Threads of Time

by Chrono Spark

The Equestrian Nightmare

Chrono woke from his dream in tears. A revisitation of his growing out of colthood, the earning of his cutie mark. The worst moment in his life, in retrospect. Sheer rage at his own parents had brought on a desire to be anywhere away from them. Without him even realizing it, fifty years had passed and the trail of Shimmer and Gale Spark had gone cold. Now, knowing he had a way to prevent it all, he couldn't. Not knowing that doing so might ultimately undo everything he had stood for since he came under Luna's tutelage. He had accepted it as a pain he would bear for life, but the memory returning to him through his dream was in no way any help.
A knocking at his door caught his attention, despite the still-late hour. He sprang up from his bed and checked the door before opening it. To his surprise, none other than Violet Shadow stood opposite, watching him calmly if doubtfully. "What in the-"
"I can explain." Violet said simply, gesturing with a hoof into Chrono's residence.
The stallion reluctantly let her in and closed the door behind him. "You've got more than a little to; I hope it holds merit." He said bluntly.
Violet took the hint, sitting down in the wake of the stream of purple following her movement. "After everything I've done, I doubt I'll be allowed to live much longer. Manehattan's population is pretty sparse now and no pony there even knows why. Everywhere else, well."
"Cut to the chase, Violet. Where did everypony go?"
"That's what I'd like to figure out." Violet said, to which Chrono's heart sank. "I distinctly remember hiding them underground, directly under Las Pegasus, but... When I went to retrieve them, they were gone without a trace!"
"You can't be serious." Chrono sighed. "Nightmare?"
Violet shook her head. "No, she was dealt with pretty thoroughly. I could feel it all the way here in Canterlot. She's definitely gone."
"Forgive me if I'm not convinced," Chrono said dryly, "but even so, what in Equestria could I even do about it - and let's not even mention why?"
"Look, I get that you don't trust me." Violet said determinedly, standing again. "You don't have to keep mentioning that. I've lost everything I had under the dominion of Nightmare Moon, so I can't go back and figure out what happened to them. You on the other hoof, can. I already have enough hanging over my head without half of Equestria vanishing on my watch, or don't you get that?"
Chrono scowled. Of all things he could remain patient through, a sob story and plea for help from one who had on several occasions very nearly killed him was not among them. "To what point? Odds are Nightmare Moon took one of them and moved the rest elsewhere. What would I-"
"And what's the harm in finding out when you wouldn't even exist in the time?" Violet countered, holding her resolve. "I'm not asking you to do this for me. If I could do what you can, I would. Entropy's outright cleared out of Canterlot, so I can't ask her either. All I've got is what I was good with from the start, which isn't what I'd call detective work. And now look at you, Equestria's hero on more than one occasion, letting half of it go forgotten?"
Despite his growing irritation, Chrono had to admit she had a valid point. It wasn't about her, for the first time since they'd met. Of course, it also occurred to him that it was not the first time she had seemed sincere about something that ultimately she could easily drive wrong. He had no evidence to suggest she was genuine in her argument.
"Look, Chrono." Violet started, staring into his eyes in such a manner he felt they pierced through him. "I've gotten off on the wrong hoof. That can't get much more obvious, but I don't want to be thinking I started something that isn't done. You've already proven you've got more talent than just bending time around. Me, I can't even come close."
Curiosity piqued on the stallion's part. "What exactly do you do, anyway?"
Violet's face lowered slightly. "Is that really important now?"
Chrono raised an eyebrow, as if to remind her they were speaking on his terms.
She sighed. "I can communicate with and see extraterrestrial entities. That talent branded me a unique target for Nightmare Moon, considering how weak she was at the time to not even manifest a physical image. The dead, the doubling of certain scrying spells... I even come across an otherworlder every now and then."
Chrono glanced out through his window. Not necessarily something he could fully understand from Violet's angle, but it sounded legitimate.
"Hey, what are you doing poking your head in there?" Violet asked, seemingly random.
"Huh?" Chrono asked, glancing around. No one else was in the room.
Violet sighed, her horn glowing magenta as Chrono's view of the situation forced into image a small white filly earth pony only the size of his hoof. With her sky blue mane and tail, it was difficult to see much else from that against his window, especially since the image of her was faded and translucent in nature. "W-what - who is -" Chrono started.
"Meep!" The little filly squeaked, outright levitating herself impossibly off the windowsill. "You can see me?"
Violet laughed. "Course he can. I helped."
"Meep!" The filly squeaked again, her voice irregularly high. "Um h-hi mister! I'm Okiku!"
Chrono glanced back to Violet briefly as if to ask reassurance that this was even real. "I-it's a pleasure." he said after noticing the mare's quizzical stare back at him. He held out a hoof which the ghostly filly simply perched on with a small smile. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, I've been going around for a long, long time." Okiku said with a downright heart-melting smile. "Miss Violet wanted to help me find some friends, so I started going around with her to pass the time! I hear you do that really well too!"
Again Chrono looked to Violet as though asking confirmation. She merely laughed. "I suppose I do." He said, defeated in his reality check. "I can't say it's ordinary seeing a ghost around though."
"Oh, it's not so bad. I can still get around, I'm fine!" Okiku said elatedly, hovering now halfway up the window itself.
"There have been a couple others that I've tried to introduce, but most aren't all that comfortable accepting the idea of befriending a ghost. I was hoping you'd prove different." Violet remarked.
Chrono sighed, defeated. "I guess it's a little early to pass judgement. After all, the same happened with Entr-"
His observation came to a screeching halt as a resounding roar of explosion outright shook his vision, blurring everything in view. Hurriedly, the stallion looked out through the window only to find entire buildings vanishing in the distance, landscape mutilated by...
The destruction wasn't mundane; everything simply dissipated into a seeming nothing! In all his years this had happened only once before, thanks to his own history of being more than a little rambunxious. Time itself had changed the course of history, but who-knows how far back.
With a quick strain of focus Chrono's horn surged silver, light cascading in every direction as he erected a temporal stasis field about his home, shielding it momentarily from the chaos. "What's going on?" He asked, looking over to Violet.
Violet remained silent for an uncomfortably long time before answering. "Only two ponies in Equestria can cause something like this, Chrono. You and Entropy. From your reaction I'd guess it's the latter..."
"But why would she do this? She's been working for -"
"Using." Violet corrected. "Just like she used Nightmare Moon and I."
"Meep!!" Okiku squealed, immediately darting into hiding.
"What do you mean?" Chrono asked, his field holding. "Entropy used you? But she -"
"Is much more of a con artist than you give her credit for." Violet interrupted. "I know you probably can't trust me, but I think the evidence is clear enough. She's going to stop at nothing, and I imagine that's where she's starting right now. The one point in time where no pony can even stand up to her."
"The dawn of time?" Chrono guessed, biting his lower lip at Violet's nod. "You can't be serious."
"Would you have put it past her two months ago when you two first met?"
Okiku let out a squeal of fright which nearly deafened the two adult ponies, but from her sudden darting away from the window she had seen something outside. Chrono stepped to the window to investigate. Outside, with a body wrapped in majestic if immensely fearsome flames, bore two frighteningly familiar solid purple eyes. Entropy.
The stasis field broke, and the last thing Chrono thought to recall was his own home, disintegrating upwards around him in that sinister stare...

Sometime later, Chrono managed to stir again, and he opened his eyes to find himself blinded by an immense white light marred only by faint flickers of flames in the distance. Entropy's voice echoed through both his hearing and his mind; "This is where it ends, Chrono. No elements of harmony, no friends. You and me this time, let's see how well you can really take the fate of Equestria."
The world came into focus around him, and for a moment he scowled. The entire situation reeked of a well-laid trap, one that had used absolutely everypony in his own time just to have it never happen. And now he could only consider himself the one responsible that it had struck such a devastating note with...
With who? In the devastation he had witnessed, time itself had fluxed beyond his ability to maintain. For all he knew, no pony from the time he knew had even existed yet, let alone in any place he could recognize. The landscape was roughly familiar - enough such that he could guess it was in fact Equestria. "Where are you?" He asked on the wind, addressing Entropy as though she were nearby.
"Not far." Her voice sounded again, "And believe me, I'm not getting any farther. If you want the truth, the answer to the question you've been harboring for almost your entire life now, come and get it."
In the distance, a remarkable replica of Canterlot Castle sprang up straight from the ground. Not identical however; where princess Celestia's castle shone bright white in the sunlight and rose gracefully over Canterlot, this building stood made of solid black stone, solitary and threatening against the landscape.
Symbolic, Chrono realized. Entropy's initial conflict resulted from her utter lack of friends and any sense of purpose but to rule. Nothing had changed; the unicorn's heart sank in the realization that he had been played along just like everypony else.

The castle gate was heavy enough to open that it took Chrono a full seven minutes of pushing to force it open, despite its sheer lack of anything else to keep it secure besides its massive weight. He realized then that this was either an augmented castle or the guards in what he still hoped to call modern Canterlot were immensely strong.
"Hey Tia, can I keep the moon overhead?"
Chrono froze, chills rupturing through his entire frame. There was no real mistaking the voice; it was that of princess Luna, albeit probably much younger. While the voice did not pierce through his mind, it echoed all the same through the entrance hallway. He made his way forward, his memory having mapped Canterlot Castle well enough that he could hope to navigate. Still, he could not help but listen in on the conversation being replayed from beyond the bounds of time.
"Absolutely not, Luna. Haven't we been through this before?"
"But Tia, everypony loves the daytime; they aren't even awake to see the night time! Just one day's worth? Please?"
"You know that the balance in Equestria can't be disturbed. You remember what happened when Discord ruled?"
"That was different! This isn't a lawless Equestria, it's only one day!"
"...I'm truly sorry, Luna. I cannot shirk my duties like this."
Only a soft sigh resonated through the hall. Chrono made his ascent up one of the many spiral staircases of the castle. Fortunately, the layout was the same as he'd remembered.
"Tia, why do they never even notice me...?" Luna's disembodied voice sounded almost in tears.
A full minute had passed, and the words themselves brought the young unicorn to a halt.
"What do you mean, little sister? Of course the ponies notice you."
"But they don't. I work every night to bring out the moon and let everypony see the beauty of the night, but they just sleep through it like I shouldn't even try. Why can't they appreciate me like they do you?"
"It isn't our place to dictate the actions of everypony in Equestria. We can only give them the sun, the moon, the harmony and stability that they need to carry on their own lives."
"Why even bother then?"
"I'm sorry?"
"The moon! No pony even cares about it, so what's the point in even raising it anymore?"
"Luna, that's not t-"
"It's not fair! Why can't they understand?"
For a long moment, silence continued. Chrono slowly resumed his ascent.
"Luna, please. You've been like this for weeks, what's going on?"
"What does it matter? Even you sleep through the night, how do you think I feel?!"
"Would it please you if I were to stay awake and enjoy the evening with you, then?"
"I... I guess, but what about everypony else?"
Again a long silence. Slowly, Chrono sped his movements. He had to reach Entropy soon, before his sympathy for the modern ruling sisters made his heart give out. Already he felt weak from his emotions welling in him.
This gave him pause. In a moment of flared anger, he cursed that Entropy had continued to manipulate him even through this chase. Yes he had been questioning the origin of Luna's alleged betrayal of Equestria, but just prior to a confrontation was not the best time to be revealing that. So of course, Entropy had to choose that exact time. Just his luck.
Or so he thought. The silence continued through the rest of his ascent.

"So, this is what it's come to, is it?" Chrono froze. The voice was vaguely familiar. Similar to princess Luna's, but darker in an almost alluring sense. A voice that he could only identify as herself taken by Nightmare Moon.
"You've given me no choice, Luna. I've done everything I can to help and console you."
"Don't lie to me, Celestia. You don't care any more than the rest! But you will see just the same as they will. The night will last forever!"
"No. If I have to stop you by force I will."
"You think you're going to stand up to your own sister?"
"If I could believe you were my little sister Luna, perhaps not. But you are not my sister!"
Chrono burst through the door only to see the magnificent telltale burst of every chromatic color imagineable tear through the throne room. Each of the elements of harmony hovered shortly behind the translucent figure of princess Celestia, each releasing in their own color a terrifying force that the unicorn could only begin to comprehend, if even that. Then as quickly as it had come, the image subsided. All that remained in the room was Entropy's silhouette, sitting against the wall...

"That's a little cruel, don't you think?" Chrono asked, stepping into the room with a frown.
"You're telling me." Entropy countered. "Who was in the right here? Luna never meant any harm, but look at Celestia's stubborn pride at work."
"That wasn't what I meant," Chrono stated bluntly.
"But that's what you so wanted to know; I was doing you a favor!"
"At the worst time possible!"
"What, now you've gotten bitter over the reality of your position? Don't tell me you actually stand by Celestia's decision after your mentorship with Luna for how long now?"
Chrono paused. "Doesn't matter anymore. It'll never have happened, will it?"
Entropy laughed, standing tall. "I always admired your ability to come to conclusions. I was always around, just waiting for the moment when I could set things straight on a permanent record. Thanks to you and Violet, I can do that now."
"What did Violet even have to do with it?"
"Oh, you didn't know? Ahaha, how naive!"
Chrono's stare didn't lessen in the slightest.
"I was here before either Luna or Celestia. I was here before Equestria. Thanks to you, I was here before the dawn of time, and without dear Violet I couldn't have made my plan utterly failsafe!"
"You do realize you're being grossly vague, right?"
"The elements, Chrono." Entropy clarified. "They don't exist in material bounds yet, in this time. I've already found them thanks to Violet's ability to see the unreal. And now, they are sealed away so that they can never be found, let alone used against me."
Chrono took a half-step back. He was loathe to admit, but she had managed to see things through remarkably well. Without the elements, according to the span of time and Equestria's would-be history, even if Celestia and Luna managed to overthrow Entropy - which he had very few doubts of - Discord would ultimately rule out. Nothing he was particularly fond of thinking about.
"Then why Nightmare Moon's intervention? You could have just gone to Violet directly."
"Nightmare Moon was my intervention."
"What?"
"A mare of the night suddenly driven mad by her every so-called negative trait at once? Those same traits that before that no pony had even seen? You don't really think that's just coincidence, do you?"
Chrono gasped. "You can't be serious!"
In a brief moment, Entropy's figure warped into that of Nightmare Moon, except that her mane and tail instead sprang to life in wildfire.
"No..." He breathed, sheer disbelief governing his words now. "You couldn't have!"
"Couldn't I?" Entropy asked. "Of course that didn't stop her from rebelling against me, but that doesn't change the fact that I was Nightmare Moon before Nightmare Moon was Nightmare Moon."
The unicorn bristled. "So, let me get this straight. If I stop you here and now, Equestria will have one less black mark in its history."
Entropy laughed, her figure returning to her own. "And do you think you will be able to handle the consequences?"
"I don't care about the consequences! Equestria doesn't deserve this!"
Immediately, Entropy's eyes flared and the room burst into a perimeter of flames. "Equestria deserves much worse than what I will administer to it. Come and stop me, if you think you can!"

Chrono rushed forward, horn already glowing to slow the flow of time and give him an edge in the battle. To his surprise, even slowed Entropy was remarkably fast, taking flight overhead quickly enough to give him pause. "Remember, I can do that too." She chuckled, her own horn glowing black.
Two red discs of energy spun out at the unicorn, deft hoofwork at work shortly after to bring him forward through them. To his credit, he heard them erupt into flames behind him. One more thing he would have to be careful of. Still he doubted he'd ever be able to do anything worth mention to the alicorn with his rather meager offensive magic, and she had to have been as cunning as he was, perhaps more so. It was going to be uphill from here, especially with her out of reach.
Wings. His first priority had to be to ground her. Hopping back from a barrage of linear bolts - each of which themselves also burst into flame a moment after striking the floor - he pivoted over a hoof and fired for her left wing. Only a thin, measly silver ray fired, but it struck true.
Entropy took a brief look at her wing and laughed. "You think you're going to defeat me with that?!"
Chrono didn't have an answer. That plan was still forming, and even then he wasn't going to share his tactics. "Maybe." He said simply, firing again.
Entropy took it in stride, spiraling into a dive in the unicorn's direction. To her chagrin, Chrono had already learned his lesson about being impaled. However he didn't learn his lesson about being incredibly reckless; he rushed forward and jumped up past her, kicking a hoof out at her in a vague attempt to mangle her wing more than his magic could.
The alicorn's flight path twitched, herself righting a second later with a glare. Her wings snapped wide as her horn glowed darkly, full pillars of flame dropping down around the room while Chrono struggled to evade them.
For a moment, Chrono managed to lighten his own mood; Twilight would have loved to see this display. At least if it were used in a less volatile manner. The unicorn's horn sparked and time slowed to a crawl faster than he imagined Entropy had time to react for. He sprang up and reached out, barely managing to crash a hoof into the base of her right wing before he just bounced right off her. With the sudden lack of concentration on it, his slowing spell broke.
Fortunately for him, it was enough. Entropy let out a shriek and dropped to the floor, glaring fiercely now as a relentless assault of the same red discs from before hurdled through the air at Chrono. One of them impacted, not only hurling him back quite a ways but also sending a searing pain through his entire body. For a moment he wondered if that's what being cooked alive felt, as the saying went. Then again, being cooked alive isn't usually done with the sole intent to kill you.
Entropy stamped a hoof down, and immediately Chrono recognized the resulting wave of power hurled through the air around her. With hardly a moment to spare, he ducked under the not-entirely-horizontal wave of destruction, not quite surprised when it rippled through the air again above him in reflection from the walls.
And he still had yet to form an effective plan to finish things. He was outdueled in every manner; she was naturally faster, could probably recover her wing's health, and he didn't even think to hold a candle to her power.
That would have to be next then. Assuming the best, he had already crippled her maneuverability. Without her horn she would be stuck going mundane which he would have a much easier time dealing with.
In that moment though, time seemed to halt without either of their intervention. How could he consider such a thing? There was nothing more frightening to a unicorn - not to mention nothing more painful - than losing one's horn.
He considered for a brief moment; it can't have been any easier for a pegasus to lose their wings. He twitched in spite of himself. This wasn't who he was, and he knew it.
Entropy charged, following up from her radial assault. It was the only thing Chrono needed, as his improvised plan took into account already-raging magic.
With careful precision and a little tinkering in time, Entropy's rush became too fast for her to recognize time had sped about her, forcing the elder mare to crash right into the wall and her own flames.
The spectacle was nothing less than horrifying even to see her ablaze as she was. Between horror, the guilt of him having to have forced her into practical suicide - assuming she didn't survive - and the stern belief that even she deserved better, he turned away. His shock fully doubled when a massive flaming mass crashed down on him from behind.
His vision went black, and for all he knew - or at that point cared - he would never see again.

"Chrono Spark. I know you can hear me, and I know what you've been through."
The voice belonged to princess Luna, beyond any doubt. Chrono opened his eyes. Still black, but a fair distance away he could see a familiar blue silhouette with a starry mane, watching him calmly.
"Princess Luna?"
"I'm sorry to intrude on your rest. But, as I said I know what you've been through. If you have any questions for me, I have nothing to hide."
Chrono looked around. Whatever this subconscious world was, it evidently showed things - or ponies, rather - as they were. His condition was nothing short of terrifying.
"Chrono?"
"Is that why you took such an interest in me?" He asked, genuinely concerned.
"What do you mean?"
"It's no particular secret that I revert the flow of time every time I sleep at all, so I can see the wonders of the night more often than anypony else. You had to have had some appreciation for that, no?"
"My longing for the ponies of Equestria to hold endearment for the night is past. The annual celebration of Nightmare Night and the Grand Galloping Gala, for instance. Both are held during nightfall, and I allow both to serve as examples to me that not all is as it seemed before I was sent into exile on the moon."
Chrono nodded, doing his best to understand. However difficult it was, he managed through the haze of his head.
"And Entropy?" He asked after a long moment. "Did you realize her involvement in all of this?"
Luna shook her head. "She is definitely adept at the art of trickery. Unfortunately without her existence as it were, many things will not be the same as you remember. I get the feeling she was targeting you specifically though. Do you have any idea why?"
"I'm afraid not." Chrono answered. "I'm nothing special."
Luna laughed. "I'm glad to see you still carry your humble enthusiasm. I give you warning, not everypony who you know is likely to remember you. If you ever need anything, my sister and I will understand."
Chrono nodded. "Thank you, princess Luna."
"Don't thank me." Luna said simply. "Not yet."

"Hey!" Twilight said as she opened the door to her library. "Uh, what are you doing here?"
Chrono raised an eyebrow. "Thought I'd drop by and visit a friend."
"I think you might have the wrong house." Twilight said after a moment. "Have we met before?"
Chrono's answer came in the form of his horn glowing, and a retreat through the course of time. Even as the silver glowing threads of time slung past him, his heart sank lower and lower. After princess Luna's warning, his highest hope of being remembered rested with none other than Twilight, but with only the one visit, his answer came in stunning view; he had clearly never existed in the lives of everypony he knew. The same feeling that he had in the midst of his investigation on the Canterlot attack when he first met Entropy now flooded him again, and as his temporal reversion finished, he collapsed against the side of his bed as tears flowed freely from both eyes.
His door opened several minutes later, and with a brief gasp and a mostly-failed attempt to breathe normally again, he bore witness to a tear-blurred silhouette of princess Celestia entering his cottage. "I heard from Luna that you may be having some troubles, Chrono." She said with a calmness in her voice that almost unnerved the young stallion. "I see she was not mistaken. Is there some way I might help?"
Chrono struggled for several seconds to regain his breath. After nearly a minute, he forced himself to regain some semblance of calm and wiped away his tears. "Why is it," he asked with another brief sob, "that every time something happens for the greater good, is the best in the situation is caught in regret?"
"What do you mean?"
Chrono glanced up at the princess, knowing full well that she knew the answer but felt as though she would not ask without reason. Not bothering to figure it out and letting the course present itself, he answered; "None of my friends remember me. In all honesty I'm surprised you do."
Celestia nodded thoughtfully, "And you were right to suspect. Everything I know of you in this timeframe comes from what my sister has told me and shown me. It appears you have more courage in you than anypony I know. What is it that makes you believe this merits regret?"
Chrono mulled over the question for a moment, the answer seeming bluntly obvious. "No pony recognizes me anymore. Well, almost no pony..."
"Might I share with you a small secret of mine?"
Chrono nodded, fearful of what might come but in no position to refuse.
"A thousand years ago, I was given no choice but to exile my own sister to the moon for eternity. From what I hear, you know well about me, so it would stand to reason that mine was not a decision made lightly. Even still, once the deed was done I faced a number of faults that I could never have guessed. Not only did the sun and the moon govern my every waking moment, but for several years I was seen as a traitor to my family and my subjects for taking away half of Equestria's leadership. I tried of course to help everypony understand, but it took several generations to convince them, and even then it had struck me that their allegations were true. I had abandoned reason for a single moment and lived a thousand years of regret for my actions."
Chrono felt small indeed. His troubles had so far only spanned a day and yet here he was, ultimately shown his place by the sheer truth of the matter.
But the princess' voice caught his attention again. "You on the other hoof, saved Equestria from destruction before it was founded. Had it not been for your intervention with Entropy, none of Equestria would even be here, and Luna and I would only be figments of a dream. Do not be so discouraged by your decision to fight for what you believe in."
"But, my friends..."
"Your friends can be made still to be your friends. I cannot quite imagine it being easy to do more than once, but if you can stand in the face of death and prevail, can you not also stand to your friends in the position you find yourself in?"
Chrono thought on this for a moment.
"Do you believe they would not accept you as they had in another timeframe?"
Chrono raised an eyebrow, his breathing finally stabilized. "I suppose not."
"Then why do you fret over this?"
Chrono shook his head. "Perhaps princess Luna may not have mentioned this, but I am pretty prone to worry."
Celestia rested a hoof on Chrono's shoulder. "There is also somepony I believe you already know, that might recognize you easier than the rest. Her name is Violet Shadow, do you know of her?"

Chrono spent the next two hours deciding on his plans for the day. He still had no particular idea where he would find Violet's home - if of course she stayed in one place for long anyway - so he elected to revisit Ponyville. Of course, despite the eight hours of stilled time he kept getting chilled feelings that crept down his spine that he could not quite explain. Dismissed as aftereffects of his depression, he continued on regardless.
When he arrived, he decided to make a visit to Sugarcube corner first. Aside from the fact that he had been famished - not entirely due to nearly being burned to death - it was a pleasant place for ponies to meet, and he could have used a pleasant change of pace anyway.
He heard an elongated gasp from the right. Turning to see who it was, he managed to catch nothing more than a glimpse of pink darting at near sonic-rainboom speeds away. He managed a faint chuckle. "Pinkie." He muttered, "Always the first to act on a newcomer."
As he trotted into the bakery itself, the thought occurred to him that it was ultimately a place for everypony to gather, and especially for those he had considered his friends. With the sole exceptions of Pinkie and Twilight - the former of which could have only been delayed by the surprise of his alleged newcoming, and the latter more likely to arrive precisely on time in between reading - every one of them were sitting at a table in the corner, conversing cheerfully.
"I'm not through with you yet."
Chrono froze at the familiarity of the voice. It sounded ghostly at best, but in no way could he mistake the sharpness of tone that depicted Entropy's voice in every word, let alone her exact choice of words. Without even any time to figure out what had happened, the stallion fell to the floor, his vision black.

He sprang to his hooves as quickly as he could, only to find that he had been somehow bound to the floor by something he had yet to place. His vision remained blackened, but he could hear steps circling him. "I thought you died?" He said curiously.
"I did." Entropy answered him, her voice far more clear now. "But you should know as well as anypony that I don't keep to one state of being for very long. You're a persistent little pest though, I'll grant you that."
Chrono, ironically enough without much regard for anything his own, decided to be more witty about the matter. "I should hope so. I know how to die almost as well as you do."
His vision sprang to life in a sea of fire, and almost as quickly, every single nerve in his body screamed with the pain of multiple burns. The flames subsided, leaving a swarm of various colors blurring his vision against the black surroundings. He fell to the floor, unable to hold himself up any further than the bindings that bound him down. "You'll learn quickly if you keep that up." Entropy reassured him. "But for everything you've done I want to see you suffer first."
Chrono focused briefly on the flow of time, his horn glowing along its border only to reveal nothing. Not a single strand of time flowed through this impossible place. "Where are we?" He asked, his fears mounting.
"In the memory of a nonexistent time." Entropy chuckled. "But in a memorial of a very real place."
Outlines flooded into view, white edges of walls bending every which way in every possible direction away from Chrono. He had seen such a design only once before, and he could not possibly escape the reality of the situation. "So you've imprisoned me in a nonexistent replica of the Canterlot Labyrinth? Why?"
"You'll see. Here's a tip, Chrono. This place only has one wall. Find your own way back to proper time. I'll deal with you then."
The stallion felt a slight relief around his hooves, presumably his bindings lifting from him. Without any hesitation he started to trot off through one of the hallways, but the weakness in his legs from being burned to a crisp left him crumbling to the floor in a momentarily blinding surge of pain. This would be a long trip indeed.

The young stallion had managed to lose track of how much time had passed, but finally managed to recover well enough that he could move about without fear of dropping right down out of weakness again. As he entered into the hallway though, he already knew something was amiss. A popular trait he knew well of with many unicorns was their ability to tell certain spikes of power in the vicinity. His was hardly an exception; he had enough trouble seeing with his own two eyes what power was unless it struck him clear in the face. That his horn throbbed against his head was in no way a pleasant sign for him.
Still he trudged on, having to put a hoof in front of himself from time to time to ensure he did not accidentally run into a wall with only an outline to see. With his own navigation as poor as it was, he had more than a little trouble placing whether or not this was the same labyrinth that Twilight and her friends had gone through in the Discord incident. At that particular point in time, he did not particularly think so.
If it was the one thing he was grateful for, it was that no pony was pestering him during his search for an exit. This of course gave him plenty of time to consider the events unfolding around him. Entropy of all ponies was precise enough to make sure everything happened to her advantage, and with this in mind he had to wonder if he hadn't just passed out at Sugarcube Corner for some seven hours so far. Knowing who he knew that was already there, if that were the case he imagined he would be waking up in Fluttershy's care. Even if she didn't know him, he would never put it past her to aid a fallen pony.
But even then, Entropy had brought him to this labyrinth just in time to disrupt his rebuilding of bridges with his friends. Perhaps to instill doubt or fear in them, but at the same time he had little to fear of that; none other than princess Celestia had reassured him of the possibility to re-establish contact. He would not be allowed to fail in rebuilding his friendships, or so it seemed.
What troubled him most though, as he turned a corner was the reality of the fact that Entropy still existed in some form or another. The same mare who at least twice now had been faulted for the near-destruction of Equestria. While he had to credit her for being able to not back into a corner, his worries mounted that at the same time, she wasn't at any loss for tactical approaches and he highly doubted he would lure her into her own spells again.
A change in color off to his left caught his attention. The walls' borders down the hall were no longer white, but rather a duller gray. Already having followed the left wall, he turned down the hall and stopped as an outline of a familiar three-apple cutie mark in orange came into view in the distance. This gave the unicorn pause. This had happened before, he knew it. Only one name came to mind now; Discord. Entropy planning something with Discord though? He hardly thought it feasible.
He approached the outline, passing through it only to see a familiar outline of pink-and-blue balloons in the distance. He continued along, less and less surprised when he found butterflies and diamond gemstones followed by the descending bolt of multi-colored lightning from the cloud.
Once he passed Rainbow Dash's cutie mark though, he paused. The hall was exceptionally long, even still. Yet, he saw no sign of Twilight's starshine mark in the distance. Going somewhat slower now, he continued on. A shudder ran along his legs as the soreness rose into sharper pain again. He paused for a few minutes to take a rest and continue his ponderings. From his field research, Discord knew how best to convince ponies of how their greatest traits no longer matter in a world of chaos. The signs were clear already.
The surge of power he felt was not Entropy's. Judging that only the power of the elements had defeated him before, and then after plenty of difficulty, Chrono could only place Discord as being present here.
A silver glow caught his eye. In the distance, just at the end of the hallway, the outline of a silver pocketwatch brought all thoughts to a screeching halt within Chrono's mind. Not only was it Discord; his heart sank again in the realization that just like she had with Violet and Nightmare Moon, Entropy was likely using Discord to bring him down so that he would no longer stand in her way with his magic of time on hoof.
Rising to his hooves again, the young stallion ignored the raging pain streaking through his bones. Nothing else mattered to him now that he knew he was targeted here; he had to get to the bottom of it. Out of sheer curiosity, he turned back as he reached his floating cutie mark suspended in the hallway. To his mild surprise, the purple star that he normally saw sported proudly on Twilight Sparkle's side now hung in line with the rest of them.
Turning again, he pressed on, his thoughts as silent as his muzzle.

Chrono crept along the ever-dark hallway, its twists and turns resulting in a surprisingly linear path. There were no more branches off from the path, and although he felt he was about to reach its end, he was in no physical shape still to move much faster. A sound to his side caught his attention, and with a flinch he jumped away from the noise, immediately regretting it in the wave of pain that rushed along his legs as he landed.
"Chrono Spark, the natural embodiment of intelligence." The figure whom had just appeared announced with seeming glee. "How wonderful to meet you at last."
Two unlike horns. A pony's head, familiar deathly yellow eyes, bear's paw, eagle's claw all the way to the serpentine body and tail. "Discord." Chrono said simply. "I'm surprised to see you of all possible options are after me."
"Am I?" Discord reasoned with a clap of his paw to his chest. "I'm owing of a favor for my release, and unlike some ponies you know, I do not forget what I owe."
Chrono took a step back, surprised again that his plight had been remembered as well. "What gives? My friends may not remember me, but that's not cause to say they owe me anything."
"Oh, but I think they do." Discord said smugly, vanishing only to reappear leaning against Chrono's side. "All those troubles you've faced for their sake, with or without. Entropy, Violet. And now they don't remember a thing, nor do they care to."
Chrono shuddered and spun away, glaring now at the draconequus. "Forget it, Discord. They weren't given any choice in the matter, it's not my place to force them."
"But look at you!" Discord said praisingly, both hands rushed out to indicate the black unicorn. "The hero of Equestria, that even time cannot bring to a halt! You deserve to be known by everypony through all the ages!"
"So what if I do?" Chrono countered. "I didn't do anything to be some hero. I did this for my friends."
Discord chuckled. "And look how they repaid you."
He snapped his claw, and a familiar vision of Twilight's clearly not recognizing Chrono flashed through his mind.
"Face it, Chrono. You don't need them holding you back."
As much as the stallion hated to admit it, he had been fighting this reality the whole time, vainly hoping it would never have to be undone only for it to fire back in his face. With a brief wave of guilt, he stumbled to his knees, hardly able to stand and now shaking with a cold sweat. "No..." he whimpered, "there has to be a way for them to remember..."
"Only one, that you're easily capable of." Discord said simply. "Make them remember."

Chrono awoke suddenly in his bed, in his cottage in Canterlot. Everything was all too clear; princess Luna had kept a spell on him so that she could never forget anything that had happened with him. It was a promising theory too, one that kept his tutelage under her quite safe. From the fact that she managed to visit him reassuringly after his latest struggle with Entropy meant that it hadn't been lost completely.
But if she hadn't bothered to do anything to help his friends remember him, ultimately it could only mean that she too no longer cared for his happiness. He really would have to go alone from here.
The unicorn glanced out through his window, the night sky as beautiful as could be through his eyes, but with an unfamiliar red glint nearby the waning moon. His eyes widened further than ever to see what it had sported.
On the dark side of the moon, imposed in a familiar crimson red shade, the contemptuous glare of Entropy stared down over Equestria. "Was it just a dream?" Chrono wondered, looking down to his foreleg for any sign of a burn. He didn't appear to have sustained anything if it had been real. He didn't even feel any remnant of the pain.
In the distance, a shooting streak of sparks caught his attention. It seemed similar to the trail of a wonderbolt, but without the massive turbulence of smoke. After a moment and a long sigh, he turned to his cabinet and retrieved his journal. He had a lot to write about.
To remember, before he abandoned everypony in the same way they had left him.
A knock on his door stopped him, and with a curious stare he went to the door and opened it. Standing with a blank stare was an all-too familiar yellow-maned pegasus. Aero Slide, of all ponies. Maybe he hadn't been forgotten after all. He wouldn't put it past him to play so cruel a prank anyway.
"By the order of princess Celestia, you're under arrest, Chrono Spark."
No, definitely not a prank. Chrono slid back, narrowing his eyes fiercely. "Forget it, Aero. Everypony's left me behind, and obviously for good reason. Leave me be."
"Can't do that I'm afraid." Aero said, stepping in and blocking off Chrono's only route of escape. "There's no going directly against her orders. Now are you going to come or what?"
Chrono flared, rushing straight through the window and darting off through the streets into the dead of night. "Never." He muttered.
Aero was not far behind, immediately taking flight. With a single snap of his wing, a massive trail of sparks rushed out Chrono's way, paralyzing him right in mid-step and knocking the unicorn prone. The pegasus landed nearby with a hoof on Chrono's heaving chest. He looked down with a curious level of concern but overwhelming authority. "You're under arrest."
Unable to flee any longer, vision darkening from the pain and utter suddenness of defeat at the hooves of a once-friend, Chrono's head dropped to the ground with a dulling thud.

"A-are you okay?" He heard a voice. At first the quiet tone of the voice itself reminded him of Fluttershy, but it was definitely not even that of a mare upon inspection.
He opened his eyes, but against the sheer white he saw he immediately closed them. "Been better," he grumbled, stirring slightly, "what's going on?"
"Don't panic... my name's Autumnshy, and I'm trying to help you. Another pegasus brought you in about four hours ago, he looked really worried."
Chrono's eyes snapped open again, and he winced not only by the blinding light but also in mild guilt of what had just happened. "What... what happened?"
"He said something about a Discord, and then flew off. I don't know anything else... are you sure you're alright? You look a little pale."
The only way the unicorn could think of to figure out his own condition struck him just then. "I'm curious... pale, or grey?"
"Oh, it's definitely pale. You look anything but grey. Why, is something wrong?"
Chrono eased slightly, vision slowly colorizing against the massive white. Certainly not enough to garner any detail. "Not anymore. Thank you Autumnshy."

"U-um... Chrono?" Autumnshy's voice woke the unicorn, which surprised him as he hadn't remembered falling asleep. "You h-have some visitors."
The unicorn's eyes snapped open, finally able to see the maroon-maned green earth pony standing beside him. He could only guess it was Autumnshy, but he also wouldn't judge so quickly. He knew already what a mess that was. "Who? And who would even re-"
Even as he was about to say remember, he noticed among others was Violet Shadow standing just inside the doorway. Two more earth ponies, two pegasi.
On her left stood the two earth ponies. The first was a dark green, muscular figure wearing forward mane that only reached as far as his nose. Beside him away from Violet a dark olive mare with light brown mane tossed lightly over her side watched him with a small smile.
To Violet's right, the only pegasus Chrono had ever seen to rival Rainbow Dash's exceptionally showy appearance was not easy to miss. A grey pegasus sporting a mane and tail that even standing as he were, made him appear like an arrow from about any angle. And beside him a delicate-looking pegasus mare, with a coat almost identical to Rainbow's but a modest indigo mane and tail to contrast.
"Wait a moment, who are all these?" Chrono asked Violet, an eye raised.
"I've made a few friends lately." Violet said simply with a shrug and a sly wink. "I thought you of all ponies might be able to appreciate that."
She laughed slightly and stepped forward to nudge the unicorn before adding. "And if it's any consolation, I might not remember you but I've seen enough to think I know you a little bit."
She pointed behind her to the two earth ponies. "Anyway, this is Sledge Hammer" The brawny earth pony gave a playful salute, "and Maple Fall. The olive mare nodded in greeting.
She lowered her hoof and pointed to the others. "And this is Gale Storm and Rayne Cloud." The grey pegasus and demure one both saluted, the first with much higher enthusiasm than the second - although Chrono could hardly help a chuckle at her honest effort.
"I-it's a pleasure." Chrono said tentatively. "But to what do I owe the occasion?"
Sledge tilted his head towards Violet. "Violet's been tellin' us about a lot of things goin' on around Equestria. She seemed awfully concerned about you, too."
"The way she puts it makes it sound like you enjoy getting yourself in a bind anyway," Gale added, "we thought maybe we could help."
Maple giggled at Gale's remark, but didn't seem at all for any loss. "Everypony needs a helping hoof here and there. If everything Violet's said is true, you need and deserve more than one."
"I-I don't really. I'd like to think I can handle things on my own."
"But look where it's gotten you." Rayne countered, jumping up and prodding the unicorn stallion in the chest. "Do you think it's right to be sacrificing your time and your life for all of Equestria just for no pony to appreciate it and return the favor? You need some friends with you if you're going to get through this."
"Face it Chrono." Violet said with a smile. "I'm not asking you to like it, but I'm certain you will eventually. I'm asking you to accept friendship. That's not so hard, is it?"
Chrono glanced back to Autumnshy. To his surprise, he had opened a window and darted through in perfect silence. "Okay then, I give up." Chrono confessed, turning back to Violet, "But what do you suggest?"
"Well for one," Gale said simply, pointing out through the door to Canterlot in the distance. "There's been a report from Canterlot saying the statue of Discord's gone missing."
"And I know exactly why." Chrono responded.
"Holdin' out on us?" Sledge asked.
"No, just haven't had reason to bring it up until now." Chrono answered with a chuckle. "Either way, any of you heard of a mare by the name of Entropy?"
"Of who?" Rayne asked, but everypony else with the exception of Violet simply shook their heads.
"She's been ringleading a lot of trouble lately. Seems to me as if she's specifically trying to go after me, but that may have something to do with the fact that I'm a chronomancer."
"A huh?" Sledge asked.
"I study the magic of time." Chrono explained.
"Gotcha."
"If we can isolate Entropy, I'm pretty sure we can keep her away for good."
"That may be easier said than done." Violet said with a sigh. "Entropy has been engaged in a dual-art for a few days now. I think she's created a shadow of herself."
Chrono's eyes widened in sheer terror of the prospects of having two Entropy's running around. Or worse. "Okay, we really need to plan this."
"We could start with Discord." Maple suggested thoughtfully. "The statue is something that everypony knows about to some extent or the other. Maybe we can get some information from the princesses?"
"I'm not sure." Violet said with a frown. "Chrono and I both have a few poor odds and ends to work out."
"Just us, then." Chrono said simply. "If anything happens, we know we'll still have each other to support us, and besides I think I've gotten over the Manehattan incident."
Violet nodded. "Deal."
"You sure you'll be safe?" Sledge offered, "I don't really like the idea of you two gettin' in any trouble without a backup crew."
Gale burst out laughing. "I wasn't going to leave you alone anyway! We're a team, remember? It's how we do things in Equestria!"
"As opposed to where else?" Chrono inquired.
Gale paused for a moment. "I've done a few things out in the Griffon Lands. No fun. I'll leave it at that."
Chrono looked to Maple and Rayne. They both nodded their agreement. Violet sighed. "Alright you win. Let's go."

The day was not what anypony could have called pleasant, per se. Storms stretching in every direction, rain pelting hard against Chrono and his newfound friends. Even still he trotted ahead, his sense of urgency compelling him forward even more so, but in remembering he was no longer alone, he remained simply at the head of the group.
"You've been awfully quiet," Violet observed, trotting up next to him, "something on your mind?"
Chrono shook his head. "Nothing that hasn't been on my mind for about a month now."
"Well troubles aren't going to solve themselves unspoken, you know that right?"
Chrono paused, nearly losing his pace in the process. "Equestria's grown dark. Lately it's been as if one troublesome event just falls right into the next one and so forth. Now we're not only dealing with Entropy, but Discord too? How in the hoof are we supposed to be able to tackle that?"
Violet raised a hoof in front of herself with a sigh. "Entropy isn't somepony I'd take lightly, but I'm not one to lose faith in what we have to our name."
"Who is this Entropy, anyway?" Rayne asked, hovering up to pace with the unicorns.
"Bad news." Chrono answered bluntly. "If what she told me is true, then she's the mastermind behind Nightmare Moon, among other pretty severe troubles."
"Really?" Rayne wondered aloud, "Then, wait. What's all this about unwritten history then?"
"Maybe you're better explaining, Chrono." Violet sighed. "I only see so much."
Chrono nodded. "Entropy has the unique ability to take on the abilities and talents of ponies she comes across. In this particular case, she used mine to create a change in history starting at the dawn of time. After that I'm not too sure what happened, but I thought she'd died."
"Oh my. And she didn't?"
"I think she did." Violet interjected. "Just, not overall. She's more elusive than I can really credit her for."
"How would you know?" Chrono asked, genuinely curious.
"I see things of an unwritten past too, Chrono." Violet assured him. "And I'm not about to repeat those same mistakes."

The halls and rooms of Canterlot Castle were surprisingly emptied, giving the glorious structure an oddly eerie feeling to it. Even with Chrono's reassurance of it only being nerves, he could not help but catch Violet glancing various ways at seemingly random intervals. In no way was it any help.
"They're everywhere," Violet whispered. "Ghosts of the guards, even one or two of the common ponies in here. But they're all so quiet, I can't even..."
"Wait a second!" Gale called out. Everypony turned to see him pointing down a hallway. "That's not supposed to be there, is it?"
Among others, Chrono turned to look at the pegasus' direction of pointing. True enough, Chrono's familiarity with the castle didn't allow much room for the additional hallway, especially since at its end rested a frighteningly familiar purple-mounted mirror.
"Looks like we have a welcome mat set out for us," Violet observed. "Any volunteers?"
Chrono was first to step up to it, poking at the mirror as if expecting something to happen. It wasn't until with a shrug and a look back to his friends that he realized something had in fact happened. He let out a slight gasp of surprise.
The hallways, once white with bright red carpeting, were now the same obsidian, indigo-decorated castle that he had found at the dawn of time. He swallowed his fears, and took another step forward. He glanced back, surprised that the mirror no longer seemed to reside at the end of the odd hallway, but again shook his head, certain that he would not be alone for long. He turned his head back forward and took a few steps to the window when his heart stopped outright.
Beyond the window lay a massive view of storms and fire. Equestria itself seemed a violet nightmare of its known beauty and glory. Of what he could see through the terrors, even then various formations seemed to erupt from nowhere.
He heard hoofbeats behind him, a few at first then several more. He turned back to see his comrades facing a bout of confusion much like he had. He glanced back out the window. He could not draw his eyes away from this horror for any length of time, as it seemed.
Sledge didn't take long to trot up beside the black unicorn, frowning at the spectacle. "You weren't kidding when you said Equestria was gettin' dark, did you?" He asked.
"I wasn't kidding, but I wasn't this serious about it either." Chrono answered him. "Just what is going on here?"
"Looks like there's only one way to find out," Gale remarked, "forward!"
Chrono shrugged and followed along, keeping eyes wary.

After several minutes of trekking through suddenly unfamiliar layout, the walls seemed to come alive with a flowing magma-esque red between the bricks. Before long it had also seeped into the floor and ceiling, creating a thoroughly alive appearance to the castle itself. A frighteningly familiar chuckle sounded behind the group, and Chrono was the first to turn and see Entropy, staring at them and looking quite amused. "Well, I knew this would be enough to draw some attention, but this is quite an interesting turn!" She called with glee.
"What are you on about, Entropy?" Chrono demanded, bracing immediately. "What is this place?"
Entropy chuckled, straightening. "Everything the ponies of Equestria have ever feared, have ever longed to be away from. Disharmony and disorder, the perfect nightmare reality for its populace!"
"You think we're just going to stand here and let it happen?" Gale challenged. "Think again!"
Entropy sighed, inciting a pillar of flame directly in front of the stallion pegasus such that he quickly found himself almost collided with the wall just to get away. "You're on my grounds now. How well do you think you can do when you're dealing with everything coming down at once?"
"Won't be too difficult." Chrono said simply. "I think you'd realize how helpful a stasis field is."
The alicorn burst out laughing. "I would, in fact! But have you forgotten how easily I can close your loopholes?"
"Cut to the chase." Maple said sternly, brushing a hoof aggresively against the floor. "We're not here for a monologue. What are you up to?"
"You'll see. It's going to be a long search for each of you, I'm sure. Have fun with the nightmare everypony. Try to make it back in one piece, too. I'd hate for everything to come to such an anticlimactic close."
"You -!" Chrono's word hung for the longest moment as Entropy vanished into thin air. "What is this to her, some sort of game?"
Violet tapped his shoulder with her hoof, before lowering it. "She's been after you for a while, Chrono. I wouldn't expect her to be very hesitant about her approach."
"And what's about this disorder thing?" Gale asked, hovering down to the floor again and folding his wings down. "Disharmony I've heard of, but disorder?"
"We'll see, I guess." Chrono answered, unsure exactly if this was even the case.
"Entropy herself, I would imagine." Maple suggested. "Everypony knows Discord is the spirit of disharmony in Equestria. It sounds like the two are working together, so by process of elimination Entropy represents disorder."
"She's got a point," Sledge said with a shrug, "but does that mean we're faced with two elemental crises?"
Chrono watched out through the window again, thoughts darkening substantially in his mind. If Entropy wanted him to suffer beyond his scope of pain, and she had constructed this entire nightmare Equestria, it only stood to reason that he would have to travel it sooner or later for something. Sledge's notion didn't give him much rest in the thought that he would have to be searching for something.
Or considering the six of them, six somethings. However, just as the thought surfaced while he stared on at the landscape, six pillars of white light shot up from the ground. At least they were being pointed somewhere, even if that meant outside in the Equestrian Nightmare.
"She really needs to get out of my head," Chrono remarked dryly, "looks like we're being led by the nose."
"Or by something anyway." Sledge said with a point of his hoof. "They seem a little scattered though. Aren't these supposed to be collectively organized?"
"I wouldn't underestimate the plans at work here." Violet observed. "It's not hard to tell which is for whom."
Everypony looked to her with a look of surprise, to which she added. "What, you can't see it?"
"See what?" Chrono asked, answering her question.
Violet glanced through the window, nodding in understanding. "Each of the pillars has an outward glow that I guess only I can see. It's a little hard to see yours from this angle, Chrono but that one over there -" she pointed to one of the pillars rising from a small mountain range, "- is probably yours. Rayne, if you notice that one there -" she pointed to a pillar streaking upwards from the nearest lake "-pierces through the cloud holding above it. That's yours, but I'm not sure if it's up or down, so just be careful with it."
"Of course." Rayne replied with a small smile. "I'm usually pretty careful anyway."
"Maple, the woods out that way. About the same place as Everfree should be... looks like yours." Violet continued. Maple nodded and glanced out in the indicated direction.
"Sledge, I hope you like the heat."
The green stallion's face lowered into a slight frown, but he stood tall regardless. "Got it. I'm not afraid of a little volc-" The volcano from which one of the pillars rose erupted, and Sledge suddenly silenced.
Violet's face dropped slightly, worry creasing her eyes. "Anyway... Gale, I can't even see what it's in the middle of but there's a little grey glow around the farthest pillar. Probably yours."
"You got it!"
"Which leaves me in the middle of... oh, I hate caves." Violet said drearily. "Plan of action?"
"I say we split up and get each to our own," Gale suggested.
"I agree, for now." Chrono nodded. "If anything happens I can force a reversion and cut the idea short."
"You sure you're not going to get in trouble yourself?" Sledge asked.
Chrono smiled. "I've dealt with Entropy's traps a few times before. I think I know what to look for."
"So it's settled?" Rayne asked, slowly rising to a hover.
"Seems so," Violet agreed, "be careful everypony."