Time Epilogue: Growing Family
As the story reached its end, Kaden, Vashiir, and even Alister were completely awed. Being in the Great Clock made storytelling a truly immersive experience, as Orvus was able to call up the image of the actual events for all present to watch it happen. Despite the story being interrupted no less than 13 times for Twilight and Kaden to 'geek out' over various inventions and developments - it had taken a full hour to drag them away from Twilight's 'wrench saber' - the whole group finally made it through the emotional roller coaster of Ratchet, Clank, Twilight, and Qwark's lives together. Well before the tale reached its conclusion, Twilight was firmly ensconced in Vashiir's lap, being given motherly comforting caresses and mane and tail brushes. The events of Bogon, the Dreadzone, and the Technomites had been rough for Twilight to relive, and Vashiir had focused all her attention on helping her through it.
"You've had quite the adventurous life," Kaden said finally. "Saved three different galaxies multiple times, a loving family, and three separate ladies in pursuit of your affections?" He shook his head in wonder. "I can barely handle one. How'd you do it?" He quickly ducked a swipe at the back of his head from Vashiir.
Ratchet chuckled nervously. "It kinda sorta just happened," he admitted nervously, still unsure how to handle talking about such things with his parents.
"I helped!" Twilight piped up happily, causing Clank and Qwark to chuckle.
"Well, it's nice to know things are going well with you and Angela," Vashiir murmured. "Lorna was a dear friend of mine, and it's a relief to know she's got a bright future."
"And it's good to know Talwyn's getting along with you as well," Kaden added. "Had my original backup plan in case of events like Tachyon's assault pulled through, you'd have grown up with her."
"Although I have to say," Alister spoke up, "that Sasha is really something. I mean, I'd heard Cazars could be real wildcats, but...well, do I need to say anything?"
"Definitely not," Ratchet groaned, face in his hands. Kaden's idly curious inquiry about how well Ratchet fared in keeping the women in his life 'happy' had led to Orvus playing footage of himself and Sasha together for the whole group to see. He didn't know if he or Twilight was more mortified when that happened...or when Kaden started taking notes of things to try with Vashiir once they were fully recovered.
"The less said there, the better," Twilight grumbled. "I knew way too much about that already..."
Vashiir chuckled softly, gently stroking Twilight's mane. "Sorry, both of you," she offered apologetically. "Even if it is the parents' duty to embarrass the children, it's supposed to be with stories, not...this." She sighed sadly. "Even if we weren't there to hear the childhood stories..."
Ratchet stood with a smile, walking up to embrace her. "You're here now," he affirmed. "That's what matters."
Vashiir happily returned the embrace. "Thank you, Ratchet," she said gratefully, holding him close. After a time, she released him. "So-"
"Grandpa!" Twilight shouted angrily. "Stop tinkering with the viewer! It works just fine the way it is!"
"But I want to know how it works!" Kaden insisted. "And maybe I can improve on it!"
"Orvus had all of time to draw on to build this place!" Twilight countered. "Including everything you might ever build from being here! How do you expect to improve on developments you haven't already made yet?"
"I won't know until I try!" Kaden replied.
"Stop making that sound so appealing!" Twilight snapped back.
"Aren't you going to do anything, Father?" Clank asked curiously.
"Why?" Orvus inquired. "Either they will find some way to improve, or I can restore the machine from whatever they do to it with a single wave of a Chronoscepter. Where, exactly, is the downside of letting them experiment?"
"Twilight has magic," Clank pointed out.
"That's what makes things interesting!" Orvus insisted.
Vashiir chuckled, shaking her head. "So...when do we get to meet these girls, Ratchet?"
Ratchet scratched the back of his head. "As soon as I can arrange it," he insisted. "The only question is where and when."
"Either here or many years from now," Sigmund offered consolingly. "I'm afraid there are...long term side effects from Twilight's games with time."
"What do you mean?" Ratchet demanded worriedly. "I thought it all worked out well!"
"The problem is that all three of them are temporally out of sync with the rest of the universe," Sigmund explained. "That's what happens when you instantly shift over several years in frozen time. It's no problem for Orvus, since Zoni are naturally out of sync with the rest of time - it's how most of their abilities work - and it's no problem for Aphelion since she has a Quantum Actuator or a dozen built in. But for Kaden and Vashiir..." He shook his head sadly. "The Actuators in the Clock have been set to slowly adjust them back into sync with present chronality, but if they leave the Clock before the process is finished...all 20 plus years of skipped time will catch up to them all at once, and the momentum will just keep going. They'll...they'll be dust in moments." He shrugged. "And with so much rift energy involved, there's no way to predict how long the adaption process is going to take."
Ratchet sighed sadly, looking away.
"So you're saying instead of being dead, we have forced retirement in the most fascinating space station ever to exist where we can both watch and interact with Ratchet and his family at any time, since Aphelion is installed with a fully functional Obsidian Eye communications system?" Vashiir asked logically.
Sigmund blinked. "Well, umm...yes. I admit I hadn't thought to look at it that way."
"Are...are you sure you're okay with that Mom?" Ratchet asked worriedly.
"Ratchet," Vashiir chided gently, "we're in the pinnacle of science and magic for all of space and time. We can see any part of reality we want, complete with VR generators so accurate the only way you can tell it's not real is when the hurled Frisbee bounces off the invisible wall. Kaden and I have each other, and we can talk to you whenever we want as long as you're in communication range of Aphelion." She smiled widely. "That's an ideal retirement, and we're guaranteed to never get bored."
"So that's where I get my philosophical leanings," Ratchet offered with a chuckle. "Still...it'll mean it's going to be a while before you meet the girls..."
"You could bring them here," Orvus offered. "They are family to you. You are family to Clank, who is family to me. Ergo, they are family as well, and can be trusted with the secrets of the Clock."
"See?" Vashiir chided Ratchet. "Problem solved."
As Ratchet grinned widely, Clank aired his own concerns. "Are you certain it is wise to let Angela loose around the delicate machinery, Father?" he asked worriedly.
Orvus grinned widely. "And now you know why I've let Kaden and Twilight run free to experiment," he countered, lightly booping Clank where his nose would have been if he had one.
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10/10 would Dawww again
I can hear him doing his laugh at the end of that sentence
7055664 I second this motion.
Short, sweet, and full of all the appropriate family fluff. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
7055771
The story itself is far from over. This is just the Epilogue for the Time arc.
Momentarily ceases his cheshire grin to look you dead in the eye with the most serious visage he can muster.
"This isn't the only epilogue is it Tats? I'd be very disappointed if it was."
7055793 YES! its far from over. what? this is my fave of your stories.
7055805
Still two more games to go through.
...All that means to me is that Twilight and Kaden will be able to make something on par with Bioshock: Infinite's Lutece Twins out of the parts from what Angela breaks.
7055861 I shouldn't be up this late. Go to sleep brain.
Didn't notice that it wasn't set to complete yet. Also that you labeled it 'epilogue' instead of 'aftermath' like the others threw me for a loop. Sorry, carry on.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
This just got featured again? Damn son
7055861
I tried to wait the entirety of this 'game' to start reading the chapters from the last 'game' so I wouldn't have to wait. I failed miserably, and gave in to start reading a couple chapters ago. I can't do that again. This story is just too good, I'll have to read each chapter the hour it gets published, my ADHD be damned.
In fact, you know what? I'm going to go back, and re-read the story from the start. Let me know if you want a comment each chapter.
So at least another two arcs before Twilights return to Equestria.
Neat.
7055987
Yes please! I love comments!
7055971
And that is with Mature stories being shown. Even porn must step aside for a Tatsurou fic.
Geek outs, I can just imagine:
"YOU MADE A LIGHTSWORD?!"
"I KNOW, RIGHT?!"
Does Orvus stock any medical technology? Like, say, something to help with Angela's tail problem?
Well, next game (i think) is the one where Rachet and Dr Nefarious team up, that'll be interesting.
Why do I fear for Luna if Celestia and Orvus meet? Let the pranks be doubled!
7056143 The mighty power of Porn is always casually shoved aside by the power of Cute by Tats!
7055793 oh ok
7055861 Only two? Shouldn't it be three? Or are you going to skip one of them?
7057143
All that's left on my schedule is "All 4 One" and "Into the Nexus".
7057155 Full Frontal Assault doesn't count for you, does it?
7057928
If that's the one where the superfan turns supervillain to try and punish Qwark for being a fraud...technically, at this point in the timeline he isn't a fraud anymore.
7056316 Why bother with "Medical" Technology when you can potentially alter local-causality so that she never "Lost" the tail to begin with, only she did...
That made more sense in my head...
7057997
Might want to put a little filler there just in case, you've done that for other stories.
7057997 might make for a funner filler chapter.
7057997 Yep, that's the one.
7058656 SPOILER WARNING!
He doesn't use it, just like in the game.
Adorable chapter, gave me warm fuzzy feelings. I loved the family bonding and hope Ratchet's girls have fun meeting his parents by video conference.
Suddenly occurred to me: When Kaden and Vashiir make their first appearance in public and people realize there is a pair of adult Lombaxes looking to expand their family and give Ratchet some little brothers and sisters, how many Villains will need new pants???
7058221 Twilight casts a spell so nobody sees her tail and her body doesn't realize it's there.
7058221
Yeah, we've done enough time-bending lately, let's stick with medicine.
7059701 Except that she probably remembers actually cutting it off. To do what you suggest would require a fairly complex combinations of illusion and compulsion magic just in the implementation, let alone to make it persist for several decades...
No, better to simply use a temporal field localized on her "Tail" in the present and reverse the flow of time to a point before it was removed. OTOH, this has the potential to present the same problem that Ratchet's parents currently face only to a lesser extent, as the tail would need to "Catch Up" to the rest of her physiology, but I'm sure that given a month or two Twilight could rig up some kind of time-tech ring or device that would attach to her tail and give off a more localized temporal stabilization field. Probably something that if they tried to make it powerful enough to affect an entire being, such as Kaden and Vashiir, would be impractically large or cumbersome...
Also though of something that might be a possible way for Kaden and Vashiir to be able to "Get Out" a bit more, despite being confined to the Great Clock: Rig up a pair of Mechs/Droids with the control mechanism's quantumly entangled to a neural uplink station on the Clock so that they could remotely control them as though they were their own bodies and "see the outside universe" and how it's changed in the last two decades for themselves through the Mech's optics. Don't forget to pad the Feedback responses, though, so that if/when the Mechs get damaged they don't put themselves into comas...
...how the heck is Kaden a genius and an idiot at the same time?
7148382 The same way Twilight is...
Which is why we love her.
7055987
You see why I read multiple incompleat stories at once?
7148382
Thats the way it is with meny genius, they can sometimes miss smaller things.. well, thats what I've noticed
7745402 there is a saying there is a fone line between genius and insanity. Some just say screw there being a line and are both they are the best kind
Gotta love these family moments
Nice wrap up to the arc.
7745402
I'm a borderline genius, and I'm the most oblivious, naive, and clumsy person I've ever met. Does that help?