A Slip in Time

by canonkiller

2 - Chatting It Up

"My name is Star Swirl," you tell her, trying your best to communicate. "I'm not sure where I am or who you are. I'm very lost and I'm just passing through. Do you know the way to Canterlot? In Equestria?"

She frowns, pawing at the ground, and replies in the other tongue she uses too casually for you to catch the words. You're not really sure what she's even inferring - her eyes are showing no emotion, and her body language is absent at best. Whoever - whatever - this pony is, she doesn't know Equestrian customs.

"Can you understand me?" You ask, smiling to seem friendlier. "At all?"

She frowns, shouting something in her language and tossing her head. You take a few steps back, wondering what you did.

You see a stick off to the left and levitate it with your magic. Bringing it over to the dirt between the two of you, you begin to crudely draw out what you mean.

You point a hoof at your newly created drawing in the dirt; you standing alone on top of a mountain. "I'm lost."

"Losian," she says, tapping the picture. She then points her hoof at you. "Losian?"

"Losian! Me! Yes! I'm losian!" You draw another picture, a simple house. "I need to get home."

"Ham," she replies, "eard."

"Yes! Ham!" You scrape another picture in the dirt, forcing your horn - already aching despite the minor exertion - to glow brighter as the daylight fades. "Do you know this pony?"

She looks down at it, frowning. "Noht cunnan."

You don't understand the second word, but the first is enough. Your disappointment must be evident, though, as she takes your muzzle in her hoof and turns it away from the sketch of Celestia and up towards the sky and the brilliant moon.

"Freolic niht." She says, the stars reflecting in her eyes.

But you don't notice the stars. All you can see is the vast white face of the moon.

Unmarked.

The way it used to be before Nightmare Moon was sent there.

You feel terror rising in your throat and bite back a scream. You know she has not broken free, since there was daylight only a few moments before, but... now that you think about it, there's no torchlight to block the light from the stars. They're magnificent. And, as you search for constellations, all... in the wrong place. Some are downright missing! And there are ones you've never seen before...

You hear the mare yell something, but you can't even really make out the sounds. Huh, the stars look so nice when they spin like that...

You awake in a small brown room, with dust-filled light filtering in through a small, round window. As your senses return in full, you see that the walls are not just brown, but large branches stuck together with mud and roots. The ground you're lying on is packed down, probably by hoof, and you're lying in a nest of sorts; a ring of branches and stones filled with moss and feathers.

You move slightly, feeling odd points of pressure on your spine as you do. Looking back, you see a line of smooth stones placed along your back. They're cool, and surprisingly soothing. You also notice that your forehead is slightly damp, and you presume it has some kind of moss on it. However, your muzzle is tied shut and your rear hooves have been tied together, which is much less relaxing.

The mare walks in again, balancing a wooden jar between antlers and horn. Somehow, she manages to place it on the ground without spilling it. She looks between the jar and you, frowning. You recoil as she reaches out to you, the edges of her split hoof sharp with wear. She rolls her eyes, reaching behind your head and pushing your chin to the ground with ease. With her other forehoof, she pulls off the binding around your mouth.

"Oh. Sorry." When she releases you, you cautiously reach out for the jar. It's water, as you assumed, and you take great gulps of it. You haven't had a drink since you arrived, and you figure that's why you passed out. "How did you get me back here?"

She shakes her head, not understanding, but mutters something that sounds apologetic anyway.

As you finish off the jar of water, a thought occurs to you. One of your unfinished spells had been a translator so that you could send ponies for negotiation with the Griffons. You had been missing a few ingredients that were... extinct.

"Miss!"

She flinched, her gaze swinging from the window to you.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to yell. Have you seen these plants?"

You grab a twig from your nest and start to sketch in the dirt, outlining a few key leaves. You pluck a leaf from the ground as well, placing it beside them. She nods in understanding, getting to her hooves and trotting out. Suddenly raring to go, you roll onto your back and try to bend your back legs close enough to bite the bindings off.

The mare trots back in with a bundle of leaves in her mouth... just in time to see you stuck upside-down with your forelegs spread out to try and balance the rest of you, which is balanced mainly on your shoulders. As she says something, you finally get a grip on your bindings and pull.

You roll out of the nest and into the wall, letting out your breath in a loud huff. She's laughing at you, but your dignity is bruised enough. You manage to get back onto your belly and pull yourself over towards the leaves.

As you begin grinding them with a rock, the mare walks around behind you and begins to collect the stones that you dropped. Just as you finish crushing them, you feel a not-quite-unpleasant sensation of something being very close to your rump. Blushing, you look back, only to see the mare kneeling to untie your back legs. Feeling quite grateful that she didn't notice your reaction, you send a minor magical charge into the mix of leaves.

They begin to glow a dull gold, crumbling inward. They suddenly disappear in a puff of yellow smoke, and you lean forward to breathe it in.

It's quite itchy, and you're sent into a bout of hacking coughs. No wonder people didn't bother to care for these plants.

"Are you alright?"

You turn around, pulling your hind legs away from the mare as she unties the last binding.

"Can you speak? Do you need water?"

"I can understand you," you marvel. "My spell worked!"

"Spell? You can speak like I can? Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" She frowns, standing up. "Now, outsider, where did you come from?"

"I'm a magician. A magic-user. I used a spell that I created with those leaves to be able to talk to you. It was a spell like that that made me come back here. I'm from the future."

"The future?" She tilts her head again. "What place is that?"

"You know how you can't go back to the last sunrise, and you can't skip forward to the next one? What has already happened is the past, and what is going to happen is the future. I'm from many, many sunrises ahead."

"I know what foretime is, you dolt. Where did you come from? You have a horn like us, but no antlers, so you're not one of the Skyfolk or Groundfolk. So who are you?" She drew her lips back slightly in her annoyance, revealing a pair of small fangs.

"I am a Unicorn. From Equestria, far from here. My name is Star Swirl."

She settles a bit more, but is still quite wary. "I'm Clover. Why were you wearing such a gaudy dress?"

You look past her, noticing that your nightgown was hooked on the outside of the window. "Official magician's garb, winter set."

"So it is a sign of your rank?"

"Yes. Like having a sparkly pet chimera, or a magic wand." You reply sarcastically.

She nods curtly. "Then you shall not need it here."