Spike The Time Traveler

by FlashFoward

The Task

Spike had been walking the streets of Canterlot trying to think of reasons why Time Smith needed him. Princess Celestia’s letter only stated that a chariot would come and pick him up from Ponyville and he would wait until Royal Guards take him to Celestia’s castle or Time Smith himself would hi up. There was a catch to coming to Canterlot to speak to Time Smith though and it’s that Spike had to come strictly alone. No Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, and no Twilight. That last bit in the letter didn’t sit so well with his fellow friends especially Twilight. Spike chuckled to himself remembering how aggravated Twilight got for not being able to tag along with him.

“Does she think I am irresponsible or worse?!” Twilight said darkly out loud to herself.

“Nah, I doubt that. You have to remember that Smith wants me only.” Spike said in attempt to calm down his close friend.

Sadly it backfired. Twilight channeled her anger on her assistant instead.

“Who is this Time Smith anyway?” Twilight demanded forcefully.

Spike opened his mouth but nothing came out. She had a point, Celestia made no mention on what Smith did for a living let alone who he was. At last Spike answered.

“Celestia doesn’t say in her letter…” Spike said lamely. He was holding up Celestia’s letter of summonses as if trying to have the letter take the blame for him.

“Well I am going to send a letter to Princess Celestia! There is no reason for me to miss learning such valuable information!” Twilight declared.

“Now if you don’t mind Spike write this down…Spike? Where did you go?” Twilight said in surprise. Did Spike just leave her to ramble?

Twilight was furious with Spikes vanishing act but Spike was never going to feel her wrath at least until he came back from Canterlot that is. Upon his return Spike felt Twilight would be reading up on some spell that would punish him.

While Spike was busy in the middle of his flashback a stallion, in golden armor stood behind him towering over Spike like a tree towers over the rest of the plants in a garden.

“Spike?” said the Royal Guard.

“Huh? Um, yeah that’s me.” Spike said obviously thrown off guard by the new stallion speaking to him.

“Princess Celestia wishes that you be escorted to the Royal Palace-“the golden clad stallion started in a business man like fashion when a much taller colt appeared suddenly between the Royal Guard and Spike. The tall blue colt had appeared from a portal that cut through the air and disappeared just as fast as the colt came through it.

“Cool right?” smiled the blue colt sheepishly.

“Time Smith?” asked the golden clad Guard.

“Why yes it is! But please refer to me as Tick or Jordan whatever suits you better.” Said Tick in an enthusiastic voice.

“So you’re Time Smith?” Spike asked with curiosity boiling inside him.

“Time Smith is more of the title of my job if you will. However it didn’t stop people nicknaming me Tick Tock obviously after the job I do.” Tick answered.

“What is your job exactly?” Spike asked

“If you don’t mind Spike further questions will have to wait. No reason to have a guard standing around listening to us.” Tick turned his attention to the Guard now.

“If you don’t mind lad tell Celestia Spike is perfectly safe under my company.” Tick said cheerfully.

The Guard walked off heading off to the Royal Castle. Tick retrieved a pocket watch from his saddle and inspected it. Spike was beyond confused by Ticks interest in the silver watch.

“Well time is of the essence! Spike if you don’t mind place your hand somewhere on my watch.” Tick held out the watch for Spike to touch.

At first Spike seemed reluctant to touch the watch. “Is this a joke or something?” Spike thought. At last Spike gave in and just placed the tip of his claw on the face of the clock. Suddenly Spike and Tick vanished from the spot. It didn’t take long for Spike and Tick to teleport back to Tick’s home and workplace. Spike was slightly covered in ash from the unexpected teleporting but he brushed the ashes off himself.

“Well Spike this is where I spend the majority of my time in.” Tick said with great pride in his voice. “You may look around if you like while I grab some tea.” Tick said leaving Spike in the room alone.

At first glance it looked like he was back in Twilights library. There were mountains upon mountains of books and book shelves as far as the eye can see. Without much thought Spike grabbed a book randomly from a shelf and was startled to see the cover. It read “The Legend of Discord, The Spirit of Chaos”. Spike read through some pages and realized how disruptive Discords ideal world was to other ponies. Farming was near impossible due to Discords constant changing in weather (all that chocolate rain), day light and night time. It was also hard to believe anypony due to so many ponies losing their own unique personalities as Discord changed anyone’s personalities to the complete opposite whenever he felt like it. There were political figure that were turned into pigs or donkeys for Discords amusement. Discord would destroy or reconfigure something sacred or beloved for his entertainment while the community screamed and panicked at the horror. There seemed to be no limit to Discords manipulation, he did everything imaginable. Nearing the end of the book there showed a picture of Celestia and Luna turning Discord into stone and on the next page there was Twilight and her friends overtaking Discord as well. Both of the pictures looked similar to the glass windows, in the Royal Palace, showing the triumphs over Discord too. Spike flicked through some more pages then realized the pages were blank.

“I see you found a flaw in that book that is evident in many other books in here.” Tick said simply.

Spike was startled and blew flames upon the book he was because of it.

“I am so sorry-“ Spike began to babble then realized the book was perfectly safe and glowing blue. Then the blue aura surrounding the book faded and the book dropped to the floor with a dull thud.

“Not to worry Spike. Every book in this library is magically enchanted to have some means of protecting itself from damage and general wear and tear.” Tick said happily.

“It is pretty cool actually. You should have seen it when I left dinner catch on fire in the kitchen once! So many books popped from their shelves and started flopping around and trying to open windows to jump out off!” Tick laughed hysterically.

Spike had a sudden vision of all the books in Twilights library holding a protest against her for using them so much. He went into a fit of laughter. Once Spike and Tick calmed down Tick sat down on a chair and sipped at his cup of tea quietly.

“Well Spike I guess you have many questions about me and what is the purpose of me bringing you here. Am I right?” Tick said.

“Yeah what are you exactly?” Spike asked. Was he a pony or something more?

“Well I am an alicorn. Just like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” answered Tick easily.

Spike went to grab his cup of tea that Tick had floating near a table and sat on the other side of were Tick sat.

“So you’re the brother of the Princesses?” Spike said in shock.

Tick laughed at this. Then realized how serious Spike was about this question he stopped instantly.

“Oh, sorry Spike didn’t mean to offend but I am no way in any shape or form a sibling of the Princesses. However I am, in a sense, a distant cousin.” Tick said sheepishly.

“So, if you’re an alicorn you have been around for some time already?” Spike asked.

“Indeed, which was one of the main reasons why I was picked for this job. As you can tell no mere mortal being can live long enough to truly be in this job long enough without having a replacement every eighty-ish years when the pony would die or become too old to contribute successfully for this job. It just becomes complicated to choose a pony every eighty or so years. That is by average pony standards.” Tick said.

Tick took another sip from his tea cup while Spike mulled over this information.

“So you can see into the future?” asked Spike trying to mask his excitement.

Tick stopped sipping his tea and noticed how excited Spike was for his answer. “Yes.” Tick answered.

“Can you change the future then?” Spike persisted.

At this Tick raised his eyebrow at Spike.

“Spike, the future is so manipulated by everyday decisions it’s pointless to interrupt it in anyway.” Tick shrugged.

Spike deflated a bit but regained some confidence.

“But it’s possible right?” Spike asked hopping he was right.

Tick nodded and Spike grinned widely at this news. Tick suppressed a chuckle, seeing the small purple dragon’s reactions were priceless.

“Speaking of time traveling and manipulation Spike would you be interested in looking to the future and past of Ponyvilles residents? It was the main reason why I asked that you come here after all.” Tick asked seriously.

Spike considered this would be an interesting way of knowing about his friends and the people that lived near him. It might also show him a way to get with Rarity if he looked into her future. Course, Spike wasn’t willing to tell his greedy ambitions to Tick but this was a once in a life time opportunity after all. Twilight would be so jealous that Spike was basically Tick’s apprentice for a while and it sounded pretty darn cool to him. With barely anything to lose Spike made his choice.

“Okay Tick I’ll do it!” Spike declared.

“You sure Spike? I am not forcing you to do this. And I warn you this is not for the faint of heart. Prepare yourself to see things you will wish you can forget all together.” Tick added cautiously. He did not want to scar Spike emotionally if he could avoid it.

“Don’t worry about me! Just tell what I need to do.” Spike said with excitement

Tick stopped sipping his tea and walked off to another room. Spike followed and was in shock at what he saw. Thousands upon thousands of hourglasses and documents were in the room all placed in shelves against the circular wall. There was a rather large hourglass in the middle of the room and the sand within was a faint blue color. Without hesitation Tick took some sand from the large hourglass and placed it into a gold pocket watch.

“Here this is what will grant you the power to travel through time.” Tick said handing the pocket watch to Spike

“What’s with the sand looks different than regular sand?” Spike asked

“You see this sand is infused with magic. The first ever Time Smith made this himself in fact. Now Spike if you do well enough with this job I’ll let you keep the watch with its power.” Tick answered.

Spike couldn’t believe it. He had the power to defy age and practically laugh at the face of death now. As if Tick was speaking miles away he carried on.

“The first thing you must understand Spike is that you can’t kill anyone. Even speaking to your past or futuristic self can hold fatal consequences.” Tick continued.

“Why would I want to hurt someone?” Spike said in disbelief.

“You may not be pleased by what you might witness Spike. Also you are to just collect information not change the course of history its self.” Tick said in an undertone.

Spike wanted to justify himself but stopped before he could say anything.

“So wait how do I keep track of this information? And what information I’m supposed to look for anyway?” Spike asked.

“The watch keeps track of all events as it goes through time. It’s like carrying around a pen and book without the need to write anything down. As for the information to collect you just need to gather how long each individual lives and what they accomplish in their lives so that I am better able to connect distant families together, why wars happened, what was the true intention of an idea and so on.” Tick answered.

Spike loved the idea of not needing to write anything down. He did enough of that with Twilight as it is. But Spike realized a flaw to all this.

“So do I have to track down every pony in Ponyville? That’s going to take ages!” Spike complained to Tick.

“I’ll tell you what. You just gather info on your friends and people you know well. I understand this is a long and tiresome task so I’ll cut you some slack there. Fair enough Spike?” Tick asked.

“Well if you put it that way…okay sure.” Spike said in relief.

“One last thing before I send you on your way. Don’t abuse the watch Spike. Or I’ll have to fix up your mess and return to this very moment and take back that watch from you. I expect you to use the watch responsibly Spike. Understand?” Tick said warningly.

Spike just nodded his head. But something was irking Spike.

“Tick about that book…” Spike said in a low whisper.

“The book about the history Discord what of it Spike?” Tick asked raising an eyebrow at Spike

“With all the blank pages in there does it mean there will be more about Discord in the future?” Spike said in a shaky voice. He was terrified of the answer.

“It is very possible for Discord to return, anything from a strong magical spell to free him from his statue prison to the Elements of Harmony becoming too weak to suppress him inside that statue he resides in.” Tick said in a matter of fact tone.

Spike didn’t like the answer a whole lot. But he knew Tick was only telling him the truth. The possibility of Discord running wild again didn’t sit well with Spike but he had no doubt the power of his friend’s friendship for each other will last for a long time.

“I think Spike it’s getting late time for you to go back to Ponyville. Before you leave let me explain how to activate the watches time traveling powers. All you have to do really is click that little button on the side and twist the arrows clock wise for the future and counter for the past. Simple enough right?” Tick explained while pointing to purple button on the watch with stood out with all the gold on it.

“Wait! How much time do I have to get the information on everyone?” asked Spike nervously

“Let me see, it should take you about a month max and that’s with on and off work” Tick answered.

“A month isn’t that a little tight don’t you think?” Spike complained.

“Well considering Ponyville is nothing compared to Canterlot and I am allowing you to choose who to research on consider yourself lucky. I do all this in the matter of a few days.” Tick answered sternly.

“Why pick me then?” Spike asked.

“Well I have fallen a bit behind my research. So I asked Celestia if she knew anyone who was a good assistant or good at following directions. She recommended you.” Tick answered.

Spike felt embarrassed by this piece of information. The Princess herself recommended him for the job. He never felt proud in his life. Well not true being given the title number one assistant from twilight was a big deal but this is right up there. Without notice Tick clicked his watch and a portal materialized in front of him.

“Your ride.” Stated Tick

Spike hesitated to walk through the portal. He remembers all too well how the last portal left him barbequed and he wasn’t in the mood to be burnt again. It didn’t seem like Tick cared though since he kicked Spike through the portal. As Spike was falling through time and space, yelling the entire trip, he could hear Ticks voice faintly.

“Remember don’t screw this up.” Ticks fading voice warned.

“I’ll try not to!” called out Spike. He wasn’t so sure Tick could hear him but it was worth the effort.

Spike suddenly fell from the exit of the portal and landed face first on the cold hard floor of the tree house that he lived in.

“Ugh I will never get used to that…” Spike moaned, rubbing his face to see if he broke anything when landing. It was amazing how time flew by while he stayed at Ticks place it was night time already. Suddenly the portal reappeared and a book shot out of it and smashed right into Spikes head.

“OH COME ON!” Spike yelled into the portal as it disappeared.

The book was dusty, thick and had a dark green cover. Looked like something Twilight would fall in love with. Skimming through the pages Spike noticed this book was a hand guide to being a Time Smith. There was all kind of sneaky ways and clever ways of getting the information Tick needed from him. However Spike noticed there was a catch to even attempt to travel in a person’s life time. You have to have some sort of physical contact with them with the watch. Spike noticed there was a note from Tick at the page that was titled “Clever Approaches” it read “Doesn’t need physical contact with the watch its self. The magic infused in the watch is what needs to be in contact since the magic its self is what causes time travel the watch is simply a host or container. Good luck Spike”.

Spike placed the book Tick sent him in his basket. He didn’t really want to share the book with Twilight she would read it nonstop for hours on end. As Spike lay down in his basket he realized how tough this task was going to be and how easy it was for him to screw it up. Drifting into a deep sleep the only thing on Spike mind was that would be the first pony he would investigate on.

Comments

[UltiXevoz]

Faved

[FlashFoward]

559360
Why thank you Ulti! I appreciate that you took a look at my story. Surprised that someone even bumped into this since I am fairly new to to the site and everything.

[UltiXevoz]

559420
No probs. This looks promising and I love a good fic

[YOitzGEEZUS]

not bad, kinda like dr.whooves, but with Spike......thumbs up!

[Dragoon]

Sounds cool so far, faved.

[Discontinued]

nice