//------------------------------//
// Time: Zanifar Before 
// Story: The Sparkle in his Eye 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	As Ratchet and Twilight came out the other side of the Time Gate, they found the plains of Zanifar far more idyllic, covered in colorful grasses and flowers, with only the occasional wooden fence marking off a vegetable garden.  The beginnings of the Tower they'd just been inside was visible nearby, and a computerized voice could be heard from the structure.  "Dr. Nefarious is not a disappointment, as his mother once said."

"...wow," Ratchet muttered.  "He's...actually got his computer announcing that?  He's...got some major self esteem issues."

"His nemesis was Captain Qwark from before we got to him," Twilight pointed out.  "This is news?"

Ratchet glanced at Twilight disapprovingly.  "Don't you think that's being a little harsh on Qwark?"

"Can you tell me he'd hesitate even a moment before agreeing with that assessment of who he used to be?" Twilight countered.  "You know how critical he's gotten of his own past.  And it's not like he's like that anymore."

Ratchet shrugged.  "True, I suppose...but now I'm kinda feeling sorry for Nefarious..."

"Save that for after we save Orvus," Twilight chided him.  "Let's go!"

As they moved around the past Fongoid village, they heard the various Fongoids muttering phrases about how 'great and wonderful' Dr. Nefarious was.  "Apparently, he's dabbling in brainwashing again," Ratchet muttered.  "No longer feeling sorry for him."

"Let's go fix him, then!" Twilight proclaimed eagerly.

A nearby sign told them about a 'crash site' where Nefarious and Lawrence had arrived.  According to the text, the reason the Fongoids had been so welcoming of them was because they believed it was a sign Orvus felt the Fongoids were ready for technology again, whatever that meant.  As the pair continued to explore, the computerized voice recited the lines they'd heard the Fongoids muttering without emotion, showing how the gentle brainwashing was progressing.  Twilight grumbled about being too close to an active temporal anomaly to risk the level of etheric discharge it would take to "shut that stupid machine up!"

As they approached the path to the tower, one of the Fongoids stopped them.  "Hey!" he greeted warmly.  "Are you here to help build Dr. Nefarious' outpost?  We just finished building the bridge, but the winch crank rusted up, so we can't lower it."

Ratchet frowned thoughtfully.  "Say...have you seen Orvus?"

The Fongoid glanced around before whispering conspiratorially, "We're not supposed to talk about it, but he's inside.  Can you imagine what those two have to talk about?  Dr. Nefarious is brilliant!"

"How can we fix the bridge?" Twilight demanded.  "We need to get inside now!"

"Nothing we can do," the Fongoid offered apologetically.  "We'll just have to wait for them to finish building the oil derrick first."

Ratchet glanced at the structure in question.  "Hmm...that was complete on the other side of the Gate...we could run back through, fill our Omni-soakers with oil, come back, oil the winch, and make the bridge."

"But that might take too long!" Twilight insisted worriedly.

"Well, if you're in that much of a hurry, you do have wings," the Fongoid pointed out reasonably.  "The water's pretty warm, so there should be good thermals."

Twilight blinked for a time, then facehoofed.  "I can't believe I forgot I could fly for a bit," she groaned.

"Especially since you're currently flying?" Ratchet added teasingly to the hovering young mare.

"Don't you start," Twilight grumbled as she flew over the gap.

Ratchet waited until she was halfway out, then locked onto her Swingshot with his to swing across.  Inside the outpost a Grummel-net vendor was visible...but Ratchet and Twilight carefully stayed away from it.  If it wasn't somehow quantumly entangled with their current endeavor to be receiving data from their present, they could cause a paradox by trying to buy ammo for weapons that hadn't been invented yet.  And neither of them really wanted to think about what it could mean if it was so entangled.

Thankfully, the robotic defenders within the tower weren't that numerous or that durable, and the pair were able to take them all down without expending their ammunition completely, leaving plenty for what would come next.  Bracing themselves, they rode an elevator to the top of the tower.

As they stepped off, they could hear Nefarious shouting.  "You twit!" he yelled.  "You told me this would work!"

"I-I don't know what's happening," an unfamiliar Terrachnoid replied.  "We should have found it by now!"

As Ratchet and Twilight approached, they made out the scene.  Nefarious, Lawrence, and the unknown Terrachnoid were in discussion of some sort in front of a clear tube filled with a beam of light.  At the moment, neither Ratchet nor Twilight could see inside the tube clearly.  However, it wasn't long before they could clearly make out the wizened figure of a Zoni inside the capsule.

"He must have erased his own memory!" the Terrachnoid gasped out, somewhere between anger and desperation.

"Time...is a gift," the Zoni stated, his voice weak but firm, "and...not to be tampered with."

Ratchet and Twilight leapt into position behind the group as Nefarious spoke again.  "This is your last chance, Orvus.  How do I get into the chamber?"

"You are making a mistake," Orvus insisted weakly.  "The clock is not a time machine."

Growling, Nefarious gestured to a mechanical soldier nearby, which began firing energy at Orvus.

"There is only one who will enter my chamber," Orvus managed to growl through the pain.  "And he is safe; far from you."

A blaze of white light blinded everyone...but Ratchet's keen eyes caught a brief flare of pale purple behind the light, and he could have sworn he heard Twilight shouting "Close it!" over and over...but Twilight was standing right beside him, her mouth closed, her eyes covered, and no glow around her horn.  Perhaps he was seeing things.

However, when the light faded, Orvus was gone.  "Where is he?" Nefarious demanded.  "Where did he go?"

"I don't know, sir," the Terrachnoid replied.  "I'm pulling up a residual image from his data banks.  We scanned it before he...vanished."  An image of Clank appeared on a holographic screen.

"Clank?" Ratchet gasped out in confusion.

"Mommy?" Twilight called worriedly.

"You!" Nefarious snarled as he spun to face them.

Ratchet quickly hurled the bomb he'd been priming, using it as a distraction to help himself and Twilight escape.  Despite their best efforts to rescue Orvus...they had not made it there in time...

Or did we? Ratchet wondered as they made their way back to the Time Gate, leaving Nefarious to deal with the new gouge the bomb had left on his faceplate.