In the early morning, relief washed over a group of particularly anxious ponies. From midnight, all the way to around five o'clock, the Herrings, Sparkles and the teacher-pupil alicorns watched with baited breath as Quantum floated in the Herring Home's living room. The orb of light that encompassed the foal suddenly, grew brighter, blinding the colt's parents whom were sitting closest to their child. The brief flash subsided; and the young Quantum floated gently to the ground, emanating a small, soft glow from his coat. Hegese snatched him up from the floor and hugged him tight.
"Oh, thank goodness you're safe," she muttered, stroking his mane as Bow came and nuzzled her side. Celestia watched, with the other room's inhabitants, with tiny pangs of longing in her heart; she so wanted to be the one keeping him close at that moment, but quelled the desire, like she did with most of her personal wants. Her eyes flickered to the youngest Sparkle, Twilight, laid on the sofa. Small, tired eyes watched the alicorn colt.
Twilight didn't really understand what was going on. She remembered her father rushing in during the midnight hour, and rushing over to Quantum's home in the middle of the night. Truthfully, she was confused and still quite dazed at the rude awakening; she didn't cry, though. When she had seen the floating orb containing her friend, it only served to confuse her more. Was he experiencing his magic, too? Part of the young unicorn thought that she should be proud of him, after all, magic was a wonderful gift! Unfortunately, she only seemed anxious upon seeing him. Twilight hadn't been through that with her awakening, not at all. Then the princess had shown up, and everything just got complicated from there! She didn't understand even half the words the Sun Goddess was spouting!
Cadence had watched the events play with a look somewhere between anxiety and curiosity. On one hoof, the alicorn foal was powerful; she knew that, and it made her swell a bit with pride upon realizing this; Quantum was like a little brother to her, after all. On the other hoof, the pink alicorn could tell that her teacher was withholding something. Of course, Cadence did acknowledge that it was probably with good reason; it didn't mean she couldn't be curious, though. Besides, the magical trances were common for alicorns; it symbolized growth. Cadence remembered entering one when she ascended to become an alicorn.
Shining Armor watched with wary eyes; if Time Magic was so dangerous, did that mean Quantum himself was a danger? More importantly, did he pose a threat to his younger sister? He resolved to keep an eye on him moving forward.
The head of the Herring family puffed her chest in pride. Of course Quantum was an important, super powerful mage. He was a Herring, after all. Even if unicorns were rarely born in the main line of the family; it's only right that when an alicorn is, said foal becomes uber strong. She hid her grin with a warm smile, though.
Quantum felt surprisingly refreshed. Coming out of the trance, the ex-human had felt like he'd just had the most wonderful night's rest. He enjoyed the loving embrace of his mother, but of course noticed the various looks being given to him from across the room. The alicorn was especially concerned with the almost glare being directed at him by Twilight's white-coated brother. Yeesh, wonder what pissed in his cornflakes, he met the unicorn's stare with a happy grin, and Shining Armor's gaze faltered, and the unicorn looked away. Yeah, that's right. Lose a stare down to a foal, he mentally chuckled, Prick.
Bryan's thoughts wandered all the way back to Quantum-- the first one, living in his head --and the information that the older alicorn had unceremoniously dumped at his hooves; or feet as they were at the time. While the story was downright preposterous, leaving the colt with half a mind to call it out as bollocks, the human-turned-magical-equine recognized that Actually, everything that's happened in the last year has been pretty damn absurd.
'Talking to yourself?' A melodic voice echoed in his head; and Quantum nearly jumped from his mother's vice like grip. He noticed the princess in the corner. She wore a tired, yet definitely amused, grin. 'Don't worry; I'm not going to reveal your secrets. I just want to talk.' Truth be told, the youngest alicorn in the room actually wasn't worried about the Sun Goddess; the pulling on his chest wasn't as noticeable as it was back in the throne room, and it most certainly wasn't uncomfortable, either. It was warming. That being said, she did scare the shit out of me, Bryan thought, and grimaced at the sound of a distinct 'snrk' echoing in his head. This whole telepathic connection is going to take some getting used to, he sighed.
'It took some adjustments; yes. Your thoughts suddenly not being private was something of a bombshell to me, all those years ago,' Celestia's voice chuckled again in his head, 'Though, it's not my past I'm here to reminisce about, Quantum, the last time we met, you left without allowing me time to inquire,' Bryan sighed, he knew this was coming, 'I would like to know; how much do you know about yourself?' His eyes widened; that wasn't the question he was expecting. He chose his response carefully.
I know that I'm not who I thought I was, Quantum began, That I'm not what everyone else thinks I am, either, Celestia leaned infinitesimally closer; her hopes picking up just a tiny amount, [In my magic trance, I met someone- or somepony, as it were -he showed me a memory from my previous life; or at least, my most recent one. Celestia's mind was filled with a grotesque scene. A completely trashed room, glass and blood everywhere. Two prone bipedal figures at the back of the room, near a broken window. The forefront of the room was filled with the frozen image of four other bipedal figures. On the left, three creatures that set alarm bells ringing in her head; dangerous. On the right, a decidedly younger biped caught in mid-lunge, the sharp poker from a fireplace poised at the closest figure's neck.
'Oh, Tartarus,' Celestia gasped in shock, drawing a decidedly odd look from Cadence. It had been worse than she'd thought. For a second, the Celestial Goddess felt everything; unimaginable pain loss, and a burning hatred and killing intent. It didn't take a genius to figure out the context to the gruesome scene; the group of three burly figures in black, clear assailants and criminals. The two prone figures, clearly deceased, and of some importance to the leaping creature, front and center, or...
...I'm sorry you had to see that. The memory hasn't been that vivid before, Quantum's voice rung in Celestia's head, she made no reply, still stood stiff in place. He continued. Uh, The d-dead humans at the back, they were my um, parents, at the time, The younger alicorn mentally chuckled, devoid of humor, while Celestia found herself even more mortified than she thought possible, It'd just been another normal day at school, you know? He looked down, and said more to himself, Maybe if I hadn't spent so much time in town, that day, then maybe-
'Quantum. Do not blame yourself for this. While yes, it's true, I may not know the whole story behind this, but I can at least be sure that you didn't cause their deaths,' She paused, seemingly snapped out of her shock, 'You didn't kill them. You wouldn't.'
Another scene flashed before her eyes; this time, five prone bodies, and one kneeling human in the middle of them all. He too, was covered in the brutal crimson. His eyes were empty, unnoticed tears streaming down his tilted face as a dripping make-shift weapon hung in a loose grip.
Am I a bad person, Princess?
Before the sun goddess could even begin her long rant of disagreement, having still been blown away by the most recent memory, the other occupants of the room (that Celestia had, admittedly, forgotten about) interrupted her. Velvet stood from the sofa, along with her husband, and smiled at the still embracing mother and son.
"I suppose we'll be off, then, Hegese," she began, and the crimson pegasus turned, finally releasing the white alicorn colt with a barely suppressed 'oof' from the one year-old. Bow and Hegese left the living room to bid adieu to their friends, while Cadence too, prepared to leave. She threw the odd glance at her mentor; wondering what she was hiding and her frankly odd behavior through the night. The pink alicorn spoke.
"I suppose I'll be off, too," she smiled at Bryan, "I'lll see you a bit later, Quanty, when it's less of an unholy hour!" She smiled and winked at the colt, who seemed subdued. Eh, it's probably shock from the odd experience, Cadence surmised. She turned to the largest alicorn in the room, "Will you be walking home, Celestia? If so, I'll happily go with you," Cadence had been allowed to Celestia's name when talking to her; given that she too would be soon crowned as a princess; specifically, the Princess of Love.
The mentioned 'Princess-To-Be' didn't fail to notice the brief look of helpless aggravation pass her tutor's face. It was there and gone in a second.
"Ah, no, that will be fine, Cadence," Celestia smiled, "I think I'll just teleport back. The sooner I get back to bed, the better." She winked, though, her joviality was somewhat forced, none of the remaining ponies commented. As Hegese and Bow reentered the room, the Sun Goddess bowed to them, "Hegese, Bow; thank you for allowing me into your home. You've been quite welcoming, given the circumstances." The royal adviser and her husband were quite flustered at the unexpected gratitude, and just managed to splutter out a botched 'thank you.'
Princess Celestia disappeared from the Herring Household with a smile and a fwash.
Princess Celestia appeared in her chambers in Canterlot with a snarl and a string of rather un-princess-ly expletives. She bucked the wall.
I can't believe I just left him like that! She thought to herself angrily, Quantum had clearly been in some sort of painful experience and I abandoned him at a critical moment, The Celestial Goddess flopped onto the large four-post bed, and screamed into her pillow, before growing still.
'Am I a bad person, princess?'
Those words had struck her. Hard. The images she had seen were gruesome, yes, but what scared her was the young looking 'human' in the scene. It had been him- Quantum -before his rebirth into Equestria. Words spoken long ago resonated in her ageless mind, of curses and banishment.
'One doomed to exile...'
"Oh, Quantum," she muttered into her pillow, "What happened to you?"
Celestia fell into a dreamless sleep, until she would be needed for her daily duties.
The morning passed without (too much) event. Following his return to the conscious world, Bryan discovered a hollow feeling inside him; bittersweet.
It was about ten in the morning when the thought occurred to him, It's been a year since I left Earth, which honestly, affected him very little; his life was great on Equus, after all. Parents back, the original Phil with him, good (yet strange at first) new friends in the guise of Twilight Sparkle and Cadence Mi Amore, and honestly? Life was going pretty damn well for him.
But, there were things Bryan missed. Just because his situation on Earth was infinitely worse, the ex-human definitely had friends there. The young alicorn had never forgotten the kindness of his best friend, Marcus, following the death of his parents, and their assailants justified demise. Marcus had been there always; not so much as forcing him into the open, or pushing Bryan into uncomfortable situations too soon, but he was a friend and a support crutch when Uncle Phil wasn't around.
Then there was the girl Bryan was sweet on, Melissa. She too, had helped him during the rough times; coming to Bryan's defense whenever it was needed, and, like Marcus, a crutch for the emotionally paralyzed.
There were others, sure, but not so prominent as Marcus and Melissa.
As Quantum recalled more and more of the important friends in his previous life, he made a startling discovery. He could remember every detail of his old life; every conversation, purchase, lesson, face, moment and, death, that the teenager had been faced with. Bryan supposed that it was something to do with his new title; Time Mage, and what the other Quantum/himself had said to him during the trance. Even so, the memories only served to dredge up old memories, and the slight pangs of homesickness ran through his body.
The smell of cooking wafted from the kitchen, and with it, the clip-clops of hooves against a terracotta flooring. Bryan sat in the living room; staring maroon walls, and their decor. The morning sun, now high in the air (i wonder what the princess is doing) shone over Canterlot. The Sparkles, still supposedly tired from the events of the early morning, had told the Herrings they would be round some time in the afternoon- the Mi Amore's with them. But before them...
The doorbell rang, and the yellow pegasus form of Bow rushed to the manor's front door. The familiar faces of Philips Driver and Cinders Elem stood beaming behind the door. Hegese's husband grinned.
"Phil! Finally got here, eh?" The unicorn in question rolled his eyes and hoofed his brother in the shoulder, "And Cindy," Bow turned to his sibling's beau, "You're looking lovely today," The two ponies embraced, before Bow broke off and smiled at her sympathetically, "Finally got some off time from work, then?" She sighed.
"It's a real pain, ya know? I love being that helping hoof in emergencies, but sometimes I just wanna relax for a day!" She sighed, before grinning at her lover's brother. "Hopefully, the rest of the brigade can handle one day on their own." Bow nodded with understanding.
"Honey, are you just gonna let them stand there in the porch, or are you going to invite them in?" Hegese poked her head out of the living room, while Bow jumped and grinned sheepishly, muttering a quiet 'yes dear.' The couple walked into the Herring house, identical grins of mischief splayed on their muzzles. Quantum's father, as his Phil was walking into the hallway, spotted the odd shaped gift poking out his saddlebags.
"Say, Phil," he begun, pointing a hoof and the object in question, "What'd you get my son?" To this, Cindy placed her head in her hooves and sighed, while Philips beamed a smug grin and puffed out his chest.
"Oh boy, you've really gon' 'n done it now," The mare lamented, "He's going to be talking about it for hours now." Phil shot his marefriend a bemused look.
"Well, brother of mine, if you simply must know," The other-worldly inventor placed a hoof on his chest, "It's some jewelry that I myself spruced up to perfection!" Using his magic, Philips moved the gift from his saddle bag into the air between him and his brother. The gift was a strange shape. Like an upside down T, or one of those purple Tetris blocks. Bow quirked an eyebrow at the gift.
"Jewelry, eh?" The yellow pegasus inspected it from all angles, going so far as to crouch under it, too, "Don't you think the colt is maybe just a bit too young for stuff like that?" Philips made a distinct 'snrk' noise, before covering himself with a cough.
"It's his first birthday, this way it'll hold special significance for him!" Philips grinned, but thought, Besides the value they already have for him, he sighed inwardly, Hope Bryan likes 'em.
From there Bow nodded and conceded to his magical brother's point, it wasn't as if he'd set specific gift guidelines, after all.
The smell of breakfast permeated every nook and cranny of the Herring Manor. Delicious hash browns, hay and other such foods that by now, Bryan was used to, stocked a huge banquet table, and the closest members of the Herring family ate together in a comfortable atmosphere. There was lighthearted joking between brothers, juicy gossiping between mares, even Rouge had a thing or so to say, and in the middle of it all was Quantum, content and at peace, the events of the morning and past lives distant from his mind in that one, precious moment.
Of course, you know what they say about all good things.
"Oh!" Hegese began, "Phil, Elem, I don't think we told you about what happened earlier this morning, did we?" Hegese began, placing her cutlery down on her empty plate, with the rest of the table's occupants following suit. Bryan, sat in quite the embarrassing high chair besides his mother, froze. Truly, he didn't really want to think about the whole impossible weight of time and destiny on his shoulders again so soon, but he supposed Phil would find out one way or another.
"Uh," Phil swallowed the last remnants of a daisy toasty in his mouth, and shot a look to his multi-dimensional nephew, "No, why? Did something happen this morning?" The grey-maned unicorn noticed the quick flicker of worry on Quantum's face. He instantly had a bad feeling in the pit of his belly.
"Well, it was at during the very, very early morning. Barely past midnight," Bow began, taking the cue to explain from his wife, "We woke up to Quantum screaming." The atmosphere in the room suddenly became very, very still. The temperature seemed to drop, too. "Of course, Hegese, Rouge and I, we all dashed out to see what on Tartarus was happening, and, well, there he was," He placed his fore-hooves together, "Our boy was floating in mid-air, eyes some blinding light, and completely surrounded by an orb of light.
"Before we had the chance to panic properly, the Princess herself, as well as the Sparkles and Cadence all arrived, and the Princess told us some surprising things." From here, Bow explained everything Celestia had told them just hours ago. About Time Mages and magic, self-disciplined and natural mages. Of course, they didn't seem to remember the whole 'a secret from all those outside these walls' bit until after everything had been explained. Cinders and Philips both swore that the information would be safe with them, while the latter cast a very worried glance at the ex-human alicorn.
"That's a whole lot to take in," Cindy leaned back in her chair, staring absently at the ceiling, "Young Quantum there is some big ol' powerful mage, huh?" She grinned, "Well, if I were you, I'd be all kinds o' proud!" Phil grinned along with her, and the easy atmosphere returned for most. Unbeknownst to everypony else; Bryan and Phil were having a non-verbal conversation. Teal eyes pierced older grey ones carrying a simple message; 'Later.'
Before long, the dining room had been cleared up and replaced with small snacks and bites to eat in preparation for more guests. The Sparkles, as always, were the first to arrive, while Cadence arrived a few minutes later. After that, the fun and games were on the way. Twilight and Quantum engaged in their usual competitions, from races to reading. The respective families and of course, Cadence, watched with smiles and contributed the occasional 'aw,' to the young ponies' behaviors.
As the afternoon drew in, Celestia's sun high in the sky, it finally came to present time for Bryan.
"Here you go, hon'," Cindy approached the alicorn (positioned on his usual spot on the sofa) and gave him a long box, wrapped in bright orange wrapping paper. Bryan's curiosity was peaked, and wasted no time opening the gift. "We don't really need 'em up in Manehattan, but looks like you folks down here sure do!" She laughed as the long box revealed a pair of small, polarized aviators. The frame was a light red, with the multicolored lenses held firmly in place. Bryan grinned widely, Oh, hell fucking yes. Distinct memories of his past life, of cool kids in webcomics and big red record. He loved the gift, and immediately put them on.
So. Fucking. Cool. The occupants of the room laughed at the small alicorn, striking poses with the shades attached to his face. Cindy grinned at him.
"You like 'em, eh?" She asked, before the small multi-blue alicorn glomped her.
Twilight's gift came next, and with a surprisingly shy demeanor, approached the younger pony and handed him a gift with purple wrapping-- it was oddly wrapped, and Bryan deduced it was because the lavender filly had wrapped it herself. He opened the gift gingerly, and was not at all surprised to find a book; in fact, it was the same book he had got her, just a different copy. He beamed at her and gave her a hug as a thank you.
The room exploded in 'D'aw's' and squee's. Bryan heard the shutter of a camera go click. He sighed inwardly. Damn it, he thought, That one is gonna haunt me forever. Twilight looked at him with a beet-red face, trying to look annoyed, but only just managing to give him a look that said 'Don't fall behind me, fool!' Before fleeing behind her chuckling mother.
Next were Quantum's parent's gifts, and well, the haul was huge. There were toys, clothes, decorations and a particularly nice looking suit for young colts, supposedly from a family quite close to the Herrings. They dabbled in fashion, and even owned a designer store in Ponyville somewhere; even had a unicorn daughter the same age as Quantum! The suit itself was white, with a strange tie- seemingly multicolored yet only shimmered the colors of the alicorn colt's mane. He donned both it and the shades, and he felt fine as a goddamn fiddle.
Bryan's grandmother Rouge had done something spectacular; she had 'bought' him an actual Grandfather clock! And to Bryan, the ticking of the massive timepiece was unbelievably calming. The clock was a dark oak wood, and had a rich and high quality finish on the material. The face was made of marble, while the hands were made of a fine diamond; a testament to the Herring heritage. The gift itself actually had a backstory; the clock was broken decades ago, but had been in the family for countless generations, rooting back to the founding of Equestria. When the clock had broken only (relatively) recently, Rouge's husband had been devastated, especially when told the chances of it being fixed were slim. But when Rouge had gone up into the attic recently, she had found the damned thing ticking and tocking like normal! Bryan loved the clock, and his parents had promised to move the giant behemoth of a gift to his room.
And then came Uncle Phil, strange shaped box in magical grip. This, Bryan had been looking forward to. The only person in this room that knew the (most) truth about himself, his past. The brown stallion grinned lopsidedly, and placed the small box before him. Quantum discovered, after unwrapping, that the gift was actually two gifts-- a small square box and a thin but long rectangular box, both covered in a strange black velvety material.
Carefully, he opened the square box, making sure to not accidentally break its contents. Inside was a small, golden ring, not meant for pony hooves, with an onyx stone on the top.
Bryan didn't full notice the whimper that escaped him.
Placing the first box down, but with the ring in one hoof, the alicorn colt opened up the longer box, already half suspecting its contents. Inside this one, was a long golden chain of no distinct pattern; just normal oval-like links. In his free hoof, Bryan picked up the chain, and his mind overflowed.
Everything that was Bryan Herring rushed through his brain. Every memory, detail and aspect that made up that human-being passed before him in a flash; he could remember with crystal clarity the faces, voices and interactions of all his friends, family, and acquaintances. The words of the older Quantum rang in his head 'let go,' as the images of his human parents appeared in his mind, their conversations, their happy, happy memories, and their final, traumatic moment. Something happened in the alicorn's mind; like a relinquishing of control, or rather, the exchanging. It was at this point, the young colt understood.
Bryan Herring was never a separate identity to Quantum; merely, Bryan Herring was an extension of Quantum, simply an aspect of a greater whole.
He remembered the very last memory; lying in bed, a cold breeze, and a desire to just leave. And then, there was the first; the rebirth into a new world, a new beginning; and the ending of a torturous cycle.
And then, the images were gone, and the alicorn found himself staring into the eyes of Philips Driver. He had noticed the warm tears down the young one's face. Before he could inquire however, the colt simply gave the biggest smile he could, and through bleary eyes, Quantum Herring said in a quiet voice,
"Thank you."
END OF PROLOGUE