Drummer Out of Time

by MrPip42

12 - Drummer Comics

“So Ditzy delivered this yesterday.”

“Indeed.”

“And your anomaly thingy started beeping at it.”

“Yes.”

“So you got a package from the future?”

“Possibly, it could be from the past. The temporal anomaly detector cannot tell when something comes from.”

The two brown stallions sat next to each other in the basement. Staring down at an opened yellow package. On its paper read the name ‘Time Turner’ with his address right below it. “Does this type of thing happen often?” High Rise asked.

“I cannot say that anypony has ever mailed me an anomaly before. Even the packaging is an anomaly, which means that this… thing has reached its intended destination.” Dr. Hooves was pondering his thoughts, scratching his chin, trying to find an answer that made sense. The answers were then lost in the white noise of burning questions. How? Why? When?

“And inside of this package…?”

“Was a surge protector, the last tool I needed for our next experiment.”

His hoof reached for a bracelet that sat next to the opened package. A crystal gem at its center, with intricate designs spread out from the gem across the rest of the band. Decorative, of course, the only part of it that was magical was the gem itself. It was exactly what he needed, and that’s what made it so suspicious.

The other stallion in the room had other thoughts, however. His mouth curled into a wide grin. “This has to be Cressy!”

“Cressy?” The Doctor asked.

“Crescent, Crescent Sun, my be-“

“Ah! Ah! Future information is not meant to b-…” At this point, with a bracelet from(possibly) the future on his hoof, and intimate knowledge about the future High Rise already shared with him, that rule had become very redundant. “Never mind, continue.”

“-my best friend. She’s the one who originally did the time travel spell! Cressy must have sent it to us to help!”

“…High Rise, that assumes far too much. How would your friend have discovered where you were? Or how I was involved? More importantly, why was this sent now? If it had been delivered the very day I found you, I already would have had this device finished and ready.” Dr. Hooves decided not to mention how he probably would have ignored it in favor of trying out more time machines, but that would be an admittance for later.

“If it wasn’t Crescent, then who else could it have been?” High Rise asked incredulously.

“That is my point, we don’t know what else it could be.”

“But what are we supposed to do? Not use it?”

“…No, I suppose we could, as long as it is in working order.”

“Then this is great!”

“-I will, however, have to ensure that it is in working order. Not tampered with in any way. Then I will have to get it fitted to the device. Afterward, I will need to perform diagnostics and safety tests.”

“And then?”

“…And then, we will have a working Magic Isolation device, which will remove the anchor upon you. Returning you back to the future. There are still things to consider, but my expectation is th-“

Time Turner was cut off from his observations by a sudden tightening around his body. High Rise had wrapped himself around him, and squeezed him into a warm hug. “Doc, thank you. Thank you so much.”

He had not the time to squeeze High Rise back, before he had been released from his grasp. “How much longer do you think then?”

“…A few days, three at most. Then we can try it.”

What Time Turner didn’t expect to see in High Rise was the smallest of tears forming at the corner of his eyes. Not from pain or sadness, if his smile meant anything. It was tears of happiness, and he wiped them away before they could be mentioned. “It’s crazy, there’s a final day. A day where I will be back home… I can’t believe it.”

“It’s all because of you, Doc.”

This was the moment. That pit inside his stomach, the guilt from these past few months. The Doctor felt it rise up within him, if there was ever a time to tell the truth to High Rise. This was it.

“High Rise, I have to explain something to you… I-“

Knock Knock Knock!

Today would not be Dr.Hooves’ day, the words caught in his mouth the moment he heard the knocking on the front door. Lost in his hesitation, and the pony at the door. “Nevermind, we can talk about it later.”

“Alright, Doc, I'll go get that.” High Rise then went back up the steps, after one final smile down towards him. This left the Doctor to stare at the bracelet in his hooves. The item he needed, given to him at the very moment he needed it. Something felt off about all of it. He knew he was being led by somepony, something, to finish the isolation device, but he didn’t know why. That is what worried him the most, but High Rise had waited long enough, and he now had the final piece he needed.

Time Turner rose from the table, and got to work.

---

“Thank you!” High Rise said happily to Vinyl Scratch, who returned his thank you with a smile and a nod. Passing his newly purchased metronome to him. A purchase he hadn’t been expecting to make today, but when a friend comes in need, you answer!

He stepped outside of Vinyl Scratch’s music shop, where a yellow pegasus sat waiting. Fluttershy, twiddling her hooves patiently, looked up and smiled at the approaching High Rise. “How did it go?” She asked.

“No problems at all, Vinyl’s pretty nice, at least I think she is. I haven’t heard her say a single word.”

“Oh my, was she, um, listening to music again?”

“Yep, through her headphones and the speakers.”

Fluttershy was a timid mare, and Vinyl Scratch’s shop was particularly loud. If there wasn’t hard dubstep playing through the speakers, there was somepony loudly using an instrument. The loud noises that constantly rang out from there had left someone as reserved as Fluttershy uncomfortable to enter it.

So she came and asked High Rise to help purchase something for her. A metronome, to use for Fluttershy’s animal orchestra. High Rise had pointed out previously how one of the songbirds in her choir had trouble keeping the tempo of the song, and suggested using a metronome to help them stay on beat. Fluttershy expressed not wanting to put too much pressure on the bird when he mentioned it.

“What made you change your mind, anyways? About the metronome.”

“It’s… not a very good reason,” Fluttershy hummed, “Have you ever gotten an itchy feeling? Like you know something is going to happen soon?”

The tilt of his head told her clearly he didn’t quite understand, not at first. She rubbed her hoof with the other. “That sounds silly, I know.”

“No, no! It’s not silly, I'm trying to think if I have ever felt like that. What is making you feel so itchy?”

“Well, the choir hasn’t had a chance to perform for quite some time now, and everyone has gotten a little bit rusty, especially Dotty… as you know, but I have this feeling in me that we are going to be doing something big soon. So I talked with all of the songbirds and they agreed, we should do everything we can to improve.”

“Ah, you got a hunch!” High Rise turned his head back up. “That makes sense, and it isn’t weird at all! Here, this should help Dotty a lot.”

His hoof held out the metronome to Fluttershy, and she took it in return. She placed it in her bag before smiling towards him. “Thank you, I better get going so we can start practicing. Would you like to come by the day after tomorrow? You could see how they are doing after trying it.”

“Why not tomorrow? I don’t have anything going on.”

“I won’t be in town, I'm going with the girls to the National Dessert Competition.”

“That sounds like fun. Sure, I'd love to come by the day after tomorrow.”

They shared a smile, and bid each other farewell. Fluttershy trotted off to her cottage, while High Rise was left in front of Vinyl’s shop. It felt nice that she trusted him enough to help her out like that. His time in the past has been filled with things outside of his control. He wasn’t supposed to help anypony, but it felt good that he got the chance to. Sure, it may have huge consequences in one hundred years, but how is he supposed to know that?

Her words did sit in his mind for a while, however. How something is going to happen soon. High Rise has felt similar, but unlike Fluttershy, he knew why. Time Turner was already working on the finishing touches for the Magical Isolation Device. As soon as he was done, he would be home. Something big indeed.

Crescent was going to be teased so much for all of this, but she probably felt bad enough already, so it will be light teasing. She would be fascinated by all of the things he experienced in the past. He imagined the college thesis she could create just from his time in the past. High Rise remembered a time when his best friend made an entire presentation about her family’s garden back in little foal’s school. She had diagrams and examples of the effects the garden underwent after an earth pony landscaper was hired to help tend to it. Crescent Sun at the young age of nine was able to detail the exact amounts of magical influence the earth pony had on her plant's growth. She was such a huge nerd.

That presentation was how she became Princess Twilight Sparkle’s student. A fun part of his history to reminisce on. He remembered how when she came to visit, she would tell him at first how scary the Princess was. Twilight Sparkle was tall, intimidating, and really smart, and Crescent was terrified of her. Before High Rise had moved out to Trottingham, she had made a complete pivot on her opinion of the Princess. She was now the greatest being to ever exist, who could organize better than even she could. Most of her compliments towards the Princess involved organization of some kind, now that he thought about it.

Even after being here for two months, it still was weird to High Rise. All of his history, everything he ever experienced, hadn’t happened yet. Yet it still was history, his history, and he hoped with every fiber of his being that it still would be his history when he went home.

High Rise didn’t realize he had been holding his breath as he thought about that. He released the contained air slowly, and tapped a small tune on the ground for good measure. Everything would be okay, he knew it. High Rise had settled into Ponyville, nopony suspected him, and the Doctor had found a way. All he had to do was wait three days.

…Doing what exactly?

His eyes wandered around, until he saw a paper stand in front of Vinyl’s shop. On one side was the newspaper, with the current title Royal Engagement! The Announcement of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor’s Future Marriage. What sat next to it, however, was a book that he had not seen in a long time.

Power Ponies! Issue #1

The original Power Ponies comic book. High Rise knew that comic book series! It was one of the few comic series that lasted even one hundred years in the future. He never realized that the Power Ponies got their start around now! A brand new, mint condition, first issue of the original Power Ponies series… High Rise walked back into Vinyl’s shop and purchased a copy with the few bits Fluttershy gave him for change. Who knows, maybe he could bring something back with him when he went back to the future?

Four days remaining.

---

It had been years since High Rise was last in Canterlot. Yet it was just like how he remembered it, marble spires piercing the sky. Immaculate streets, white and gold everywhere. It wasn’t his particular style, but it was home.

He and his bandmates had come to Canterlot for a show, the 99th Annual Rising Rockstars Showcase. They had been invited to perform two songs for the concert, and that meant coming to the royal palace to attend. All of that, however, was for tomorrow. Today? He had a different reason to come to Canterlot Castle.

Crescent Sun was studying in the private study inside the castle, and he was given permission to visit her! They stayed in touch over the years, but this was the first time they saw each other in a very long time. High Rise had changed much in those years. His body grew significantly taller, even if his muscle mass didn’t get the memo. His hair was poofier and curlier than it had ever been before, and she would probably want to try and straighten it almost immediately after seeing it. She would only succeed in breaking the brush.

His dad’s goggles sat firmly atop his head, and Crescent would be able to tell that he finally grew into them. The last time she saw High Rise, he was just starting to wear those goggles, and they were more of a necklace at that point. Those who knew him would say he looked a lot like his father now, cutie mark included.

After verifying his identity at the gates, he was escorted to a waiting area inside the castle. Despite his size, High Rise felt like an ant inside of this massive palace. Even former residents of Canterlot can be amazed inside of the purple and gold halls. The guard who escorted him explained that Miss Crescent Sun was currently in a private lesson with Princess Twilight Sparkle, and that he will be able to see her afterward.

So he sat in the waiting area, patiently… mostly patiently. His hoof tapped a tune on the marble floors that echoed into the seemingly endless hallway. The few guards stationed in this section of the castle would be forced to listen to his goofy little riff. Until his boredom made him sift through his saddlebags. Pulling out the latest issue of Spider-Mare: Into the Spiderverse. It was his newest interest in his small comic collection.

“Ah, that’s the anniversary version of the Spider-Mare series. The Spiderverse one that was released fifty years ago, is that correct?”

“Yeah,” High Rise replied to the deep voiced pony who just spoke to him. “Huge Spider-Mare fan, but never got to read that series. Awesome that they got the artist from The Amazing Spider-Mare to do the artwork!”

“That artist also did work for the Power Ponies: Dawn of Friendship limited series.”

“Seriously? They did that ser-“ High Rise’s words caught in his throat as he finally looked up at the pony who was talking to him. A correction has to be made in that sentence, actually. It wasn’t a pony he was talking to, they were a dragon.

A really, really big dragon.

“Uh-huh. I got the whole limited series, first print for the first issue, and the collector’s gold for the final issue. Are you into the Power Ponies at all?… Hey, you alright buddy?”

Now, dragons actually aren’t that uncommon in Equestria. Your average pony will probably meet at least a dozen before they’re thirty, but most, if not all, ponies rarely see large dragons. Once they get to a certain size, they often go off to live in more secluded areas. One place you wouldn’t expect to see a large dragon was inside the Canterlot Palace.

A purple, clawed hand waved in front of High Rise’s stunned face. “I’m guessing you’ve never seen a dragon like me, huh?”

“Aaah, no, no I haven’t. My bad, that was rude, hi there, big guy… wait that wasn’t rude, was it?”

A deep chuckle came from the dragon, and he shook his head. “Calm down, kid. I’m Spike, royal advisor to Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

High Rise was given a better chance to look at the dragon in front of him, after he gave an introduction. He was a bulky dragon, his torso shaped like an upside down triangle. Most of his muscle mass concentrated on the top, with a thinner waist and shorter legs. His neck, however, was elongated, bulky and connected to a head with the strongest jawline High Rise had ever seen. The mouth connected to that jawline formed a smile on the dragon, Spike’s, face.

“Nice to meet you, Spike.”

“All good now?” Spike asked.

“Yeah, I'm good.”

The dragon then pointed finger guns at him. “Cool. Why are you hanging out here, anyways?”

High Rise smiled wide, placing the Spider-Mare comic back in his bag. “I’m waiting to see my friend. She’s currently in the private study?”

“Oooh, you’re friends with Crescent Sun?”

He nods. “Man, and here I thought she was just like Twilight back during her student days.”

“What do you mean?”

“A bit anti-social, puts studying and learning above anything else, neglects forming and maintaining friendships. For a while I thought Twilight got her exact replica as a student.”

High Rise had to note how Spike talked about the Princess. He spoke so casually about her, and didn’t use any titles. High Rise didn’t know much about Twilight Sparkle, but this dragon in front of him must be pretty close to her. If he is able to talk like that about her. Spike also happened to talk about Crescent there.

“Hey, Crescent doesn’t neglect her friendships. I got regular letters from her for the past decade! This is our first time seeing each other in a while, though.”

“Really? My bad, those friendship lessons have been paying off then!” Spike chuckled, then looked down the hall towards the private study. “You came a bit early, I think today’s lesson involves thaumic energy restructuring, it may take them hours before they finish. The schedule is going to be a mess.”

“I don’t know what that means, but would it really take that long for a magic lesson?”

“You know Crescent, right? Let me rephrase that, they are restructuring magic energies in latent spells… Synonyms for restructure include reorient, revamp-“

The realization dawned on High Rise, “-..Reorganize.”

“Bingo.” At the same time, both Spike and High Rise spoke together.

“Twilight loves to organize.”
“Crescent loves to organize.”

High Rise then continued, “Yeah, if they’re organizing, it’ll be sundown before I see her.”

“Probably not that late, but I'd grab lunch while you wait.”

“Know any good hayburger joints inside the castle?”

High Rise quickly learned that a full sized dragon’s laugh had to be prepared for. The immediate area around Spike shook as he guffawed. High Rise had to catch his saddlebag before it fell on the ground from the quake.

“You know what, I've got an hour before I have to start putting out fires from missed royal appointments. Want to come chill with me for a bit? I’ll get some lunch for us, and I rarely get a pony in the castle interested in comics. I could show you what I have.”

When the options are sit around and wait for hours, or hang out with a dragon and read comic books, the correct option becomes very clear. “I’m in!”

Soon, High Rise was led away from the study and into Spike’s private chambers, a gigantic room to fit the dragon’s size. It had all your normal bedroom accouterments, a bed, dresser, nightstand, rug, visiting pet phoenix named Peewee, giant collection of gemstones to snack on. All of the normal stuff to expect in a dragon den.

Oh and the massive comic book collection. A small library of perfectly preserved comics, from classics to the newest series. High Rise spent the next hour and twenty minutes inside Spike's den, staring with wide eyes at the rare and valuable comics in his possession. He was right, he had the entire limited Spider-Mare series, and now that High Rise thought about it, he was alive when they first released. This was a collection over fifty years in the making!

The centerpiece of this entire collection, more prominent than any of the other comics on display, was an original Power Ponies! Issue. A comic that started nearly a century ago, and here in front of him was its first issue!

“Hey Spike,” High Rise called to him, “Why do you have this one on display? It’s a cool issue, but the pages are all yellowed, the corners are frayed, and there’s this huge rip in the middle! Couldn’t you find one in better condition?”

Spike stepped next to High Rise and gave a meaningful look towards that comic book. What that look meant escaped him, but Spike’s smile indicated a positive reason. “That one? That’s the first Power Ponies comic I ever read. I didn’t think I'd like the Power Ponies at first, but after reading it? I found it to be my favorite of all time, all the way to today. I have every issue from every series.”

It was true, among the collection, Power Ponies was the franchise that appeared most frequently. “Sentimental reasons, then?”

“Yup, I don’t think the pony who gave it to me realizes how important it is to me.”

He looked to High Rise, and the stallion shrugged towards him. “If I learned that somepony loved a comic I gave them that much, I'd probably be pretty happy about it.”

“That’s a good thing to hear, kid.” Spike’s eyes gazed up to a nearby clock on the wall. “Looks like I'm about to get really busy. Want to walk back?”

“Sure, thanks for letting me hang out with you, Spike.”

“Anytime, think of it as returning a favor, High Rise.”

What he meant by that, High Rise also had no idea. Spike was an odd dragon, but in his mind, he was a pretty cool guy to hang out with. If he ever got the chance to do it again, High Rise would take the opportunity.

They never did, but maybe one day.

---

Today would be the day.

An old memory had resurfaced in his dream. Frankly, he should get his head checked out. High Rise hasn’t had a normal dream in months, either no dreams at all or old memories. Early on, most of them weren’t very pleasant. At least the memories his head makes him relive have been happier now. Last night’s dream reminded him of one thing he could do before his time was up in the past.

Spike! When he first met the dragon, he didn’t recall who exactly he was. It was only after mentioning the encounter to Crescent and his former bandmates that he came to realize who he had just hung out with. Member of the Council of Friendship, Royal Advisor to Princess Celestia, Friendship Ambassador, celebrated Hero of the Changelings and Hero to Equestria.

The adult dragon he chatted comic books with was an incredibly important dragon, and that meant that after their first encounter, he never had the chance to hang out with him again! There were a few times where High Rise saw Spike, namely when visiting Crescent Sun, but they were never more than in passing. After the Princess’ disappearance in High Rise’s time, Spike also left Canterlot Castle in search of Twilight Sparkle. In the year that she had been missing, Spike had not returned to Canterlot.

What High Rise did learn afterward, and only remembered now, was that Spike was previously the assistant to Twilight Sparkle before she became a princess. That meant that Spike was here, in Ponyville! After breakfast with Time Turner, High Rise set out for the Golden Oak Library. The Power Ponies #1 issue in his borrowed saddlebags.

He didn’t quite know what to expect. This would be a Spike that’s one hundred years younger than the Spike he had met before. Maybe he was a little smaller in this century, ten feet tall instead of twelve feet? Dragon aging wasn’t in High Rise’s book of knowledge. He didn’t even know if Spike would be at the library. Fluttershy mentioned that she and her friends were going to Canterlot for the National Dessert Competition. That included Twilight Sparkle, so maybe Spike was with her? Not that he had ever seen Spike with her himself. They must have some time away from each other.

Knock Knock, Knock-Knock-Knock. There was only one way to find out.

“It’s open!” A younger child’s voice rang out from inside, maybe a foal helping out at the library? He had been avoiding this tree ever since his first night in Ponyville, so he didn’t know much about who worked in it. Only that Twilight Sparkle lived here before it was destroyed. High Rise was pretty sure that the tree wouldn’t be destroyed for… at least the next three days.

His hoof pushed the door open, and he expected to find a large purple and green dragon somewhere in the surprisingly large tree library. He looked to the left, then to the right, and found no dragon at all.

“Hey, buddy, can I help you?” A child’s voice said, but he couldn’t quite place it. He didn’t see a single pony or dragon inside. Where did the voice come from?

“Down here.” The child said with a sigh, and High Rise looked to the ground below him. A cart stacked with books was rolling past him, and obscured by the tall stack was the source of the voice. A purple and green dragon, who only reached High Rise’s knees in height. No chiseled jawline, no wings, no elongated neck, and most of the small creature's body mass was towards his stomach. A baby dragon?

“…Spike?”

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[MrPip42]

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Thank you I’ll do my best to keep it going.