked. 

“It’s there!” 

He didn’t get a chance to ask; she quickly broke away and closed the door. Time Turner felt like his blood had frozen. There, etched in clearly as if it had always been there, was the same flower mark that had been scrawled on the delivery message Derpy had received. Time Turner gawked and Derpy raised both front hooves to rub her forehead. 

“It must have happened in the night,” the stallion said. 

He drew closer to inspect it and the pegasus got out of his way. She sighed and scooped up the brown bag she had dropped and waited and watched as Time Turner ran his hoof along the carving. Derpy bit her lip, but then took a look at her friend a bit more closely as he straightened up and began to mutter to himself about the carving technique. She was taken back; he looked different-- bigger, somehow.

“I’m not sure, but this looks almost like precise burning,” the stallion said, “but when could this have happened? Did it not produce any smoke?”

Derpy didn’t know what to say; her brain was trying to process too much too quickly. It sounded ridiculous but the words danced on the tip of her tongue. When Time Turner looked at her as if expecting a comment, he tilted his head and backstepped into the house, beckoning for her to follow and asking, “What? What is it, Miss Derpy? You look completely stunned.” 

The pegasus awkwardly followed her friend inside and tried to find the words as her friend closed the door behind her.

“Uh, Time Turner,” she said, trying to be delicate, “are you... taller?”

“Taller?” he repeated.

He stood before her and tilted his head curiously. Derpy nodded and drew a line in the air from her eyes and straight across, which bumped soundly against his throat.

“Weren’t we a bit more even before?” she asked.

Time Turner blinked and then spun around, trying to look at himself rather unsuccessfully, and then mimicked her action. He suspected that his eyes would have met with her eartips, as usual, but he quickly realized that it didn’t, he was, indeed, a bit taller than before.

“A mirror--?” he began, and Derpy quickly pointed him to the bathroom.

He took off at a gallop and was gone for only a few seconds before he barreled back.

“You’re right, and my musculature seems to have changed a bit as well, and I’m a little shaggier in some spots.”

“Do you feel any different?” she asked a bit worriedly.

“I feel a bit... faster,” he said. “Sort of like my body is more precise. I noticed something before, actually, and I tried the stairs many times.”

Derpy stared at him blankly for a moment before rubbing her brow and, exhausted, laughing, “Of course. Just... of course.” 

He looked almost apologetic but Derpy merely shook her head and shoved the brown bag at him for him to take. He checked curiously inside: muffins and fruit, and small bottles of juice.

Breakfast was quiet. Neither pony really knew what to say. Time Turner had many of the same questions Derpy had, and neither of them had a single answer. After they had eaten, before the stallion could protest, Derpy had her ear pressed against his chest again.

“I just don’t get it,” she sighed.

“What?”

“You sound like... Not normal. You sound like your heart is about to burst right out of your chest,” she tried to explain, “It’s too many beats and it’s too fast.”

“I have no explanation. I’m sorry,” Time Turner said, ears drooping and his brows bending apologetically. “But I feel completely fine. In fact, after last night’s odd experience, I feel better than I can ever remember.” 

“I know. I know...” She rubbed her forehead for what felt like the umpteenth time. “You’re weird. I like you, but everything about you is weird.”

Time Turner couldn’t help a laugh, and he gave the pegasus a grin.

“That’s more than fair,” he said.


---


That day, the search for the strange mare again turned up nothing, and added to the questions were inquiries about any pony at all heading down the alleyway. Even the guards from late at night only recalled seeing Time Turner and Derpy. 

Derpy was getting exhausted. Time Turner, on the other hand, seemed to have boundless energy all of a sudden. As he decided to tour Canterlot of hoof, he and Derpy finally separated, in a way. Derpy took a spot high up on top of one of a large, courthouse-like building with a golden and ivory tower than reached high enough that Derpy could watch her friend from afar but she could also see the distant spec of Ponyville. It was starting to be clearly marked by the dark, smokelike clouds pouring out from within the Everfree forest. It felt so strange to her to see such a thing.

I think I’m meeting with Applejack right now, she thought.

It was hard for her to wrap her mind around.


---


There wasn’t a single sign of that mare that day. It was starting to seem like she had appeared out of nowhere. Time Turner was also especially glad to have not seen hide nor hair of the creature that had called herself Paradox. In truth, Derpy was relieved too. If she was what she thought she was, she couldn’t imagine there being many good results in running into her. It was all Derpy could do to not have a panic attack when Time Turner had described her initially. 

They stayed up late that night on a house’s rooftop, watching with a mixture of fear and curiosity as the dome of thunderheads began to cover Ponyville. Derpy wished that they could do something about it, but she knew that it wasn’t an option.


---


The next day, the two ponies watched the drama play out from afar. Taking a spot on a high roof with a picnic of cheap snacks and drinks from one of the tourist shops, they watched the dome and the lightning that sparked when, presumably, a pegasus was captured. Derpy couldn’t help her eyes from welling up and she squished her sleeved forelimbs against her chest as if trying to hide in her sweatshirt. Time Turner watched her worriedly and gently asked, “Are you okay?”

“It was so scary,” she said quietly. “They must all be so scared...”

“We’ll save them,” he assured her.

Derpy gulped, her throat feeling a little tight, but she realized that he was exactly right.

“Right,” she agreed, “we’ll save them by the end of the day. Right...”

They relived the day, trying to make a note of what happened when. For Derpy, they were probably the most surreal moments of her life, even more so than the repeat viewing of the shooting stars. The dome looked much more imposing from afar than she had realized and it was absolutely heart-wrenching to go through it once more, blow by blow. Time Turner held her hoof as things pushed on and despite the absolute, mind-spinning strangeness of their predicament, Derpy felt a bit better. She didn’t know why, but it made her feel a bit safer.

Later in the day, when Derpy saw the lightning flash that was meant for her, she felt a tingle up her spine and her fur stood on end.

“This is so weird” Derpy said, her wings flaring. “So. Weird.”

Time Turner was grappling with a bag of apple chips and jumped to hear it pop as he squished it in too much, and then looked at Derpy and asked, “Something specific, or-?”

“Well, yeah, kind of!” she said, and pointed out over the vast landscape below them. “I just saw the lightning bolt that almost hit me. I think I just got caught, like, now.”

“And that’s very difficult to grasp, isn’t it?” he said sympathetically as he returned to her side carefully-- it still threw her off a little how he was suddenly a decent bit taller than he had been-- and sat back on his haunches.

“Of course it is!” she said, throwing her hooves up. “I’m over there, but I did that all ready, and it’s just--! Horsefeathers! It’s weird!”

“I agree completely,” he assured her, “but the longer we’re here, I find myself not finding it extremely alarming, for some reason.”

Derpy shot him a quizzical look and her ears drooped a bit as she wondered, “Do you think you’ve done this before?”

“Um... Huh.” 

Time Turner’s eyes widened a little and he sat back; he tapped a forehoof on the roof a bit absently for a moment before he confessed, a bit startled, “I actually hadn’t considered that. Maybe I have. That would explain how I feel a little bit, I imagine.”

“Well, yeah, I guess you wouldn’t just suddenly be able to time travel as soon as you lost your memories. You must have bee able to do it before, that. It is in your Cutie Mark, after all.”

“Right, of course. My Cutie Mark,” he repeated.

His short tail swished back and forth and he looked thoughtful. Derpy watched him curiously, but he didn’t seem to have much more to say. She sighed, but then couldn’t help but lean forward as she picked up a faint swirl in the cloud.

“Oh!” she said brightly, ears perking. “Look, the tornado’s starting!”

“Ooh, brilliant!” Time Turner exclaimed, immediately seeming to cheer up.

Sure enough, the dark clouds began to spin and suck down as if they were liquid flowing down a drain, and after just a moment, a tornado spiked upwards, radiating rainbow colours brightly and tearing up the blackness with righteous force. 

Derpy let out an exuberant, “Woohoo!” and Time Turner clapped his forehooves together and grinned.

“That Rainbow Dash is really something, isn’t she?” he asked.

“Ooh, I know, she’s amazing,” Derpy agreed, her eyes lighting up, and she gasped and put a hoof to her cheek. “Oh my gosh, you’ve never seen her sonic rainboom!” 

“Sonic... rainboom?” Time Turner repeated, looking back at her a bit blankly. “What’s that?”

“It’s so cool,” Derpy said, her ears perking. “I... Okay, I don’t know the science and I’m not really sure how to explain it, but it’s like... she flies really fast and she kind of breaks something in the air and this huuugeee rainbow in a circle is made--”

She made a huge circle in the air with her front hooves.

“--and... it’s just... It’s just really awesome. I bet she’ll do it again. You’ll know it when you see it.”

“That really does sound amazing,” he agreed, and then pointed out the clearing clouds above the small town. “Would you look at that! Hah! Seems much faster watching from here. Brilliant!”

He shot Derpy a grin and she smiled and then laughed almost nervously, admitting, “So, just now, I think I’ve caught Scootaloo while flying away from the big guy. That was pretty painful. And scary.”

“Must’ve been,” Time Turner said. “You were very brave.”

“...Thanks.”

Derpy blushed and her friend affectionately thumped her on the shoulder. 

It wasn’t long before there wasn’t a trace of the blackness lingering above Ponyville and the swirling, rainbow tornado had dissipated down into nothing. Derpy stayed watching for a little while longer. She thought that perhaps she saw the spec of the hot air balloon, but she couldn’t be certain. She stretched and sighed, getting to her hooves and reaching her wings up to the sky before folding them in and ruffling them comfortably. Time Turner watched her curiously and then stood up beside her, giving his back a stretch. Derpy watched him curiously and, once more, drew a line from her eyes and straight ahead into his neck.

“Weeeeirrddd,” she said. 

“Tell me about it, I’m the one who’s bigger!” he laughed. “Well, what do you think? Shall we head off?”

“Um... Hmm... I guess so,” Derpy said, and then laughed a bit nervously to herself. “It’s too far to see anything now and... Honestly, I don’t really want to think about how much I’d rather be back in that library party after all the stuff was over.”

“I believe I slept through most of that,” the stallion said.

“Yeah, you kinda did, but that’s okay. You met Pinkie Pie, right? She always throws parties, so I’m sure there’ll be another one.”

Time Turner smiled, but the pink mare’s name made his mind race back to her words from the days prior. He tried not to grimace, but Derpy noticed nonetheless. She tilted her head and frowned in a concerned sort of way but was denied a chance to say a word as the stallion forced a smile and said, “That’s good. Quite a way to keep everyone in high spirits, eh?”

“That’s true,” Derpy agreed. “It’s her specialty.”

“And... that’s the balloons, right? That’s what that means?”

Derpy nodded and smiled, saying, “You’re starting to catch on.” Time Turner puffed up and looked a bit proud of himself.


---


The night brought a sense of anticipation and, for Derpy, fear. She washed the polish from her hooves in the bathroom sink but couldn’t shake the feeling of impending danger. She didn’t know how she’d be able to deal with seeing herself and Time Turner attacked in the third-person. 

The stallion was out, wandering the emptying streets once more, prowling with a sense of determination. He was baffled that they hadn’t found anything-- not even a hint-- about that strange, silver mare anywhere in the city. Searching was draining, though, and Canterlot was such a huge city. 

Time Turner took a rest near a fountain with a large, gallant bird statue resting in the center, wings spread wide as if to welcome visitors to come in closer. His body wasn’t tired, but his mind was certainly getting there. He rubbed his forehead and then reared up, placing his hooves on the side of the fountain, letting the cool water gently mist his fur. His ears twitched as the drops tickled him. A pitter-patter of steps distracted him for a moment and he pulled back, placing all four hooves down on the cobblestone and rubbing a hoof through his mane. 

Fast-skittering hooves caught his attention and he turned to look but, to his surprise, he saw nothing. He raised one brow a bit skeptically and slowly began to move on. 

More hooves. His eyes darted to follow but, again, nothing. He thought he saw a bit of the light shift, but he couldn’t be certain. Time Turner gulped and picked up the pace, and before long was at a lope.

When he reached the house, he knocked on the front door before shoving himself through the front door and calling, “Derpy?!” The mare poked her head down the stairs, her pale mane dangling as she looked over the railing.

“What? You okay?”

“Come with me,” he said quickly.

“Huh? I just took the hoof polish off,” she said.

“Doesn’t matter, Miss Derpy, please come with me. There’s something odd going on outside; I don’t want to leave you in the house alone.”

Derpy tilted her head and then held up one hoof, disappearing to the second floor. Time Turner shuffled on his hooves for a moment; Derpy soon came down, in her sweatshirt again with the hood pulled up.

“Just in case,” she said quickly. “Okay, let’s go.”

She stepped outside in a hurry and Time Turner followed her, ears up and eyes scanning the darkest of crevices.

Nothing else happened, though. No shadows, no disembodied hooves. Could it be he was just paranoid with exhaustion? He didn’t think so, but then again, would someone really realize such a thing about their own perceptions? 

Starting to doubt my own mind even more? Not really a good sign, Time Turner. 

“Um... Time Turner, does that look... not quite right to you?”

Derpy’s voice snatched the stallion out of his thoughts and he looked at her blankly and said, “Hmm?” Derpy rolled her eyes,	took him to spin him in place and pointed up. The sky was clear, but, following his friend’s hoof, he pulled out a strange shimmering traveling downwards rapidly. She jumped just a little as the something flickered a bit darker in the sky for just a moment. Time Turner’s eyes widened and he felt a spark of hope.

“Thaaat looks weird,” Derpy said, ears pressing back.

She looked at her friend with her eyebrow raised and he grinned.

“How much would you wager that that is our mystery mare?” Time Turner asked, and gave her a questioning look. “How did you see that?”

“I’m not going to bet since I sort of agree with you,” the pegasus said; she pointed at her wandering eye, and then nudged him with her wing. “Let’s go!”

Derpy lifted off and hovered for a moment, beckoning her friend to follow, and he took off on her tail as she flapped through the air. She kept one eye on the disturbance in the sky as it plummeted downwards and the other on where she was going. Her ears tracked her friend-- it was all getting a little dizzying. She was shocked to see it looked like it was starting to slow down a little.

They raced across three districts, dodging around the well-to-do and the ornate, glittering statues and fountains that speckled the city until they came upon the lowered drawbridge across a quick-flowing river that foamed from the base of a huge, distant waterfall that plunged down over high, ragged cliffs. Without the buildings around them, they vast, starry sky seemed to open up above them and Time Turner skittered to a halt, his eyes focusing intently on the disturbance above. Derpy circled back, landing with a bit of a stumble beside him, asking, “What is it?”

“That’s slowing down, isn’t it? Fancy that...”

Derpy tried to follow his eyeline.

“How is it doing that? Is that even possible?” the pegasus asked. “I mean... that means it isn’t really falling, right?”

“Absolutely.”

Derpy bit her lip, her eyes widening, and she cast her gaze upwards again and whined out, “What do we do? Can we follow it?”

Time Turner stuck out his tongue a little and stared up, drawing a line in the air, attempting to plot the trajectory. Derpy watched him anxiously. 

“Well?”

“I believe it will land... there.”

He lowered his hoof, the tip resting soundly beyond a patch of trees, at the base of the waterfall. He looked at Derpy and the mare gulped before she muttered a quiet, “Okay,” as if to reassure herself.

Together, the ponies galloped away from the city, rushing across the lush grass and making their way though a small patch of trees and low shrubs that blocked the direct path to the base of the waterfall. The stallion going first, he used his larger frame to shove through the branches for the both of them, following the rumble of the water pounding into the river until they stumbled into the clear. The noise was all but deafening. 

Time Turner turned his eyes to the sky and then quickly grabbed his friend, pulling her down with him into a bush. Before Derpy could utter a word, the stallion squished them down against the ground and whispered, “Just a moment.” Derpy held her tongue but, hesitantly, peeked from between the leaves blocking their bodies. After just a moment, Time Turner pulled her back; she didn’t have a chance to ask why as a huge, deep splash broke through the growl of the falls. Derpy’s fur stood on end and she almost jumped up, but Time Turner grabbed her and hugged her body against his. She tried not to squeak and grabbed onto him. After a moment, he scooted them forward a little and peeked through the branches, beckoning Derpy to do the same.

There was something flickering in the water: a large object that seemed to be altering the flow of the river just a little, but it wasn’t very visible at all. A few seconds later, the object seemed almost to sink and, to their shock, out of the water, unfazed by the current, walked a silver, unicorn mare with a scruffy grey mane and tail. Derpy’s jaw dropped and she recoiled as the mare’s shining, turquoise eyes seemed to light up in the dark. 

“Oh, horsefeathers, there she is!” Derpy hissed, putting a hoof to her mouth.

Time Turner grimaced and said, quietly, “I was sort of hoping I wouldn’t be right.” The strange mare was looking around, irises like apertures, rotating and seeming to slowly take in everything around her. Derpy felt her heart beating hard and was almost worried that the mare would hear her.

“What do we do?” Derpy grabbed the stallion’s shoulders, getting up in his face anxiously. “What do we do?!”

“Follow her?” Time Turner suggested.

“And do what?”

The stallion shrugged. 

“I suppose we can’t stop her ahead of time, because that would undo the circumstances that sent us.”

Derpy stared at him blankly and then put her head in her hooves.

“Right... Right.”

She stole another peak; she almost jumped up as she saw the mare was starting to move away, to her shock, straight towards them, plunging back into the water.

“Um... Time Turner? I think maybe we should go.”

“You don’t think we should trail her?” he asked.

“I think she’s trailing us.”

The stallion looked confused and followed her gaze. His eyes widened and he said, “Horsefeathers.” He grabbed her and began to slink backwards through the brush hurriedly and urging, “Run.”

They took off like their tails were on fire, back through the brambles and branches. Derpy was about to ask if she was following; it didn’t matter after a moment. An arc of electric energy streamed a radiant, white-blue and cracked through the treetops. Derpy shrieked, stumbling over her own hooves and pressing herself flush to the ground, covering her head as the sound of snapping wood overwhelmed her-- a began to tilt precariously as its truck splintered. Time Turner staggered backwards to help Derpy up, but in an instant, the silver mare was upon them, eyes shining in the dark as she stepped casually from the bushes. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Time Turner slammed against her with his side, knocking her against a tree heavily. Derpy rushed upwards in panic, shrieking, “What should I do? What should I do?!”

Time Turner whirled on her to say something, but the metal mare returned his hit before he could, knocking the wind out of him as he tumbled, dazed, to the ground.

“You will not get away this time,” she said smoothly; she approached him, her horn sparking bright. 

Derpy let out a yelp and rushed back for the trees, looking for something, anything, to use against her.

A rock? A branch?! Oh Celestia, what now?!

Her vision started to blur with tears and she spun in midair, unable to think of anything more than to use her body like a projectile. Before she could, she hit something and her wings buckled. There was a crack when Derpy hit the ground--quite loud and sharp. Then, a crash, and a whirring, hissing noise filled with anger and sooner than the pegasus could even wipe her eyes, she was grabbed, whisked onto a strong, furry back and felt the beating of hooves under her.

“Brilliant, Miss Derpy!” Time Turner called. 

Derpy sniffed and wiped her eyes quickly, looking over her shoulder to see. She was shocked as she realized she had downed the broken tree, straight on top of that metal mare who now lay, pinned, and struggled to get free.

Derpy gulped and had to quell an anxious laugh and turned back to her friend, grabbing him around the neck as he rushed as fast as he could towards Canterlot.

“W-Will that stop h-her?” she choked out.

“Probably not for long,” he said. “Seems like she can follow me, somehow. Just my luck, eh?”

“S-So what n-now?”

She leaned around and could see him smile just a little.

“Don’t fret, my friend. I’m confident we’ll outwit her until next afternoon. After all, we’ve all ready done it!”

Somehow, this barely reassured the pegasus. Next afternoon seemed like an eternity away.


---


Evading the strange mare in the city was soon revealed to be much easier than Derpy had anticipated. Moving constantly, darting between places and yet never crossing paths, she seemed to not be able to follow them very closely. Plus, the time she spent freeing herself from the tree gave them a bit of a head start.

As the sun rose to glow into a bright and cheerful morning and crowds took to the streets, tired as the pair were, they were able to loop around and follow her. As they hid down alleys, they found her, now robed as she had been on their first encounter. She seemed almost confused. With so many ponies around, it seemed difficult for her to pinpoint her quarry, much to their relief. 

“Do you suppose we’re on the train yet?” Time Turner wondered.

Derpy took a look up at the sun. It was almost midday. She wanted nothing more than to take a nap, but her heart was a bit too loud and fast for that sort of thing. 

“We should actually be getting here soon.” 

The stallion shot her a smile before turning his gaze back on their assailant. She had begun to move, so he beckoned to Derpy and, slowly and carefully, they left their spot in the shadows and began to follow, staying as far away as they could while still keeping their eyes on her.

She seemed to look around curiously for a little but then, after a couple minutes, went rigid and made a beeline down the street, almost trampling a few ponies in the process. Derpy’s eyes widened and she looked at Time Turner; he frowned and nodded his head after her.  Derpy grimaced, taking a deep breath to try to settle her nerves-- rather unsuccessfully-- and they hurried after her.

It wasn’t long before they realized why the metal mare had taken off as she had. She had made straight for the train station and, with the rush of panic in their steps, Derpy and Time Turner hid in the gap between stores. Within minutes, they were confronted by a sight that neither of them were quite ready for: themselves.

“Ooh, Celestia, this isn’t right,” Derpy said, pulling her hood down a bit and recoiling against the wall. 

Time Turner didn’t say a thing, his eyes darting between the pair departing the station and  the strange mare staying still in a crowd.

“That clever girl! She was there the whole time!” he said, ears perking up. “My, that’s incredibly sinister, isn’t it?”

“Oh, gosh. I can’t... I can’t...”

Derpy held her head but her friend gently held her hoof, assuring her, “It’ll be fine.”

“But how will we stop her?” she squeaked.

“I’m not certain, but now we know where she is and what will happen, right?” he said. “Shall we go back to the house and make a proper plan?”

Derpy nodded a bit shakily and the stallion gave her a reassuring smile. 

They took off back down the street quickly, rushing to beat themselves. Pecan Posy’s home was the same as ever; they rushed inside and dimmed the lights, heading upstairs to peek out the window overlooking the alley.

“S-So,” Derpy said, “Plan? We’re cutting this sort of close.”

“I think I work best under pressure,” Time Turner said, “but in all honesty, I wasn’t sure what to do until I saw what you did with that tree. I plan on tackling her down from the window, after tossing a blanket over her.”

“You... You think that’ll work?” Derpy asked a bit blankly.

“I think that’ll stop her from wrecking any more of the town, and may give us a bit of time to ask her questions,” he explained, “and if it becomes too much, I suppose we could break her horn.”

Derpy’s stomach turned.

“B-Break it?”

“I’m fairly certain she’s made of metal. I don’t think it’d hurt her.”

“S-So, not just armour?”

Time Turner shook his head, and the pegasus took a long, deep breath. As the stallion forced the window open, Derpy went to the bedroom and pulled out the starry blanket. She sat down with it, though, tired. Time Turner looked at her sympathetically and sat down by her side.

“Scared?” he asked.

She nodded quickly and sighed again, folding her forelimbs to her chest.

“Y-Yeah, I’m really scared,” she said. “I hope this works.”


---


Time Turner was the first to notice themselves coming up the street. His ears flattened and his fur bristled, and he flattened himself against the floor hurriedly, grabbing Derpy with him. She squeaked and whispered, “Get away from the windows.” He nodded and scooted backwards and darted into the closest bedroom. Derpy went down the stairs and sat, curled up and cautious. 

It wasn’t long before she heard the first knock on the door. It made her jump and when she heard her own voice calling from the front of the house, it made her blood turn to ice and her tongue go dry. She cringed and held hooves over her ears, but she watched quietly from the shadows until the door slowly creaked open. When she saw herself step inside, it was all she could do not to shriek. Her face was a little worried and on edge, and she quickly left the package on the ground before ducking back outside, closing the door. The breeze caused a bit of the package’s wrapping to drift apart, leaving a stark, white note with a little piece of flimsy tape stuck to the top sitting near the threshold. Derpy’s eyes widened and, curiously, edged down the stairs.

Behind her, she heard quiet hooves, and Time Turner’s hushed voice said, “Where are we?”

“I just left the package,” she said; she scooted a little closer to the package to pick up the note; had all intents of putting it back on the box as well until her eyes picked out the name Time Turner in the first line. 

Her knees went weak. She read it again.

Sorry for the deception, the note read, Time Turner, this is yours. Please keep it safe. I know it will come into use for you very soon. It will definitely have an effect on certain types of metal. 

The note was unsigned, but the familiarity of the lettering along with the message made Derpy’s heart stutter. She fumbled with it for a moment before she looked at Time Turner.

“The... The package is for you,” she said.

“What? For me? That’s impossible!” he barked.

“Quiet. It’s true, look.”

He raced over and she held out the note. His eyes shot over the words and he mouthed along, and then looked at her intently. 

“But it... How can...? Someone must’ve mailed this days ago, and we delivered it, but it was for me, and... Oh dear...”

“This is just getting stranger and stranger,” Derpy muttered, her ears drooping back, “and whoever sent it knew the name I gave you.”

She looked towards the box, as did her friend and, after a moment, he gulped and opened it. Noise was starting from outside, their own voices. She heard Time Turner starting to engage with that metal mare and she grimaced and edged closer to him. She peered over his shoulder to look: inside was a pale blue scarf wrapped around something. Cautiously, he opened the scarf to reveal a ring a bit smaller than hoof-sized that, at first, looked like it was made of metal until it lit up with a bright green glow. The ponies jumped and squeezed closer together in fright for a moment before Time Turner cast a concerned look at Derpy and then, slowly, reached out towards the circle.

“Careful,” Derpy said quickly.

The stallion paused, bit his lip, and then touched the ring cautiously. There was a strange clinking noise and in an instant, he was yelping and galloping around the room in panic. Derpy squealed and grabbed him steady after dizzily watching him pass a few times, saying, “Shush! What happened?!”

“It... It--!” 

Time Turner looked back at her with big, watery blue eyes and then showed her his right hoof. The ring, to her surprise, was stuck in tight; almost fused there. She cautiously touched it and he winced, but then quickly relaxed, his ears perking.

“Oh! It doesn’t hurt anymore! Phew,” he said.

“Is that stuck?” she asked.

“Seems so.”

He waggled his hoof around, but the ring made no move to dislodge itself. Derpy clicked her tongue and grabbed his foreleg to look at the hoof. She poked the ring and her ears perked and she had to hold herself steady when it lit up green, but the glow faded down to nothing without doing a thing. 

“Did that hurt?” she asked.

“Not at all,” he replied.

“Something like this-- It can’t just be jewelry, right--?”

She let him take his hoof back as a huge, static sound reverberated from outside. Time Turner was forced out of his stupor and, shooting Derpy a worried glance, bolted upstairs. 

Out the window, a surge of light blinded him for a moment, but when he blinked, he saw the metal mare alone in the alley. His heart started to thud and he quickly grabbed the blanket is his teeth and tossed it out the window.

“I’m going!” he called, and instantly threw himself out the window as well, colliding with the mare on the ground and sending them both rolling.

Derpy rushed to throw open the front door, watching as the two knocked into the wall of the neigbouring building hard. Time Turner pinned her though, as she thrashed under that star-speckled blanket. 

“Look, we don’t want to fight you! Just tell us who you are and what you want!” he yelled.

There was no vocal reply, but there was the distinct sound of an electric crack. Derpy let out a gasp and was in the air, grabbing Time Turner and yanking him away from the downed creature as she righted herself, the lightning off her horn searing a hole so large in the blanket that it simply fell away from her in two before most of it turned to ash.

“Well that didn’t work,” she squeaked.

Time Turner grimaced and braced his hooves briefly before rushing the mare again, leaping onto her back and clamping both forehooves around her neck as he tried to pull her down again, shouting, “You don’t have to do this!” 

To Derpy’s surprise, the mare’s eyes flickered and she let out a very odd, metallic and distorted groan before she began to buck violently.

Derpy shrieked and Time Turner was thrown, skidding across the pavement and the metal mare, stumbled and let out a strange, hollow sound and her eyes lit up bright turquoise.

“Mission compromised-- memory erasure and self destruct activated. Attempt three-seven processing.”

“What? What?! Self destruct?!” Derpy wailed.

She looked at Time Turner in panic and the stallion shoved himself upright as the metal mare began to shake and buzz. 

“What do I do?” he asked.

“I have no idea!” Derpy replied shrilly.

He grimaced and his mind raced, but he was left without much choice when the strange mare lowered her head and rushed him. Derpy shrieked and he sprung sideways on swift hooves, taking her from the side and plowing her into the ground before she could touch him or his friend. She went down heavy and Derpy covered her eyes with both hooves. 

As the stallion hung on, she reverberated with sort of strange, metallic wail and fought to right herself, throwing her head back and forth, trying to catch the stallion with her knife-sharp horn. Time Turner slammed his hoof against her head and there was a shower of sparks; he winced and recoiled, but did his best to keep her pinned. The mare jittered, let out a whirring noise, then a high buzz, and then toppled over and slammed into the ground heavily. Time Turner yelped and stumbled, flopping over the body and tumbling to the ground as Derpy hesitantly looked out from between her hooves. She saw Time Turner awkwardly flopped over the metal body, which now lay dormant against the cobblestone. Even her bright eyes had faded to black. Derpy matched her gaze with her friend and he gulped, skittering back off the mare and peering at her curiously and then looking at his hoof with wide eyes. That circle of green let off a calm glow, but nothing more.

When he finally seemed to relax a little, Time Turner carefully pulled back the mare’s hood a bit more, revealing spiky, silver-grey mane in total disarray and a large bunch of plating and thick, dark cables forming her neck. Time Turner gulped and looked at Derpy with shock, pointing at the mare, saying, “Oi, she really is made of metal, Miss Derpy!”

Derpy spread her wings just a little and got to her hooves slowly, edging up to peek over the downed body. She slunk low, belly to the ground, and peered in close. She now noticed that a small, linear stripe ending in a circle that ran down her face from the center of her eye was not a stripe, but a shallow groove. Still cautious, she poked the still body and, when it remained completely immobile, she straightened up a bit and circled her, then looked at Time Turner worriedly.

“Well... what do we do now? What should we do with her?”

“I’m not certain,” he said. “She said she was ‘erasing memory’. Perhaps she has something to do with my memory loss?”

“Ooh. You could be right,” Derpy said. “But... she’s... She’s made of metal. I’m not even really sure what she is.”

The two ponies paused; Derpy rubbed her chin and Time Turner paced in a circle for a moment before Derpy suggested, “Maybe Twilight Sparkle can help us again.”

“Do you think she has any experience with something like this?”

“I don’t think anypony has experience with something like this,” Derpy admitted, “but maybe... you know, since she know about memory spells, and I’ve heard rumours she has a laboratory in her basement... Couldn’t hurt, could it?”

“Fair point,” Time Turner agreed.

He took another quick look at his hoof and he wondered, “Do you think whomever sent this knew this was coming?”

“I have no idea,” the pegasus said with a shrug, “but at this point, I wouldn’t say ‘no’.”

Time Turner laughed and then rubbed a hoof through his forelock tiredly. 

“Well,” he said finally, “suppose we should get back to the train.”

Derpy nodded and helped her friend as he heaved the metal mare up onto his shoulders; she couldn’t do much, but was shocked to see the stallion able to support the body, even if he was a bit wobbly.

Quickly, Derpy returned to the house and straightened it up. She grabbed the old box that once held donuts, the package’s wrapping, and anything else they might have left, shoving it all into her messenger bag before she left a couple bits on the bed sans the starry blanket and rushed out to join her friend.


---


The sight of Time Turner’s charge caused other ponies to give them quite a wide berth, and as such, they made their way back to the train station as quickly as they could. They were met with strange looks, but not a single pony made a comment towards them, even as they quickly clambered onto the train and took a seat in one of the cars near the back. With much relief, Time Turner planted the metal mare on one seat while they took the one beside her. She still showed no signs of waking.

The ride back was quiet and exhausted, and the sun was starting to set by the time they disembarked in the quaint, Ponyville train station. Both of them were relieved not to see a single other pony out near the station, and Twilight’s library was practically within spitting distance. 

Carrying the metal mare across his back, with Derpy watching closely, worried she would fall, they rushed towards the large tree. Derpy took off and glided just a bit ahead to land at the front door, knocking on it, trying to hide her desperation as Time Turner caught up. 

It wasn’t very long before the door opened and Twilight Sparkle stood before them. Her mouth open to greet them faltered as her jaw dropped instead.

“Um... Good afternoon,” Time Turner said a bit awkwardly, “or... evening, upcoming, I suppose.”

Derpy’s ears drooped and, shyly, she said, “H-Hi, Twilight. We, um... We ran into some trouble in Canterlot, and w-we were wondering if you could give us a hoof?”

She nodded at Time Turner’s burden and the unicorn’s eyes went wide. She gawked for just a moment before she grabbed the both of them and dragged them inside, squawking out, “What in all of Equestria is that? --Nevermind! Come with me!”