After blasting a path out of the dark cavern they were in, Alister led the way outside to a settlement of the same sophonts they'd encountered back on Torren IV...along with a great deal of Agorian bodies and wrecked ships. "What happened here?" Alister demanded, confused.
"I was bored!" Aphelion whined as she lowered down. "And the Agorians were attacking these guys who couldn't defend themselves, and that makes them fair targets. Sorry I didn't leave any for you...but you were taking so long!"
Alister swallowed a bit as he stared. "Are...are Aphelion's upgrades more of Twilight's work?" he asked worriedly.
"Technically, I did bring the Zoni to fix her," Twilight allowed. "All 117,000 of them..."
"...no wonder she's so powerful now," Alister muttered before looking around to determine which way to go.
"Hail great Sky Warrior!" one of the members of the settlement called out to Aphelion. "How can we thank you for saving us?"
"My companions need guidance to the Obsidian Eye," Aphelion replied. "Do you know where it is?"
"The Eye is in the Temple!" the resident proclaimed eagerly. "Follow me!"
The sophont guided them to the path in question, explaining that it had been sealed off ages ago due to an excess of tetramites, amongst other things, while also providing an Omnisoaker gadget in the hopes it would assist them. The Omnisoaker could absorb any nearby source of liquid before launching it, either to fill objects that needed the liquid or for other purposes. This proved quite useful in maneuvering around several badly placed tetramite nests throughout the cave.
Beyond there, they found their way to a Zoni Temple. Contained within was the Obsidian Eye. Unfortunately, the Fulcrum Star - the device's power source - was cracked, and there was no guarantee of a good signal. The system booted up successfully, however. "Stand by for system uplink," the computer proclaimed.
Clank was pondering what exactly to do next within the Great Clock when a screen activated behind him. "Mommy!"
At that familiar shout, Clank spun around to see Twilight, Ratchet, and a Lombax he didn't recognize. "Ratchet! Twilight! How did you find me?"
"You didn't really think we'd leave you out here all alone, did you?" Ratchet asked.
"Who is that behind you?" Clank asked curiously.
"Believe it or not, it's my Uncle...sort of," Ratchet replied. "General Azimuth's been helping us find you. Send us your coordinates, and we'll come get you!"
"Signal integrity 33%," the Obsidian Eye computer proclaimed.
"One sec!" Twilight called out. Levitating the Zoni vessel, she mixed her magic with the energies of the Zoni, and sent the combined reconstruction spell at the Fulcrum Star, restoring it to its pre-cracked condition by turning back its personal timeline.
"Signal integrity restored to 100%," the computer intoned.
"Very good, Twilight," Clank praised. "You're beginning to master time magic...which is rather unnerving, but reassuring as well. I need your help, all of you. Orvus is in trouble."
"We've been hearing that name a lot," Twilight replied. "Who is he?"
"My father."
As Ratchet and Azimuth's jaws both dropped, Twilight gasped. "Grandpa's in trouble? What can we do? We've got to save him!"
"You must go to Zanifar and confront Dr. Nefarious there," Clank explained.
"But Nefarious hasn't set foot on Zanifar since his station was completed two years ago!" Azimuth countered.
"Then that is when you must confront him," Clank replied. "Zanifar is currently experiencing temporal anomalies. I should be able to manipulate them from here to temporarily connect the present to two years ago, allowing you to confront Nefarious then...and with luck, save my father from whatever has happened to him."
"How will we get in contact with you again?" Ratchet asked. "We can't keep coming back to the Eye here..." His voice trailed off. "Twilight, I know that look..."
"Aphelion!" Twilight called out. "Can you enter the Zoni Temple?"
"On my way!" Aphelion replied as she dove in, hovering over the Obsidian Eye. "What is your plan?"
Picking up the Zoni vessel, she once more tapped the energy of the thousands of Zoni within, amplifying her analysis magic through her Pilot's Helmet...directing the energy at Aphelion and the Obsidian Eye. There was a blinding flash of light.
When the light cleared, the Obsidian Eye was gone, and Aphelion was floating there. "Obsidian Eye now installed within ship communications array," Aphelion stated bluntly. "But tell me next time you're going to mess with my internal circuitry like that, Twilight! That was freaky!"
"Can you maintain the communications link with the Great Clock?" Twilight asked hopefully.
"Affirmative," Aphelion confirmed. "The Obsidian Eye doesn't use spatial dimensions for its communication system, so once it is successfully installed, it automatically locks on to the Great Clock, no matter where it is."
"You never cease to amaze, confound, and terrify Twilight," Clank praised. "Clank out."
With the communications cut, Clank turned back to Sigmund. "Where are the temporal controls for planet Zanifar?" he asked. "We have a job to do, and a Caretaker to save."
"You're sure this will work?" Sigmund asked worriedly.
"Can you create a time portal on Zanifar using the anomalies?" Clank suggested.
"I...suppose if I used the oscilloscopic entanglement modulator to create a vacuum of negative energy, it could theoretically create a traversable wormhole," Sigmund replied, running rapid-fire computations on his attached console and inputting commands.
"Time rift stabilized," the Great Clock computer proclaimed.
"Twilight is going to love you," Clank stated with a smile.
With their new plan laid out and a new communications array installed, the group set their separate courses for Planet Zanifar.
At last, a final confrontation!
I think I'll enjoy watching Twilight meet Sigmund. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Are we gonna do All 4 One, or no, as it was shit?
Question, why doesn't Twilight just go and stop Dr Neferious when he was first created? By all accounts that is now an option.
Twilight loved anything with a brain really...
6920686 if, she did, then that would cause a paradox, making a situation where twilight wouldnt need to go into the pass, thus allowing nefarious to be creates, thus forcing twilight to go back into the past (you see where im going with this)
6920703 But she can use the great clock to negate the paradox, she's smart enough to do that, and that scares me.
6920608 Why are most of my comments to people asking whether or not a game is going to be covered... Check the description next time. Yes, it will be covered.
Great job mate, love your work and hope you have wonderful night.
6920686 because time paradoxes /shrug
Sigmund should be afraid, VERY afraid.
6920839 Ah, but what if Nefarious had used the time anomalies to his advantage, to give himself enough time to accomplish the tasks he wanted, and when Orvus came to confront him, Nefarious had abused his advantage. Twilight merely showing up could be the catalyst to deleting that thread, and creating an entirely new time stream, bringing the past Orvus into the present where he isn't dead, but is still determined as such two years before.
I feel this line must now be said by Twilight. "My name is Twilight Sparkle you killed my grandfather prepare to DIE!"
6921049 ............ *Groans* Somebody get me a beer. I am not trying to figure this out while sober...
6921528 Basically ignore the possibility of a paradox by dragging the potential cause of it into the present after the supposed event happened.
6921538
You mean the Chrono Trigger method of using time travel to bring back the dead? By dragging the dead person out of the time stream in the frozen instant just before their death and replacing them with a lifeless duplicate? Using a Time Egg to open the Time Gate to said frozen instant?
Huh. I wonder why I happen to have all those details memorized. I could say it's just because Chrono Trigger is an awesome game...but then why is all of this spoilered?
6921556 My Apologies, I did not mean to spoil the surprise.
Some how... I'm not surprised Twilight did that. And yet I am surprised. I guess it's more of an "Wait, she can't be planning.... She did *Head desk*" I almost feel sorry for Starswirl, once Twilight gets back to Equestria and learns about him, I can see her begging Clank to send her back in time to meet him and driving him crazy.
6921556 Who knows, Maybe you're planing on writing a PWNY/Chrono Trigger/Cross story (this is Not a suggestion) where a pony is raised by Lucca as a brother/sister to Kid, and the Time Egg becomes relevant again?
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6909578 Oh... my bad...
6921241 Yes. There aren't nearly enough Princess Bride references in the fandom.
oh boy, now comes Nefarious's plan... which in and out of context, is actually quite thorough.
Dear God, all I can hear in the back of my head is
TIME PORTAL, STABILIZED.
I have to go back and play Timesplitters all the way through, if you don't mind.
Dammit Tats! You cut the best part of that sequence! After that rapid fire explanation, the portal appeared, and Sigmund said "Ta-da!"
That always had me rolling, no matter how many times I'd seen it!
6928919
Ah, that explains it. I'm no good at fighting games (excepting Smash Bros), so I don't play them.
6920686 Because he is a part of her & her families personal timeline if he was never born then up your arsonal never happened and that spirals out into a chronological doomsday, in short nefarious is a necessary evil.
6928218
Zanifar
did anypony else read that as zendikar at first glance or am I the only one?
7946039 same here
8018772
Zendifar, for me