Equestrian Phantom: Fragments of Fractured Time

by vortex123

Echoes

Author's Note:

I wanna make something clear, whenever the text is either colored, has * on both sides, or both, that means the echoes from the previous timeline are trying to influence their current timeline versions. Sometimes they might repeat what the echo said (either exactly, or similarly). Of course there's no guarantee that they'll do what the echo suggested, especially if they don't agree with it.

And I decided to make the echoes reflect their powers, so Danny's echo is green, and Vlad's echo is pink.

Danny's POV

Applebloom and I had reached her home when I was finally done asking her questions. Apparently I was on a planet called Gaia, the country I'm in is Equestra, and the town I'm in is "Ponyville". When I asked why it was called Ponyville, she just shrugged. In Equestra there are four races: Unicorns, Pegesi, Terrains and Alicorns. She didn't know much about Unicorns and Pegesi, but she know a lot about Terrains. Terrains were apparently called earth ponies awhile ago, but apparently enough earth ponies had a problem with the name to cause it to be changed to Terrains. Terrains apparently have control over earth and plants. Applebloom showed me this by causing a few pebbles to flout around her, though she said she's not that good at it because of some of it is boring to learn, and some of the parts she didn't understand.

Alicorns on the other hand, were a mix of all three of the previous races, and much stronger. Though according to Applebloom, there's only one Alicorn alive, Princess Celestia. But since I doubted I'd ever meet her, or at least interact with her, I didn't really see a point in asking about her.

As we got closer to the gate, Applebloom asked me a question I'm surprised she waited this long to ask.

"How do you not know about any of this?" She asked. "I'm not exactly the smartest girl around, and even I know all that."

"I'm not from around here, I don't really know how I got here, but it's obvious I'm far from my home." I answered honestly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But boy, you must be from a super far away place if you've never even heard of Princess Celestia." Applebloom says with a from, then gained a confused look. "Hey Danny?" She called, causing me raise a brow.

"Yeah?" I asked back.

"I don't mean to be rude or nothing, but what are ya?" She asked.

"Huh?" I say in confusion.

"When I first saw you, I thought you were a Terrain. You know, because you don't have wings or a horn." She explained. "But no terrain shouldn't know about our magic. Plus your eyes keep doing a weird thing. So what are you?"

“I'm a human." I say simply. 'My eyes?'

"Never heard of those before." Applebloom says. "What're they like?"

"To simplify: both smart and stupid, often contradicting ourselves. Honestly, most of our species don't even understand our own species. We're pretty good at building and inventing though, so we got that going for us." I say with a small shrug, then from. "As long as those in charge have common sense. Also, they might not be gung ho about other species, some might, but definitely not all of them."

"Well not everyone is gonna like the same thing. I'm sure they're not that bad." Applebloom says with a smile. I chose to not respond to that. Some things are better left unsaid. "So what was that about my-"

“Applebloom!” We hear a stern female voice call. We look at the source to find a young woman around Rainbow Dah’s age (as far as I could tell at least). Her eyes were green, and her hair (which was tied) was blonde. She had a cowboy hat, white shirt with a green jacket. She was wearing a skirt made out of jeans, and cowboy boots.

“H-hey Applejack.” Applebloom greets with a nervous smile.

“Where have you been? I was about to come look for ya.” Applejack says with a frown, then raised a brow when she noticed me. “Oh, sorry sugercube, didn’t notice you there.”

“It’s fine ms.” I say with a nervous smile. She’s pretty intimidating when she’s angry.

“Applejack’s fine uh….” She says simply, tipping her hat.

“Danny.” I say, answering her unasked question.

“Applejack’s fine, Danny.” She says with a smile, then frowns. "Hey, have we met before? I feel like we have.”

“Not to my knowledge.” I say, though I feel the same way. She stares at me for a little bit, then shrugs, and glares at Applebloom.

“Hey, sure I took longer than I said I would, but I still got back in the time you gave me.” She says with a frown.

“That’s true.” Applejack relents, her eyes softening. “Sorry sugercube, I just worry about you is all.”

“I know.” Applebloom says with a nod, but still frowns. “But you’ve been worrying an awful lot lately, much more than normal. And it started long before Ponyville was picked to hoist the Summer Sun Celebration, so I know it doesn’t have any to do with that.” As Applebloom was talking, Applejack started to look more and more nervous. “Can you please just tell me what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about.” Applejack says with a frown.

“But-“

“No butts Applebloom, unless it’s yours going into the house. Granny wanted to talk to you.” Applejack says, her stern look and tone coming back full force.

“Ok…” Applebloom says with an upset tone, walking to the house, with Applejack making sure she actually went in. Once Applebloom was out of sight, Applejack turned to me.

"Sorry bout that, I just want her to be safe." She says with a chuckle.

"It's no problem, but what celebration?" I asked.

"Oh, well Ponyville had been picked to hoist this year's Summer Sun Celebration. Sure it won't be as fancy as them Canterlot folk have it, but it'll definitely be a day worth remembering!" She says with a big smile.

"Can I help in any way?" I asked. She looks surprised for a moment, but then thinks for a moment.

"Well…you don't look like the farming type, so I don't think you can help here, but try asking round town." She says. Before I can say anything, Applebloom rushes out.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" I say in shock.

"I couldn't find granny!" Applebloom says, and the moment she said that, I felt the ground shake a bit. I couldn't even blink before I saw something orange get launched towards the house by a pillar of earth. I then realized that orange thing was Applejack, and after I realized that, Applebloom and I ran after her. When we finally caught up (only because she stopped and seemingly waited for us), we saw no one in there.

"This ain't good." Applejack said ominously.

"I'm sure you're grandma is just in bed." I say with a sweat drop.

"No, Granny's pretty stubborn about the farm routine. Right now she'd normally be in her chair waiting for one of us to come in and ask us about chores." Applebloom says with a frown, walking over to the chair, Applejack following.

"Hey Applebloom, did you see Big Mac while you were walking around?" Applejack asked, only to get a head shake in return. "He might be in the barn. Y'all stay here, I'll see if I can find him at the barn." Without another word, she ran out the house.

*Something bad might happen to her, maybe I should go after her, just to be safe.*

'I'm not sure why, but I feel like I should go after her.' I think. So without another word, I chase after her.

---

Vlad's POV

It was an oddly peaceful 10 minuet walk so far, excluding the bizarre rain (I almost thought the rain clouds were following me). The streets were oddly vacant, no one was yelling at anyone, the stores were closed. Taking all that into account, and the fact that this place is supposed to be similar to Manhattan (as far as I could tell at least), I was more then a little on edge. If not for my invisibility and intangibility, I’d be worried that someone might jump me.

As I was walking, I finally heard someone talking. I couldn’t make out what they’re saying, but it broke the silence, so that was nice. My curiosity had gotten the better of me, so I decided to investigate.

"-so if you know what's good for you, you'll stop your little investigation, alright?" I heard some girl threaten.

"No! I won't stop until I've revealed the truth!" I heard another girl say with vindication. At this point I was able to see who they were.

One was a red woman, with purple hair, who looked to be in her 30s. She was wearing a black business suit and gloves, was holding an umbrella (most likely enchanted, since normal umbrellas only really keep your upper torso somewhat dry), and was brandishing a knife at some girl.

The other one looked to be in her teens. She was light brown, with dark brown hair. She was wearing a blue jacket and pants, and was wearing white shoes. In her hand was a red book, though I couldn’t see the cover.

Not wanting to alert them to my presence, I levitated towards them, making sure to keep my intangibility and invisibility.

‘What is with teenagers and thinking that doing something this dangerous is a good idea.’ I think, as I watch the women bring the knife to the girl’s neck. While she does this, I noticed something in the women’s back pocket.

*I should investigate who this woman is.*

I turned whatever it was intangible, and got a better look. It was a cellphone, a new looking one at that. Using a little trick I learned in my years of being half ghost, I made the phone unlock without needing a password. As much as expensive phone are useful, they’re pretty easy to hack if they’re not specifically made obsessed with technology. And this specific one was obviously just a store bought one, and not custom made by a tech savvy person.

“What the…” I heard the woman say, as I noticed her turn towards me. Though before she could notice the phone, I cut it off, and turned it intangible.

‘Must’ve heard me hack it.’ I think. I’m taken out of my thoughts as a hear a series of splashes going further away. By the looks of it, it looks like the child decided to take the opening I unintentionally gave her, and run.

“Wha-hey!" The woman yelled, chasing after her. I don't really care since I still got a train to catch, so I continue on my way.

*On second thought, maybe it'll be more beneficial to look into this a little more. Something tells me it'll be much more profitable then my current plan.*

I stopped for a moment to ponder. I still had plenty of time, plus the whole savings up money to take a train is just for appearance so I can be more direct in another part of Equestra. So I don't really need to rush thing. With that in mind, I decided to lazily follow behind, while looking through her phone.