//------------------------------// // 1 - Time To Get A Watch // Story: Time for Twilight // by sunnypack //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Time To Get A Watch Twilight awoke in a puddle of mud. Dirty brown mud. For those of you not familiar with the experience of being a winged, hair-coated creature, getting stuck in the mud is an extremely uncomfortable experience. “Ugh,” was all Twilight could say as she spat out mud and filth from her mouth. Her muzzle was practically coated with the stuff. “Yuck!” She tried to pry her wings out, but the mud was coated on too thick. She waved her hooves about. “Oh by Celestia, it’s everywhere!” Twilight wallowed in the mud pool a little longer. Then a thought hit her. She was slowly, but surely, sinking. “Oh, no, no, no, no!” Desperately, she tried to crawl out of the muck. The mud was thick and goopy. She could feel it weighing her down as she struggled harder. “Ugh!” she grunted again. “Why is there so much mud?!” Though the experience was wholly uncomfortable for Twilight, it was even more so for the filly that stumbled across Twilight wallowing around in the mud-bog hole. Now, whilst a level-headed adult might conclude that the vaguely pony-shaped mud-mass was probably a pony, the young pony only had one thought. “Ahhhhhhh!” she screamed shrilly. “Monster!” Twilight gaped at the filly for a moment, then reached a hoof out. “Hold on, help!” The filly, wily to the ways of monsters in her treasured fables, knew exactly what she needed to do. Grabbing a nearby branch, she swung the thick stick at Twilight’s head and bolted like the minions of Tartarus were right behind her. Twilight tried to duck, but the sucking mud slowed her movement and the tree branch solidly connected with her skull. Twilight nursed her suddenly sore head. “Ow!” she growled. “What the hay?!” She glanced around but the filly was long gone. Sighing, Twilight picked herself up and tried again to exit the mud puddle. Although, on further reflection, she reasoned that the puddle was more of a small pond, what with her sinking about halfway into it. “This always happens,” she grumbled, trying to wiggle her legs. She concentrated briefly but her horn merely sparked a bit before going inert. Twilight wallowed in the muck a bit more, but she didn’t make it very far. She noticed glumly that a caterpillar, two feet away, seemed to be making more progress across a leaf than she did in the muck. She tried her horn again. No luck. She was totally drained of magic for at least a few hours, so to escape, she’d have to wait a while before she could teleport out. Resigning herself to her fate, she sat in the muck and prayed to the stars that a wandering Timberwolf or an enraged Ursa wouldn’t come by. The bushes rustled ominously near her spot. A shiver crept down her spine. She really hoped there wouldn’t be any dangerous animals nearby. “How did I get myself into this mess?” she grumbled to herself. –––– “Now don’t touch this, it’s very unstable.” “Uhm, Discord?” “Mm?” “What happens if somepony touches it?” “Well, my dear, I believe it would vaporise them on the spot!” Fluttershy eyed the glowing bit of energy nervously. She took a few steps away from it. Then, she took a few more, just to be sure. “Uhm, if it’s so dangerous why did you create it?” Discord tapped his claws on a conjured desk. He shuffled around some notes and shifted the wire-frame glasses on his snout. “It seems I have noted down here that Twilight wanted to perform some sort of time spell and I agreed to help her.” “Not that Ah’m doubting your good intentions, but why the hay would you help Twilight?” Fluttershy glanced up from the hypnotic pulsing orb of light and spotted Applejack coming towards them. She waved timidly as Applejack tilted her head to her with a cheerful grin. Her expression darkened as she met the draconequus. “Why I- Can’t a friend help another friend?” Applejack’s mouth twisted into a grimace. Her glare sent back all that needed to be said. Discord threw his claw-paws up. “Okay! Perhaps there is some chaos to be had, but only in small non-threatening doses which is by the full consent of all parties involved!” Fluttershy nodded and placed a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “He’s telling the truth,” she added. Applejack just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know. Ah just wanted to know why you had to do it on the edge of mah property!” “Oh, heh, sorry about that,” a voice called from above. “This was the only place far enough away from ponies but not too close to the Everfree.” “Twi’? Ah’ll never get used to you popping about like Rainbow and Pinkie do,” Applejack muttered, putting a hoof to her chest. “Two’s enough fer me.” Twilight grinned sheepishly. “Sorry,” she said, landing awkwardly on her hooves. “I’m still getting used to the flying thing. I was supposed to land back there.” Applejack shook her head. “Never mind, how come Ah didn’t know about this earlier? Couldn’t you have sent me a message?” Twilight looked confused. “I did, didn’t I? I sent you a letter a few days ago, I’m sure of it.” Applejack gave Twilight a deadpan stare. “You know our letterbox was totalled last week? Big Mac still hasn’t gotten around to fixin’ it.” Twilight shook her head in exasperation. “I’ll never know how those fillies can get into so much trouble.” She grinned ruefully. “Sorry, Applejack. I should have dropped by to let you know.” Applejack smiled. “Ah well, no harm done. As fer those three, there’ll be a stern talkin’ in their future, that’s fer sure.” Applejack eyed the glowing bit of energy with the same unease that Fluttershy had shown a little earlier. “You don’t think that’ll cause trouble, do you? Ah didn’t prepare nothin’ to protect my orchard.” “Don’t worry, Applejack, it’s perfectly safe!” “No offence, Twi’, but the last time you said that, all the water in Ponyville turned into rainbows.” “Well, now that was a slight miscalculation…” “And don’t forget that one time you animated your castle so it could talk. We had to deal with it complaining all week!” Discord chimed in. “Okay, perhaps there might have been some notes I’ve overlook—“ “Then there was the time when you turned mah apples into oranges! Granny Smith was none too pleased.” “Well I simply didn’t account for—“ “Uhm, and the time when you tested on some of the animals… the chickens didn’t like laying those cube eggs…” Twilight made a helpless gesture. “Okay! Okay! Sometimes my spells go less than optimally expected, but this is more of a structured experiment than a magical mishap. It’ll be fine, I promise!” Applejack didn’t look impressed. She locked gazes with Twilight, her demeanour changing from exasperated to concerned. “Promise me, Twilight, that you’ll be okay?” Twilight nodded. “Of course,” she replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Applejack sighed. “Last time you said that, you disappeared for a few hours. Gave me an’ the others a heart attack.” Twilight looked taken aback. “I–Okay. Don’t worry, it’ll be just a short trip. Only a minute at most. Possibly five.” she looked around. Fluttershy nodded, Discord looked disinterested until Fluttershy nudged him. “Wha– oh, yes, yes, I’ll miss you.” He waved a dismissive claw. Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Discord would miss you too.” Discord put a paw behind his head and sighed. “Yes, well I would miss your grumpy face whenever you see me. Then again, the only time you ever see me is when you need me for your experiments, so I guess it’s mutual.” He turned away. Twilight glanced over to Fluttershy, who looked a little taken aback. “I-I didn’t know Discord, I’m sorry,” she offered, but it didn’t seem like Discord was having any of it. “Hmph, well what do I know? I’m just a draconequus on a leash anyway.” He snapped his claw bringing the glowing bit of energy closer. “Let’s just finish this and go home.” Twilight stared at the red ball of light and then back at Discord. “I’ll make it up to you, like a friend would do,” she said as she stamped a hoof. “Tell you what, I’ll do what you want for a day. Sound fair?” Discord perked up. “Really? Anything for a day?” He had a glint in his eye. Twilight hesitated, then nodded more firmly. “Yes. I give you my word as a Princess.” Discord smirked. “Well now. That’s something I didn’t expect you to ever say.” He grabbed the glowing bit of energy and tossed it between his claws and paws. Fluttershy gasped. “Oh don’t worry, it’s fine with me.” He waggled an appendage. “Just don’t touch it yourself. Okay! I’m fired up.” He summoned a military-style helmet and saluted Twilight. “What’s next, Sarge?” Twilight grinned toothily. “Now, we do magic.” –––––– The rustle in the bushes was steadily growing louder. Twilight felt a trickle of sweat bead across her brow as she focused on the bushes. The bushes rustled again. Twilight gritted her teeth and with a herculean effort, pulled a hoof free of the mud. Maybe she could deflect the animal while it pounced? Maybe if she were fast enough, the animal might hit the mud instead and get dragged down. She held onto that hope tightly. Then, out of nowhere, the bush talked. “Nopony is there, right?” Twilight twitched. If she answered, wouldn’t she be telling him the contrary? Also, if you want to know if nopony was around, you wouldn’t call out in a whisper would you? She glanced around. Well, as she expected, there was nopony else around. “Apart from me,” she called out and the bush rustled one more time. A blur leaped out and half-crouched in front of her. Twilight focused on the nervous stallion in relief. Finally, somepony to help her out of this mess. “Quick,” he whispered urgently to her, his horn lighting up. “We must away.” Twilight felt the spell drag at her roughly. She yelped as the mud sucked at her legs, trying to draw her back in. All throughout the slow process of pulling her out, the grey-coated stallion danced on the spot. “Come on, come on, come on,” he muttered. “Ouch! Slower, please,” she squealed as Twilight felt what she imagined was the sensation of her hooves coming away from her body. Not a pleasant sensation. “Can’t stop, no respite, we have to leave!” With a ’squelch’ Twilight was pulled free. She shot up a few feet in the air and then toppled onto the ground. “Oof,” she grunted, a little off-put by his brisk method but still grateful. “Thanks.” “Don’t mention it, always here to help a fellow unicorn. Let’s get going.” The unicorn trotted off, flicking his tail and heading down briskly on a well-trodden path. “We need to get to the castle soon, from there we can get you something.” He glanced back uneasily. “Unless we run into trouble.” Twilight couldn’t help but ask. “What trouble? What are we running away from?” He looked at her as if she was hit in the head. Twilight had to admit, she was. “You were hit in the head pretty hard. Hah, don’t look at me like that. I was in the bushes looking for ingredients for the latest potion I was brewing. Then suddenly, I hear a scream and I just look through the bushes to find a little filly running off. You’re lucky, by the way. You could of had worse.” “Worse?” “Mmm, yeah. You could have gotten into a tangle with some pegasi or earth ponies. Lucky you found me, right?” Twilight found herself rooted on the spot. “What?” she spluttered. –––––– Twilight brought out a sapphire-blue gossamer cloth from her saddlebag. Carefully, she levitated the cloth and wrapped it around the glowing bit of energy. Discord stroked his beard. “Oh? A Stitch in Time? Very clever.” Twilight clapped her hooves. “Exactly! See, I knew I’d have to carry this around with me, but I didn’t know how. I mean how could you carry around a Temporal Singularity—” “—Without dissolving into dust and fine particles. Yes, I see it now. So you trapped it in a bubble.” “A bubble?” “Of the dimensional kind.” “I always thought it was more like a pocket?” “Pockets have a hole in the top. That defeats the purpose of an all-encompassing ‘bubble’. Besides, bubbles are so much more fun.” Over in Sugarcube corner, Pinkie twitched. “I agree!” she blurted out loud. The Cakes looked back from the counter and Pinkie put a hoof to her muzzle in embarrassment. Mrs. Cake gestured to the napping twins urgently, glaring daggers at her. “Heh,” she mumbled. “Sorry.” ––––– “What? Are you deaf?” He stamped a hoof. “If you got caught by either one of the tribes there’d be nothing left for me to save. With any fortune from the stars they’d send a small group or her parents and they’d put it down to a flight of fancy. Poor foal.” Twilight was briefly distracted from his babbling. This didn’t seem like the target timeline she was aiming for. This was before the unification of the tribes, wasn’t it? How many thousands of years was that?! A sudden thought struck Twilight. My saddlebags, where are my saddlebags?! “No, no, no, no!” she cried, casting around for the bags emblazoned with her cutie mark. “We have to go back!” She turned around, preparing to dash off. The stallion darted in front of her, barring her way. “Move it!” Twilight growled menacingly. “I have to get to the mud puddle. My saddlebags.” “What? Are you crazy?” he hissed, blocking her way. “Do you have a death wish?” “It’s important,” Twilight snapped, trying to edge around him. She needed to get back. “Stop it!” he growled, glaring at her. “The saddlebags are lost now. Believe me when I say going back to them is not worth the risk.” Twilight’s mouth twisted into a pout. She pulled herself up and put on a serious expression. “I need those saddlebags,” she stated deliberately slowly. The stallion took a few steps back and watched her with cat-like yellow irises. He pulled himself up. “I did not risk my life to save you just so you can throw it away. Tell you what, we can come back here later if you wish. For now, we need to get out of here.” His gaze softened. “Come with me and I’ll be able to give you a bed and some rest. You’d be exhausted from struggling in the mud for so long, and you’ll need a place to stay. Besides…” He glanced towards the horizon. “There’s scant few hours left in the day. If you’d like to search in the woods during the dark…” At that moment, the cry of a wolf broke through the tense silence. Twilight knew what he was trying to do, but relented anyway. He was right. Tiring herself out trying to look for the saddlebag would be foolhardy. With her magic depleted from crossing and her body caked with mud, she was in a dangerous proposition. Despite her new body, she began to shiver from her soaking wet coat. The heat was leaving her body slowly. “Alright, I’ll go with you,” Twilight answered reluctantly. Oh, what was she thinking? She could just go back to the right point in time. Twilight shook her head, what was she getting so worked up about? She took a deep breath. Just calm down and deal with the situation logically. She felt her tensed muscles relax. Okay. Calmer. It suddenly occurred to Twilight that she hadn’t the faintest idea what this mysterious stallion’s name was. She paused. He didn’t even know her name and yet he just offered her lodging and food. “Thank you,” she repeated this time more strongly. He nodded and trotted around her to lead the way. “Just one last thing, though,” she said, stopping the unicorn in mid-stride. “What’s your name?” The stallion gave her a lopsided smile. “Star Swirl,” he answered, and continued on his way. “Oh,” Twilight mumbled, then followed along. “Wait, what?!”