1 - A -100 Year Old Drummer

Stomp Stomp - Stomp Stomp

Electric energy filled the air of Ponyville theater. The humble building shook from the dozens of stomping hooves that danced inside it, banging to the rhythm of the band atop the stage.

Stomp Stomp - Stomp Stomp

The band had already been playing for several hours. Their performance lasted well into the night. Sweat beaded down from the lead singer’s chin, a young mare with a fiery voice, able to make the harshest of screams sound like a beautiful melody. A melody the small crowd in the theater danced to happily. Their lead guitarist, a pegasus mare, had been strumming the chords with her wings for so long that the ends were blistered, but she continued all the same. Their final song of the night had to be the biggest, to send off their Ponyville fans with a bang. The bassist, a unicorn who held her bass within the amber glow of her magic, had grown a piercing headache from the strain of complex telekinesis she had been using since the beginning.

Stomp Stomp - Stomp Stomp

Even the audience had shown signs of fatigue. Excitement fueled energy could only keep a pony on their hooves for so long. Their dancing became slower, more sluggish. Each sway of their forms feeling heavier than the last. They didn’t care, for the final song was soon coming to an end.

Stomp Stomp - Stomp Stomp

Only one pony in the theater looked like he was ready for more. His hooves worked endlessly on the drums, creating the foundation for the heart racing finale the band formed. The hoof pedal on the floor under him created the simple baseline that the entire crowd has followed. The stallion was having the time of his life, up there with the talented mares on stage. His hooves hooked tight to the drumsticks, and threw them down with energy that nopony else could keep up with this late into the night.

Thump Thump - Thump Thump
Stomp Stomp - Stomp Stomp

The lead singer used all that was left of her lungs to belt out the final verse. The guitar’s riff came to a cataclysmic finale, and the high energy drum slammed down the final notes to the sound of a cheering crowd.

“Thank you Ponyville!” The singer cried out in between gasps of air. “We are The Night-Mares! Have a good night!”

“That was amazing!” Said Flowing Strings the guitarist, her dyed black hair bouncing with her giddy hops. “We had an actual crowd! Who liked what we were playing!”

“Yeah, that was the best crowd we had so far.” Low Tempo the bassist agreed with her far more excited bandmate. An icepack laid across her forehead after the long performance. Prolonged, complex telekinesis put a heavy strain on the mind. “Too bad we didn’t sell out.”

“Don’t worry, girls!” A hoarse Pink Lady exclaimed, her pink mane drenched in sweat. Giving her all into each song had taken its toll, but she still stood proud in front of them. “We just had the best concert yet, and there’s still room to sell out. We’ve got plenty of room to grow!”

“We can’t really grow until we get another drummer now.”

The three mares then set their sights on the fourth member of their concert. An earth pony stallion with a tan brown coat and a darker brown mane curled into a bun on his head. His bright green eyes are covered by a pair of bronze plated aviation goggles. While his lanky form packed up the drum kit he used for the show. He was lost in his own mind as the three looked on towards them.

“High Rise?” Pink Lady said, catching his attention. Pulling up his goggles to look at the trio.

“Oh! Hey, were you talking to me?”

“Yeah.” Tempo replied, “Are you really sticking around this town?”

“You were great out there today, we’d love to have you come with us to Manehattan.” Pink Lady said with a warm smile.

“Great doesn’t even cut it, that was the best drumming I've ever heard! We gotta have you stay on!” Flowing pleads. “It doesn’t even matter that we’re called the Night-Mares, we’ll give you the title of honorary mare.”

High Rise, the temporary drummer for Night-Mares, chuckled and waved his hoof in front of them, “I’m honored, but I have to refuse.”

The lead for Night-Mares sighed, but ultimately nodded her head. She wasn’t one to pry into the personal lives of other ponies. “I understand, it’ll be hard to find somepony just as good as you.”

The stallion shook his head this time. “I doubt that. There will be a mare in Manehattan who can play the drums better than you or I could ever dream of.”

“You know that?”

“For a fact.”

A giggle escaped the lips of Pink Lady. “I’ll take your word for it, will you be in Ponyville long?”

“Probably not, if things go how I'd like them to.”

“Well, if we ever cross paths again, don’t be a stranger, High Rise.”

“Come to our next show if we do! I bet it’ll be even better than this one!”

“We’ll keep a VIP ticket for you.”

“Thank you, girls.” High Rise’s smile was a genuine one, but it was one that he hoped hid the sadness he was truly feeling in that moment. “I’ll see you again when you’re all legends.”

“Aw yeah!” Flowing cheered in glee, with Pink Lady and Low Tempo waving him off as he left the theater. His first ever performance with the amateur band The Night-Mares. The band that had inspired him to play in the first place, not that they would ever find that out.

Midnight in Ponyville was a peaceful place to be. The occasional porch lamp accompanying the gentle moonlight to illuminate the dusk covered streets. With just enough darkness to see a vast sea of stars in the sky above. Not a single pony was outside after the concert had ended. High Rise’s hoof falls were the only sound that filled the town square. He had never been to Ponyville, and this opportunity he was given was fantastic to explore the town. To walk the streets where he couldn’t during the day. His time around other ponies came to an end the moment the show finished.

As much as High Rise enjoyed seeing the sights of Ponyville, he had one destination in mind. A place he had never seen, but knew from writings what to look for. Only a single building in the entire town was like it. Or at least should be like it. He could only go off of his memory of what was told to him about this place, or what he had read in the past. He hoped that navigating the small town in the dead of night wouldn’t be hard enough for him to find what he needed to.

Thankfully for High Rise, this building’s unique shape soon was in front of him. A large tree surrounded by Ponyville’s traditional style of housing. The inside was hollowed, with a door at it’s trunk and several windows carved into its wood. Despite how much of the inside was cut out, the tree still had bright green leaves at its top.

The Golden Oak Library. High Rise looked up the tree to see one of the windows at the top illuminated with light. The inhabitant inside was still awake, even this late at night. He was glad to see that he wouldn’t be waking up the pony who lived inside. He would have done it if he had to, but it was better this way.

Butterflies flew in his chest, a feeling that made him hesitate to reach out and knock on the library door. Was it really alright for him to do this? It was better than doing it during the day, sure, but was it right to do it at all? What would the consequences be for the action he was about to take? He really didn’t know, and that just made it scarier. His hoof quivered in front of the door, unable to make up his mind.

No matter how scared he was, he knew there was only one pony in all of Equestria who could help him, and she was on the other side of that door. So he worked up the courage, put aside the risks, and brought his hoof to the door.

Knock Knock - Knock Knock

It was with no conscious thought that High Rise knocked on the door to the same beat as the final song from the Night-Mares show. Nor was it conscious that his hoof continued to tap to that same beat against the floorboards under him. Despite his concerns, the high he felt from playing with his favorite band was still strong within him. Following simple rhythms and beats helped to calm his nerves, and he had all sorts of nerves to calm.

“Coming!” A mare’s voice called from inside the tree. Soon, High Rise could hear slow hoof steps grow louder until they reached the door he stood behind. He held his breath, though he hadn’t noticed, until the very moment the door opened.

In front of High Rise stood a purple unicorn mare, her horn aglow with magenta as her magic brought open the door. The straight dark purple mane on her head was frazzled, and her magenta eyes were accented by a darker purple ring around the lids. High Rise immediately regretted his choice of knocking on the door. He should have come at a better time, when she was well rested. Now he was going to make it worse. It was too late to change that.

“Good evening.” The mare rubbed her eyes and looked up at the tall colt. A face she didn’t recognize looked back down towards her. His expression was a hard one to read, a mixture of excitement, fear and caution painted his muzzle. Her fatigue didn’t help when weighing the thoughts of what this pony could possibly want from her this late at night.

“I’m sorry, but the library is closed for tonight. Was there something I could help you with?”

A lump had formed in his throat, blocking out any words that could possibly form in his voice. It was one thing to think about meeting the mare in front of her. It was another thing entirely to actually stand here, witnessing this in the flesh. The mare must have noticed his nervous hesitation, blinking her eyes.

“Um… are you alright, sir?” She asked.

What was he going to say? Would this really work out for him? Was he about to make a big mistake? How does he even explain this? How would she ever believe him? Will everything be okay?…

There was no way to answer all the questions that were formed in those few seconds. High Rise knew that the only way forward was to just say it!

“…I’m sorry, wrong door. Have a good night, miss.” High Rise stammered, bowing his head and briskly walking away. Chickening out at the very last moment.

Behind him, he could hear the lavender mare call out to him. To make sure he was okay, High Rise didn’t respond. Breaking into a gallop the moment he was outside of the library’s view. The mare was right to ask if he was alright, because he certainly wasn’t alright. He needed help, he needed her help. If only his courage could survive long enough to say the one sentence he needed to.

He fled into the night, to the outskirts of Ponyville, thinking about the one sentence he had to say.

“I need your help getting home, Twilight Sparkle. I was sent 100 years into the past!”

Twilight Sparkle watched the odd stranger bolt into the distance, rubbing her eyes once more to try and understand what had just happened.

“Twiliiiight.” Her assistant, Spike, called out weakly from his bed at the top of the library. “Who was it?”

“I don’t know, Spike. It wasn’t anypony i’ve seen before.” Twilight closed the door and let out a yawn. She had spent most of the night cleaning up the mess she had made after a particular panic fueled week. From panic proofing, to calming Cerberus, all the way to breaking into the Canterlot archives. All because of her first ever attempts at time travel.

She had finally finished fixing her mane, for the most part, and Spike had been sound asleep after a bad ice cream induced stomachache. She was just about to head to sleep before the knock had come to her door.

“What did they need?”

“I don’t know either, he said he had the wrong door.” Twilight could have spent more time thinking about the peculiar encounter. She didn’t know every single pony in Ponyville, but she was at least familiar with most of them. Since she knew that much, she knew for certain that the colt who came to her door had never been in Ponyville before. Maybe one of the visitors for that rock show going on at the theater tonight?

That was as far as her thoughts went, fatigue from the panic and worry she felt this past week were catching up to her. A single odd pony wasn’t a big deal compared to that. If he really was new, Twilight was sure Pinkie would have a party to introduce him. As she always did.

“Sorry for waking you, Spike. I’ll turn off the lights.”

“Okay… night Twi.”

“Good night Spike.”

With the morning sun came aches and pains from High Rise’s body. Sleeping in a wide open flower field may seem idyllic, but it was actually incredibly uncomfortable and highly likely to result in small critters crawling on your legs. A feeling that High Rise was not quite comfortable with, if the girly scream he let out was any indication. Shaking off his entire body of any critters that decided to keep him company. He wasn’t afraid of bugs, but he hated the feeling of them.

Ponyville laid out in the distance from the field High Rise had found himself sleeping in. His cowardice led him to flee from the town mere seconds before he could say what he needed to say. His fears on what would have happened if he had revealed the truth overtook his wish to go home.

Could he really tell anypony the truth? That he was from 100 years in the future? What ramifications would there be for a pony to appear in Ponyville a century too early? High Rise knew that Ponyville around this time was a key period in history, one that would set the foundations for the future he lived in. Seeing Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn student of Princess Celestia, was all the proof he needed of that. Everything in Equestria would change in this upcoming decade, and he was an outsider walking into it. He regretted his decision to come to Ponyville, he should have realized this stupid mistake sooner. He had already taken too many risks!

High Rise was trapped in his thoughts, he didn’t even realize the yellow and pink pegasus that had been trembling beside him. The softest of squeaks alerting him of her presence. The pink mane of the mare he snapped his gaze onto seemed to hide her entire face from him. Shrinking further and further into it. The only thing that High Rise could see of her features was the cutie mark on her flank, a set of butterflies.

His heart then sank.

“Um.” Her voice was merely a whisper, barely able to be heard. “Excuse me, I didn’t mean to wake you… but you happen to have slept on… um.”

Eyes pointed downward to the High Rise-sized indent in the flowers. What he hadn’t noticed in the dead of night was the small burrow that was part of his makeshift bed. A group of small, scared looking bunnies staring at him from inside it.

“They…they um, couldn’t get out.” She finally whispered.

“…” High Rise, shocked with his situation, made noises that nearly sounded like words, but the pegasus in front of him certainly couldn’t tell what they were. At least until he let them all out at once.

“Iamsosorrythatismymistake!-PleaseforgivemebutIhavetogonow.-Haveanicedaymiss!”

The pegasus didn’t have time to blink before the stallion she was talking to ran into the distance. Surprisingly fast for how skinny he was. Her gaze went down to the bunnies who shared just as confused expressions. Her warm and gentle smile helped to ease them out of their burrow.

“It’s alright, little ones. He was probably just embarrassed about it. You can come out now.

Everything should be fine, it was only for a minute that they interacted. He couldn’t have affected her day too much with that. Nothing should be changed. At least that’s what High Rise kept telling himself. Sitting underneath what he believed to be an apple tree, gently tapping a simple beat on the trunk to calm himself. Everything in Ponyville wasn’t going well, and the more he stayed here the worse it was getting. His stay in town started with the highlight of his entire life, and now it was quickly becoming the worst day ever.

He would leave Ponyville, as soon as he calmed down, he would get out of dodge. Just pick a direction and run. Whatever he did, he could not interact with these ponies. There would be no help to get here, only danger. No, they weren’t the danger. High Rise is the danger.

“Urrrgh. Could you stop all that tapping? It’s really distracting, man.”

His eyes shot upward, towards the cyan blue pegasus mare laying in the tree above, a vibrant, rainbow main dangling off the sides of the branches she was curled up on. Her eyes staring back down at his, her mild annoyance plain as day towards High Rise’s rhythmic taps. Before he could panic about this encounter, another voice came to their ears.

“Rainbow Dash! What’d Ah tell ya about sleepin in the Gala orchard!” A thick accented voice yelled while an orange coated mare with a stetson hat fitted atop her blonde mane. Before she could turn the corner to see Rainbow Dash, the stallion who had been at the base of the tree was long gone.

“Were you sleepin here with somebody, Dash?”

“What? No!” Dash narrowed her eyes at the other mare. “That guy just showed up while I was napping.”

“Uh huh, was he tryin to steal an apple from the tree?”

“I dunno, Applejack.” She shrugged. “Kinda looked like he was having a panic attack.”

“A panic attack? What for?”

All Rainbow could do was shrug again, Applejack scrunching her nose. “Well, tell me what he looks like, just in case he comes ‘round again.”

“Well he had some sorta drums for a cutie mark, and he-…”

The Whitetail woods held the isolation he needed. Not that he knew the name of it. Everywhere else he went to hide had been a disaster. First the field, then it was the orchard. Surely nopony from town would be here at the moment! He just needed a minute to collect his thoughts, to calm himself. His rear landed on the ground below him, and he laid back against a tree that he was sure wasn’t an apple tree.

Tap-Click Tap-Click Tap-Click

He focused entirely on the simple motions he was making. A tap to the ground and click of his tongue in repetition. An extremely simple motion, but one that kept his mind occupied and his thoughts away. Nothing else mattered, all that mattered was the simple music he played on the earth.

Ever since he was a foal, he’d always get lost in these simple songs he made for himself. Riffs that led to nowhere, but kept him at ease in their motions and sounds. A simple rhythm turned into a riff, where his hooves were the sticks and the world around him was his drums. It really was no surprise that his cutie mark became a set of drumsticks over a snare drum. Even as a young colt, long before he realized his talent, he would get lost in his own little world. Tapping along to a song he never heard until then.

Tap-Click, Tap-TapTapTap, Tap-Click…

He continued on and on, his riff growing more complex the longer he went. He first just used the earth to make his taps, but soon enough he used the trunk of a nearby tree, and even clopped his hooves together to add to it. It was hardly a song worth remembering, but it was the only one that mattered in this moment. High Rise’s heart had stopped pounding inside his chest, and his mind was clear enough to think without immediate panic. Just a minute or two longer, and he would be alright to plan his next step.

Tap-Tap-Tap-Beep!

A new sound had entered the chorus of his song, a sound High Rise didn’t make. His song was interrupted again when the beep! came again. Then again, and again.

High Rise then realized that the beep! sound was getting louder, and faster. In his laid back position, he couldn’t run away in time. The bushes in front of him were already rustling. He tried to scramble to his feet, but it was too late before the figure behind the beep! came before him.

BeepBeepBeepBeepBeeeeeeee-!

“Aha! The anomaly must be here! Now where is i-. Oh hello there good sir.”

A brown colt with a short brown mane came from the bush in front of High Rise. Two darker shades of brown compared to the other brown on brown stallion. With a distinctive blue bowtie wrapped around his neck. In his foreleg held a strange device that gave off a continuous beeeeeep! and upon his flank was the image of a sand timer. The stranger’s head cocked to the side upon seeing the terrified High Rise in front of him.

“Are you alright? You seem scared, a ghost perhaps? Oh! Did you see the temporal anomaly! You must have, is it here? I must get a good lo-“

The stallion’s words were cut off as he waved his odd machine in his grasp. When he pointed it away from High Rise, it began to beep less, but when he pointed it at High Rise, it went off with a high pitch squeal.

“Hmm… no that can’t be right, you’re just a regular earth pony like me. There’s no way you could be the anomaly.” He pondered, tapping his chin and taking a more thorough look around the area. “Perhaps you could scoot over a bit? Maybe the anomaly is underneath you?”

High Rise scooted to the side, and the stallion pointed his machine at where he once sat. Once again, it beeped less, until he pointed it again at High Rise.

“Well, that is quite odd. I’ve only seen one other pony create a temporal anomaly, and that one was last week! Certainly this must be wrong.”

He didn’t know what came over him at that moment. All the built up stress from the past twelve hours had created a mess inside of High Rise that needed to be released. So when this accented earth pony started talking nonsense to him, High Rise had to speak up.

“I need your help! I’m from one hundred years in the future, and I have no way back home!”

The colt in front of High Rise stared at him while he made his panic fueled statement. When he finished his plea for help, the machine he held was dropped on the floor.

“Great withering stallions!”

Beep!

2 - The Background of a Drummer

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Today was the day for a small picnic Twilight and her friends had prepared. Their group would always set up these gatherings at least once or twice a week. To relax and enjoy each other's company. Twilight herself was running late, unfortunately. Trotting at a brisk pace to try and find her friends in the park. Spike, the baby dragon and #1 assistant was running behind her. Quickly growing tired trying to keep up with a pony.

“Could we…go a bit slower Twilight?” Spike said in between hard breaths.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there,” She responded. A grin formed on her face when she spotted 4 mares just a short distance away.

“Howdy Twilight!” Applejack called out to her and waved while she approached.

“You’re late!” Rainbow Dash said when she made it to the picnic. “You’re like, never late Twi. What happened?”

“I’m sorry girls, I still had some clean up to do after the whole time travel mess I made,” She explained, followed by Spike’s exhausted huffs. “I gave back the telescopes I borrowed, as well as the seismometer, the geiger-counter, and the Thaumic Sensor, the M-“

“That’s quite alright darling,” A white maned mare with an immaculate purple mane said. “It was no trouble at all to wait.”

“My stomach says otherwise…”

“Oh hush, Rainbow Dash, it was merely ten minutes.”

“Thank you, Rarity.” Twilight smiled towards the white mare named Rarity. Who brought to bear a pearlescent white smile in return. Rainbow Dash nearly barfed at the display, which was met with a stern hoof to the shoulder from Applejack. The final pony in the group, the yellow and pink pegasus Fluttershy, watched all of the events unfold. The quiet mare giggled while Spike went to sit next to her.

“Where’s Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked, noting a missing member from their group.

“She had ta’ help out at Sugarcube Corner, big caterin’ job came up. Pinkie still made sure we got some cupcakes.”

“And now that we’re all here, no more waiting, let’s eat!

The six of them opened up and spread out the contents between them. Sure enough, among the contents were cupcakes emblazoned with special artwork on each. One cupcake for each pony, with their own cutie mark on the top of it. Apples for Applejack, a starburst for Twilight, a rainbow lightning bolt for Dash, a trio of butterflies for Fluttershy, and three gemstones for Rarity. Included as well as another cupcake with green fins on the top, which was given to Spike, to his own glee.

“We shouldn’t be expectin’ anymore time travelin shenanigans now should we Twi?” Applejack said as they began to eat. “Ah don’t know if ponies around here will take ya seriously for a second time.”

The sheepish laughter Twilight gave her answered the question before her words did. “No more time travel magic for me. At least for a while. That ordeal has taught me that it’s important not to worry so much about the future, I've even left more space on my schedule because of it.”

“What she really means is that she opened up thirty minutes on her schedule for ‘stop worrying about the schedule’ time,” Spike chimed in.

“Spike!”

Laughter erupted from the group. From loud guffaws to light giggles. Twilight couldn’t stay angry at Spike for long, and joined in on the giggle end of the moment.

“I even went to bed at a more reasonable time!” She added at the very end.

“Yeah right.” Rainbow gave the unicorn a smug grin. “Is your ‘reasonable’ time 2 am?”

“No! It was a little after midnight, and I would have gotten to bed earlier if I hadn’t had a visitor at that time.”

The four other mares in the group collectively blinked their eyes towards Twilight Sparkle. “You had a visitor…at midnight?” Rarity asked. “Is there somepony we should know about Twilight?”

“Well, I don’t believe it was somepony you would know, why do you ask?” Twilight cocked her head back in return, and was left confused as to why Rainbow was stifling another laugh.

“Awright, Twi ain’t gonna know what you mean by that, Rarity. Ah don’t think she’s ready for that yet.”

“Applejack, one should always be ready for it! You never know when a colt will come to sweep you off your hooves.”

“Oh, he was a stallion.” Twilight noted, Rainbow was barely holding on. Fluttershy’s cheeks had grown bright red.

“And was he a strapping gentlecolt? Did he come with a rose in his grasp, and offered it to you with his devotion?”

“Well, nothing like that, he said he knocked on the wrong door and then ran off.” The entire meaning of the conversation was lost to Twilight. Her comments had deflated any hope of continuing that train of thought anyways.

“He knocked on the wrong door?” Rainbow raised a brow, hovering above the picnic as she did so. “How could he have done that? Is there another giant tree library in town?”

“It was dark out, maybe he couldn’t tell.”

“Well, sounds fishy to me. Probably some creepo who chickened out when you opened the door.”

Twilight looked up to glare at the floating pegasus. “I’d never assume something like that about somepony! Even if he was a little odd.”

A new voice entered into the conversation. Fluttershy finally spoke up to join in. She looked on towards Twilight as she did so. “I actually saw somepony who was a little odd this morning too.”

Now the entire group looked towards Fluttershy. The extra attention made her bring her voice down a bit. “He was sleeping in the flower fields near my cottage. I didn’t want to disturb him, but his body was right in front of one of the rabbit burrows. The poor dears couldn’t get out. When I woke him up, he said something really fast about having to go and ran away.”

“Huh…two odd ponies runnin off at a moment’s notice. There was somepony like that at the farm earlier today too.”

All eyes turned to Applejack, but Rainbow Dash was the one to continue. “Yeah! This weirdo comes up to my napping spot and starts tapping on the tree. The dude looked freaked out and ran off towards the Whitetail Woods the moment he heard Applejack.”

“So…” Rarity began, “All of you saw an odd stallion at different points during the day, and each time one of you encountered them, they quickly ran off. Is that correct?”

They all nodded, and Rarity did not need to spell out how to connect the dots. The group looked between each other and knew exactly what the others were thinking.

“Light brown fur, dark brown mane, goggles on his head, drum and drumsticks for a cutie mark?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash nodded towards Twilight Sparkle. Who furrowed her brow in thought. “I wonder why we’ve all run into him… and why he keeps running away?”

“Well we all know what he looks like now, it sounds like this fella has some sorta problem. If we ever see him again, we can see what it is.”

“Exactly, Applejack, but I also wonder… Does Pinkie Pie know who he is?”

In an unassuming house in the middle of Ponyville, the resident inventor and horologist Time Turner had brought a peculiar stallion into the depths of his home. Where machines of all shapes and sizes lined the walls. Steam powered engines constantly breathed out billows of air, released into vents in the ceiling.

Here, Time Turner had brought High Rise from the Whitetail Woods. Where he sat him down in a chair with a table in front of it, and began to rummage through the many drawers of the basement room. The sound of heavy metal clanging together could be heard as he did.

“Hold on one moment!” He called out to High Rise. “I just need- aha! There it is, heeurgh!”

With a powerful heave, Time Turner brought a large device out from the drawer and slammed it down on the table in front of High Rise. A record player, but without the speaker and a lot of extra machinery added on.

“Ha…whew! This will keep a recording of our conversation. You’ll have to forgive me for being so excited. I have never met a living, breathing temporal anomaly! Most times my anomaly detector only finds random nick nacks, it’s especially fond of snow globes.”

“I-It’s alright.” High Rise said, growing wearier the more he sat in front of this clunky recorder. “Are you sure we should be… recording this?”

“Oh but we must, dear boy! This is history in the making! Well, for you perhaps this is already history. Anyways, it will not be shared with anypony until I have done all I can to assist you.”

Before coming here, after High Rise’s panicked request for help. Time Turner had promised him that he would assist him. He was apparently a time travel enthusiast, who frequently searched for objects and markings misplaced in time.

Time Turner pressed a button and the machine whirred to life. The record spinning on top at such a speed that High Rise wondered how anything could be recorded onto it.

“Now! Let us start from the beginning. My name is Dr. Hooves, more commonly referred to by the name Time Turner.” He began by speaking out loud the exact date and current time, before describing the circumstances of his discovery of High Rise. Around midnight last night, his temporal anomaly detector had begun to pick up a reading in Ponyville. Time Turner had decided to wait until morning to search for the reading, because he was tired and wanted 15 more minutes each time he woke up.

When he got out of bed, he searched Ponyville with the Anomaly Detector to find it. First searching Fluttershy’s animal sanctuary on the outskirts of town, then the Sweet Apple Acres Orchard, and finally the Whitetail Woods. Where he came across High Rise laying against a tree trunk.

Tap Tap Tap-Tap

“-I then- Apologies but could we refrain from tapping on the chair? The sound will end up in the recording.”

“I’m sorry, it helps calm my nerves…”

“Oh! Then please, continue. It is better for you to stay calm in this situation, so I will ignore it.” Time Turner then continued from where he left off. “-I then brought the anomaly stallion back to the lab to further detail his circumstances. Now, if you would please state your name.”

“…High Rise.”

“Would that be an alias you are using to hide your real name, or your real name?”

“It’s my real name, why would I use a fake one?”

“It’s very much possible to run into relatives or ancestors while one is in the past, it is why I use Dr. Hooves. A simple name for a simple scientist!”

“…Ah, I see.” High Rise scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t feel comfortable not using my name, if that’s alright.”

“Perfectly alright! Given the distance you have traveled, I doubt your name will bring up any concerns. Now, can you detail to me the circumstances of your time travel?”

“Well, I am-… was friends with the personal student to the Princess, Crescent S-“

“Ah-ah-ah!” Time Turner cut him off. “While I understand that I have asked for details. I must ask you to refrain from giving me or this recording specific details. Such as future events, individual names, and the like. Knowledge of future events and circumstances can be dangerous to have left in the past.”

“But doesn’t me being here at all already make things dangerous?”

“It does, yes, but not in the same way. An individual such as yourself can pass off as another face in the crowd, blend into the background. However, any knowledge you share of the future is not quite as easily forgotten. I do not plan on sharing this recording openly, but that does not mean somepony couldn’t get their hands on it, and learn knowledge that they or I should not possess.”

“Uuuh.. Yeah, I think I understand.” All High Rise understood was that time travel was convoluted.

“Good! Now please, go ahead.”

“A friend of mine was in the process of researching a way to travel through time, and when I was visiting him after my-… no that’d be too much detail. I was visiting him when he tried a time travel spell. Some freaky magic stuff happened when he tried it, and the spell affected me instead of him. The next thing I know, I found myself on the streets of Canterlot alone. One hundred years in the past.”

Time Turner had to use every bit of willpower in his body to refrain from trying to learn more of the future. His immediate thoughts went to how different Canterlot looked in one hundred years, if any new technology had been implemented into the structure of the city as a whole. Unfortunately, it was knowledge he knew he could not ask for while a recording device was in front of him.

“And when you appeared in Canterlot, did you not return back to your time at any point?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t be here if I had, right?”

“Quite, however I wished to make sure of it. I have discovered in the past items that had traveled through time, and all of the items of that type eventually returned to their original point in time, disappearing as if they were never here. I theorized that time travel done through the form of magic, of which I cannot use, is only temporary, and can only stay in the past or future for a limited time before returning back to its original place in time. This theory proved accurate for another case just last week, actually!”

“Another case of time travel? Really?!”

“Why yes! Our resident librarian, Twilight Sparkle, believed that a terrible calamity would befall Equestria this last tuesday. She believed this because a Twilight Sparkle from the future had appeared before her, and told her to be wary of that day. I don’t quite know what ended up happening with that whole situation, but the fact that the future Twilight could only stay in the past for a small amount of time is the exact same as the items I have found!”

“…Wow, does that mean that, eventually, my time here will run out, and I'll go back home too? That’s perfect!”

“Well… not quite. How long have you been in our time for, High Rise?”

“A week as of today, it should be over soon then yeah? I’ll get to go home!”

“Hrm…without a clear frame of reference, I don’t know if we can say that. It’s possible that it will happen, but who knows how long you would have to wait? Twilight’s future self stayed for a minute after traveling back one week, while you traveled back a hundred years! Who knows how much time you have to wait after such a distance. I am afraid we cannot rely on that to be our answer.”

“…Oh, well, that’s great.”

TapTapTapTapTapTap

“But do not fret! We are not without options! Let’s first finish our discussion. What have you done so far this past week?”

Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap

Then High Rise began his story.

When I appeared in Canterlot, I didn’t know yet what happened to me or what to do. I didn’t have a bit to my name, so I did what anypony in my situation would have done. I tried to find something familiar. I eventually came across this small music club closer to the edge of town. The music drew me in and helped me feel more comfortable. It gave me time to think over what had happened to me. I knew that my friend had sent me back in time, and when I checked the dates, I soon figured out it was one hundred years in the past. The only thing that was keeping me from panicking then and there was the rock music I could get lost in.

While listening to the music I thought about what I could do. If I wasn’t careful, I could change parts of the past that could have serious side effects one hundred years from now. I had to find somepony who had the power to help me, and I knew that there was at least one pony that could help me at this time. Pr-… The Unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. I knew she lived in the library in Ponyville at around this time in history. All I had to do was get there.

Then I saw who was playing next that night, The Night-Mares. Playing one of their old singles to a sparsely populated, uninterested crowd. I couldn’t help myself, I've loved their music since I was a kid, so when I heard them playing I couldn’t help but play along from the crowd. They had no drummer at the time, and the bassist, Low Tempo, saw me in the crowd doing the exact motions needed for the drums of their song. After the show they asked if I could play the drums, I said yes, and showed them I could perform some of their music. They asked me if I would be their drummer until they could find a mare to fill in. I said I couldn’t, and that I had to get to Ponyville. They said their next gig was in Ponyville…

“…You took a very big risk, High Rise!” Time Turner said with surprise. “Who knows what changes you made by being their drummer.”

“I know! I know!” The exasperated drummer sighed. “I wasn’t thinking, I just got so excited and…and I couldn’t make myself say no. Plus, they paid for the train ticket.”

“So you went and performed with them last night?”

“Yes, and it was easily the best day of my life. They asked me if I wanted to stay with them, but I refused! I know for a fact that they’ll find the best, most amazing, perfect mare in Manehattan to take up the dr-“

“Ah! Ah! Stop! No more.”

“Right, sorry, no future details.”

“It’s alright, continue.”

After the performance ended at midnight, I went straight to the Golden Oak Library. I didn’t want to wait another night and risk changing the future anymore. I knocked on her door, and she opened it, and…

“I ran.”

“You what?!”

“I got caught up in my own head! Twilight Sparkle is the mos-… she is the-… aaargh! There’s a future with Twilight Sparkle and I was scared I was going to destroy it. So I told her I had the wrong door and I ran. I slept outside in the grass, ran some more, and then you found me.”

More tapping was recorded, only this time it came from Time Turner. His hoof idly hitting his chin while he thought.

“One final thing before we end the recording, High Rise.” He said. “I know I said no details, but of this magical time travel spell, I would like you to give me that information. Whatever you know.”

“Wait, but you aren’t supposed to-“

“I understand what I said, but the only way I shall be able to assist you is if I know what we are dealing with. So please, every detail you know.

High rise hesitated, a hoof reached up to touch the bronze plated goggles he had on his head the entire time. A new form of comfort, instead of tapping a beat. “…My friend said it was a really old spell, made by the Unicorn Star Swirl the Bearded.” The drummer tried his best to recall the lecture he was given by his best friend, trying to repeat the lecture he was given to Dr. Hooves.

While originally this spell only allowed one to travel back a short distance in time, and return shortly after. The spell itself has many moddable pieces to retool and change. It’s already theoretically possible to go back much further in time, but it would require a significant source of magic and still be limited. In fact, a unicorn in the past had once done this. This time, however, I have made it so that we can choose when to return, as long as one has magical reserves to spare. A unicorn can hold the spell as long as possible while in the past, and when they want to return they can release the held spell and immediately be sent back.

“…This, apparently, required an incredibly large amount of magic, an amount that she couldn’t control. So when it broke loose in the middle of casting the spell, the magic lashed out and hit me.”

“Hmm… So if this spell was modified with unicorn use in mind for its failsafe way to leave. The question we are left with is simple! How do we trigger the return effect to bring you back home? Since you are an earth pony. That may be difficult. You can’t merely release the spell yourself.”

A silence fell between them, High Rise’s gaze locked onto the ground. The only sounds that filled the air were his rhythmic taps. His only way to relax after what he heard, his relaxation wasn’t working. The tapping became less melodic, and more frantic the longer it went on. Time Turner’s expression grew more concerned as he watched this display.

“We have gathered the fundamental knowledge necessary to understand the circumstances of High Rise’s travel through time. In the following recordings, I will be taking note of all future research I have done. With one goal in mind, to bring High Rise home. End recording.”

Tap-TapTap-Tap

Click. As the machine’s machines came to a peaceful halt, Time Turner reached out to place a comforting hoof on the panicking stallion’s shoulder.

“High Rise, I promise you, on my name and my reputation as a colt of science, I will find a way to get you home.”

TapTap-Tap… Tap… Tap

“Thank you, Mr Turner.”

“Please, call me Doctor.”

The two stallions stood up and stretched after their long conversation. Time Turner placed his recording in a secure sleeve and tucked it away.

“For now, until we find a way to take you back home, we will need to mitigate any changes in the timeline you may make!”

“Like what I did with the Night-Mares?” High Rise asked.

“Exactly, no matter what, your mere presence in this current Equestria will change history as you know it. There is no escaping that simple fact. The more important part to focus on is what you change!”

“But…wouldn’t I be changing your future right now? The longer you help me, the more you don’t do what you would originally be doing at this moment in time. Which means… ack, my head hurts thinking about this!”

“Do not worry, allow me to do the thinking! First off, time travel has been my field of study for decades, High Rise. Your appearance is an absolute breakthrough when it comes to my scientific study of time, and I would not want my future any other way! Rather, it is more important that we think about how you are influencing the lives of those… less inclined to temporal research such as myself.”

“Like Twilight Sparkle?”

“Indeed! You seem especially worried about her, so minimal contact with the librarian and her immediate friends may be for the best. As long as you haven’t done anything to catch their attention any further, that should be perfectly fine. Minimal contact with most of the Ponyville population is probably for the better, as the smallest of interactions could have untold ripples in the river of time…”

Time Turner paced back and forth in front of High Rise. His mutterings grew quieter, and quieter, until he suddenly burst forth a triumphant thought!… Then back to muttering.

“Very well! If we must keep to minimal contact, you may stay here until we figure it out!”

His excited words came to meet a concerned High Rise’s ears. He looked around the room, at the various machines and doodads. Their sizes dwarfed a stallion like him. Quickly, he was becoming sure that maybe this wasn’t the best idea.

“Are you sure about this, Doctor? I mean…is it safe for me to be left in here?”

“It will be perfectly safe, why I've slept here many times! It can be quite comfortable once you get used to the whistle of the steam.”

As if on queue, the whistle went off nearby, startling High Rise. “You can also sleep in the guest bedroom if you would like.

“I think I'd like that, yeah I would much prefer that.

“Very well, it’s all yours. I’ll get to work right away on how we may go about fixing your situation! Until then, my home is your home. Just do not let anyone find out that it is!”

The high energy scientist trotted up the stairs. A scarf wrapped around his neck for a trip into town. So encased by his own thoughts that he didn’t hear the voice of High Rise asking him to wait. The stallion shut the door behind him, leaving the drummer all alone in a basement full of potentially dangerous devices. He gulped, and looked around warily.

“Everything will be fine… right?”

Sugarcube Corner was bustling with activity in the afternoon that day. Not from anypony coming to purchase, but because of all the work the Cake family has had to do to prepare for their latest catering gig. Mr. Cake was tasked with watching their twin baby foals, while Mrs. Cake worked with the pink blur in the kitchen to prepare all the sweets that they needed. The bell to the store rang as Twilight Sparkle and Spike entered, but only Mr. Cake was around to answer.

“Hey there Twilight and Spike!” Mr. Cake said.

“Twenty more cinnamon rolls! Extra pecan!” Mrs. Cake could be heard calling out new orders in the back, with a different voice yelling out “Yes Ma’am!” Each time she did.

“How can I help you two today?”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Cake,” Twilight replied, eyeing the noise coming from the kitchen. “I was hoping to talk to Pinkie Pie for a minute, if it wouldn’t be too distracting.”

“Sure! Go on ahead, I don’t think it will be a problem at all.”

Spike, upon seeing the mayhem in the kitchen, decides otherwise. “I think I'll wait here, Twilight. I don’t wanna get swept up in a Pinkie tornado.”

“That’s alright, Spike. I’ll be right back.”

Twilight went off towards the kitchen, while Spike approached Mr. Cake and the two foals he had next to him. Holding a rattler in his hands in front of one of them. When the unicorn stepped into the kitchen, the volume of Mrs. Cake’s voice doubled.

“We need orange frosting on fifteen, and strawberry on twenty!”

“YES MA’AM!”

“Sprinkles on the don- Oh hi there Twilight! What can I do you for?”

“Hi there Mrs. Cake! I was just hoping to speak to Pinkie Pie?”

“Oh sure! I’m sorry for keeping her from your picnic earlier, dearie. We were given the catering to some big party Filthy Rich will be doing, and we wouldn’t have been able to get it done without her.”

“I understand completely, Pinkie is really amazing at making sweets.”

As if on queue, the pink blur that has been zipping and zapping and bopping all over the kitchen came to a stop in front of Twilight. The pink on pink, cotton candy mare smiled brightly towards her friend and said. “Hi Twilight! How was the picnic?”

The moment she finished talking, she was off again. Zooming around the kitchen. Twilight knew she could still hear her.

“It was great, I'm sorry you missed it. The cupcakes were amazing!”

“Of course they are, silly! They were made for my friends! I would never make a cupcake for my friends that wasn’t the bestest, most amazing cupcakes ever!”

“Why thank you Pinkie.” Twilight could see the wide grin on her pink friend’s face, even in the midst of her fast paced baking. In the time they talked, she had already prepared and packaged all of the cupcakes and donuts. “I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh really? What is it Twi?” She said while putting the cinnamon rolls in the oven.

“You know everypony in Ponyville, right? Even ponies who are just visiting?”

“Yup! Even all the ponies from that rock concert yesterday. Anypony who comes to Ponyville gets a certified welcome from yours truly!”

“That’s perfect, Pinkie! I was hoping you could tell me about a pony that has appeared in town recently. Do you think you could identify them from a description?”

“Abso-fully-lutely! What’d they look like?”

“Well, he was a tall and thin stallion. An earth pony, with light brown fur and a curly, dark brown mane. His cutie mark was a drum and drumsticks, and he wore a pair of what looked like aviator goggles on his forehead. Could you tell me about him?”

The constant, buzzing action of a baking Pinkie Pie came to a screeching halt. All the activity in the kitchen was frozen in time. With the bubbly mare at the center as still as a statue. Over and over again, she repeated the description Twilight said under her breath. Trying to match what she said to the hundreds, nay, thousands of ponies and non ponies that she remembers. There isn’t a pony in Ponyville that she doesn’t know…

Pinkie Pie gasped. “I don’t know who that is!”

3 - How to Find a Drummer

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The day after found Twilight Sparkle and her assistant back inside the Golden Oak Library. One day every month was sorting day at the Library. Where Twilight, with Spike’s help, would take out and re-sort the library’s entire collection. During this process, she would reevaluate categories and books to find better places for them. Spike would often try to help with the reorganization, but his ideas for where books should be almost never matched with Twilight’s. So he often became a book holder while her magic did most of the work.

“Spike, where did you put The Brief History of Appleoosa, Volume Ten?”

“Over here, Twilight, with the other nine volumes. Really stretching the definition of a ‘brief’ history…”

Knock Knock Knock.

“Spike! Could you get that?”

“On it.”

One baby dragon came up to the front door. With a quick twist of his wrist, Spike brought open the door. Where a single scarfed stallion stood waiting.

“Oh, hey Dr. Hooves. Or is it Time Turner?” Spike asked.

“Dr. Hooves will work, young man. I hope today has been a pleasant one?”

“I guess, pretty busy. Were you looking for a book today?”

“A few, actually, any particular tomes centered around the theories and knowledge of time.”

“Who is it, Spike?” Twilight called out from the tower of books that surrounded her.

“It’s Dr. Hooves!”

“Who?”

“Time Turner!”

“Oh! Good Morning Mr. Turner!”

He had to hold back a sigh at the name she used. Most ponies in Ponyville still called him that. He was hoping the Dr. Hooves name would catch on quicker, but it hasn’t yet been used regularly by his neighbors. Maybe it would have if he kept it as Dr. Whooves instead. “Good Morning, Twilight Sparkle! I hope I am not interrupting anything?”

“Oh it’s just time for monthly sorting. I can continue while we talk, and Spike can help with anything else.”

“Yeah, sure beats having to find volume eleven.” Spike chimed in. “You said time books right? Twilight already finished that section, over there.”

Time Turner was led to one of the finished shelves in the currently chaotic mess of the library. Soon as he was reading the titles was he pulling off the books that he wanted. He quietly went about his business while Spike went back to helping Twilight Sparkle. When he finished choosing his books, he had a stack of books as tall as he was.

“I think I have found everything I need!” He exclaimed with glee. “May I have some assistance at the checkout.”

“Yeah, I got it.” Spike said, returning to the front to pick up the check out sheet. His eyes looked up at the doctor’s giant stack, and raised a brow at him. “Doing some big, time themed research project or something?”

“You could say that, yes!” Time Turner replied excitedly. Passing off each book one by one to let Spike write them down. In the distance, Twilight’s cheeks were growing flushed in embarrassment .

“I’m sorry for being curious… but your interest in all that isn’t because of my mess from last week?” Twilight asked him, poking her head out from behind a tower of books.

“Not exactly. Though I am curious about it. Would you be willing to tell me about your experience with time travel last week? It did cause quite the stir!”

“Yeah… I'm very sorry about that.” Twilight stepped out from behind the tower and approached Time Turner and Spike. “My future self was actually just me from this past Tuesday, trying to tell me from that past week to not worry about what was going to happen on this Tuesday. Which was nothing.”

“That does not sound confusing at all.”

“Right? It was all just a big miscommunication with myself.”

“And how exactly did that start? You used some form of magic for it, correct?”

“Yes. Are you doing a research project on time travel, Mr. Turner?” Twilight asked, curious about his probing questions. Which the doctor took in stride.

“In short, yes. Though nothing more than a personal interest case.” He lied, but it wasn’t an entire lie. “It’s not like I can cast any spells, but I'd love to learn more about it.

If there was one thing Twilight was a sucker for, it was learning. So when she heard of his interest to learn, it immediately brought a bright grin to her face. “Well, the spell in question was one of many designed by the famous unicorn, Star Swirl the Bearded. His work on time travel yielded a spell that was capable of sending a unicorn back in time, but only for a short amount of time. After my incident, I read the full details of the spell. The farther in the past you try to go, the less time you’ll have to stay there. At least in the current form of the spell.”

“So if one were to, say, travel back a century, how long would they have? Just as a random hypothetical.”

“Well, if that were to happen, then they’d probably only be there for a few seconds. You would barely have time to blink!”

“That… is fascinating!” Time Turner made a mental note of that. “And no other time travel spells exist of the sort, only this one with specific rules in place?”

“Not that I know of, and I searched the entirety of Star Swirl’s portion of the royal archives. It is probably for the best.”

“Oh, and why is that?”

“Many of Star Swirl the Bearded’s spells are hundreds and hundreds of years old, and knowledge of how to cast spells has grown exponentially since then. While his work is still revolutionary, many of his original spells have been expanded upon and used in completely different ways. I imagine with enough time, his time travel scroll could be dissected and modified to do any number of things. Like going forward in time, or staying in the past for longer. While the ideas and possibilities fascinate me, they would be far too dangerous for any unicorn to possess. That’s why spells like it are in the archives.”

That was enough for Time Turner. He knew that his newest roommate wanted to specifically avoid Twilight. So it was best that he too kept his distance.

“Alright, all your books are checked out. Have fun with all those.” Spike said as he put his quill down.

“Thank you young man, and thank you for this short lesson, Twilight Sparkle. I’m afraid I must depart.”

“Oh! Wait!” Twilight suddenly called out, right before he walked out with his books. “I wanted to ask, have you seen around town a tall, light brown pony with a pair of goggles on his head?”

…Blink Blink.

“I cannot say that I have.”

“Okay.” She said, disappointment slipping into her tone. “Well if you do, let Pinkie Pie know. He may be the one pony in Ponyville Pinkie hasn’t met yet, and she may be going crazy trying to find him.”

“…Ah ha! That Pinkie Pie..” Time Turner chuckled nervously, desperately hoping Twilight didn’t notice. “I will keep that in mind!”

“Thank you! I hope you have a good day!”

And then the door shut behind him.

Pssssh~!

Time Turner’s laboratory had no real way of telling what time of day it was. With no windows or clear vents to look through, High Rise could only guess what time it was. His best guess was 1:12 pm, and he definitely didn’t use the clock on the wall to guess that.

The doctor had arranged for him to stay inside the basement during the day, and walk around in his house during the night. So that he could let him sleep in his spare bedroom. He wasn’t to go outside unless it was necessary. For most of today, he had been in this lab, sitting alone, afraid to touch any of the doohickeys around him in the off chance they would explode. Turner had returned a few times in the day already, the first time dropping off some books he picked up that discussed time and time travel. Theoretical stuff he said it was. He let High Rise read through them to pass the time, but the drummer wasn’t exactly the most well read of stallions. Within the first page of the first book he picked up were words and phrases that made the gears in his head grind to a halt.

Pssssh~!

The second time Turner came by, he hurriedly said he would be right back. Apparently something was happening that required his immediate attention. He urged High Rise to stay perfectly quiet while he was gone. Nothing about what he spouted made much sense. Something about a party planner on the loose. He didn’t really understand it.

Pssssh~!

So he had nothing to do, he could try and read the books again, but High Rise didn’t know if he would even understand any of it either. Academics were never his strong suit. All he could hear was the sound of the steam venting out of the machines around him… Then a thought occurred to him. High Rise’s ears perked up towards the pipe the steam released from, and then he counted.

Pssssh~!

A grin was slowly forming on High Rise’s face, he waited, and counted again.

Pssssh~!

Tap Tap Tap

Pssssh~!

Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap

Pssssh~!

The small grin he wore grew into a big smile. The sound the steam made came out in regularly spaced intervals. A few seconds between each puff. His hooves started moving before his mind did. The drummer used everything that he could reach to start a new rhythm, incorporating the steam that surrounded him. A tap on a nearby pipe, the sound of the glass on a nearby dial, or how his rear leg slammed against the stone floor.

With all of it together, a world came to life.

Imagination ran wild in the mind of High Rise. Around him, a steampunk world sprung to life from the harsh metal sounds created. A city deep within the ground, a towering cavern filled to the brim with machine powered buildings. Airships flew over the city, transporting dozens of ponies from one end of the cavern to another. The street level was dark, with simple light poles creating beacons in the darkness to travel between. The ponies of the city dressed in shades of gray and brown, with large top hats and monocles. Finding comfort and tranquility in this harsh looking universe.

As High Rise built an entire world from the music that he played, he also began to change it. The tempo slowed while his mind imagined a park, built out of smooth rock and metal. With a singular tree at its center. Somehow surviving in the depths of the earth. Foals covered in mud played around old and rusted jungle gyms. Having the time of their lives with the simplest of things. Parents watched on from afar, illuminated by spotlights to keep the park lit.

The tempo quickened again, and High Rise created the scene of a grand performance. Two ponies, dressed in robes, performed a mock battle in front of an enamored crowd surrounding them. Their choreographed moves creating a tight dance of violence that left the ponies watching them at the edge of their seats. A back and forth matchup until one of them finally got the other to trip up. The losing pony backed away as the winning one came for the final blow. Only for the unexpected to happen. The losing pony brought in a deep breath, and fire poured out to envelop the other!

The crowd cried out in surprise, but the fire soon dissipated, and what was left behind was a mare in a beautiful golden gown. She reached down to help the other pony up, and as she did so, the stallion’s robe fell away. His princely garb attracted a few oohs and aahs from the crowd. The prince and the princess, no longer fighting, came together for an embrace, and the crowd cheered.

For a short while, High Rise forgot about the circumstances of his life. No more did he worry about being in the past. Or about who he interacted with. He didn’t mind being trapped inside a small house in a town he couldn’t walk in. In this moment, he enjoyed creating the theme song for an imaginary world of his own creation. The sounds he made and the sounds around him guiding each piece of this new reality.

Until it all came crashing down around him.

“Heeeey, Doc? Are you down here? I hear music!”

Psssh~!

A mare’s voice brought High Rise’s song to a clattering halt. The only note left from his music being the steam as it continued its constant release. It was no longer music, just another noise in the mix of mechanical clicks and clacks that filled this basement. The world he had envisioned disappeared as quickly as he created it.

Two sets of eyes interlocked with each other when the source of the voice poked her head through the stairway door. Correction, one and a half set of eyes locked. The mare’s other eye seemed to be pointing off towards the ceiling. High Rise didn’t know whether to ask what was up with her eye, or panic because at least one of her eyes was staring at him.

“Oh, you’re not the doc.” She said nonchalantly, walking forward into the room. A gray pegasus with a simple yellow mane and tail. Bubbles lining her flank, and a set of saddlebags tucked underneath her wings. “What are you doing here mister?”

“…I could say the same to you, miss.”

The two began a fierce staredown, neither backing down. High Rise thought that this filly had an unfair advantage, she didn’t seem to blink! Then she blinked, and her eyes changed direction. The other eye was now looking at him instead. “Yeah I guess you could say that, I’m here to give a paper to him. What are you here for?”

What am I supposed to say?! High Rise thought to himself. Scrambling to find an answer that would be the least interesting to this odd looking mare. “I, ah…am a friend of Time Turner. He’s, uh, letting me stay in his house for a bit. That’s all.”

“Who’s Time Turner?” She asked, cocking her head.

“The Doctor.”

“Oooooh…”

There was a moment of silence. Where the sounds of the machines seemed to be drowned out by the deafening staredown. High Rise had blinked multiple times, but nothing changed. Sweat began to gather at his brow. Has she grown suspicious? Maybe she’ll gossip to her friends about the weirdo in Time Turner’s basement! He had to take her, tie her up and make sure she didn’t ta- Wait, no, that’s messed up.

“That makes sense, can I give you a paper to give the doc then?” She asked completely unassumingly. Thank Celestia, he didn’t have to foalnap her. Not that he actually would, a panicked mind goes to odd places.

“Sure, I'll make sure it gets to him.”

The pegasus smiled and walked up to High Rise. Presenting him a rolled up paper from her saddlebag. After he had taken it from her, the mare’s one eye began to look him over.

“I don’t know why, but you look familiar, mister. Have I met you before?” She said with another tilt of her head.

“…Can’t say that we have!”

“…” Sweat beaded from the stallion’s brow, waiting for her next words. What would happen now?!

“…I guess I must’ve mixed you up with somepony else.” The mare giggled. “I can be pretty forgetful sometimes. I like your goggles, by the way! They’re pretty cool.”

“Oh, thanks! You’re pretty cool too.”

It was an instinctual reaction. High Rise always gave a compliment back anytime he got one. Whether he meant it or not. Not that it mattered to the pegasus, who finally blinked and looked away to hide a tint of red.

“Oh, um, thank you. That’s really nice of you to say.” She beamed, and waved as she went back up the stairs. “I’ll see you around then!”

Overall, that could have gone a lot worse. An interaction like that should hardly change a thing about the future. High Rise had no idea why that pony just walked into somepony else’s house, but at least it didn’t cause the entire timeline to change. Plus, after spending all day sitting in a basement, it felt good to speak to another pony in simple conversation. At least with a pony that wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as Dr. Hooves.

With the stress of the moment in the past, High Rise thought about what to do next. He could go back to the music he was playing, but he had already lost the vision in his mind. It never came out quite as vividly the second time he does his jam sessions. It was fun while it lasted, at the very least. High Rise did however have a paper in his grasp, and while it was for Time Turner and not for him, he was just too curious. Slowly, he unwrapped the paper and read its contents.

His heart once again fell to the floor.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS COLT?

Last seen locations:

-Golden Oak Library

-Sweet Apple Acres

-Whitetail Woods

If found, please contact Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner. So that she may welcome him to Ponyville!

One free cupcake and hug upon discovery.

Underneath the first line of text was an illustration of the colt the paper is searching for. To High Rise’s horror, it was a one to one perfect recreation of his own face. Somepony could mistake this artwork for an actual photograph of High Rise! It even had the smaller details of his face, and a recreation of his cutie mark in the corner. It was impossible for anypony to have gotten that good of a look of what he looked like. He wore his goggles during the Night-Mares performance, so nopony would have seen his eyes there. The band would have left for Manehattan yesterday. The other ponies who saw him only saw him briefly before he ran off. There was no way they saw this much detail. Of those left, the only other ponies who could have seen this much were Time Turner and-…

And Twilight Sparkle…

“HAVE YOU SEEN THIS COLT?” Pinkie Pie yelled at the top of her lungs, startling the pony that walked by her. Pushing into her hooves a Missing Pony paper before she had any more time to react. The determined pink mare was splotched with ink, plastering copies of the poster on every building in Ponyville. As well as sharing it around herself. The cotton candy party planner had handed out stacks for local delivery ponies too. Asking them to hand out copies to every home they go to. After half of the day had passed, there wasn’t a single pony in town that hadn’t seen this poster. Including Applejack, who has found herself watching the mare in her element.

“HAVE YOU SEEN THI- Oh hey Applejack! How are you today? Did you see this colt today? If so, where are his exact coordinates?” Pinkie Pie asked

“Hey there, Pinkie Pie…” Applejack began, her voice grew more hesitant the more Pinkie pressed her muzzle against hers. “Ah see you, uh, have been lookin fer somepony?”

“Well DUH!” She bounced off Applejack and dashed between two buildings, gluing three posters each onto them. “I know everypony in Ponyville, except for this colt, and if I don’t know who this pony is, that means he must be new to Ponyville! Normally my neck would get all woochie woochie to tell me that there was a new pony in town, but I must have missed it when I got a whole bunch of woochie woochie’s from the rock concert! That means that this colt hasn’t been welcomed to Ponyville for TWO DAYS!!”

Applejack was about to respond, but she was cut off by more Pinkie before she could. “In order to fix that, I spent all of last night in front of a printing press, but then I realized I never actually saw his face, but I needed his face to make the picture for the missing pony template! So I woke up Twilight at 2 am, and she used her magic to give me a perfect image of the colt from when she met him. I redrew his face and cutie mark, printed five hundred and thirty three copies, and have been sharing them around town since then!”

“Ah can see that Pinkie… but don’tcha think this may be a bit… much?” The concerned apple farmer finally got the pink menace to slow down. If only for a moment, so that she could blink at her exactly two times.

“Too much?” Pinkie asked, confused on why her friend would say that. “How could it be too much?”

“Look at the posters yer makin’, Pinkie. What do they remind ya of?”

“…Find a friend posters?”

“No. Foalnappin’ posters. Ya makin’ it look like this fella was foalnapped.”

The gears began to turn in that cotton candy head. Dots connected to other dots. An image formed inside of her head. One that made the situation become crystal clear to Pinkie Pie. The image was of a dancing monkey on a rolling ball, it was irrelevant to the revelation.

“Oh, oooooooh…. Oooh…”

“Yup, ah imagine the colt in question may become a tad scared of what all these posters are implyin’ about him.”

“I don’t want to scare him! I just wanted to conduct a village-wide search for him!”

The two mares were then joined by a third. Twilight Sparkle, carrying in her magic a stack of posters. “Pinkie Pie, why do I have twenty of these dangling from my home?”

“To make sure ponies saw them!”

“There was one on every other tree at the front of the orchard too.” Applejack said in return, she let out a long sigh and focused her eyes on her distraught friend. “Ah know you wanna meet this fella an’ all, but you’ve never had to do all this to meet any other pony, have ya?”

The poofy mane of Pinkie deflated as her ears fell back. “No… But you girls don’t understand! It’s really important that I find him!”

“And why is that, Pinkie?” Twilight asked. “We all were a bit concerned about this stranger’s behavior, sure, but hunting him down to find out why isn’t necessary.”

“Yes it IS!” Pinkie cried, stomping her hoof on the ground. “This is the latest I've ever been to welcoming somepony to Ponyville! Two whole days of wandering around the town without knowing anypony! Two days of being unsure whether he will fit in, or if ponies will think he’s weird for cracking his neck or his crooked teeth or his mane-do! I want to, no, I NEED to make sure he feels welcome in town! To know that he can fit in just fine and make lots and lots of friends, even with his front tooth being at a 3 degree angle!”

Pinkie’s outburst didn’t stop there. A pink hoof bumping into Twilight’s chest. “You told me that this colt was acting really strange two days ago, and Fluttershy found him in a flower field all alone!” Her hoof then bumped into Applejack’s chest. “And then you told me that Rainbow Dash saw him having a panic attack in the orchard! Don’t you see? He’s scared, and needs to be assured that Ponyville is a warm and welcome place that he doesn’t have to be scared of!”

The angry pink hoof finally stomped down into the dirt. A high pitched huff escaping her cheeks. Pinkie Pie did everything in her power to look angry. All it really did was make her look like a puffed up marshmallow. Even if her anger couldn’t be taken seriously, her words could. Both Applejack and Twilight shared a look that clearly understood the intentions behind Pinkie Pie’s actions. They both smiled at their shared friend.

“Alright, sugarcube. We get what ya mean.”

“I’m sorry, Pinkie Pie. We didn’t mean to undermine your feelings about it. Of course we understand that you want the absolute best for this colt. Even if he is a complete stranger to you. We’ll help make sure you get the chance to welcome him, too.”

“Really?!”

“Really. But why don’t we do it with a few less posters? Ah’m sure everypony in town knows what he looks like by now.”

The anger had completely subsided, and her mane poofed back up into its normal shade of pink. A giggle escaped the pink mare’s lips. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I can probably let Rainbow Dash stop flying around that banner then.”

“The what now?”

All of their heads soon turned towards the sky. A rainbow streak flying through the air, with a large white and decorated banner followed behind it. On it was the face of the colt they were searching for, as well as a singular question. HAVE YOU SEEN THIS COLT? Applejack and Twilight looked back towards Pinkie, who whistled innocently to the side.

The rainbow colored distraction gave the brown stallion hiding behind a newspaper nearby plenty of time to sneak away.

“Great Withering Stallions…”

“We have a very big problem, Mr. High Rise.” Time Turner called out to his new roommate. Rushing down the basement stairs to meet him. High Rise already had one of the posters in his hand.

“You’re telling me…” The drummer said as he turned the poster towards Time Turner.

“Dear Celestia, where did you get that?!”

“A pegasus came down here and gave it to me.”

“A pegasu-?!… Grey fur, bubbles for a cutie mark, eyes…?”

“Looking in different directions? Yes.”

“Ditzy!” The doctor released a drawn out sigh. “I asked her to stop letting herself into my home.”

“Doctor.” High Rise said, rising to his hooves and approaching him. “What is going on? Why are there posters with my face on them? Disturbingly accurate versions of my face!”

“Well, High Rise. It seems that you may have left a bigger impression on a few of the ponies in town than you may have thought.”

Dr. Hooves’ investigation throughout the day was then relayed to High Rise. From what he had first heard from Twilight Sparkle when he went to pick up the books. To the sudden explosion of Missing Pony papers that were scattered throughout town. It seemed that after High Rise’s panic episode two days prior, the friend group of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy grew concerned for his well being. Since they each saw him or heard him acting strange.

Their concern eventually led them to talking about him to another member of their group. The resident baker and party planner Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie has a tradition of greeting every new pony in Ponyville, and welcoming them to the town. Many of these ponies are also given a welcome party to celebrate their arrival, so that they can make friends and feel more comfortable in the town. Every new pony wasn’t an exaggeration. So when Pinkie Pie learned that a new pony had come to Ponyville, and she had missed being able to welcome him? The party planner became dead set on finding him. Even now, Pinkie has enlisted the help of at least three of her friends in trying to find High Rise.

Which leads them to right now, where they are still out there, trying to find him. High Rise cursed himself for his bad luck. In his moment of weakness, he happened to have caught the attention of not one, not two, but five of the Elements of Harmony. It had to be some kind of divine punishment for breaking the rules of time. For him to be in this situation.

Then an even worse thought came to him.

“Wait, if they’re all out there looking for me… then that means they’re all not doing the things they’re supposed to be doing!” High Rise’s hoof began to tap the ground in quick succession. “What if something important was supposed to happen today, and they weren’t there because they were looking for me?!”

TapTapTapTapTapTapTapTap-

“High Rise!” The Doctor grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him violently. Ripping him from his panicked state and forcing the stallion to solely focus on him. “I need you to stay calm, and listen to me for a short amount of time, can you do that?”

High Rise nodded.

“Good.” Time Turner then let go of him, and they both found themselves sitting on the ground across from each other. The Doctor then reached out and grabbed one of the books from the stack nearby. A book that detailed theories and philosophical discussions based around the flow of time.

“What we are in the middle of right now, High Rise, is a theoretical idea known as The Butterfly Effect.” He opened the book to a specific page, which showed a diagram of a butterfly and detailed the effect in full. “The idea is that the smallest of changes to the world around us can have greater lasting impacts. Such as a tornado being formed a certain way because of how a butterfly flapped its wings a week earlier. The choices and actions we take, no matter how insignificant they may seem, can and will have greater consequences than anyone can expect. Your interactions with these ponies, no matter how short they were, left an effect that cascaded into what it is now. Does that make sense?”

“…Yeah, it does, but that doesn’t really help me feel any calmer.”

“Correct, anything you say or do can have long lasting consequences, but your reactions to that are just as capable of it!” The Doctor looked down at High Rise’s back leg, which had already started tapping again. “What I mean to say is, no matter what you do while you are in the past, there will be consequences, High Rise. There is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent that.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? Let myself irreversibly change history?!”

“No, but you can first relax.”

Another drawn out sigh is brought out of the Doctor before he gets back up on his hooves. Shifting around to sit next to High Rise. Gently, he raised a hoof to pat him on the back. An effect that slowed down his panic fueled tapping.

“I would never try to say I understand what it is you are going through, High Rise. You fear for a future lost because of mistakes made today, but how will you know if what you did will make the differences you believe they will? Tell me, you are trying to avoid the Elements of Harmony, is that correct?”

High Rise nodded his head. “I can’t tell you why.”

“I know you cannot, and you don’t have to. Those mares have already saved Equestria twice now.”

“…Wait, they already have two?” High Rise asked.

“You know of the Elements of Harmony, but you don’t know when certain events occured? I suppose you don’t have exact dates to work with in your future?”

“We do…but I wasn’t exactly the best in history, or math, or science. I was pretty good in music class.”

“I see, well, yes. The Elements of Harmony have saved Equestria from eternal night at the hooves of Nightmare Moon. As well as from the clutches of chaos from the draconequus Discord. Us citizens of Ponyville recognize them for the heroes that they are, and already know that they will probably be there to save the day again in the future. You are afraid that your influence on the world could change events to prevent them from saving the day, is that correct?”

“…Yes.”

“Then why were you not afraid of changing the future of the Night-Mares when you performed with them?”

High Rise opened his mouth to speak, but closed it soon after. His tapping had come to a stop, having to truly think about that. Being their biggest fan in one hundred years, he knew for certain that the Night-Mares met their drummer while holding auditions in Manehattan. In his mind, he thought that, as long as he didn’t stick around, everything would turn out okay. But would it really be okay? What if what he did change how they viewed their auditions? Any amount of possible changes could happen now, all because of what he did… So why wasn’t he afraid of that?

Then he thought about that walk to the Golden Oak Library, the fears that were supplanted in him as he knocked on the door. The fears that overtook him and made him run away. It all started then, when he became afraid.

“I know what it is.” High Rise finally said. “I’m not afraid of changing the future, I'm afraid of changing Twilight Sparkle’s future.”

The Doctor’s brows raised up high, taking in the information. He wanted to pry, to find out what he meant, but he couldn’t. That information wasn’t for him to know, and he-

“Dr. Hooves, will you let me tell you something about the future? Something important, and it will make everything…make sense, I think.”

Well if he was offering. “As long as we do not record it, go ahead.”

High Rise took in a deep breath, for he knew what he was about to say would have far greater consequences than anything else he had done before.

“In the future, there will be a different ruler of Equestria. Celestia and Luna no longer sit on the seat of power. The one who rules Equestria is Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

This time it was Dr. Hooves who blinked exactly twice.

“And Princess Twilight…”

_ _ _ _

“…I see.” Dr. Hooves tapped his chin. Absorbing the conversation he just had with High Rise. It was a lot to absorb, and he had no idea how to respond to it at first. “I understand why you are afraid of changing Twilight’s future now.” The weight of what he told him still held down his thoughts, but Time Turner knew he had to focus on the more important thing at this time. The problems happening 100 years in the future are not something he can solve.

“High Rise, what you have told me, it does not happen until after one hundred years from now, is that correct?”

He nodded.

“Then it is not something that either of us can possibly begin to worry about. What will happen across the next century will be influenced by thousands upon thousands of ponies, including ourselves. I will not even live long enough to see it!”

“But if I can get back home, I will! What if what I did here makes things worse? How could I ever forgive myself for that?”

“By understanding that it is outside of your control. You are one mere pony, High Rise. If today has proved anything to us, it is that we cannot possibly hope to control the twists and turns of time. If we wish to find any opportunity to take you back home, we have to be able to focus on it. Not constantly worrying about what you could possibly change.”

“But-“

“No buts! You have already become the focus of the very mares you wished to avoid. These actions cannot be reversed, all that can be done is deciding what to do next. Can you agree to that?”

He wanted to argue, the fears he had were still at the forefront of his mind. Unfortunately, the Doctor’s reasoning was sound. What was he supposed to do? Freak out anytime he risks changing the future? He already did that, and the poster sitting next to him proved that panicking wasn’t any better. High Rise had to calm himself, to push those fears away, and think about this practically, like Time Turner has. With a calming breath, he spoke.

“Yes, I agree… I can’t keep hiding and acting like this. I’m sorry, Doctor.”

After all the panic and stress, a smile finally returned to the Doctor’s face. “It’s quite alright, dear boy. If I were in your position, I do not think I would fare much better. I was the one that pushed the idea of hiding in the first place, a shortsighted idea, in retrospect.”

His hoof reached towards his back again and patted High Rise. He didn’t want to admit it, but it felt pretty good, and definitely helped calm his nerves. “So… I may have an idea.” He said to the doctor.

“And what is that idea of yours?”

“When that pegasus came in here, Ditzy, was it? I told her that I was an old friend of yours, and I was staying at your place for a little while. She seemed to believe what I said, and didn’t think much else of it.”

“So you wish to reveal yourself? Even with the risks that would entail from it?”

“The Element of Laughter won’t stop until she finds me, right? So if I let her find me, and she sees i’m just a friend of yours, they’ll eventually forget about me and move on.”

“You do understand that this will likely mean a welcome party for you. Are you alright with that?”

Right… “Well, no, but if it’s something I can’t avoid, it’d be better to get it over with quickly, right?”

Dr. Hooves smiled wide. “Good, as long as we do not reveal your nature as a pony of the future. This should go off without a hitch. Shall we head outside now?”

“Ah! Maybe not today, could I mentally prepare myself for it? First thing in the morning.”

“Of course, once this is over, we can properly get started with finding you a way home!”

After their discussion had come to a close, High Rise ascended the stairs to try and get some rest. He was expecting that the fears and stress he had built up would keep him awake that night, but to his own surprise. He was soon out like a light.

While High Rise was settled into bed, Time Turner stayed behind in the basement lab. Where he pulled out his recording device. With a click, it whirred into life.

Project Century, log two. From now on I will be titling these recordings as Project Century. As before, the goal of Project Century shall be to document my research into Time Travel, both magical and mundane, as well as find a way to bring the temporal anomaly High Rise back to his home, one hundred years in the future.

Today has been a most hectic day. From the moment I grabbed reading materials to the moment I record this log. Subject High Rise has gained the attention of the ponies who make up the Elements of Harmony. Specifically, the Element of Laughter, Pinkie Pie. Who seeks to find the subject and welcome him to Ponyville properly. High Rise almost fell into another tapping filled panic attack at this knowledge, but thankfully, we were able to calmly discuss the situation as a whole. This conversation also revealed to me parts of the future that I will not repeat in this recording, but the contents helped me to better understand why it was that High Rise was so afraid to interact with the Elements.

Hiding High Rise, as was my original idea, was no longer a feasible option, and soon after our conversation, he agreed. We have decided to reveal him to Ponyville tomorrow morning, where he will be introduced as an old friend of mine who is staying with me. Hopefully, after the excitement of a new pony in Ponyville dies down, High Rise will be able to lay low, and I will be able to begin my research in full. I will make a detailed recording of the events that shall occur tomorrow in my next log.

Click.

Time Turner then let out a large yawn while he stored away the new log. Soon, he was off to bed as well. Tucked away into his sheets to rest until morning.

Neither Time Turner nor High Rise saw the cotton candy shadow that walked outside of their windows.

4 - A Party for a Drummer

View Online

After her discussion with Twilight Sparkle and Applejack, Pinkie Pie had stopped handing out Missing Pony posters. As well as helped take down many of the ones she already posted. Throughout it all, she kept a firm watch on the town. One eye always checking to see if the new colt in town came walking by. He didn’t, Pinkie knew that because she was watching!

Even now, Pinkie Pie was on the hunt! Half of her body sticking out of a chimney, her hooves held a pair of binoculars to her eyes. Scanning her surroundings for any signs of a goggles wearing stallion. She may not be trying to start a search party for him, but she will find him! Even if it’s the last thing sh-

“Hey Pinkie Pie…”

The binoculars turned to look towards the pegasus talking to her. All Pinkie could see was the yellow of her eyeball. “Who is it? You’re really yellow!”

“Um, Pinkie, it’s me, Ditzy Doo? Can you see me?”

“Yeah! But you’re REALLY big! When did you get so huge?”

“Oooh, yeah, I must look pretty big with binoculars on.” Ditzy giggled, and Pinkie brought down her goggles.

“Oh hey Ditzy! What’s up?” She asked, and her giggling quickly became an uncomfortable stutter.

“W-Well, do you happen to have another stack of those posters you wanted handed out? I may have dropped the ones I had in the river…”

“That’s okay! We’re all done with handing them out anyways, so it’s no biggie.”

Ditzy Doo always appreciated working with Pinkie Pie. She was always so nice, even when Ditzy fumbled a cake onto the ground. Which she did at least three different times. Pinkie always gave her a pat on the head and baked a brand new one. Thankfully, she didn’t have to bake it a fourth time for that trip.

“Did you find that pony you were looking for then?” Ditzy asked.

“Nope! That’s why I'm still looking for him. You didn’t happen to see him, did you Ditzy?”

“I don’t think so, but I did meet somepony.”

“Uh huh, uh huh.”

Pinkie was no longer interested in the conversation, she put back up her binoculars and kept searching. An ear was still swiveled towards Ditzy, however. Pinkie wouldn’t just ignore her as she kept talking!

“He was this pony that’s staying with the doc. I didn’t think much of it at first.”

“Uh huh”

“But then he called me really cool! Nopony’s ever called me cool. What does it mean when a stallion tells you you’re really cool?”

“Obviously he thinks you’re cool, Ditzy!”

“Yeah, but what does it mean when a stallion thinks you’re cool?”

“Well then he likes you, silly!”

For a few moments, both of Ditzy’s eyes pointed towards Pinkie Pie. A tilt of her head, then a blink, then a tint of red. “Really?… You think so?”

“Duh!! Who was it?”

“I never got his name…”

“That’s okey dokey.” Pinkie was surprisingly good at engaging conversation while watching for a stallion from inside a chimney. “Tell me what he looks like and I'll tell you!”

“Okay!” Ditzy smiled. “He is a light brown earth pony, kind of like sand when it’s damp. With medium length curly brown hair, and bright emerald green eyes. Oh, and he had a pair of goggles on his he- Oh hi Pinkie, when did you get so close?”

“Where was this pony again?!?!”

“Staying at Dr. Hooves’ place. I found him in his basement.”

And before Ditzy could react, she was gone. Not before Pinkie hugged the pegasus and left a cupcake in her hooves. A pink blur dashing off into the distance, the bottom half of the blur was shaded black from the chimney.

“How have you been, High Rise?”

“…I wish I could say I was better.”

“Your band? Right? I’m so sorry.”

“It was inevitable, I guess.”

“Yeah…”

High Rise remembered this place. A private study for the personal student of Princess Twilight Sparkle. He came here after his band had broken apart. An argument between their two lead guitarists broke open the dam of hidden resentments and frustrations between them. High Rise tried to calm everything down, to help them reconcile, but it was impossible. The only one who wanted to stay together was him.

“Why doesn’t anypony get along anymore?” He asked his friend. “We shouldn’t be like this. Even if-… Sorry, I shouldn’t bring that up.”

“No, it’s alright.”

A long silence fell between them. He remembered how hard it was to talk to his own friend around this time. His friend was so full of grief, he would do anything to help her move forward.

“Do you think things will go back to the way they once were?” She asked him.

“Maybe not the same… but I think it will get better. Some day.”

“You’ve always been so positive, High Rise.”

It was a bittersweet feeling, being able to see the bright side. Having hope in a hopeless situation.

“If only things could go back to the way they were…” His friend surmised, and High Rise remembered the moment she had decided to try and turn back time.

Then he awoke.

A full night's rest did wonders for High Rise’s tension. His eyes were stirred by the slightest bit of sunlight peeking out of the bedroom blinds. He didn’t remember closing the blinds, but he appreciated the extra time it gave him to sleep in. Slowly, he brought himself onto his hooves, and grabbed the bronze aviator goggles laying next to the bed. Placing them back onto his forehead. His hoof gently brushed the glass, a warm smile on his face. It reminded him of home.

After cleaning himself up and getting a brush stuck in his mane, he headed downstairs where he was greeted by Time Turner. Two cups of coffee out on the table between them. “Good Morning, Mr. Rise.” He said with a welcoming smile. The blinds were closed on the first floor as well.

“Morning, Doctor.” High Rise said with a yawn, the coffee on the table quickly reached his hooves. “Thanks.”

“You are welcome, did you sleep well?”

Clink, Shirk, Shiiift.

“Pretty well, actually. Best I've slept since… well since I got here.”

Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk.

“I’m glad to hear that! Today is a big day, have you prepared yourself for it?”

“I don’t know if i’d say i’m prepared, but the sooner we do it the better.”

Giggle Giggle.

“You know, Doc? The machines downstairs are pretty loud this morning.”

“Hrm, i’ll have to do some calibrations to some of my equipment. I’ve never heard it make such a noise.”

The two looked at each other, deadpan, then simultaneously shrugged. Their slurps of coffee coming out at the exact same time.

“What should I expect? From the Element of Laughter, I mean.”

“Far more energy than you can imagine. It will be overwhelming at first, but everything she does has the singular goal of making the ponies around her happy. It is better to play along and let her do her thing. You’ll even have fun if you do.”

“Ah, I've always been good at matching other ponies’ tempo.”

“A useful trait to have, far better than panic.”

High Rise chuckled. “Yeah, you’re not wrong there.”

Giggle Giggl- Sssh!

“I must say, I have no idea which of my tools is doing that!”

“Do you want to postpone my introductions until you can fix that?”

“No no, it’ll be easier to do this bright and early. So that the rest of the day can be spent researching. I’ll take care of it later.”

“Alright, shall we get going then?”

Murmur Murmur.

“I suppose we shall. Remember, you are my old friend from Trottingham High. The specific details are yours to fill, and remember, I will be there with you if you need assistance.”

“I appreciate it, Doc.” High Rise grinned and got up with him. “I think I'll be okay, no more worrying about what will happen. Just get it done and come back. Maybe I can even convince Pinkie Pie to not throw me a party.”

“Possibly! Though I have never seen somepony succeed. You could be the first.”

“I could!”

The two laughed again, joined by another giggle from some broken machine. Together they approached the door, and with a calming breath High Rise swung it open. Today will be okay, just take it one step at a-

“SURPRISE!!”

Balloons flew into the air, streamers popped and confetti rained from the sky. All at once, High Rise had felt like he had walked into circus grounds. Circus music included. Tables decorated with a pastel rainbow assortment of colors were scattered across the street outside the Doctor’s house. On the tables were anything from punch bowls, to cakes and sweets, to party games. Above all of that, was a banner held aloft by two pegasi. Bearing on it a simple message.

“WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!”

What felt like a hundred eyes were currently gazing towards the open doorway. Right at the goggles-wearing earth pony. What they saw was a pony currently suffering from sensory overload. His ears didn’t know where to point. The pupils of his eyes became tiny dots cast adrift in a white sea. The jawbone ceased to stay upright, falling as far as the joint physically allowed it to. Motor functions failed to process this information, and as such, left him in a state of shock.

High Rise was very surprised. He didn’t even register when a pink marshmallow came up to him.

“Hi there! My name is Pinkie Pie and I welcome everypony in Ponyville, but I somehow missed welcoming you to Ponyville when you came three whole days ago! To make up for being so darned late, I made you an extra special, extra big, extra awesome surprise Welcome to Ponyville party just for you! I only found out where you were staying last night from Ditzy, so I had to work extra super hard to set everything up overnight. Not everypony in Ponyville came because it’s really early in the morning and a lot of ponies have work to do, but a lot of ponies DID come and they’re all here to meet you! I would have told them more about you but I completely missed the chance to meet you for three days, so I don’t actually know your name! So let me reintroduce myself, my name is Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?”

Silence fell between them, not a single pony in the crowd spoke a single word. High Rise finally regained control of eyeballs, scanning the world around him. First, he suspected that Time Turner had something to do with this party, but one cursory glance at the shocked doctor disproved that notion. Then he scanned the crowd behind the pink mare in front of him. There, he saw a handful of familiar faces. Ditzy Doo, the snitch he met yesterday, was in the front of the crowd with a pointy party hat on. Nearby that pegasus were the faces of the mares he had met during his panic episode. The Element of Kindness, Fluttershy. The Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash. The Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle.

They all had happy looks on their faces. Ready to enjoy a party and meet a possible new friend. That lump in his throat began to crawl its way back, to block any form of forward progress. His body told him to run the moment he saw Twilight Sparkle. Not because he was afraid of her, but because he was afraid of being around her.

But the time to prepare himself came and reminded High Rise that there was nothing he could do to stop it. The ponies in Ponyville knew who he was and the only way to get them to move on was to do this. When he could feel his body relax again, High Rise let out a drawn out breath. Then, High Rise smiled at Pinkie Pie.

“It’s nice to meet you, Pinkie. I’m High Rise.”

Pinkie Pie smiled a smile that was larger than any smile he had ever seen someone smile. A pink hoof wrapped around him, Pinkie got up on her hind legs, and called out to the crowd.

“Everypony! Meet High Rise!”

All at once, the crowd responded.

“Welcome to Ponyville, High Rise!”

In Canterlot, the Princesses Celestia and Luna are seen as the epitome of grace and high society. Perfection is in their every action, every moment. Celestia is the all-loving being of the sun, with room in her hearts for all of her little ponies. A motherly figure to some, a great and wise teacher to others, the great ruler of Equestria to all. Luna is the cool and mysterious mare of the night. The protector of dreams, the ponies of Equestria find her within their own nightmares, calming their fears and bringing with it a peaceful rest. They are beautiful, with manes that seem to blow in an unseen breeze wherever they go.

Everywhere except breakfast.

Crunch, Munch, Munch.

“We are appalled by what some of these stallions begin to dream about after we visit them, sister. It is beyond vulgar!”

“Munch… That is not too different from how they were one thousand years ago, Lulu.”

A daily ritual had been started ever since the return of Princess Luna in Canterlot Castle. Every morning, the private wing of Celestia and Luna are vacated, and the two sisters have breakfast together in peace and quiet. This time without servants, or dignitaries, or guards, or visitors gave the two time to put down the royal decorum and talk to each other like sisters. With their hair no longer flowing in an intangible breeze, and their crowns placed to the side, they chatted like any other ponies, and Celestia loved the chance to be with her sister in this way. All while she stuffed her mouth with buttered toast.

“It is very different! Stallions of millennia past used to fantasize about the great ruler of the night. In awe and in fear of our great majesty. Now, they fantasize us as a demure princess in need of a strong and valiant knight. The colts of modern day have grown confident in themselves.”

“Maybe, but they are merely fantasies. Crunch…”

“Yes, we understand, but we wish that they fantasize something less… demeaning! Thou still get depicted as the great princess of the sun in their dreams…”

Celestia giggled, using a napkin to clean the crumbs off her cheek. “I am sure that there will be a colt who will create a fantasy in his dreams with the beautiful, alluring goddess of the night.”

“Sister!”

The giggling became a full laugh, Luna’s anger quickly subsiding before joining in the laughter herself. This is what Celestia missed the most from these past one thousand years, the times together with the most important pony in her life. When their laughter finally came to an end, Celestia was back to her toast.

“Speaking of interesting dreams, we did find ourselves visiting one that was quite peculiar.”

“Munch… How so?”

“It was a dream that reflected a memory more than fantasy, but could not have been a memory. The details within it were clearly incorrect. He dreamed of Canterlot Castle, where he was talking with the personal student to the Princess.”

“You mean Twilight Sparkle? I do not see how that would be odd, was it one of her friends?”

“No, in fact, we do not believe they know each other at all. As well, it was not your student, it was the personal student of Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia stopped just before her last bite of toast, a clear look of surprise pointed towards her sister. “A fantasy of my student being a Princess?”

“Not fantasy, memory.” Luna corrected. “It was a peculiar dream that ended far too soon for us to make sense of it.”

No response came from Celestia this time, the fun of the morning breakfast seems to have drained from her. Luna didn’t notice this change, a yawn escaping her before she could.

“I believe it is time for me to retire, we shall see you at dinner, sister?”

“Yes of course, Lulu… before you go, what was the name of the pony who had that peculiar dream?”

“He was a stallion by the name of High Rise. Currently residing in the town of Ponyville.”

“I see.” Celestia tapped her chin, then threw a smile onto her face to watch Luna depart. “Sleep well, dear sister!”

It took only a few moments for the princess of the sun to regain her majestic form. Her pink mane blew out into a rainbow, her posture straightened, and regalia fitted. The image of the great ruler she is, now perfectly formed upon her. Though as she walked out from the dining hall to start her day properly, a gnawing thought had been left on her mind. About a colt in Ponyville, who possibly knew about her plans for her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle…

One has to truly experience a Pinkie Pie party to understand just what it is that makes them the best parties you can ever attend. The contents of the party are only a single piece of it. In fact, this welcoming party could be compared to a regular foal’s birthday party in its style. With colorful balloons and streamers to catch the eye, sweets and baked goodies all around to snack on, and simple party games for ponies of all ages to participate in.

What made her parties the best was Pinkie Pie herself. Her excitability, her manic attentiveness, and ability to burst out a new entertaining thing whenever the atmosphere began to die down. Within minutes of attending his welcoming party, Pinkie Pie had broken down what was left of High Rise’s barriers, and made him truly want to just have fun.

Even when the Elements of Harmony began to approach him.

“Hello High Rise! Are you enjoying your party?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she approached, followed by her two pegasus friends.

“I am!” He replied. “I really wasn’t expecting anything like this, but it’s been a blast!”

Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy each smiled towards him. Each trying to ignore the fact that High Rise had a cupcake frosting beard on his face. Pinkie had given him cupcakes almost immediately after his introduction, and he wasted no time chowing down.

“Yeah-! Pinkie’s parties are always awesome.” Rainbow said.

“I am glad to hear that.” Twilight chimed in. “Allow me to introduce myself and my friends. My name is Twilight Sparkle, the pegasus next to me is Fluttershy.” She gestured towards the yellow and pink pegasus, who hid herself behind her own mane. “And this is-“

“Rainbow Dash, future Wonderbolt, fastest flier in Equestria~” Rainbow Dash interjected, crossing her hooves and flashing a smug grin.

“-yes, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight chuckled. “It’s nice to meet you, High Rise, but I am correct in saying that we have already met, right?”

And there it is. High Rise was expecting this would happen. In fact, half of his thoughts this past night was on how he was going to explain this. There really wasn’t a plausible answer, and he certainly couldn’t say ‘I know who you are in the future and I panicked’. So he decided on a different way to do it.

“Yup.” He replied nonchalantly.

“We just wanted to, um.” Fluttershy finally spoke up, her voice surprisingly louder than the last time he heard her. Does it go up every time you speak to her? Or the presence of her friends helped to open up her shell. “We just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Yeah, dude, I dunno what was happening but you were panicking like crazy when I saw you.”

“Ah, yeah, about that…” It was time for the master plan, the method he would use to end any conversation about this topic. It was going to really ruin his dignity, but it would do the job.

“I’m sorry about everything you saw back there… I had a few hard ciders during the Night-Mares show that night, and, well…”

The three mares had their eyes go wide, unsure of how to respond.

“Oh my.”

“Dude.”

“…eep!”

“Yeeeaah.” High Rise bowed his head low. “I am very sorry about that, I'd appreciate it if we could… forget about that?”

“O-Oh of course!” Twilight stammered, flustered at the mere thought of what hard cider had (falsely) made High Rise do. “I would never judge anypony for that, one’s tolerance can be very different. N-Not that I would know that, i’ve never had it myself, but I understand now that you were under the influence of something that affected your mind in-“

“Twi, he gets it.” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s cool, man. All forgotten.”

If there was one thing High Rise had learned today, it was that the Elements of Harmony were surprisingly innocent. The thought crossed his mind about what it would look like to see Twilight Sparkle try hard cider… and the better part of his mind squashed that thought right away. Don’t ruin a pony’s innocence, especially a future princess’.

“Thanks.” High Rise said with a smile.

“I believe I overheard something rather scandalous.” A new voice entered into the conversation. A white mare with a perfect purple mane cascading down her head and neck. “Don’t fret over it, darling. We all have an experience like that at least once in our lives.”

“You have, Rarity?” Rainbow Dash leaned in towards the new mare, raising a brow.

“Yes, and just like Sir High Rise’s moment, it is gone and forgotten.”

“High Rise, this is another one of my friends, Rarity.” Twilight introduced him to the white mare, who fluttered her eyes in response.

“Rarity?” High Rise inquired.

“Like a one of a kind gem.” Rarity replied.

“For a one of a kind mare.”

The group all looked in surprise at High Rise. Except for Twilight, who didn’t register that he had just flirted with one of her friends. While even Rarity was taken aback by the sudden flirtation. “My oh my, what a charmer.” She giggled and batted her eyelashes. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine.”

“Hey! You’re already met all my friends!” Pinkie Pie suddenly burst into the conversation. Feigning an annoyed look that she didn’t get to introduce him. “The only one missing is Applejack, but she was busy at Sweet Apple Acres to attend.”

“That’s alright.” High Rise said with a wave of his hoof. “I’m sure a lot of ponies were busy. I’m honestly amazed there are this many here so early.”

“That’s because they’re all here to meet you, silly! C’mon I know just who to introduce you to next!”

The next 20-30 minutes of the party consisted of Pinkie Pie grabbing High Rise by the hoof and bringing him along to meet each and every pony at the party. Dr. Hooves stayed silent for the most part, quietly watching High Rise as he waited to see if he would ever need his help. To the doctor’s surprise, he never once needed it. Once High Rise had broken out of his shell, he genuinely lived up to his promise yesterday. No matter what pony he met, he was able to match their energy and connect with them in a way he never would have expected.

Their cover story went off without a hitch as well. Anytime a pony asked about his history with Time Turner, High Rise was able to pull out a brand new story to tell about their made up relationship. Even if some of them painted Time Turner as an introverted nerd being dragged around by his extroverted best buddy. Nopony questioned their authenticity, only enjoying the stories and the way he painted them.

When Pinkie Pie had finished approaching every pony in the party with High Rise in tow, Time Turner approached him with renewed interest.

“Is this how you are really like, High Rise?” The Doctor pondered in a hushed voice. “You are more of a socialite than I expected.”

“I told you, doc.” High Rise grinned. “I’m pretty good at matching the tempo.”

The rest of the morning was spent without any stress or worry. Enjoying the party games Pinkie Pie had prepared. From board games to group activities, like Tangler. Where ponies placed their hooves on colored circles on the ground until they became twisted up. High Rise’s longer than average legs came in useful for this game, but Pinkie’s ability to contort her body in every which way proved too much for the stallion. In his match against the pink menace, he found his back legs buckling underneath him. Falling flat on his face.

“That was a good showing.” Rarity commented as High Rise limped off the gamepad. “Most ponies aren’t able to last that long against Pinkie Pie.”

“Yeah, I think I stretched a muscle doing that.” High Rise watched as Pinkie began to play against her next opponent. A filly by the name of Sweetie Belle. He couldn’t help but feel this game was unfair, given how stubby the foal’s legs were compared to Pinkie.

“Do your best, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity called out, the foal did happen to be her little sister. “Are you hoping for some form of comfort by mentioning that?”

“I’m sure you’d make me feel much better, Rarity, but I'll have to refuse.”

“Oh my!” Rarity giggled. “You haven’t exactly shied away from flirting with me this entire party. Getting cold hooves now of all times?”

High Rise looked up at Rarity, his eyebrows raised. “Wait, we were flirting?”

“Do you often call mares you first meet a ‘one of a kind’ mare?”

“Well, yeah, if it makes them happy to hear that.”

The innocent smile on High Rise left Rarity dumbfounded. He actually wasn’t flirting with her? “Is that so?”

“Yep, it’s something I do with anypony I meet really. A compliment goes a long way to starting a good connection, and I have to give a compliment if I get one of course. Plus…” He leaned closer to Rarity. “I actually don’t favor mares.”

“Oh….Oh!… Oooh…” Rarity turned her head, and realized a unique thing about the newest pony in Ponyville. All around them, there were mares eyeing High Rise. Since Pinkie Pie had introduced him to everypony here personally, he had to have given a personal compliment to every single mare here…

And all of them had no idea he was into stallions.

“Darling.” Rarity grabbed his attention. “I wish you the best of luck.”

Rarity walked off after that, leaving a confused High Rise sitting at the side of the Tangler game. He didn’t even notice that he was being watched.

Celestia’s sun had reached its height in the sky. Marking the end of the welcome party. Those who stayed behind were the ponies who helped clean up the mess from the party. Including Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Time Turner, and surprisingly, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow wasn’t actually helping, but she was there.

“Hey, High Rise.” She asked from the low flying cloud she lazed on. “Could I see those goggles you’re always wearing?”

He looked up at the cloud from the garbage he was picking up. “Sure, but be careful with them please.”

Delicately, High Rise took off his pair of goggles and held them up to the cloud. Rainbow reached down to take it from him. “I won’t break them, man, I just wanna see.”

“I know, they’re just important to me.”

“I’ll be careful.” She says while swinging them around her hoof. The pegasus then shifted the goggles back and forth in front of her. Inspecting every side of it. All of a sudden, she let out a gasp in surprise.

“This is a pair of goggles that the Stormclouds wear!!” Rainbow squealed in glee. “Oh man, these are way cooler than I thought!”

“The Stormclouds?” Fluttershy asked from the table she was clearing.

“Yeah! They’re only the premiere Cloudsdale music group. They do performances alongside the Wonderbolts! The Stormclouds tie in music to play along with the Wonderbolts’ aerobatic routines! There’s this one where the bass player starts doing this really fast ‘dunuhnuhnuhnuh’ part as the Wonderbolts go into a full dive-.”

High Rise knew exactly which song she was referencing. He couldn’t help but tag along on her fangirling moment. “-and as the Wonderbolts pull up one by one, each instrument joins in until the chorus explodes with the thunder clouds!”

“Oooh, yeah!” A hoof reached out towards the stallion, and he wasted no time in bumping it with his own. “I didn’t expect an earth pony to be such a big Stormclouds fan!”

“My dad’s a pegasus, and he was a-“ The words caught in his throat, what he was about to say would have had far too many implications for Rainbow Dash to consider. “-Uuh, he was a big fan of theirs!”

“That does sound nice… but maybe a bit too loud for me.”

“Everything’s too loud for you, Fluttershy… Hey, wait a minute.”

The blue pegasus turned over the goggles in her hooves again. Where she noticed an engraving on the side of them. Etched into the bronze plate of the goggles was the number 8. With the words ‘generation’ etched above the number. Rainbow Dash scrutinized this little detail, before sending a confused look down towards High Rise.

“Why does this say the eighth generation Stormclouds?” She asked him. “We’re on the fourth generation of Stormclouds.”

That lump in his throat had formed again. The Stormclouds group was known to rotate members over the years, much like the Wonderbolts. Each new group that comes in to be the Stormclouds is considered a new generation. In High Rise’s time, that was the eighth generation. So of course he’d have an eighth generation pair of goggles…

How exactly was he supposed to explain this?

“Ah, I remember this.” Time Turner jutted himself into the conversation. “Your father gave that to you for your birthday, correct? I believe he thought it was a genuine pair of goggles, but didn’t realize it was a replica.”

Saved by the Doctor! “Y-Yeah, that’s right. They’re not a real pair…” It hurt to say that last sentence. “…But I still love them anyway.”

“A replica? Well, that’s less cool.” Rainbow Dash held out the goggles back towards him, which he accepted eagerly. Placing them back on his head. “Still a little cool, I guess.”

The group continued the rest of the cleanup in relative silence. Before long, the entire street around Time Turner’s home was wiped clean of the party. The last few ponies that helped out waved their goodbyes to the brown stallions. Until they were the only ponies left. When they stepped into the house once again, the two stallions breathed a sigh of relief.

“I don’t believe that could have gone better. Well done, dear boy.”

“She really can throw a party.”

“Indeed she can.”

The two chuckled, before High Rise let out a sigh. His high from the party was beginning to settle, and the thoughts began to creep into him.

“What do you think changed because of me today, Doc?” High Rise asked, his tone betraying his inner turmoil. “Was this all really okay?”

There was no hesitation from the Doctor, a warm smile graced his lips. “I believe that the only thing that has changed, is that the town of Ponyville had a great time today, and got to meet a wonderful new friend.”

“Besides, the town now knows you. You are no longer the new thing, and it will be far easier to lay low. Which means we will be able to begin the research properly! No more putting out fires, it is time to find a way to get you home.”

Dr. Hooves was off towards the basement. Where he would no doubt scour the books he had borrowed. Out of anypony he could have possibly found to help him, Time Turner ended up being the best pony for it. High Rise had no idea how long it would take, but he felt safe knowing that the Doctor was here for him.

“Thank you, Doc.” He said to the empty space where Time Turner once stood. “For everything.”

There was still plenty of time in the day, but High Rise couldn’t help himself. He sat down on Time Turner’s couch, listening to the idle sounds that bled through the walls and windows. It was the first time that he really felt comfortable here in Ponyville. All the stress of his circumstances, all the worries and panic that he put himself under. All seemed to pass him by. There was still that dark spot in his chest, a feeling of guilt about what he has done, and is continuing to do. That doubt that told him he was doing something very, very wrong.
But when he saw the smiling faces of the ponies today. How they enjoyed his company just as much as he enjoyed their company. The only other time he felt like this, like himself, was when he was on stage with the Night-Mares. His trusty goggles over his eyes, drumsticks in his hooves, playing his heart out to a joyous crowd. He hadn’t felt that in a long time, and he hadn’t felt the comfort of a real party full of happy ponies either.

It wasn’t like that in the future anymore.

High Rise hadn’t realized it, but he had begun to play the couch underneath him like an instrument. Matching his mood and growing slower as his thoughts lingered towards his home. He was confident that Time Turner would help him find a way. The stallion wanted nothing more than to go home, but what would be awaiting him when he got there? Would the world be different, the butterfly effect taking its toll and changing everything?

Or would it be just as bad as the moment he left it?

“Welcome back, Twi.” Spike said, stifling a yawn as he sat at the counter for the Golden Oak Library. The unicorn entered the room smiling towards the baby dragon. With a flick of her magic, she placed the saddlebags she had onto a nearby shelf.

“Thank you, Spike. Did anypony come by this morning?”

“Not a single pony.” The dragon huffed. “Was everypony in the entire town at that party or what? It took everything in my power not to grab the ice cream tub..”

“More ponies attended than I thought, actually. I thought you were still abstaining from ice cream?”

“Exactly!”

“Oh Spike.” Twilight giggled, a hoof reaching to rub the baby dragon’s head, to his great annoyance.

“Hey! I just styled that.”

His protest was met with more rubs. Grumbling to himself while Twilight goes on to her agenda.

“How was the party anyway? Did you meet that guy who weirded you out?” Spike asked

“He didn’t weird me out!” She shook her head while crossing ‘attend welcome party’ off the to do list. “His visit and what I heard just made me concerned, that's all, and I found out it was nothing to worry about after all.”

“Really? Then why did he do all that stuff?”

“…I have sworn to never repeat it.” She said, the fluster on her face giving at least part of it away. Even Spike could see that.

“Uh huuh.” It was now Spike’s turn to giggle. “So it was fun?”

“Yes. Pinkie did a fantastic job, and High Rise loved it. So we can tuck that mystery away and begin preparing for the dragon migration!”

Spike was ready to leave that topic alone, but the way Twilight lingered on a page in her planner made him pause. He walked over to the Unicorn and leaned in to give a look towards her, then to the new paper she had been writing on.

“Uh, Twi? If you’re tucking that away, why are you writing out everything you know about him on a parchment?”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked and looked down at the paper. She had indeed been writing out a diagram of all the information she knew about the stallion High Rise. “Well…”

“Is there something about this guy that’s bugging you, Twilight?”

“…Yes.” She sighed, putting the parchment aside. “I know I shouldn’t be poking into somepony else like this, but there’s just something…off about him. I just don’t know what it is!”

“What do you mean?”

“Throughout the entire party, he was very friendly and outgoing with everypony. But whenever I was talking with High Rise, he had this look in his eyes that… argh! I don’t know how to explain it, but it felt weird!”

“…Are you sure that he wasn’t, you know, interested in you?”

“What? No!” She shook her head far more aggressively at that. “I wasn’t the only one he gave that look to, he gave it to all my friends too. It wasn’t some…flirty look.”

“And you’d know what a flirty look is?”

“Yes! Okay, no, but it wasn’t flirty!”

“Alright, then what was the look then? Because all I am hearing is that guy is a playcolt.”

“Where did you learn that word, Spike?” Twilight asked, but ultimately moved on. Letting out another growl of frustration. “It was like… He was looking at me as if he knew of me. Not in the friend sense either… I know I've seen that look somewhere before.”

Spike had sat across from Twilight at this point. His brow raised as high as it possibly could be. “I get weirded out by how people look at me sometimes too, but is that really worth obsessing over?”

“No, but you don’t understand! There were other details too that made me confused. High Rise was clearly a young colt, closer to my age, but he is apparently school friends with Time Turner. That clock maker and scientist? Time Turner is in his thirties! The math doesn’t add up!”

“Or his goggles! Rainbow Dash recognized them as a Cloudsdale band’s signature goggles, with each generation marked on the side of the lens. But his goggles were marked for the 8th generation of the band. The current generation performing today is the 4th. He and Time Turner claimed they were fakes his dad bought him, but what pony would make a fake version that’s four generations off?”

“And then there was another thing with Time Turner! Do you remember when he came to get books on time travel? I asked him if he had seen a pony matching High Rise’s description. He said that he didn’t, but he and High Rise live in the same house! Why did he hide the truth from me?”

“Twilight, do you remember the last time you worked yourself up like this?”

“Yes, but-!” Twilight recognized what Spike was getting at, and she had to admit defeat. “Alright, I understand Spike. I’ll actually put this to the side.”

He smiled and hopped off his seat. “Good! Now we don’t have to call Princess Celestia this time.”

“Hehe…yeah.”

When Spike said Celestia, something clicked inside her head. A thought that immediately answered the reason why High Rise bothered her so much. The look he gave her was the same that ponies gave Princess Celestia! It wasn't rude or malicious. It was the feeling of somepony who thought they were below the person they’re talking to. Where they have to be careful with their words.

But why would a pony like High Rise look at her like that? The answer to that was one she’d have to ponder quietly. She did say she would stop worrying about it, and she didn’t want to break a promise.

“Good Evening, Luna.” Celestia said with a warm smile. Evening dinner had come, and today was a day without any dignitaries, diplomats, or visiting rulers to dine with. It would just be her and her sister. However, evening dinners still carried with it some decorum to be kept. Since this was the case, Celestia was in perfect form. Her rainbow mane was driven to flow behind her by magic. Princess Luna had similarly done so with her mane, but the magic that flowed through hers created the form of a flowing sea of stars.

“Good Evening, Sister.” Luna replied while she sat down. A good night’s rest doing wonders for the princess’ fatigue. “I hope that the day proved to be a good one?”

“It was, discussions with Yakyakistan have gone better than we could have hoped for.”

“That is good to hear.”

Conversations at evening dinner were never as interesting as breakfast. Usually the quality of dinner was dependent on which visiting diplomats they had that night. Some would prove more entertaining than others. When it was just the two Princesses however? It was surprisingly boring. They could not act like they did in the morning. Most of the meal was spent catching up on the latest diplomatic and domestic news, and the rest was spent in silence. It was not uncomfortable silence, just one spent enjoying one another’s company. Tonight’s dinner had proven to be much the same. It was only when the main course had almost finished that Celestia decided to speak of a different matter.

“Luna, do you remember the colt that we had discussed this morning?”

“Yes, we do. The stallion High Rise.”

“High Rise, yes. I would like to ask a favor from you, sister. Could you, over the upcoming nights, watch over the dreams of the colt named High Rise?”

Luna’s eyes raised from the meal she was finishing. A furrowed brow pointed towards the white furred princess. “Celestia, are you requesting that we spy upon the dreams of one of our subjects?”

“I know it is unbecoming to ask of that-“

“It is very unbecoming. Idle gossip about the contents of a pony’s dream is one thing. To seek out and watch upon them is far different.”

The princess of the sun knew why Luna had suddenly changed her tune. She was the protector of the dream world, and her role in quelling the nightmares of their subjects was an important one. This role she has taken means that she is privy to the minds of any creatures that dream. A position she could take advantage of, and had done so in her time as Nightmare Moon.

She only entered the dreams of a pony suffering from nightmares, or otherwise needed peaceful rest. To seek and enter a pony’s dreams who did not need either? Celestia was asking her to betray the trust their subjects had in her.

“I understand entirely, and I do not wish to leave open the possibility of spying on our little ponies. However, the circumstances of this leave me too many questions to ignore.”

“…We did say we found his dream to be rather odd. We only entered it to begin with because we had believed the colt was suffering from a nightmare. That is not cause to seek further answers, is it not?”

“Not normally, no. But you said that this colt has a memory of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Not a fantasy or nightmare, a memory.”

“Yes, we did. Is that no-“

The pieces of the puzzle came into place, and Luna’s eyes widened. She looked at her sister with far more shock than was normal for a princess to share. “Twilight Sparkle is-“

“Yes.”

“And you seek to…”

“Yes.”

“…We see… We do not disapprove of this, given that she is capable of proving herself. As Cadance has.”

“Indeed, but I believe in all my heart that she will succeed. And after this morning, it seems another pony believes so as well.”

“A pony that should not know of this possibility?”

“Correct.”

Princess Luna thought long and hard about this. Not daring to utter a word until she had fully come to a decision. Doubt lingered on her mind, as did the idea of committing similar actions as she had as Nightmare Moon. But if what Celestia believes is true, then this High Rise knows about secrets that only she and her sister know. Even worse, he is in a position to influence how those possibilities play out.

“…Very well, we shall do so. But only for a time. If nothing comes from our observations after two weeks, there will be no further trespassing in his private dreams.”

“That is more than enough, thank you Luna.”

With the matter settled, the two finished their main course, and Luna prepared herself for a night in the dream world.

5 - An Outgoing Drummer and a Very Notgoing Mare

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“Guys! Wait! We can figure this out!” High Rise cried out as his bandmates left the room one by one.

“You’re the only one that wants this kept together, High Rise.” One of them said to him. He couldn’t remember which one it was. They were all thinking the same thing, and it was the only thing left they could agree on. “Wake up, it’s over.”

One by one they left the studio, and one by one they disappeared from his life. Each of them reached out every so often. None of his bandmates hated him. Their feuds between each other had High Rise as the mediator. Trying to find common ground amongst the name calling and emotional highs. It rarely worked, but they knew he only wanted the best for them. Sadly, it’s what made the inevitable break up hurt more.

High Rise sat alone in the studio, wondering how long it had been. Since he was able to laugh and enjoy the time spent with his band. When they all called each other friends. How long has it been since he could tell another pony that he was okay, and be telling the truth.

How long has it been since she disappeared, and the whole world seemed to fade with her?

The answer was clear to High Rise. He knew the exact day the world turned upside down. That answer didn’t bring him any comfort. As he sat there in that studio, he held his drumsticks tight, and began to play. High Rise played a harsh and discordant melody well into the night, until the pain he felt became numb.

“I… said… NO!”

It was the most aggressive action Fluttershy had ever made on a pony. Shoving Rainbow Dash to the ground and stomping on her chest. She would have to apologize to Rainbow after everything was done, but right now all she could do was run… After gently opening the window first.

If there was one thing Fluttershy was not going to do, it was watch the dragon migration! Big, scary, scaley, fire breathing dragons! Not just one dragon, but hundreds of them. Flying together right over Ponyville! Oh it was a scary thought for poor old Fluttershy, and with her friends pushing so hard to get her to go watch with them, she just had to flee as fast as she could. There was no way she would ever go out and be in the sight of hundreds of mean, pointy, super scary dragons!

Fluttershy was so caught up in running, that she didn’t notice where she actually was. She also didn’t notice the stallion she was about to crash into.

A week has passed since the welcoming party for High Rise. To both the Doctor and his’ fortune, the week had been largely uneventful. The new stallion in town truly had become old news, and the citizens of Ponyville went on with their normal lives. Included in those, to High Rise’s relief, were the Elements of Harmony. Not once in the past week had he seen or heard from any of the Elements. He had no personal relationships with any of them, and after their concerns were cleared from his panic episode, they had no reason to seek him out. High Rise hadn’t even met Applejack, the Element of Honesty. The less they interacted, the better.

What was a little odd throughout the week was the other mares of Ponyville. Every day, a different mare would knock on Time Turner’s door and leave a gift for the “new stallion in town”. From chocolates, to flowers, to carrots, even a box of letters Ditzy was going to give High Rise, only to realize those letters had to be delivered.

I guess they really are welcoming, huh? High Rise thought, and it was about the only thought he had in hours. For there was one other part of this week.

High Rise was incredibly bored.

You could never have guessed it, but sitting around in a house all day, every day, would be quite boring. At first, High Rise tried to help Time Turner with his studies into time travel. His helper this entire time has been working non stop on researching and coming up with ideas on how to bring him home. He was the reason the doctor was putting in this much work, and while his passion for the subject definitely drove part of it, he couldn’t help but feel guilty. Letting a pony he’s only known for a little over a week try to single handedly save him.

Unfortunately, High Rise was not an academic, and his ability to comprehend most of the topics the doctor discussed while researching was… less than satisfactory. He could understand the broader ideas of time travel, such as how changing the past would affect the future. When Dr. Hooves began quoting time paradoxes, theories on the nature of time itself, and applied knowledge of time to technology and magic; it left High Rise in a stupor. He even tried to explain how his temporal anomaly detector had found him, but what he described went in one ear and out the other. After overloading the stallion’s brain one too many times, Time Turner had decided to let High Rise sit back while he works.

So not only was he bored, he also had an incredible amount of misplaced guilt and frustration at his own stupidity. Yet there was nothing he could do about it! Before he got sent back in time, High Rise had one way he always used to work out his negative feelings. Playing the drums!

…Which he did not have here. He had tried to create a makeshift drum set out of cookware, but Time Turner begged him to stop before his ears began to bleed. His cooking supplies left much to be desired in their drumming capability. He could use the environment around him to drum. The floor, the furniture, the walls, but none of it felt the same.

He had started to tap against the bed he was laying on, but it just felt hollow.

“Doc!” Time Turner looked up to the basement stairs from his latest research. High Rise poking his head in from the door. “Will you be mad if I go for a walk?”

“Why would I be mad?” The doctor said, confused. “You aren’t restricted to my home, High Rise.”

“Wait? Really?… I could have gone outside this entire week?”

“Yes, I was wondering why you kept sitting around here when you were clearly unhappy.”

“But I thought that it’d be better to…”

“We already discussed that hiding you was worse than allowing others around you. That was not a one time thing.”

“…Oh.” High Rise cursed his own idiocy again. “Well, uh, I'll be back later.”

“Have fun, High Rise! Make sure nopony finds out you’re a time traveler!” The doctor said before the drummer left him to his devices. Only after the door was shut did a thought come to his head. “Isn’t the dragon migration today?… Oh well, I am sure it will be fine.”

High Rise had made a rule for himself. He was fine with interacting and being around the ponies of Ponyville. He wouldn’t worry himself about that. He was, however, going to do his best to avoid interacting with the Elements of Harmony. He would be friendly with them, but nothing more than polite small talk for those six mares.

Thankfully, that wouldn’t be a problem today. The dragon migration was set to begin soon, and apparently Twilight and her friends had dug themselves a trench outside of town to view it from. That meant he could walk around town without a single worry! He had a few bits that Time Turner had left him in case he ever needed it. So today was the day to try out the local cuisine!

The one thing he hadn’t been able to do since coming to Ponyville was see what it was really like. The Ponyville he had seen was very different, larger and filled with more ponies than it is in this day and age. As well as some other notable changes. The fact that most ponies here knew each other by name was incredible to High Rise. He could even remember some of their names too!

That was Thunderlane over there, and that was Bon Bon. Over there was Carrot Top, and Comet Tail, and there was Ditzy delivering mail. That over there was Fluttershy, barreling towards High Rise at maximum spee-

CRASH!

“Oooow…” High Rise groaned, his head was now tucked between his back legs in some form of an awkward yoga pose. He would correct himself from this uncomfortable position, if it wasn’t for the yellow and pink weight that was on top of him. The pegasus that ran into him groaned as well.

“Are you alright, Fluttershy?” He asked, which caused her to finally open her eyes and look down at him. Her pupils shrunk, and a small “eep!” escaped her before she climbed off.

“Ohmygosh. I am so sorry!” Fluttershy said with a surprising amount of her diaphragm. “I should have been watching where I was going, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm good, maybe a bit bruised.” He rolled back into a sitting position, watching Fluttershy with a look of amusement. This was probably the most he’d ever seen of her face. “Like I said though, are you okay?”

“Oh, that’s good, well, um…” Her voice went back to its regular quiet tone, it was nice while it lasted. She quickly went over herself, stretching her wings and testing her hooves. “I believe I am fine.”

“Well! That’s great.” High Rise rose up onto his own hooves. “No harm done, all is forgiven.”

At this point, High Rise was waiting for Fluttershy to continue on her way. She was clearly in a hurry, and he wasn’t about to stop her. Not that she actually kept moving, she stood there, eyes downcast, hoof pawing at the ground.

“…” Normally, this would be where he struck up a conversation. Try to get the mare to come out of her shell a bit. Maybe poke at her interests until something she likes gets her to talk. That was all assuming he wanted to talk with her. He just made a rule that he would avoid unnecessary conversation with the Elements, and right after he did so, he crashed into one!

“Sooo… I guess I'll be going now.” He finally said, catching her attention while he walked off. “See you next time, Flutter-agh!”

He got two feet before his back leg gave out. A sudden spike of pain coming from his back hoof. Stumbling back to the ground. When his face hit the dirt, he could hear the startled gasp behind him. Followed by hoofsteps to his side.

“What happened? Does it hurt? Oh dear, I've done something terrible.”

The fallen soldier was helped up onto his hooves by the groveling soldier next to him. His back left leg held up in the air. “Don’t worry, I think it’s a sprain. Nothing a bit of ice won’t help with.”

“No, nonono. I can’t let you go off on your own like this!” She exclaimed, using her own body to hold him steady. “We need to make sure you are taken care of, now let’s get you someplace warm and cozy.”

“But it’s really nothing, Fluttershy. It’ll be-“

“No buts!” The shy pegasus could be surprisingly assertive. “You’re staying with Dr, Hooves, right? Does he have medical supplies?”

“Bu-…” High Rise sighed, he really wasn’t allowed to say but anymore was he? “Yeah, I've seen them.”

“Good, now let’s go take care of you.”

The fine dining cuisine he was going to was in sight. He could see the food being taken out to customers! It was right there, and he was being led away by the pegasus mare who pressed against him to keep him afloat. Curse you for being so caring!

It had barely been an hour since High Rise had left Time Turner’s house, and now he was back. This time bringing along with him one of the few mares he didn’t want in here.

“Is Dr. Hooves here?” Fluttershy asked as they walked inside.

“Uh…yeah, but you can’t see him right now.”

“Why not?”

“Well he’s doing his work right now, lots of…big scary machines that can hurt you. He doesn’t want anypony around when he’s working, you know.”

“Oh… oh yes, I wouldn’t want to be near that.” Fluttershy nodded, and High Rise was relieved to see that the mess of time travel ideas that littered the basement would be safe today.

Before High Rise could fight against it, Fluttershy had him laid out on a bed with his sprained hoof raised up. He was double her height, but surprisingly strong! All she would let him do was point out where the first aid kit was.

“You really don’t have to go through all this trouble.” He tried to protest, but the pegasus was having none of it.

“I am the one that hurt you.” Fluttershy meekly replied. “I can’t let you go off and get any worse without making sure you are properly treated.”

The ice pack was soon pressed against his leg, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, it helped. The leg had been bothering him the entire way back to the house, and only after she held it on his leg was he feeling any relief from that. It probably would have been worse walking back if Fluttershy wasn’t there to hold me up, or if he pushed through it and went to eat anyway.

“…Thanks, Fluttershy.” He said, letting himself relax in bed. “You really are the Element of Kindness.”

There was no response. The way her head turned to cover her face was more than enough of an answer. “I never apologized properly, to the rabbits, I mean. It was pretty rude of me to block their burrow.”

“They understood entirely after I told them about what had happened.”

“Hey, I thought you girls were going to forget about it?”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up high. “W-W-Well yes, b-but I wanted them to understand everything too, s-so that they didn’t h-hate you for it… I'm sorry.”

“I’m teasing! It’s alright, I'm sorry too.” High Rise chuckled. A gesture that seemed to help her relax as well. Without much more to say, the two fell silent. It wasn’t quite as awkward as before. Fluttershy sought to make sure he was as comfortable as he could be. Tucked into the blankets, pillows fluffed. His leg raised up on another pillow. She really thought of everything.

She was incredibly kind, High Rise had learned. They barely interacted for more than a few minutes in total, but Fluttershy has gone well out of her way to make sure he was okay. What he knew of Fluttershy from the future matched this behavior to a T… and with a burning question that he really shouldn’t be asking.

“Hey, can I ask you an… admittedly really weird question?”

“Yes, um, yes you may.”

“Is there a pony or creature in the entire world you wouldn’t help, no matter what?”

“Um…” Fluttershy grew confused at the question, pondering it in her head. “Like… if they got hurt?”

“Hurt, emotional support, a firm guiding hoof, any of those… For example, if Discord appeared right in front of us, injured and afraid, would you help him?”

Her confusion was replaced by a pure look of surprise. Taken aback by his words. He chose the individual in question for a reason. Even if she didn’t understand why. The memories of what Discord had done to her and her friends would still be fresh on her mind. How she had made her so cruel and awful. There had to be little love in her heart for someone as vicious as he was…

That’s why he had to understand why she did it.

“…I-I… I don’t know.” Fluttershy said, and High Rise’s eyes opened wide. That was not the answer he was expecting. “When Discord was free, he did some really terrible things to me and my friends. Even the thought of it makes me feel angry.”

“So you wouldn’t help him?”

“…No, I-I-.” Fluttershy was conflicted, and his pressing didn’t help matters. “I would want to help anypony in need, but Discord is… I can’t say for certain that my mind and my heart would agree.”

“I understand.” High Rise accepted her answer for what it was. There would be a time in the future where she would make that choice herself, and it wasn’t his place to comment further on it. Even if his curiosity just got the better of him. “Sorry, that was a weird question to ask, huh?

“It’s okay, I imagine he’s on everypony’s mind, still. I’m glad most ponies didn’t have to meet him up close.”

“No kidding.”

Another awkward silence passed, and Fluttershy got up from the side of the bed. “Okay, you need to stay off your leg for the rest of the day. No exercise or strenuous activity, alright?”

“Can do. I’ll just have to taste the fine dining of Ponyville another time.”

“Fine dining?”

“Yep, I went out to try one of the restaurants here for the first time. That’s when you…” The stallion used his hooves to show the collision.

“I’m so sorry, I really did ruin your day, didn’t I?”

“Your company was plenty enough for me to enjoy the day with, don’t worry about it.”

This was once again an example of High Rise’s signature Compliments that can be taken the wrong way moments. Whether or not it had been taken the wrong way, well, who knows? Fluttershy was always hiding behind the mane, so he had no idea. Not that he ever could tell when his words had other implications.

“Um, well… let me treat you to a dinner. To make up for this.”

“You really don’t have to do th-“

“I insist!”

Damn, she really could be assertive. The way she stared at him after saying that took away any words he had in protest. The legends really were true about the legendary Fluttershy. You just can’t say no to her. “Alright, but only something small and cheap!”

“That is perfect.” For once, Fluttershy smiled, and by Celestia it was adorable. It was like seeing a tiny kitty look up at you with big eyes. High Rise melted at the sight. “I will see you then, High Rise.”

Fluttershy was a few inches from the door when the house around them began to rumble. A nearby clock shaking violently from an unknown force. Both of their ears splayed back on their heads, unable to tell what was happening. Until they heard the voices from the sky.

Rooooaar!

Dozens, no, hundreds of wings batted in the air above Ponyville. Shadows of giant figures cast upon the ground. An endless sea of clawed and winged creatures flying overhead. The sheer power of their joint flight shook the world around them. The Dragon Migration had made it to Ponyville. Every so often, you would hear the activity of a dragon roaring, or an errant fire breath being let out overhead. High Rise was so enamored by the sounds, that it took a moment for him to register the new weight on top of him.

“…Eeep!” Came Fluttershy’s meek voice as another roar was let out in the skies. Her whole body shivered violently atop the form of High Rise, her head buried into his chest. Every time a new sound bellowed out from the skies above, she would let out another eep and press herself further into him. He had never expected this to happen, but instinct took over before anything else. Somepony was scared, and they needed comfort.

A hoof reached up and gently combed through Fluttershy’s mane. Another lightly wrapped around her back. Giving the mare some security on top of him. He repeated the motion of his hooves until her shivering calmed. His voice was slow and calming.

“It’s alright, Fluttershy. You are safe right here. It’s going to be okay.”

He repeated these words, again and again. Until the last of the dragons had flown past Ponyville. After the last had passed, they stayed in that position until Fluttershy was absolutely sure that no more dragons would fly overhead.

“…thank you.”

“Anytime.”

A new voice then entered from outside the door.

“High Rise? Are you in here? Is everything alright up the-… Dear Celestia.” Time Turner said as he opened the door.

“…Doc, this is not what it looks like.”

6 - Befriending a Drummer

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Luna had been closely monitoring the dreams of the stallion High Rise, just as her sister had requested. She felt dirty, like she was breaking a vow she had made to herself. The princess of the night only hoped that this would have proved worth this growing regret.

The past week had proven to be fruitless toward that endeavor. While High Rise continued to have strange memories for his dreams, the colt never thought about “Princess Twilight Sparkle” directly. All that Luna could get were vague mentions that insinuated her. Which wasn’t enough to go off of.

What his dreams did paint about him was nothing better. A former drummer to a band rising in popularity. High Rise was an energetic and loving friend to each of them. Using any opportunity to boost them up. While he wrote many of the songs his band performed, he would often cut his own credit short to give credit to his friends. They were his everything, his entire life was invested into them.

Then they fell apart. Luna had surmised that the reason his memories were perceived as nightmares was because of the grief he felt. Almost every one of his dreams centered upon them, and losing them in his life was like the death of his family. The princess saw how this loss tore his soul apart, but no matter what, he put on a smile for others. He reminded Luna much of the Element of Laughter. Not in the manic party sense, but the need to put other’s happiness above their own.

He couldn’t hide it in the realm of his own mind, however. That meant that Luna could see the pain, the loneliness, and the struggle to keep moving forward. Feelings that she was acutely aware of herself. She felt for this soul, but could do nothing for him. A different, strange force prevented her from interfering with these dreams. She could only be an unwanted intruder in his mind, or she could force the dream to end. She had no power to influence them, only to observe.

Today’s dream, however, was different.

High Rise’s townhouse in Canterlot had become quite the mess. Dishes towered up in the sink, rags and miscellaneous items scattered on the ground. Dust building up on countertops and furniture. One would think this house was abandoned, if it wasn’t for the loud drum routine being played in the back room.

It was a harsh, slow, and messy performance of one of his band’s older songs. One of the first they performed together. There were no accompanying instruments, just the routine of the drums. His goggles were tight around his eyes, as they always were when he played. A homage to his father, a former Stormclouds drummer. The source of another pain that he played his heart out for.

“Midnight in Neighpleton?” A mare’s voice called from the door, cutting off High Rise’s routine. His sticks hit the floor when he saw who it was. Rushing to embrace her in a tight hug. She returned it just as tightly. They both needed a hug badly.

When High Rise let go, he was all smiles. She knew he was forcing it. “Yeah, I thought I'd play a classic.”

“It was pretty good.” She replied. “How are you doing, about all that, I mean.”

“Oh, I'm all good.” He lied, she knew that too. “Honestly, it’s not all that bad right now. My mom came to town, she’s staying nearby and we’re talking.”

“…That’s good.”

“How about you?”

She sighed, unlike High Rise, she did little to hide her emotions. The frustration she wore was clear as day. “Not good, we still have no sign of Discord. Ever since that day, there hasn’t been a single sighting of him. I’m scared about what will happen if we don’t.”

High Rise kept a hoof around his friend’s shoulders. “I know, you’re not in an easy position.”

“But am I the right pony for this?” She asked, pleading eyes looking up at him. “I’m supposed to be the one to solve this. Princess Cadance has placed it on me and me alone, I can’t fail, but what if she chose wrong? What if I can’t fix it?”

“Hey, stop that.” High Rise replied in a stern tone, squeezing the mare against her. “You are the personal student of the Princess of Friendship. Out of all the ponies in the entirety of Equestria, she chose you.”

“But she isn’t here! How do I know that I am making the right choices?”

“….” He wanted to say she was, but who was he to say that? He had no idea if what his friend had been working on would be successful.

“You don’t, Crescent. You won’t know, you have to believe that what you are doing is right. And hey, if you don’t fully believe it, know that I believe it. With every bit of my heart.”

Crescent smiled, it wasn’t a full smile, but it was real. Unlike High Rise’s. “Thanks, High Rise.”

“Hey, you know I'm the best friend a pony could ask for.”

“Yes, yes you are, you cocky colt.”

He flashed his teeth and Crescent giggled.

“High Rise? I want you to be there when I do the spell. Will you be by my side when I do it?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

The two friends held on tight to each other. Neither wanting to let go. “Good, and after this is all over, we’re gonna help you find some happiness too.”

He didn’t believe it then, and he still doesn’t believe it now.

Princess Luna awoke from the dream with a gasp. Quickly grabbing a quill and parchment before the memory of the dream escaped her. She had to write down every detail. From the mention of Discord, to Cadance, to the confirmation of a missing Twilight Sparkle. This dream was filled with new information, but the more she wrote it out, the more she was left with questions. Why was Discord loose? Why would Cadance be in command? Why is Twilight Sparkle missing in the first place?

The largest question in her mind, however, was when did these memories happen?

It took several hours to properly explain to Time Turner what had happened in the bedroom. His first thoughts on the matter made Fluttershy so flustered she fled the scene of the crime immediately. Eventually, the two brown stallions were on the same page. Even if it took awhile to get there.

High Rise still didn’t feel comfortable being around the Elements, but he promised a meal with Fluttershy, and if it made her happy to do something for him. Then he might as well play along. Dr. Hooves warned him that it sounded like he was being asked out on a date. High Rise highly doubted it, but just in the very slim possibility that he was asked out, he would turn her down politely. He especially doubted that a pony like Fluttershy would be persistent.

Persistent was a word he’d use for another thing in his life lately as well. His time asleep has given him some odd dreams. The contents of the dreams were pretty normal for him, he saw dreams like them everyday. What felt different, however, was the feeling of being watched while he was in the dream. It was a feeling that persisted even when he woke up, and most of the morning was spent looking over his shoulder until the feeling faded.

The night after the Fluttershy incident was no different. The sudden need to check behind him caught him, and this time the doctor noticed.

“You’re doing it again.” Dr. Hooves said as they ate breakfast. “Is something bothering you?”

“…I dunno, I think it may be nothing, but it doesn’t feel like nothing.”

“Could it perhaps have something to do with yesterday?”

“I thought we were already over that.” High Rise groaned to the doctor’s amusement.

“We are, I am assuming you will not be bringing any more mares to my guest room anyways.”

“Obviously!”

“I do, however, have to stress that you must clear up any misunderstandings with Miss Fluttershy. Casual interactions with ponies of the past is one thing, dating them would be-“

“I know, I know, Doc… How has it been going on your end, by the way?”

“‘My work on your method to return home?”

“Yep.”

Time Turner’s ears perked up. “Well I have begun to work on a new idea based on temporal retrieval. Instead of trying to bring you towards the desired time, we will bring the desired time to you!”

His excited description of his new theoretical method began to use words that High Rise, try as he might, couldn’t understand. The poor stallion tried his best to keep up as Time Turner began discussing quantum mechanics and the feeling of time passing… His eyes soon glazed over.

“-and I believe I can make a test version of the device soon. It will only take perhaps two or three more nights of calculations.”

“…wait, wait, Doc.” High Rise snapped back to attention. “Have you been sleeping at all?”

“Yes, of course I have slept.”

“How much?”

Time Turner refused to answer.

“Doc!”

“It’s perfectly alright, High Rise!” He waved him off. “I’ve had plenty of caffeine to offset the difference, and I am quite enjoying the experience!”

“Caffeine and enthusiasm doesn’t replace sleep!” How is this pony awake?! He had to have slept only a few hours over an entire week. A sudden pileup of guilt built up inside of High Rise,

“I can’t let you work today, Doc. You’re taking a break.”

“High Rise.” The stern voice of the older stallion spoke up. “It is imperative that we find a way to take you back home, and as you are otherwise unable to assist in the research and development, no offense-“

“None taken”

“-, it falls on me to find a way. The research I have done so far has proven to be greatly fulfilling, and has been far more enjoyable than any other project I have done!”

“And if you don’t learn to do it in moderation you’ll drop to the floor before you find the answer!”

“…I can concede that point, but I am on my fourth cup of espresso and will likely not run out of energy for most of the day.”

“Are you kiddin-“ High Rise checked the kitchen sink, there were a lot of used cups. “…You’re not kidding, alright, fine. You’re coming with me today.”

“With all due respect, I believe that continuing the project will bring me more joy than any activity you wish to have me participate in.”

“…Oh?”

The floodgates have been opened. A slow grin rose on the drummer’s face. An evil glow had taken form in his eyes. A new form of High Rise has been unlocked. Party Rise.

“Wanna bet?”

“You did what?” Rarity said towards her shy friend. The pegasus had visited her early in the morning, right after Rarity had returned from a little adventure about Spike wanting to be a “real dragon”. Not that she ever believed he wasn’t anything other than the most cutest, snuggly wuggly dragon ever.

“Well, I first ran into him, and because I accidentally hurt his leg, I helped him back home… b-but I stayed too long and the migration started, and, um…”

“You jumped in bed with him?”

“Yes.”

“…Fluttershy, I must say, you are far more forward in your advances than I would have thought.”

“No, that’s not it!”

An embarrassed Fluttershy buried herself in a nearby dress that was scattered in the Carousel Boutique. Rarity’s store wasn’t open yet, thankfully, so nopony but her saw this display. “I didn’t mean anything by it, and he understood that, but Time Turner walked in and got the wrong idea. I don’t know what to do to fix this…”

“And you came to me as soon as I got home from a long and arduous journey to ask for advice?”

“…Yes.”

“Then you’ve come to the right place!” Rarity giggled and pulled the hiding mare away from her merchandise. Coming to a seat next to Fluttershy. “I don’t believe you have anything to worry about in regards to High Rise, darling.”

“Why do you think that?”

“High Rise is into colts, Fluttershy, not mares. He told me about that himself at the welcome party. I doubt he sees your dinner off as anything more than that, dinner.”

“Oh!…. Ooooh… Oh?” Fluttershy’s head tilted. “Does that mean that he and Time Turner are, um, together?”

“…That is a good question, I don’t know.” A hoof tapped her chin as she pondered the idea. “High Rise was open about it, so I see no reason why they would not have mentioned it already. Perhaps Time Turner does not like to broadcast it? No, Rarity, that is too gossipy. Ignore me, Fluttershy.”

Rarity waved herself off. “If you really must feel like making it clear. The best option would be to tell him outright. Make it clear and then there will be no more misconceptions.”

“That… makes sense.” Fluttershy nodded. “But, maybe not right now, maybe later…”

“That’s perfectly fine, darling. In fact, why don’t we help you relax before you go? A spa trip sounds like the perfect thing after that little escapade watching over Spike.”

“A spa trip does sound very nice.”

“It’s decided then! Come along Fluttershy, the boutique can open in the afternoon today.”

The spa in Ponyville was truly the most sublime place anypony could go to relax in. The full treatment by Lotus and Aloe was a body melting experience, and it had left both Rarity and Fluttershy walking on air after their visit. The fur on the mares gave off a brilliant sheen. Their manes were perfectly groomed and incredibly soft to the touch. Sunlight reflected off of their polished hooves. While both of them had the smiles of ponies who had just felt pure bliss.

“I do not know what they changed with the mud bath, but whatever it was is simply marvelous!”

“Yes, I agree. It was very relaxing. Thank you for taking me with you, Rarity.”

“Of course, Fluttershy. A spa trip is always better with a good friend alongside you.”

The two mares exchanged warm smiles. The pure beauty of those grins blinding the eyes of nearby ponies. A stallion walking by fainted merely from glancing towards the two. Neither of them noticed him. “Well dear, now that you look simply gorgeous, I suppose it’s time to tell a colt you weren’t interested in him?”

“Oh. Oh yes, yes it is…” Fluttershy was visibly getting cold hooves, and Rarity was quick to act.

“Darling, don’t overthink it.” She said, placing a hoof underneath Fluttershy’s falling chin. “It will be okay, in fact, I am sure that High Rise will have no problems at all accepting it.”

“Okay… Okay!” Fluttershy held her head up, and Rarity clapped her hooves in joy. She built up the confidence to get this done, all she had to do was find High Rise and explai-

“No, NO! I want to sing another Brown Saddle Band song!”

“You have had FAR too much cider for 2:30 in the afternoon, Doc! You’re going to bed!”

Fluttershy and Rarity stared off at the pair of brown stallions walking by them. The first was the tall High Rise, struggling to keep his hooves standing up as he walked. The second was a red faced Time Turner, laid out on High Rise’s back while he whined.

“I admit it! I had a ton of fun, you won the bet, now let me sing another!”

“Karaoke was just to loosen you up, not waste you! We didn’t even get to the best parts!”

High Rise continued to struggle with carrying the buzzed Stallion. Despite being an earth pony, the drummer was not what you would call…strong, there was no other way to put it. He was pretty weak, like a tall limp noodle. Dr. Hooves may have been shorter than him, but he made up for it by having actual meat on his bones. This wasn’t helped by the fact that he was constantly wiggling around on his back.

“…Well, there he is.” Rarity said while she turned on a dime. “I’m sure things will be just fine. I’ve got to go back and open the boutique. See you later Fluttershy!”

“W-Wait!” She called out weakly to her fashion forward friend, but she was already off. There was no way around it, then. Fluttershy just had to approach and clarify things. It shouldn’t take more than a minute, and High Rise seemed preoccupied enough with… whatever happened to Time Turner that it shouldn’t be much of a conversation anyways. He was struggling to keep up the weight of the pony alone.

He was trying to carry an entire pony on his back when he had just sprained his fetlock yesterday!

It was no surprise that Fluttershy watched High Rise fall flat on the ground a few moments later.

There they were, back in Time Turner’s house. Only this time it wasn’t High Rise in the bed. After he and Fluttershy had worked together to get the drunk stallion into the house, he had fallen asleep the moment his body touched the couch. This led to one more carry to the bed. Only after all of that could High Rise finally settle down on the couch himself, wincing at the feeling of his hind leg.

“You should know better than to be carrying around entire ponies on your back.” Fluttershy talked to High Rise in the tone of a mother berating a child. Not that he didn’t deserve it.

“I wasn’t planning to! He just… really liked the cider at the karaoke place.”

Flashbacks went through his mind of his noon adventure with Dr. Hooves. He was at first pensive to the idea of having fun singing songs in an enclosed room. That was until High Rise had found Time Turner’s favorite genre, country music. His first song finally got him into the mood, and High Rise ordered a glass each of hard cider to help relax them for the rest of the day.

He was not expecting Time Turner to order four more glasses.

“…At least it finally got him to sleep?”

Fluttershy was already getting an ice pack ready for High Rise. His leg wasn’t too bad before all the carrying, but now? The joint had no problems with letting him know how angry it was for all that hard labor. In other words, he was in a lot of pain.

“Was he having a hard time sleeping?” Fluttershy asked. She hoofed over the ice pack to High Rise this time, instead of pressing it on herself.

“Yeah, he’s been overworking himself like crazy. A whole week and only a few hours of sleep! I don’t think he’s getting up from that bed until tomorrow.”

“What kind of project made him do that?”

“…Uuuh. A secret one.”

Sometimes, you just don’t know how to respond to something. So you say the first thing that comes to your mind, regardless of its quality. This is one of those moments. Thankfully, High Rise was a little bit of an improviser. Or just a good liar, one of those is better than the other. So High Rise will think of himself as an improviser instead. “A secret one?”

“…eh, Yeah, he won’t even tell me what it is. Supposed to be a big surprise when he finishes it!”

“Really? What do you think it is?”

“I dunno, but knowing Time Turner, it’s probably gonna be a really fancy clock.”

Thankfully, that is where the questions ended. A few nods and “that makes sense”’s from Fluttershy ended the conversation, and the two sat in silence. It was the normally scheduled moment of awkwardness that always came with being around Fluttershy. When she wasn’t 100% comfortable around you, she would just stand there, pawing at the ground. Waiting for her moment to leave. High Rise was giving her plenty of time to leave. Yet she wouldn’t even move an inch towards the door. Finally, the stallion thought to interrupt all this.

“You look like you want to say something, but aren’t entirely sure if you’re comfortable saying it. So you’re building up your confidence to go out and say it, only to think about some possible reaction that destroys the confidence you built up and puts you back to square one. Did I get that right?”

Blink. Blink. “Why, yes, yes you did.”

It brought him an odd amount of joy to know that he got it right. “I had an old friend who did that a lot. She was a lot like you, honestly.”

“Oh… I don’t know if I want to be remembered for being awkward.”

“No, for being adorable while you work up the courage to do something.” High Rise grinned, ignoring the bright red that Fluttershy’s face had turned into. “She would puff out her cheeks like a chipmunk and let out a big huff from her nose to work herself up. It was the cutest thing you could ever see. You look a lot like her when you do that.”

Fluttershy had become a tomato at this point, and even she had her limits.

“I-I need to clarify something!” Fluttershy cried out. Startling High Rise and making him drop his ice pack.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell… I mean, um.” Fluttershy let out a deep breath. “When I asked you to um… have dinner with me. I want you to know that I didn’t mean that in a, um…”

“Romantic way?”

“Yes, romantic way.”

“Okay.”

Can you guess what came next?

Blink. Blink.

“You already… knew that.”

“Yup.”

“Then why do you keep saying those… confusing things?” Fluttershy asked. The exasperation in her voice was surprising to High Rise.

“What confusing things?”

“You keep saying things that sound like, um, like you mean them in a different way…”

It was High Rise’s turn to Blink Blink. “What?! Never! I would never say something to confuse a pony like that.”

“Then all of the compliments?”

“They were genuine and platonic! I just like complimenting ponies.”

“Oooh… Oh dear. Rarity was right.” Fluttershy’s ears splayed back, and she visibly curled in on herself. This pitiful display sent daggers into High Rise’s heart. He leaned forward and rested a hoof atop Fluttershy’s head, gently giving out reassuring pats.”

“It’s alright, Fluttershy,” High Rise said, “Time Turner said something similar to me too, that you may have believed I was interested in you. I’m glad we clarified things.”

The smile he gave was genuine, and did wonders to ease the tension. Fluttershy relaxed and allowed herself to breathe to the rhythm of his head pats.

“Did you still want to have dinner?” High Rise asked after Fluttershy was calm. “Because I have an idea if you’d like.”

“Yes! I mean, I would still like to make it up to you, so yes. I would. In a completely platonic way, not romantic.”

He chuckled and flashed a toothy grin. “Perfect, let’s get started!”

The next few hours were spent not dining out in Ponyville, but with cooking and conversation inside Time Turner’s home. The duo raided the fridge and created every meal they could think of from it. Fluttershy was apprehensive at first about taking all of this food without permission, but High Rise promised to restock it, and any leftovers would be great for the hungover Time Turner is about to have.

That was enough for Fluttershy to relax and enjoy their afternoon cooking. High Rise had a thought that she may be more uncomfortable trying to eat dinner out in a public restaurant, given her shyness. So a fun, indoor meal would be perfect for the dinner they promised! She was still technically “treating” him since she made yalf of the food.

It did help that she was an incredible cook, and took the lead in whatever meals they made. High Rise didn’t consider himself bad at cooking, but when he ate what she made? It was on an entirely different level.

Once a full buffet had been laid out on the table, the two spent the rest of their time together with pleasant conversations. This was when he got to learn a lot more about her than before. Once he had asked about the animals she tended to, the floodgates had been opened. Story after story was shared with High Rise about all of the different creatures she has had the pleasure of caring for. From small birds to rabbits to raccoons to bears.

Fluttershy also told him about some of the other creatures she had the chance to meet. Such as a Manticore, a Sea Serpent, or a fully grown dragon.

“Wait, I thought you were terrified of dragons?” He asked her when she mentioned it.

“Oh yes, I am very afraid of dragons… as you would know,” She replied sheepishly.

“And you just… scolded a fully grown dragon anyways?”

“He was being mean to my friends! Somepony had to tell him to be better.”

“And the manticore?”

“He was in pain! He didn’t mean to be so angry, he just needed help.”

“And the cockatrice?”

“That was, um, nothing special.”

“You stared down a creature that turns other creatures into stone with a single gaze, and won.”

The flustered Fluttershy hid herself away, but he could still see a smile peek out from behind her pink shield. A smile crept up on High Rise’s face too. “You really are an amazing pony, Fluttershy, it’s no wonder you could befriend somepony like Discord.”

There was no record player in the vicinity, but if you were there, you could still hear that sccrriiitch of the record coming to a halt. Fluttershy forgot about the meal in front of her. Staring wide eyed at an oblivious High Rise. He only noticed the stare he was being given a few moments later. Only then, did he realize the massive screw up he just committed.

“Befriend Discord?” Fluttershy asked, “What do you mean, High Rise?”

He nearly choked on the food he was chewing on. High Rise had to pump his chest to help get it down. There have been slip ups in the few weeks he’s been in the past, but what he just said was by far and away the worst one he’s done yet. He could only hope that his improvisation(lies) would do the trick!

“W-Well, I meant, you know. In our last conversation, we mentioned…”

Improvisation failed, his gears came to a halt. Any ideas on how to get out of explaining this were lost in the haze of his panic. What do you do when you just revealed somepony’s future? He desperately hoped she wouldn’t read into it, but the bug eye look he was being given said otherwise. High Rise had hit a nerve.

“W-We talked about me helping him if he was injured… Being his friend, I…” Fluttershy felt conflicted. On one end, the anger from her memories of Discord were being brought to boil. High Rise didn’t mean to make her angry, but it came to her regardless of his intention. On the other end… her mind began to truly wonder what it would be like to have Discord as a friend?

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. My bad, man this one is delicious! What spice did you use?”

“…”

Now he’s really done it. Her eyes fell to the table, mane drooping to the side. Fluttershy’s ears couldn’t decide whether they should be pressed against her head or perked up.

“You know what’d be great with this one? A little parmesan, it would really bring out the flavor!”

“…”

“W-What about Angel? Your pet bunny? I’d love to hear more about them!”

“…”

There was no escaping this situation. High Rise had screwed the pooch on this one. Fluttershy was so lost in her own mind that no changing of the subject would catch her attention. This was why he was supposed to avoid these girls. Any one thing he could say could irreversibly alter their future. He could only guess the damage he had just done.

“Fluttershy.” High Rise took away his energetic, panicked tone. Replacing it with a stern voice that he hoped would grab Fluttershy’s attention. It thankfully succeeded, and her eyes looked up at him.

“I’m sorry.” He placed down his utensils and focused entirely on her. His ears were down, and his eyes gave away his regret for what he had done. “That was a weird thing to say, and I didn’t mean anything by it. Could we… forget about it? I won’t bring up Discord again.”

There wasn’t a response immediately. Only a concerned gaze that stared straight through High Rise. Each second that passed made his heart race faster, sweat beaded on his brow. This was his only chance to salvage it, to pass it off as nothing and move on. Fluttershy, however, was not willing to do so.

“You brought it up for a reason, High Rise,” She said with a levelheaded tone that felt uncharacteristic for the timid Fluttershy. “I don’t know what the reason is… but no, I don’t think I could ever be friends with somepony like Discord. It just isn’t-“

“That’s a lie.”

High Rise snapped back at her before she could even finish her sentence. Something inside of him had finally broken. He had derailed history too much, and in a passion fueled outburst, he would try and set things straight. To tell her the truth before she fell down this path any further.

“W-What?!”

“You would become friends with Discord,” He began, his words flowing out of his mind before he had time to process them himself. “And not because you’re the element of kindness, or felt it was your duty to. You would become his friend because you see the best in everypony. Your kindness and compassion could reach anypony, even a being of pure chaos. The Fluttershy I see before me found it in her heart to help a Manticore that endangered her friends. The Fluttershy sitting in that chair could stand before a dragon and set him straight. That’s just what’s happened so far!”

“I don’t believe for a second that your kindness would end because of a bad history with them. Fear and anger hasn’t stopped you before from showing love to others. I know for a fact that you will be known for the compassion you share for anypony. You already are!”

His sudden outburst was met with stunned silence. Only after this continued for several minutes did High Rise settle into what he had done. This was far worse than the insinuation he had made before. He outright told Fluttershy that she would become the friend of Draconequus Discord. It was entirely true, but he was far out of line to say that.

“…That was rude of me, i’m sorry, I-“

A hoof came up to stop him from continuing. He couldn’t read the expression that Fluttershy had. A mixture of emotions were laid out on her face that left him wondering how she was reacting. The panic was settling in, and he could feel his injured hind leg start tapping against the ground. What was she going to say??

“You’re right.”

The tapping stopped. “Wait, really?”

“Yes.” Fluttershy nodded her head, the expression she had finally made sense to him. It was a determined gaze that took over her previous confusion. “I would never want to take away any creature's chance to feel compassion. Everypony deserves that, even somepony like… like Discord.”

“I don’t think that he will ever return, but if he did, I would want to give him a chance to become a better Discord. You are absolutely right.”

There has never been a more relieved sigh in history. High Rise visibly relaxed, crisis averted. He felt bad about not letting her fix these conflicted feelings herself, but as long as the future wasn’t changed. It would be alright…

“High Rise?” Fluttershy asked, “Did it mean a lot to you for me to believe that?”

Tap Tap Tap.

“It, uh…” How exactly was he to explain his odd interest in this subject? They have known each other for the whole of two days, with only small meetings before that. He asked her about Discord on the very first day they ever interacted, and then did this on the second. “I mean, I just think that you-“

“It’s okay, I think I understand,” Fluttershy replied before High Rise could create a coherent answer.

“You do?”

“Yes,” She said with a new smile gracing her features. “You remind me a lot of Pinkie Pie, but instead of making everypony smile, you make them see the best parts of themselves.”

…Well that was a better answer than what he could have made up. Not that it stopped him from growing sheepish at that compliment.

“If you don’t mind, High Rise, um. Would you like to do this again sometime?” Fluttershy said, “It would be nice to have you come by the cottage to meet my animal friends, and we could make food for all of us to share.”

The sensible part of his brain was telling him to stop here. He had already risked a lot today, and no doubt could risk a lot more by accepting her offer. She was still an element, and he was supposed to avoid the elements!

But sometimes you just want to have fun.

“Sure, that sounds like a blast.” High Rise replied with a big grin.

The two then turned towards the stairs, where a set of hooves climbed down them. Time Turner, groggy and head held low, looked at his dining room table and went slack jawed.

“…Is that all my food?”

Several weeks have passed since the dragon migration, and a brand new event had come and gone through Ponyville. Cloudsdale had designated the Ponyville reservoir as the latest water supply for their cloud production. The pegasi of Ponyville worked tirelessly to produce a tornado powerful enough to send the water towards the sky-high city. They had almost failed to reach the wing power necessary to create a strong enough tornado.

Until Fluttershy joined in, and with her wing power added in, they were able to succeed in bringing all the water up that Cloudsdale needed. The pegasi of Ponyville cheered for Fluttershy, the savior of the day. She was paraded through the streets, chanting “Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can really fly!”

When the evening came and the pegasi planned a party for the night, however. The star of the day had declined to take part. She thanked them for everything, but had other plans for the night. Twilight Sparkle, who had helped with measuring wing power for the tornado team, approached Fluttershy after she declined to join the party.

“Are you sure you want to go, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, “You’d have a really good time, Pinkie’s coming to help set it up.”

“Yes, I already had plans, and I'd hate to keep him waiting.”

Twilight had to process that information for a moment. “…Him?”

“My friend High Rise, we’re going to cook a special porridge for the animals tonight.” A big smile came across Fluttershy’s face. “He was really worried about how I was handling this tornado situation. It’ll be nice to tell him the good news.”

“High Rise? Friends? You’re good friends with High Rise?” Twilight had not thought about the odd newcomer to Ponyville for several weeks now. Mainly to keep her promise to Spike about not overthinking things. Even if the circumstances around him were still peculiar.

“Oh yes, we’ve gotten together to cook for all the animals once a week. He’s especially fond of the songbirds.”

“I see, and how many weeks has it been?”

“Um, three, I think.”

All the questions she had before were starting to resurface, and if Twilight hadn’t calmed herself, she would have sent a barrage of them at Fluttershy. One of her friends had gotten close to him, which meant she could find out more about him from her!… But she held herself back. Twilight didn’t want to use her friend like that.

“Well that’s great! I hope you have a good time, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled and headed off to her home. Leaving a conflicted Twilight Sparkle behind. There was something off about High Rise, she knew it in her gut, but it wasn’t right to find out those suspicions through her friend’s new relationship with him. If she wanted to find anything out about what was up with High Rise and Time Turner, she would do it herself.

7 - A Drummer’s Way of Dealing With Gossip

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“Good afternoon, Spike! I’ve come to return these.” Dr. Hooves says, stepping into the Golden Oak Library.

“Oh, hey Doctor,” Spike replied, “I’ll take em, thanks.”

“I’m sorry for being overdue on returning them, it ended up being a… harder project than I first believed.”

“That’s no biggie. You did bring them back and all.”

Soon, the large stack of books were handed to Spike. How the tiny dragon could handle that many books with ease was a question Time Turner couldn’t help but wonder.

“Hello, Mr. Turner!” Twilight said as she walked down the library stairs. “Did you succeed with that personal project you had?”

Dr. Hooves tried to keep a smile, but after multiple weeks of no progress, he was struggling to keep it up. “I am… afraid not, but that is alright, I will be trying some new ideas instead!”

“That’s good to hear that you haven’t given up on… well whatever it is you’re doing.” Twilight smiled.

“On that, actually, may I poke your brain for a moment, Miss Sparkle? I had a question regarding magic that I hope you may have an answer for.”

A new chance to lecture and teach magic? It was to nopony’s surprise that Twilight jumped at the opportunity, approaching the Doctor with a big grin. “Absolutely! What were you hoping to learn about?”

“It was in regards to a hypothetical, if you do not mind. Say that a pony had a spell cast upon them, and that spell was sustained by the one who casted it upon them. How would one go about dispelling the spell that was cast?”

Twilight thought about his hypothetical situation, tapping her chin as the ideas ran through her head. “Hmm, the simplest answer is to use a dispel enchantment upon the pony who casted it. However, not every unicorn is capable of dispelling magic.”

“I see, does that mean there are, possibly, more mundane methods to break a spell?”

“Yes, indeed! Some spells are harder to break than others, but with the right circumstances, it can be done. A spell that affects the mind can be dispelled by knocking the pony affected unconscious, for example. Not every spell can be dispelled in such ways, however. It would really be a case by case basis.”

The answers Twilight gave him were mulled over. She couldn’t quite tell if he was satisfied with what she had said, but it was clear she told him something that caught his interest. Maybe, just maybe, this would be her opportunity. She turned around, and saw that Spike was still busy shelving. He wouldn’t question what she said while he was busy. Twilight looked back at Time Turner, and took the chance while she had it.

“Does this have anything to do with the time travel project you were working on, Mr. Turner?”

He looked up in surprise, as if she wasn’t supposed to connect those dots. “In a way, yes, but again, it’s purely theoretical interest.”

“I understand, and how has High Rise been doing?”

“Quite alright, I didn’t know you had any interest in the lad?”

“Nothing more than simple conversation.” Twilight smiled. “You’ve been friends since Trottingham High, it must be nice to have an old friend here in Ponyville with you.”

He was apprehensive in his response. Taking the time to carefully choose his words. Even Twilight could see that. “Yes, indeed. It has been quite nice to reconnect.”

“That is great, and what ab-“

“Hey, Twi, can I get some help over here?” Spike asked, the last book in his hands needed to go on a shelf he couldn’t reach. Twilight’s horn glowed and the book levitated from Spike’s grasp to its spot on the shelf. She didn’t need to look back at him to complete the spell.

“Thanks, what were we talking about now?” He asked after climbing down the ladder.

“Just some small talk, Spike. Nothing important.”

“Quite, unfortunately I must get going. Thank you for your time, Miss Sparkle, and thank you for your assistance as well young man.”

Dr. Hooves then departed the library. Twilight noted how guarded the doctor had become when she began questioning him. She didn’t ask any hard hitting questions, but it was clear he was hiding something. The questions he had for her left her interested as well. A fascination with time travel fits with Time Turner’s interests already, but the sudden interest in magic? Dispelling magic was a difficult skill that most unicorns struggle with, what could an earth pony like him want to dispel?

“You’re zoning out again, Twilight.”

“Oh! Sorry Spike, let’s get back to it.”

Before they could get back to it, a knock came at the door.

Knock… Knock-Knock Knock

“Twilight? It’s Ditzy! I have your mail.”

There were always some days where you wondered how you got into the situation you did. This was one of them for High Rise. Sitting next to Crescent Sun as they watched the scene unfolding before them.

“We must destroy Discord!” A noble stallion in the crowd of ponies exclaimed. “Find him and evaporate every atom!”

“If we destroy Discord, how are we going to find the Princess?!” Another noble bit back. “When Discord is found, he must be captured, and tortured for the location of her highness!”

“That is enough!” A new, more powerful voice rose above the cacophony. The tallest pony in the room, a pink alicorn with flowing multicolored mane of pink, purple and cream. On her flank was the cutie mark of a crystal heart. She was Princess Cadance, ruler of the Crystal Empire and temporary ruler of Equestria.

Princess Cadance was also not very happy.

“To think that this group of nobles would fall so far! Death and torture for a longtime friend of Equestria? What monsters have you become in my sister-in-law's absence?!”

Most of the room fell silent, but a few of the nobles present were especially confident in themselves. “A long time friend who has foalnapped our ruler! Are we to take this lying down, Princess?”

“I would advise you to not forget yourself, High Lady Blueblood.” Cadance’s rage at the crowd was now pointed solely at the mare who thought to speak back at her. Even somepony as haughty as Blueblood realized when she should stop talking.”

“You all know that none of us truly understand what happened one year ago. None of us know why both Princess Twilight Sparkle and Discord have disappeared. I, out of anypony present today, feel their absence the most. A trusted friend of the royal family, and my sister, both gone. Assumptions about who or what is to blame will not solve anything!”

High Rise finally remembered exactly why he was there. Today would be the day Crescent Sun would attempt the new modified time travel spell. She had wanted her best friend to stay by his side, and that included the court meeting that she had to participate in. To say that he felt out of place among the elites of Canterlot was an understatement. He wore a bow tie, but he still felt underdressed!

A drummer like him had no place alongside royalty.

“Know that we tirelessly search for the missing Princess, and we shall continue this search following the example Princess Celestia and Luna had set when they first founded Equestria. You are all dismissed.”

According to Crescent, a lot of court meetings ended like this. With very little policy discussion, and far too much outrage and hostility. Even the Princess of Love was finding it difficult to keep her patience with them. She had to leave her home and her daughter in the Crystal Empire, Princess Flurry Heart took the reins of her home while she was gone. High Rise couldn’t imagine the kind of pain Cadance was in, having only lost her husband a few years before that, and now unable to see her own daughter.

“Crescent Sun, I hope that you will have better things to discuss than they did,” Princess Cadance said as she approached the two. High Rise instinctively brought himself down low before her.

“Oh? And who is this?” She asked when she saw him bow.

“This is my best friend, High Rise, and I do have great news. Everything is in place.”

“That is good, you may rise, High Rise.” Cadance held back a snort at the double use of rise. Sometimes you had to find humor in the little things.

“Thank you, y-your highness, ma’am, miss.” This moment was a reminder for High Rise, about how nervous he became in front of an alicorn. He had only once before met an alicorn, and their intimidating grace left him stumbling over his words. He felt like a rat in front of cat.

“Will he be with us when you attempt this new spell, Crescent?”

“Yes, if that is alright, your highness.”

“It is, I can understand the wish to have a friend at your side. Especially in times such as these.”

High Rise remembered the warmth that emanated off of Cadance in that moment. If he truly focused, he could feel it even now. The compassion she had for others was truly limitless. It almost eased the tension that he felt standing before her, almost.

“Let us waste no time then.” Princess Cadance stepped away from the two, moving towards a nearby hallway. “Today is the day we bring our friends and family home.”

High Rise followed behind Crescent into the hallway, but a nipping feeling at his neck made him turn his gaze backwards. He didn’t remember feeling watched in this memory, but he sure felt it now. Nothing stood behind him when he searched, and the dream ended before he could think on it any further.

“So, any new experiments today, doc?” High Rise asked Dr. Hooves. The day had been slow, so he decided to see how his scientifically minded friend was doing. The two sat together in his basement lab, a series of different test machines scattered throughout the room.

“I’m afraid not, nothing that will work as we hoped.” Dr. Hooves sighed. He had been like this ever since the first failed experiment. His attempt at “pulling time to High Rise” ended with a bruised barrel and dizziness. Several other experiments were tried as well. Each new attempt was followed by a decreasing amount of enthusiasm from the doctor. His excitement over his research and studies had fallen to the wayside. Frustration and doubt was taking over.

“Hey, that’s alright. That one with the chair and the strainer hat felt like it was close!” High Rise tried to cheer up the doctor, but it fell on deaf ears.

“Look, doc,” High Rise said, “It’s alright if it isn’t working, we can try something different. Who knows, maybe we’re just looking at this in the wrong way?”

“There is no ‘maybe’, High Rise.” The Doctor sighed, pinching his muzzle between his two hooves. “I know it is the wrong way. The technology required to travel through time is far beyond my capacity. I doubt it is even possible to travel through time with mundane methods in your own time.”

“No, but-!” High Rise realized he couldn’t protest that point. “Yeah, you’re right, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think you can do it.”

“Your belief in me has never wavered, High Rise, and I thank you for that.” Time Turner tried to give him a smile, it wasn’t a big one, but the effort was there. “I am not giving up, I can assure you. I am currently working on a different idea that should, hopefully, prove more fruitful than a vain wish to create a time machine.”

High Rise wanted to protest his use of “vain” in that sentence, but a knock at the door upstairs stopped him before he could.

Knock… Knock-Knock Knock

“I’ll go get it,” High Rise said, getting up from the chair he sat in as he made his way upstairs. He already knew who was at the door. Her knocking pattern was distinct, and surprisingly consistent with every visit she made. Ditzy Doo the mailmare was here.

The door opened and, just as he predicted, Ditzy was there with her trusty mailmare hat and saddlebags. High Rise had no idea why, but every time they greeted each other, Ditzy’s cheeks would turn a tinge of red. “Morning, Ditzy, what’s up?”

“Oh, hi Mr. High Rise!” Ponies didn’t often wag their tails like dogs, but Ditzy did. It was cute, even if it made little sense. “I’m just dropping off the mail, like I usually do, because that’s what I do, I deliver the mail!… Hehe.”

Her embarrassment went right over High Rise’s head. “Cool, what do you got for the doc today?”

Ditzy reached into her bags and pulled out a handful of letters, as well as a newspaper. “Looks like some bills, an ad for the Rich’s Barnyard Bargains store, and the latest issue of the Foal Free Press.”

She handed off the mail to High Rise, and soon after moved on to her next stop. Which ended up being a light pole she bumped into. After the light pole stop, she went on to her actual next stop.

The bills and ad were placed on the table as High Rise shut the door. He, however, took the Foal Free Press newspaper for himself. The foal-run newspaper had grown pretty popular as of late, with many ponies around town talking about it. Mainly because of a new column that had been started in it. The Gabby Gums gossip column.

Everypony has those things they never want to admit to enjoying. A bit of hard cider here, laughing at somepony’s misfortune, or gossip. Ditzy brought the first issue with Gabby Gums over to have the two brown stallions check it out, and while Time Turner wasn’t interested in the slightest… High Rise secretly asked for future issues.

He knew what was being mentioned in these columns were bad. They were either intruding on somepony’s privacy, or completely made up. Nopony should enjoy this type of thing, but he just couldn’t help himself! High Rise wanted to know what the next Gabby column revealed, he had to know! It was too juicy not to!

That feeling was about to change, however.

Time Turner: The fantasies of Dr. Hooves.

Ponyville’s resident clockmaker has a great secret he is hiding. Time Turner, who has repeatedly asked to be referred to as “Doctor Hooves”, believes that he is a time traveling pony from one hundred years in the future!

This column reports that Time Turner has been attempting to create working time machines in his basement in an attempt to “return home”. Is the clockmaker really a pony from the future, or is he just a pony who has fallen down the loony bin?

Gabby Gums.

High Rise had to pull his jaw off of the floor below him. Gabby Gums had made a gossip column on the doctor?! The story she told in this piece was completely false, but the details weren’t entirely off. A stallion who’s one hundred years in the past, attempts to get back home via time traveling devices? Whoever this Gabby was, they had found out very specific details about High Rise’s circumstances, and pinned them on Dr. Hooves.

“Who was it?” Time Turner asked as he ascended the stairs. High Rise quickly hid the newspaper behind his flank.

“Nopony!… I mean, it was Ditzy, but nothing important!”

“…Right.” He narrowed his gaze at High Rise. There surely was no reason for him to grow suspicious of his housemate, right? Definitely not the way he held a manic smile towards him, or the fact he was hiding something behind him. “At least Ditzy has learned to knock, I appreciate that. What did she need?”

“Just some mail, like normal! Nothing weird or freaky off here, just normal, simple mail.”

High Rise gestured to the small stack of letters on the table. Desperately trying to pull the doctor’s attention away from the paper behind his back. When you try to make somepony stop doing something, it only makes them want to do it more. Such as how Dr. Hooves was now trying to get a look at the paper on High Rise’s flank.

“What are you hiding, High Rise?”

“Nothing import- I mean, nothing at all! Why would I be hiding something, doc?”

“Because you are hiding something right there, is that part of the mail?”

“Yes- no, no it is not. Just some paper, really.” High Rise tried to chuckle, but it came out as a full blown laugh.

“Let me see it.”

“Doc, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“It’s my mail, and whatever it is will not harm me.”

“…Fine.” His hoof came around to hand the newspaper to Time Turner. “Just don’t freak out…”

Time Turner then freaked out.

“Great withering stallions!!”

The Foal Free Press was no longer allowed in the Time Turner household, and for good reason. The foals who wrote for Gabby Gums had utterly humiliated the doctor, painting him as a lunatic stuck in some time traveling fantasy. Time Turner repeatedly fumed as he read the column, reminding High Rise that he did actually have a doctorate, and it was well within his right to go by the name Dr. Hooves.

The past week was spent with Time Turner refusing to leave the basement. High Rise wanted to get him out for a day of fun again, promising a great time at karaoke like he enjoyed before, but not even the promise of Brown Saddle Band music was enough to get him out of the basement. Nothing would get him out of there, and High Rise eventually had to leave him be.

In fact, most of the ponies in town had been behaving similarly to Time Turner. The victims of Gabby Gums’ articles have sequestered themselves from the public eye. Twilight Sparkle had placed an entire shield around her library after Gabby wrote a piece about her being a Canterlot snob. High Rise’s friend Fluttershy was hidden away in her cottage, often crying her eyes out after her tail extensions were exposed. Ponies that weren’t affected by Gabby still acted similarly. Some members of the press club tried to search for stories the other day, and all the ponies in town started to become guarded around any foal who came their way.

There was nothing like this in the history he knew of Ponyville. High Rise really had no idea how to handle it. The way ponies stopped trusting each other, hiding away? It reminded him too much of the future he had to get back to.

A disturbing thought passed through his mind. Maybe his presence was making this time more like his own? All this negative energy that surrounded Ponyville could have been all his fault! There was no reasonable way to prove that, because it wasn’t true at all, but one cannot reason with a panicky stallion using a set of cups as drums to ease his stress.

“Will you stop that?” Time Turner called from the basement. “I know you do not have real drums to work with, but using my dishware was not a good replacement!”

“…Sorry.” High Rise called down to him, now tapping to ground in a simple 1-2-3 pattern.

“Look,” Time Turner poked his head out of the basement, “If you require something to do to get your mind off of… whatever it is you are panicking about this time, why don’t you handle a delivery for me?”

That was how High Rise got roped into making a delivery to Sweet Apple Acres. The Apple family had requested a repair on one of their household clocks, and Time Turner had finished with it. Since he didn’t want to go out into town, much like other ponies at the moment, High Rise went out in his stead. All he had to do was drop off the clock and head back after.

What Time Turner failed to mention was the size of the clock. It wasn’t just any old clock, it was a Grandfather Clock! The doctor had been gracious enough to lend him a cart to use, but even on wheels this behemoth was heavy. His spindly legs struggled with each step while this gigantic weight was hauled behind him. Why, out of all things, did he lose out on the natural earth pony strength?

Several hours passed, but eventually High Rise had gone past the town and towards the main house of Sweet Apple Acres. The last time he was in the orchard was during his first few days of Ponyville, bringing up unfortunate memories of a panic attack underneath an occupied apple tree.

He was drenched in his own sweat, legs shaking underneath him. Every muscle in his body screamed for High Rise to cease this torture, but he didn’t stop until he was right in front of the household. The moment he did, he freed himself of the great clock that sought to destroy him.

Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to flop on the ground and stop moving for anywhere between a few minutes to a few days, he still had to knock on the door. The evil clock no longer burdened him, but his legs still felt weak. High Rise pushed through his feebleness and meekly knocked on the door.

High Rise was expecting that this would be his first meeting with the Element of Honesty, Applejack. She was the only one of the six he hadn’t met. At this point, it was far too hypocritical of him to say he is avoiding the elements outright. Given his new weekly cooking sessions with his friend Fluttershy, he had no right to pick and choose when he decided to follow that rule now. So he put that worry to rest well before he got here. It wasn’t like they had any reason to interact to begin with.

The one who answered the door was not Applejack,

“Hello” A deep, masculine voice said as the door opened. High Rise found that he was now in front of one of the few stallions that matched him in height. This stallion, however, had powerful muscles to match his height, unlike himself. The red fur coat he had did little to hide his strong physique. The heavy wooden work collar that rested around his neck did little to hinder his movements. Orange mane and tail cut short so as to not get caught in any harnesses or farm equipment. His large, warm green eyes half lidded, and a piece of straw dangled from his mouth and below his broad jawline.

High Rise’s heart skipped a beat.

“U-Uuh, Hi, hello, good morning.” The sun was already past its peak in the sky. “I’m High Rise, what’s your name?”

“Big Macintosh Apple, you can call me Big Mac.”

Big Mac held out his hoof for High Rise to shake. Which he took, feeling his powerful grip over his own hoof. His whole body shook as Big Mac merely moved his fetlock. At this point, High Rise’s mind became far too muddled to be considered coherent.

“Nice to meet you, Buff Ma- I mean, Big Mac.” High Rise chuckled nervously, nearly forgetting why he was here.

“How can I help ya, High Rise?” Big Mac asked him.

“…Oh!” He stopped staring at Big Mac to finally do what he was here for. “I’m here on behalf of Time Turner, he finished the repairs on your clock.”

High Rise stepped to the side to show the cart with the grandfather clock in it. Big Mac stepped out of the house to approach it, inspecting it with an appraising eye. When he finished his appraisal, Big Mac gave High Rise an approving nod.

“Eeyup, looks good,” He said right before he picked up the clock. Not by using the cart, mind you, but with one hoof wrapped around it. He brought it up onto his shoulder, and with little effort at all, walked back up towards the house with it.

Never before had High Rise wished to be a clock so badly.

“Thank you fer’ bringin’ it over. Do ya need anythin’ before you go?”

He had to hold back the thirstier requests he could have made. “Would it be alright to have some water?”

“Eeyup, you look like ya need it.”

Once Big Mac had the gigantic clock inside, he came back with a glass of water for High Rise. He hoped that he would be able to show a bit of decorum in front of the work pony, but his actual thirst saw the glass and threw that idea in the bin. As soon as Big Mac handed that glass to High Rise, he began chugging it down in sloppy gulps.

“Ha… thanks,” The completely flushed High Rise said, before returning the glass to Big Mac. His brow was up in the air, and a chuckle escaped him.

“Eeyup, see you around.” Big Mac gave High Rise a nod, and stepped back into his house. There, he left a stupefied High Rise. The thoughts the drummer boy had were left in a puddle of his giggling. He couldn’t get the images of a certain red stallion out of his head. There was nopony he had met in this time that he ever actually thought of as attractive. Dr. Hooves was okay, but he never thought of him in such a way. Big Macintosh, however?

That was one lean Apple.

“Was that Applebloom?” Applejack called from the upstairs of the Apple family household.

“Nnope,” Replied Big Mac

“Who was it then?”

“High Rise, came to drop off the clock Time Turner fixed up.”

“It was High Rise?”

“Eeyup.”

“Well dagnabbit,” Cried Applejack, “Ah still haven’t met that fella.”

“Eeyup.”

High Rise kept thinking about that big stallion he just met, when a sudden feeling of familiarity came over him. He had seen Big Macintosh before, but where? There was nothing in major history books about a random farm pony from the Apple family, he was sure of that. So it couldn’t have been from the future. Which meant he saw him recently…

Gabby Gums! A column from that newspaper from some time ago flashed in his mind. A piece about the Apple siblings, where Applejack was caught sleeping on the job, and a picture of Big Macintosh with a child’s Smarty Pants doll. They had been victims of the Foal Free Press too! Was there anypony in Ponyville that hadn’t been exposed by these foals?… Well, perhaps High Rise himself, but that’s because his details were pinned onto Dr. Hooves instead of him. If he ever found out who it was that made the Gabby Gums column, he would give them a piece of his mind!

…High Rise then suddenly felt a wave of unfamiliarity. He took a single look around and realized why he felt that way. He was lost in the Apple family orchard. While he was off in his fantasies thoughts, High Rise didn’t realize that he had veered off the dirt road back towards Ponyville. Between images of Big Mac and anger towards Gabby Gums, High Rise was now in the middle of a sea of apple trees. One may not expect it to be difficult to see landmarks in between evenly spaced, perfectly groomed apple trees, but it actually was incredibly hard!

No landmark from Ponyville was visible, nor was the Apple family’s house or barn. Just trees in every direction High Rise looked. The mountain that housed the city of Canterlot could be seen, but that hardly helped him! He needed to remember if he was north or south of Ponyville first to use that landmark!

There was absolutely no need to panic, of course. This was a farm, not the Everfree Forest. All High Rise had to do was pick a direction and walk that way. No matter which way he went, he’d eventually reach something that isn’t a farm!

Perhaps that something could be the Everfree Forest?

“Oh horseapples…”

“Oh horseapples!”

Wait a minute, High Rise only said that once, and he certainly didn’t say it in a little filly’s voice! His head snapped around towards the sound of the filly. Somewhere just past a set of evenly spaced trees. It was better to go in that direction than any other one! Whoever that filly was could help him get back on the path.

Only a few trees had to be passed for High Rise to hear the voice of the filly again. His eyes caught the sight of a tree house hanging from a larger tree nearby. Inside of that tree house was where the voice first came from, but as High Rise got closer, he could hear two more filly voices inside.

“..-Maybe we should make a story about Diamond Tiara herself! Maybe that will teach her a lesson” An energetic filly exclaimed.

“And how is that supposed to help us, Scootaloo? Then she’d publish those pictures the very next day!” The filly that High Rise initially heard responded.

“Exactly, an’ how do we fix all the hurt we caused by causin’ even more hurt?” A third filly said, this one had a similar accent to Big Macintosh.

“Well I don’t know, but it’d certainly make me laugh watching her read it…”

“Come on, girls!” The accented filly cried out, “We gotta figure out somethin’!”

“Excuse me? Hey? Are you up there? I could use some help!”

High Rise’s call to them was met with a moment of silence, before three small fillies poked their heads out of the tree house door. One of whom High Rise recognized, a unicorn filly with white fur and a curled pastel pink, purple and white mane. Rarity’s little sister Sweetie Belle. The other two were fillies High Rise had never seen before. The first was an orange pegasus with a short, reddish-pink mane, and smaller than usual wings on her back. The second was an earth pony with a light yellow mane and a bright red mane and tail. Her mane tied with a comically large bow behind her head.

“We’re sorry if we wrote anythin’ that offended ya’, mister!”

“Yeah, we really are!”

“Oh, that’s High Rise!” Sweetie Belle said, “I don’t think we wrote anything about him, did we?”

“High who?” The one called Scootaloo asked, after matching her voice to what was said earlier.

“High Rise. I went to his welcome party with my sister.”

“Never heard of him.”

“Yeah, ah got no idea who yer talkin’ about Sweetie Belle.”

“Ugh, that doesn’t matter, you two!” Sweetie Belle huffed and looked back down at High Rise. “Did you need something, Mister High Rise?”

“Yeah, I did… but before that, what did you mean by ‘writing about me’ exactly?”

The trio froze above High Rise, the bow tie filly choosing to respond first. “Well, uh, ah guess you didn’t hear anythin’ then, our bad.”

“About what?”

“About uuuh,” Scootaloo chimed in next. “Just some uh, story book we are writing, is all.”

“A story book?” Sweetie Belle glared at Scootaloo. “We shouldn’t be hiding the truth about it! We know we did something bad. We have to make up for it!”

The other two fillies lowered their heads and ears, even as they both nodded. Sweetie Belle looked back towards High Rise, and with her ears lowered as well, explained.

“I’m Sweetie Belle, this is Scootaloo, and this is Apple Bloom. We’re the ones that wrote all those Gabby Gums columns for the Foal Free Press.”

“Yeah..”

“Yeah….”

“…what?”

After Time Turner’s article, High Rise had wondered what he would do when faced with the pony behind those intrusive stories. How he would yell and bite at them for what they did. For making Fluttershy cry, for turning Time Turner into even more of a hermit. For bringing Ponyville down to the same level of mistrust and isolation that High Rise had back home. He wanted to say so many awful things…

But when he saw the three fillies. Their big, regretful eyes staring back at him. He lost all of that anger, and was only left with frustration he couldn’t release.

“…So you’re the ones who wrote that gossip about Time Turner?” He asked them.

The trio decided to come down from the tree house to meet him. Each of the three had a different look on their faces, but they all translated to the same thing. Guilt.

“Yeah, I wrote that one,” Scootaloo said, “I overheard some recording he was doing in his house and… made up a story from it.”

“And Fluttershy?”

“Ah found out about that when she was babysittin’ us this one time…”

High Rise sat down in front of them. His face painted a look of patience, even if he did a lot to rein it in. “Do you understand how much pain they have felt because of what you said? Doc believes that everypony around us thinks he’s a lunatic now, when his work was meant to-…meant to be personal to him. Fluttershy didn’t do anything to deserve being outed like that either. Imagine if somepony found out you were bald and wearing a wig, and told everypony you met that?”

“…Yeah” The three said in unison.

“And that’s only two of the many columns you made. How did you even find out about Time Turner’s recording?”

“…I followed him back to his house after hearing him talk to Twilight. He said he had some sorta special project he was doing. I just wanted to find out what it was.”

“So you stalked him back to his home, and purposely overheard his self recordings?”

“I didn’t stalk him! It was just a little spying!” Scootaloo tried to protest, but the sudden glare from High Rise shut her up.

“The difference between stalking and spying is incredibly slim,” He said to her. A sentence that made her head fall even lower.

“Why would you girls even think to do something like this? What could possibly motivate you to keep going?”

“We was just wanting to get our cutie marks, mister!” Apple Bloom said, tears forming at the bottom of her eyes. “I-I thought that if we joined the Foal Free Press, we could find our cutie marks in journalism…”

“And then…” Sweetie Belle took over, the filly struggling to hold in her own emotions. “We started the gossip column, and it got really popular. We thought we were doing something right because of that! So we… ignored the bad feelings it left us.”

“But we know now that it was wrong!” Scootaloo joined in at the end, streams of tears falling down her face. “We hurt everypony we cared about, nopony wants to be near us, and we really want to stop, but… but…”

All of the fillies in front of High Rise suddenly burst into tears. No other noise could overcome the sheer volume of their wails. High Rise winced and tried to cover his ears from the sudden spike in noise. His hooves were incapable of drowning out the fillies, and he eventually had to give up that trivial effort.

He was frustrated with these three fillies, but High Rise couldn’t help but feel for the foals. His time spent in this era had left him feeling regretful for many of his choices, and these girls were coming to terms with a great amount of regretful actions. Not to mention that he, like many other ponies in town, fed the popularity of it by coming back for more. As much as he wanted to scold them, he couldn’t help but reach out instead.

The three fillies were wrapped up in High Rise’s forelegs. Giving them a gentle squeeze as they cried into his chest. Much like Fluttershy during the dragon migration, this was his first instinct when he saw a pony like this.

“It’s alright, girls. I understand, I'm not angry with you” He said calmly to them. High Rise had waited for their wails to become sniffles to speak up. So that they could respond to him.

“You… you do?” Apple Bloom asked, a huge snot bubble dangling from her nose. It took all the willpower in his body to not look down at the snot they covered his fur in.

“You’re not mad at us?” Said Scootaloo.

“Well, I am unhappy, but I see how you are now. You feel guilty, and you want to make things right, is that correct?”

Sniffles hindered Sweetie Belle’s response for a few moments. “…Yes, but we can’t…”

“Why can’t you?”

“Cuz’ of Diamond Tiara! If we stop writin’ these Gabby columns, she’s gonna publish these embarrassin’ pictures she got of us! We can’t let her do that!”

High Rise prayed to Celestia that Diamond Tiara was another foal and not a full grown pony. If an adult were threatening these children like that, there would be Tartarus to pay.

“So you want to stop writing embarrassing things about other ponies’ secrets, but if you stop, your embarrassing secrets will be exposed to everypony. Did I get that right?”

“Yes!” All of them replied.

“Well I take back what I said, I am mad at all of you.”

His forelegs were immediately vacated, and the trio of fillies looked at him with shock. “What, why?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“Why wouldn’t I be? You don’t want your secrets to be shared, but you’ll share other ponies’ secrets to keep yours safe. That isn’t making things right, that’s hurting others to keep yourselves safe.”

Two of them looked like they were about to protest, but Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom kept silent. Scootaloo, on the other hand…

“But that’s the point! We don’t want to do this anymore! We’ve been in our clubhouse all day trying to figure out how to do it!”

“What is there to figure out?” High Rise retorted. “You tell the truth.”

“That we’re being blackmailed?”

“No, tell them what you just told me before. You are sorry for all the hurt you caused?”

Nod Nod Nod.

“And you learned your lesson, that you shouldn’t do anything like this ever again?”

Nod Nod Nod.

“Then you tell everypony in town that. You apologize to every single pony you hurt, with no exceptions. Make sure they understand that you learned your lesson, and will never do it again.”

“And how is that supposed to help us? Diamond Tiara will still publish our pictures! And why would anypony forgive us just like that?!”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom watched as Scootaloo fought against High Rise’s words. They knew what he was implying, but they still awaited the words that they both expected him to say to her.

“There is no guarantee it will do anything at all.” He said, his tone harsh against the combative pegasus filly. “Your pictures can still be shared, and you aren’t owed any forgiveness from the ponies that you hurt. But you can end this knowing you did the right thing.”

Finally, the weight of those words set in to Scootaloo. She turned to face her friends, and saw that they had been wearing the same sorrowful expression she now had. Her flank fell to the ground. No more tears were shed, nor did any eardrum rattling wails come from them. Only a bitter, quiet acceptance of the truth.

“…We understand,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Yah…”

“Yeah…”

“Good.” A smile formed on the face of High Rise, and he tapped his hoof to the top of each of their heads. “If it means anything, I forgive you, and I am sure a lot of ponies in town will as well. As long as you are honest about how you feel.”

These simple pats on the head helped to alleviate some of their sorrow. They still looked guilty and regretful, but they saw a path ahead now. Something they could work towards.

“So… how are we gonna tell everypony?” Scootaloo asked her friends.

“Ah dunno… it’d probably take us a few days to personally apologize to every single one…”

“…GASP. I got it!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she jumped into the air.

“You do?” Apple Bloom asked. Both she and Scootaloo rose from their rumps to watch Sweetie Belle bounce in excitement.

“Yes! I got the perfect plan, come on, we got a lot of work to do!” The trio rushed back towards their clubhouse, but Sweetie Belle stopped just at the first rung of the ladder.

“Oh, right! You needed help with something, right Mister High Rise.”

All three stared back at him, and he now chuckled nervously.

“Well… I actually got lost in the orchard. Could you point me back towards the dirt road back to Ponyville?”

“Ya got lost?” Apple Bloom asked with a tilt of her head. “But the house is right there.”

She pointed her small hoof towards the very visible Apple family farmhouse. Clearly able to be seen from their clubhouse’s hilltop. It was not that far away after all.

“…Oh.”

A week had passed since the final Gabby Gums column was printed on the Foal Free Press. Unlike the normal columns, this one was an open letter by the fillies behind Gabby Gums. In it, the fillies Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom apologized for the harm they caused, explained why they did what they did, and promised to never use gossip like that ever again.

Maybe other places in Equestria wouldn’t be so quick to forgive the three foals for what they had done. Ponyville, however, was quick to open up their arms for the girls that spoke the truth and asked for forgiveness. It was just one of those special communities that learned to let bygones be bygones, and accept each other as they are today.

High Rise couldn’t help but feel envy in his heart. If only his band could’ve done the same. So everything could be normal again, just like Ponyville was.

“I’m happy that you learned your lesson, girls,” Twilight said to the three fillies in her library, “Are you still planning to write for the paper?”

“Yeah!” Came Apple Bloom’s voice, “With Featherweight as the new editor-in-chief, he wants us to write about all the special events happenin’ soon. So we’re gonna need books on all the special holidays and events. Like the upcoming National Dessert Competition!”

“Oooh yeah, I hope we get to try some of the desserts ourselves!” Said Scootaloo

“Everything did turn out for the best. I’m glad we listened to his advice.” Sweetie Belle said to her friends, who gave enthusiastic nods in return.

“His? Did somepony help you with something, girls?” Twilight asked while her magic picked out a few books that would suit the three fillies’ needs.

“Mhm, High Rise stumbled onto our clubhouse, and told us that we should be honest,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Honestly? We already knew that was the answer when he said it, but we was bein’ stubborn about things…”

“But hey! It all worked out, and now we get to have cake!”

Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cheered. Their hooves came together in a trio of hoof bumps, and Twilight chuckled. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, as this group of friends was called, was always known for getting themselves in trouble and needing to learn a lesson from it. It really shouldn’t be surprising that somepony helped them come to terms with what they already knew.

But Twilight was stuck, once again, on the fact that it was High Rise who helped them. It really shouldn’t be a big deal at all that it was him. Anypony could have told them that. High Rise being the one helping them didn’t matter at all…

Twilight Sparkle tucked the newspaper she had under the table a little farther in. This newspaper had a particular Gabby Gums column on it, with the name Time Turner written in large title font.

“Hey, you three. Would you like to do something nice for High Rise, since he helped you out?” She asked them.

“Huh? Oh, that does sound like a good idea!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“Oooh, but what should we do?” Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle shrugged in response.

“Don’t worry, girls. I think I have the perfect idea for you!” Twilight smiled as the three gave their full attention to her.

It was time she figured out why she was so bothered by him, and she’ll figure it out from the pony’s mouth himself!

8 - Drumming With the Crusaders

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Breakfast between the two sisters, Celestia and Luna, had changed in the past month and a half. There weren't silly jokes or fun moments between siblings. Munching toast or gossip about weird fantasies. Instead, their only point of discussion nearly every morning was him.

“Have there been any further memories shared of this spell they planned to use?” Princess Celestia asked her sister.

“No, his dreams have circled back to memories of his bandmates. Memories that grow more depressing each night.”

“And does the lunar guard have anything to report?”

“Nothing, he has been, by all accounts, living a normal life in the town of Ponyville.”

The unusual pony who appeared in Ponyville was the topic of focus for the Princesses all throughout this past month. Princess Luna would document the findings she found about him in his dreams, and the sisters would review what was learned the following morning. At first, this effort looked to be wasted on a misguided concern.

Then came a dream that showed, in vivid detail, a pony by the name of Crescent Sun. In most dreams, even memories, the finer details of the world and its inhabitants are lost in the haze of one’s mind. When Luna inhabits the dreams of others, she sees this haze clearly. If one were to dream of a kitchen, the dream would not recreate the contents of the pantry. The same rules apply for ponies. The broader strokes of their features will be shown, but the small details. The scars, the discolorations, the clarity of their cutie marks. All of these would be lost.

In this dream, however, Luna had found that this Crescent Sun was recreated in perfect detail. Her yellow fur had stains from ink, her hooves were chipped and in need of a polish. Her navy blue mane was unkempt and overgrown. Even her silver eyes had small lines of red, to show this mare’s fatigue. These finer details were almost never remembered by a dreamer, and yet, they were here. Perfect, almost real.

When she entered his dream that night, Luna almost thought she had woken up and found herself in a real space with them. If it felt as real as that to an intruder like Luna. She could only wonder what it was like for him. For him, it most likely was like reliving the entire thing.

That dream was the turning point in the sister’s investigation. The details that it provided gave them more than enough reason to delve further into this mystery. A dispatch of lunar guards had been sent to watch over the subject in question, but have so far found nothing out of the ordinary. He stays in the home of a local clockmaker named Time Turner, and is friends with the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy. Nothing about the interactions the lunar guard observed spoke of anything unusual.

The next memory they found, however, proved to be more eye opening than the first. Princess Luna had watched a scene unfold where Princess Cadance, now fully grown into the mature Alicorn form, led the nation of Equestria in the absence of Princess Twilight. Not her or her sister, Twilight Sparkle. Luna was also privy to the thoughts of his mind as he too relived this event in history, and the details provided confirmed the final pieces that the two sisters needed.

The stallion High Rise was a pony from the future. A future where Twilight Sparkle is the ruler of Equestria, and where she has been missing for over a year,

“We still do not understand, even if we were to give the rule of Equestria to Twilight in the future, we should still be around to step in if this happened,” Princess Luna pondered. “Why would we force Niece Cadance to take over the duty?”

“That is unfortunately something we do not know, Luna,” Celestia replied, her face sternly pointed towards the breakfast in front of her. “Among the many other mysteries that surround this potential future, the only way to find the answers is to hope another of his dreams reveals them.”

“Or we choose to approach him directly. We now know he is not of our time, with knowledge he should not possess. He is already aware of Princess Cadance’s future husband, a fact that is only soon to be revealed, and he is aware that they have a daughter some time in the future. Not only that, but he also has memories of the Crystal Empire! Nopony of this time should even think of such a place.”

“We can, but I would like to understand the greater details of this time travel spell that they use. As well as why they did it. I wish to approach this High Rise peacefully, but neither of us, in our entire lives, have ever dealt with a circumstance such as this. We still do not understand why he is here, at this point in time, Luna, or what mission he was sent to accomplish.”

“Then we may learn that by speaking with him! Praying that he will suddenly reveal it in his dreams may take anywhere from a few days to a few years to accomplish. If we wish to understand him, which we do, it will be done better by us speaking to him.”

“But if he is here to harm our little ponies, then revealing that we know of him may cause greater risk, sister. I cannot do that in good conscience!”

“Celestia, please.” Luna’s tone changed from determination to that of desperation. A pleading look filled her eyes. “We have watched the suffering of his mind, we have intruded upon his personal struggles for long enough. This High Rise is not a scheming creature, he is a hurt pony, one that yearns for lost friendships. His emotions are clouded in grief. You and us have enough experience with such grief to understand it.”

“High Rise has also grown more aware of our presence, and I am unable to influence his dreams. If another of those vivid dreams comes to him, we do not know if we will be able to hide ourselves from him. Please, Celestia. Let us end this and approach High Rise directly.”

Celestia listened to her sister’s pleas. It took everything in her to hold her composure. She understood quite clearly what it felt like to lose those you cared most about. It was a pain that never quite went away.

“I am sorry, Luna. I should have understood how much pain I have caused you with these requests…” She got up from her seat and approached the smaller sister. Celestia wrapped her hooves around Luna, pulling her in tight. “I will schedule time for us to visit Ponyville for a meeting. It will take a week at most to get everything ready… Can I ask you to continue, just till then?”

“…” Luna held on to her sister tightly. “Very well, but we shall never do anything like this ever again.”

Click.

Project Century, log 53.

Bum-DuhDuhDuh-Bum Bum-DuhDuhDuh-Bum

All avenues of creating a physical time transportation device have been explored, and as previous logs reported, none are viable for further development. My ability to create the technology necessary is lacking, and there is no technology in this current time and age that is able to physically distort time. I have discussed with subject High Rise if any such technology could exist in one hundred years, but even he agreed that no such technology exists even back in his home. The method that sent him back in time was a magic spell, a fact we both knew at the start.

As I look back at these two months, I find myself surprised by how patient High Rise has been with me. Never did he doubt that I would find a way for him to go back home. He even ignored that I have been avoiding a very important clue to his case for several months now.

The subject was sent back in time by magic. We surmised in the very first recording that the most likely solution to this problem would be to break the magic tether, or “anchor” that currently holds him in this timeline. Two months ago, we had already deduced the best course of action.

Yet I, in my excitement, decided to dive back into my own wishes to create a time machine. A wish I have longed to achieve since I was but a young foal. I placed the most obvious solution to High Rise’s conundrum to the side so that I may selfishly reignite my own passion for time travel. Today I wonder to myself why High Rise has chosen not to question any of my decisions. He is not academically gifted, but I know that even he knew that my… attempts at time travel devices were insufficient. The subject of this project has allowed me to waste his time with wild ideas and speculatory experiments.

BumBumBum-Duh-DuhDuhDuh-Duh

High Rise has grown comfortable in the two months he has been here. He has developed a close friendship with the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy, and recently has become a friend of a group of fillies that call themselves the “Cutie Mark Crusaders”. They recently came by the house with a present for High Rise after he had assisted them with something. If you can hear the drum on this recording, you know now what it is. Though High Rise had to clarify for me that it was a “snare drum”. It has sounded like a marching band in my house since he got it.

He has grown so comfortable, in fact, that he doesn’t often come to me asking for updates. The subject will come check up on me, and invite me out for the day or night, but he does not push for answers on how I have progressed. Maybe he already knows that I have been following a fruitless effort, and doesn’t bother to ask.

I have decided that, as of today, I will no longer continue this selfish wish. Project Century’s goal of researching time travel will be put away. With its primary and only goal being the safe return of High Rise.

To this effort, I will soon be conducting a test to attempt to disconnect the subject from his magical anchor. The next log will detail the results of the test.

If the test proves to be a failure, I will seek out aid from a more experienced user of magic, Twilight Sparkle. If I cannot do what is right and find a way to get him home, then I will make sure to work with somepony who can.

Click.

High Rise had to be the happiest pony in Ponyville. Not being able to regularly use your special talent for two whole months was agonizing. He had the time of his life playing the five piece kit they had for the Night-Mare’s performance, but he hadn’t seen a single drum since then! No kits, no snares, no hoof drums, no bongos, nothing! It was like a hole was missing in his life.

Then the trio of fillies he scolded at the tree house came to Time Turner’s door. With a snare drum wrapped in a bow. As well as a pair of drumsticks! They wanted to thank him for setting them on the right path after the Gabby Gums incident. His initial reaction was to turn it down, there was no real reason to get him anything. Why would they want to get a gift for somepony who berated them? But then High Rise saw the drum, and his giddiness took over.

He had that drum inside, tuned, and playing to the theme of a song within minutes. The song he played needed more than a single snare to sound right, but he didn’t care. It sounded right to him, and those fillies got the biggest of hugs for what they had given him.

High Rise didn’t even care that the one who purchased the drum for them was Twilight Sparkle.

Okay, he cared a little, but the joy he felt playing the drums overtook that concern. He had no idea why Twilight would do that for him or the girls. They had no relationship unlike how he was with Fluttershy. He had interacted with and become acquainted with a few other ponies in Ponyville, but nothing greater than surface level. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Ditzy Doo, Big Macintosh.

Big Mac…

No, stay on topic. Even though he had been in Ponyville, he had very few relationships that were strong enough to be considered friends. Dr. Hooves, who he decided was his friend after the very first day he helped him. Pinkie Pie, mainly because it was hard not to become friends with Pinkie Pie. The fact High Rise avoided becoming her friend for three days was some form of record in Ponyville. Finally, there was Fluttershy, who he never planned to befriend, but he honestly would never replace it.

That is all to say, among those that he knew, Twilight Sparkle was a footnote. A mare he had interacted with a total of two times. Sure, he knew she would become the most important pony in Equestria soon, but it’s not like he was involved in that.

He certainly isn’t expecting to have her involved with him anytime soon. So he kept playing his new drum all day without a single care in the world.

7 days remaining

“I think that batch is the best received recipe yet,” Fluttershy remarked after she and High Rise had finished handing out breakfast meals to the animals around her cottage.

“The bear almost ate my hoof off…” High Rise stared at his saliva covered hoof.

“Oh he didn’t mean to hurt you, he just gets very excited.”

“Well, I expect a full hoof-written apology.”

“I don’t think that’s something Mister Bear can do.”

“Apologetic bear noises will do then.”

KnockKnockKnockKnock

Both High Rise and Fluttershy look towards the door to her cottage. A group of shadows stood behind the doorway, with both big and small silhouettes merging together. It was difficult to make out who exactly was behind the door, but it was multiple ponies at the very least.

“One moment,” Fluttershy said to him as she exited the kitchen they were in, and opened the door. High Rise couldn’t hear the conversation she had, between the muffling from the walls and the running water he used to clean off his hoof.

“High Rise?” Fluttershy called out after he finished drying his hoof off. “Rarity and Applejack are looking for you.”

Rarity and Applejack? High Rise thought to himself. What do those two need from me?

“Coming!” He called back, and approached the door. There he saw Rarity, and surprisingly, the trio Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Then finally, rounding out this ground was an orange furred mare with a blonde mane loosely tied together. A stetson hat sat on the top of her head, and freckles sat upon her cheeks. The Element of Honesty, Applejack.

“Hi,” High Rise said with a wave, “Did you girls need me?”

“Hi Mister High Rise!” Sweetie Belle said, followed quickly by a hello and a howdy from Scootaloo and Apple Bloom respectively.

“A pleasure to see you again, High Rise,” Rarity said.

“The pleasure is, once again, all mine. You look as lovely as ever”

“Oh that will not work on me again!” She replied with a giggle, only confusing High Rise. Was it something he said? He didn’t have much time to ponder before Applejack scooped up his hoof in hers.

“Howdy, ah’m Applejack. You’ve met everypony else here but ah still needed to introduce myself, especially after what ya did for Apple Bloom. Ah was almost afraid ah was the last pony in town to meet ya!”

The history books mention that Applejack is strong. What they forgot to mention was how strong. When she took his hoof and shook his own, his entire body moved up and down with it. When she finally let go, High Rise’s brain was too shaken up to make words.

“Dear, I think you shook a little too hard. I also believe you are the last pony in Ponyville to meet High Rise.”

“Wait, really? Did ya meet Snips and Snails?”

High Rise finally regained vocal functions when she asked the question. “…Briefly while passing by the schoolhouse.”

“Davenport?”

“I liked his sofas, not so much his quills.”

“Ditzy?”

“She delivers the wrong mail to us every week. She gets it right on tuesdays though.”

“Bon Bon and Lyra?”

“Lyra was at the party, Bon Bon got a repeat customer out of me when she let me try her chocolate lollipops.”

“Granny Smith?”

“When she came and dropped your clock off at first.”

“Come on, you can’t have met Zecora yet!”

A moment of silence passed.

“…She was really good at Celestia Says.”

“Well dagnabbit!” Applejack huffed and puffed, while Rarity took over the conversation.

“Greetings aside, we, or should I say, the little ones here were hoping to ask you for a favor.”

Rarity looked down to the three foals at their hooves. “Go ahead girls.”

“Please show us how to play instruments!” The trio cried out in unison, startling High Rise.

“Wh-wha?”

“We wanna try and get musician cutie marks like you have!” Scootaloo said.

“When we got you that drum as a thank ya, you looked real happy with it. So we want to see if we got somethin’ like that too!”

“So you’re trying to get your cutie marks by doing that?”

“Yeah!” Said Sweetie Belle. “We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we gotta try all sorts of things to get our cutie marks!”

Pardon? Was that the name of the Cutie Mark Crusaders? High Rise’s brain did a double take of the three foals in front of them. He hadn’t noticed at first, but the three foals were wearing dark red capes, with a poorly stitched patch of a foal on their hind legs with a cape blowing in the wind.

High Rise recognized that patch. In one hundred years, the name of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was widely known in Equestria. In the future, they are a non-profit organization that specializes in helping ponies of all ages find and discover their talents. With services that varied from helping foals try out new things to learn about what interests them, to assisting older ponies better understand the depths of their cutie marks. Their group consisted of many ponies of all different backgrounds, all coming together to help out their fellow Equestrians. The Cutie Mark Crusaders often traveled to different schools throughout the year, teaching foals about cutie marks and what it means to have them. These visits to schools were often accompanied by fun activities to let the young ponies try out new things and find out what interests them.

High Rise knew all about these special Cutie Mark Crusader events. He got his cutie mark at one of them.

“Now girls, High Rise here ain’t gonna know about yer little club,” Applejack said, “It’s a lil’ group they made for foals who haven’t gotten their cutie mark yet. Think of it like a name for the three of them together.”

“Four! Babs Seed joined the Crusaders too!”

“Ah see, well the three of them and Babs Seed next time she comes around.”

The story of how the Cutie Mark Crusaders began was also shared at those school events. About three girls who sought to find out what their cutie marks are, but eventually realized that their talents were in helping others understand what their cutie marks and special talents were. High Rise didn’t remember the names of the founders of the Crusaders, but he did remember the details of the story.

Now the founders were standing here in front of him, asking High Rise to help them get their cutie marks. When he knew exactly what their cutie marks were going to be…

“What they are trying to ask for, High Rise, is if you could show them some different instruments and let them try them out. As well as teach them about music for a bit.”

This was awkward, how do you go about this without crushing the dreams of a little group of adorable fillies?

“I’d be perfectly fine doing that, but I don’t actually have any instruments. The drum they gifted me is the only thing I have.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we have that figured out!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “Vinyl Scratch will let us try out the instruments at her store! As long as we have adult supervision.”

“Ah, then surely you don’t need me to be the adult supervision?”

“Rarity can sing, but she ain’t much for instruments. Ah can play quite a few instruments myself, but ah’m needed back at the farm right after this.”

“And I still have a boutique to run.”

High Rise was realizing that what this really was is babysitting for the day. He looked towards Fluttershy next to him, who only gave a shrug in return. Accepting his fate, High Rise looked to the group and nodded. The trio of fillies cheered.

“Thank ya kindly, High Rise.” Applejack said, “If ya have any trouble with ‘em, just let us know. They oughtta be on their best behavior.”

“We will.” The Crusaders said with a collective groan.

“And if you need any direct assistance, darling, Twilight has offered to help out. She’ll be meeting you at Vinyl’s store.”

“Wait, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yeah, duh!” Scootaloo said, “She’s the one that set up everything for us! We haven’t gotten to do any crusading since… well, you know.”

“But she went and got permission to try this! We really appreciate your help, Mister High Rise!”

Twilight Sparkle set up this entire situation. Where the fillies would get to “crusade” for their cutie marks, in just a way where High Rise would get involved…

High Rise had a really, really bad feeling about this.

Vinyl Scratch, also known by the stage name DJ-PON3, ran a small music shop/club in Ponyville. During the day it was a simple place to get your music equipment and supplies. At night, it was a bustling nightclub with ponies dancing to the rhythm DJ-PON3 set for them on her turntable. Back during the day, Vinyl Scratch was not a very engaging pony. She waved to High Rise and the crusaders as they walked into the store, but didn’t say a single word. Her ears were lost in the music of her own headphones. Vinyl bobbed her head to the beat, not mindful whatsoever to the visitors of her store.

There was a different pony present that was more than happy to talk instead.

“Good Afternoon, Mister High Rise!” Twilight Sparkle said with a smile. She waved for him and the three fillies at his hooves to come over to her. She stood in the nightclub side of the store, surrounded by different instruments laid out for easy use. “And hello again, Crusaders.”

“Hi Twilight!” Scootaloo said, rushing towards the club area to ogle at the instruments. “Woah, that one’s huge!”

“Oh! Wait Scootaloo.” Twilight said, pulling her away from the cello she reached for. “We can try out everything here but that one, that one’s actually Vinyl’s roommate’s cello.”

“Oooh, okay.” Scootaloo was quick to hop to the next one, followed soon after by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Their eyes wandered over all of the instruments on display, and every so often they would try to play them. Often letting a random note fly from the instrument with a giggle. Back and forth the trio went, from each and every item in the room.

High Rise was not as quick to enter. He had no intention of skirting the duty he had been tasked with today, but the Twilight in front of him made him pause. Something about the mare made him hesitate to speak. She radiated a cool confidence… like she was prepared for anything.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle.” He finally replied after entering the room.

The antics of the crusaders were drowned out by the still air between them. “Thank you for agreeing to show the girls these instruments. They’ve been cooped up for quite a few days, and really could use some fun. Which I hear is one of your specialties!”

“I didn’t know you had such an interest in the Crusaders.”

“Of course! They’re the little sisters of my friends. Besides, Rarity and Applejack could use the time off from them, apparently they were trying really hard to help out after Gabby Gums. A bit overbearing, if you know what I mean? This is also a way to help my friends get a break for the day.”

“Those are the reasons?”

“Indeed.”

Fluttershy was an awkward conversation starter for High Rise because Fluttershy herself was shy and hard to engage with. For Twilight Sparkle, however? The problem wasn’t her, it was High Rise. No matter what he thought about saying, the words were caught in the lump in his throat. He had to keep reminding himself, every moment he looked at her, that this wasn’t the same Twilight Sparkle he knew.

This wasn’t the Princess he met before.

“I see.” High Rise said in an artificial, friendly tone. “Let’s help the kids have fun then.”

“Let’s!” Twilight replied in a far more excitable voice.

Twilight Sparkle had indeed come prepared. Everything was exactly how she planned it. The drum she had the crusaders give him planted the idea of musician cutie marks in their heads. So Twilight was able to set up a day with Vinyl Scratch where they would be allowed to try out instruments. Vinyl agreed, as long as a pony who knew what they were doing was supervising them. There were only a handful of skilled musicians in Ponyville who could fulfill that. Pinkie Pie was already busy with a party for Carrot Top’s birthday. Applejack would be busy at the farm, and Vinyl Scratch’s roommate Octavia would be in Canterlot for the next week.

That left High Rise as the ideal musician for supervising the Crusaders. Exactly as Twilight wanted it to be. All she had to do was volunteer to help him with the girls, and she was in!

But why go through all this trouble in the first place? Did she have some secret goal to expose the hidden truth in High Rise she so desperately wanted to find? No, not at all, in fact. This was all to help her try and get to know High Rise. Learn more about him, and in doing so, possibly understand what it is that makes him so wary of her. Twilight didn’t like it that a pony in Ponyville was walking on eggshells around her. Sure, there were other details about High Rise she wished to understand, like the fishy details of his history, but that wasn’t as important as getting rid of the distance between them.

Okay maybe she still wanted to figure out what felt so off about him, but she’d get to that!

The initial greeting between them went… amicably. High Rise was immediately giving her that same look he did before. Twilight has decided to call it the “Royalty Look”. The way his gaze constantly flicked towards her and back away again. How each sentence was more carefully considered before leaving his lips. There was no way for Twilight to try and break down the barrier when High Rise was giving her the Royalty Look.

When High Rise’s attention was off of Twilight, it was like an entirely different pony was there. His attitude with the crusaders was far more carefree. Helping them as they tried out the guitars, pianos, and other instruments that were laid out. He would crack jokes, dance along to whatever tune the girls played, and showed them basic songs that consisted of one or two notes played back to back. He engaged pretty easily with them with the instruments he was familiar with. While others weren’t as easy for him to guide them through.

Sweetie Belle took interest in the piano. An instrument that High Rise had no apparent skill in. Twilight had none in it either, but she had a book about piano playing and used that to help her try it. Sweetie Belle gave up after page twelve.

Apple Bloom found herself with an electric guitar in her hooves. Finding it familiar to the guitar her sister plays at home. The reaction she gave when she heard what the electric guitar actually sounded like was priceless. Initially, her shock and awe made Twilight stifle her own giggles. Until she got used to the sound it made, and relished in its harsher musical style compared to an acoustic guitar. An energy that High Rise was more than happy to feed her. It was also pretty comical to see a small filly with a red bow playing a rockstar electric guitar.

Finally, there was Scootaloo, and it wasn’t hard for Twilight to see the glint in High Rise’s eyes as he saw the instrument she decided that she picked. A beautiful five piece drum kit, a bit too large for a filly of Scootaloo’s size, but all the individual pieces were free to move around.

Out of all the instruments, this was the one that got High Rise talking the most.

“Do you have any experience with drums, Scootaloo?” High Rise asked.

“We have a pair of drums that I played for Babs’ initiation!… They weren’t quite as big as this!”

“Well yeah, because this is the best instrument you can get!”

High Rise explained in detail the pieces of the kit. From the snare drum to the three toms that laid in front of the snare. The bass drum that stood on its side below everything else. To the cymbals that stood above all the drums. The high hat, the crash and the ride. He showed Scootaloo all the different ways a pony could use the cymbals, or how each tom produced a unique note to play with.

“Alright, you can’t really reach the hoof pedals yet for the bass or the hi-hat. So why don’t I handle those while you try the rest?” High Rise sat down on the drum kit’s stool, and reached down to place Scootaloo in his lap. He then placed the set of drumsticks into Scootaloo’s hooves.

“Woah, are you sure I'm not gonna break something with this?” Scootaloo said as she waved the stick around.

“You’ll be fine! Just keep the stick parallel to the drum as you hit it. It’ll make it bounce back stronger.”

“But shouldn’t I be, ya know, following some music sheet or something?”

“I thought out of the three of you, you’re the one that liked to wing it the most, Scootaloo?” High Rise flashed a toothy grin. “Or are you scared to try it?”

“I’m not scared!” Scootaloo bit back.

“Then let’s see you do it!”

Thump Thump Thump Thump

High Rise’s hind leg pressed onto the bass drum pedal. A simple 1-2-3-4 pattern being repeated by him. Twilight Sparkle quickly realized what he was doing, he was creating a metronome for Scootaloo to use. A simple beat for her to follow while she tries out the different pieces, and boy did Scootaloo try them out.

She was terrible. Which is to be expected when it’s your first time slapping a big drum with sticks in your hooves. She had no idea what to hit and how hard to hit them. Instead of a simple tap on the hi-hat, Scootaloo would crash it and even leave High Rise reeling from the sound. Eventually, with his guidance, Scootaloo was able to create a simple rhythm to High Rise’s beat. It was loud, it was off beat, it was messy, and not at all consistent, but the smile it brought to Scootaloo's face was worth it. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cheered on their friend as she played, and when their song came to an end, Scootaloo hopped off of High Rise’s lap and joined her friends.

“That was awesome! We had to have gotten our cutie marks from that!”

The three, in unison, turned and brought their flanks together. All at once they turned back to see the moment of truth. Did their new cutie marks appear!?

They didn’t, each of their flanks were still blank.

“Aaawww…” They whined in unison.

Twilight had seen this same dance before with the Crusaders, but what was most striking to her was High Rise’s reaction, or rather, his lack of one. Surely he hasn’t seen the Crusaders do this before, has he? Twilight tried to console the girls the first time they did it, Fluttershy nearly cried with guilt. It wasn’t until the third or fourth time you saw them look at their flanks in disappointment that you became desensitized to it.

Yet he wasn’t phased at all…

[hr{%

High Rise did feel quite bad, watching them stare at their butts and become so disappointed. The knowledge that they would one day soon get their cutie marks kept that bad feeling from ever manifesting. He knew their day would come, and when it did, they’d be happier for it. The only hope he had for this day was that they had fun, and when he watched Scootaloo on his lap play to the cheers of her friends, he felt like he had accomplished that task. It felt good, good enough to ignore the pair of purple eyes staring at him.

“Looks like being musicians is off the table, girls.” Sweetie Belle sighed.

“Ya’… That electric guitar would’ve been a real cool cutie mark too!”

“I could’ve had drums and drumsticks just like High Rise.”

Their eyes then turned towards High Rise. The Crusaders shared a serious look in their eyes, and squinted at him together. “How’d you get your cutie mark in a drum?” Scootaloo asked.

“Did ya play it once and then it appeared?”

“Huh? Oh no, no.” High Rose shook his head, leaning towards them. “I actually played the drums a few times before I realized it.”

“Really? You didn’t just know?” Sweetie Belle replied.

“Mhm, I was pretty stubborn about it, actually.”

“Could ya tell us how ya got yet cutie mark, High Rise? Please?”

“Please?”

That was the day High Rise learned about the greatest weapon in Equestria. This weapon had more firepower than an angry Princess, the Elements of Harmony, and the full power of the Crystal Heart combined. One attack from this WMD was enough to melt the heart of any pony who fell victim to it. There were no survivors to this, no mercy. All who were faced with it would fall.

That weapon, of course, was the faces of the crusaders as they begged him. Their eyes grew larger than the rest of their heads, and twinkled in a form of imaginary starlight. Huddled close together so that their cuteness would multiply, and this onslaught of adorableness was too much for High Rise to bear. He shielded his eyes, it didn’t save him. As much as he didn’t want to share this story, how could he ever say no to that?!

“Alright, alright! I’ll tell you.”

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo cheered their victory, and settled in to listen to his story. Excited to hear how he had gotten his. High Rise, however, was still trying to figure out how to explain this story without explaining the revealing details. Like how it was because of the Crusaders that he did learn about his special talent. Twilight had also joined to sit next to the crusaders. A pleasant smile gracing her features, patiently waiting where the Crusaders were impatiently sat.

How exactly was he supposed to explain this one?…

Drums of all kinds have been in my life since I was small. My dad was a drummer, and a really good one at that. He played with… a very popular musician group and kept our family afloat with it. I was his only foal, and as soon as I was old enough to hold a drumstick, he tried to get me to play them. “Just like your old stallion”, he used to say.

When I was younger, I hated it. He took me to all of his events, any concerts that he was interested in, and I would sit there grumbling. He showed me albums of bands and groups he and his dad would listen to, and in defiance I said I didn’t like rock music at all. I kept saying that he was trying to “control my destiny” on what my cutie mark would be. Force me to be a drummer just like him. That foalish version of me thought it was some legacy of drummers my dad wanted to continue with me, and all I wanted to do was break it. I was pretty insufferable, if I was being honest.

Those walls I put up against my dad came tumbling down after he… well after he passed away.

“He passed away?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yeah.”

“Like, he went away forever?”

“Mhm.”

“So he went to the same place my ma and pa went.” Apple Bloom said. “Ah’m sorry, Mister High Rise.”

“…” The words got choked up in his throat, this girl lost both of hers. He couldn’t help but feel for the girl, a sad smile filled his features. “It’s alright, it was a long time ago. Has it… been long for you?”

“Ah guess, it happened when ah was a baby, ah don’t remember much of ‘em.”

“I see, well you know what I think, Apple Bloom? I think if your parents were as half as cool as my dad, they rocked the world of the place they’re in right now. I can guarantee you that.”

“Rocked the world?”

“Yeah, it means that they shook it at its core, and made it better than it was before.”

Apple Bloom smiled up at High Rise, and the two shared a small moment of peace. They knew what the other pony felt, even if their circumstances were different. When that moment ended, High Rise started again on the story.

It was around that time that my school had the… well they had a group that did events at schools like mine when I was a foal. Where they would show foals all sorts of different activities to see what interested them. I was still pretty sad at the time, because of my dad. So I didn’t want to engage with any of the activities that this event wanted me to. Eventually, one of the helpers for the event, a mare by the name of Daisy Trot, came up and asked me what was wrong.

I had a breakdown right then and there, I told this random mare who just walked up everything that was bothering me. I bawled my eyes out, and she held me in her hooves. It took me a while to calm down, but she stayed there the entire time. After I could listen again, she gave me a suggestion, why not try the drums again? They had a few instruments for foals to try, and drums were one of them.

If I'm honest, I thought it was a dumb idea. I knew how to play, but if the thousand times my dad made me play it didn’t spark anything in me, I didn’t expect this time to be any different. Sure enough, I was right. I started playing and I didn’t feel anything.

Then this filly friend from school picked up the guitar next to me. She was surprisingly good at it. Her own mom had her taking lessons, but something about the song she played felt off about it. She was playing it well, but it was like there was something missing. Something to boost the guitar to the forefront, to put it on a pedestal and raise it for all to see.

It needed drums.

Something, right then and there, clicked inside my head. BAM! It all made sense. Everything my dad tried to teach me, he wanted me to understand this about drums. They were the foundation of a song, the beating heart that everything else feeds off of. A good drummer could fade into the background of a song, and highlight their partners at just the right moments. They were the wingcolt, the driver, the guide, the invisible conductor. Nopony would know when the drummer was raising his fellow players to greater heights. They would only notice if it was gone.

I started to play with her, and I didn’t stop. Every new foal that tried an instrument, I would play with them. I’d try to use the drums in front of me to highlight their successes, and move them away from failure to try again. I kept going, and going, and going. Until finally somepony forced me to stop and look at my flank.

There it was, my cutie mark. For everypony to see.

“…The very next day, I took these goggles my dad left me, and I wore them as a reminder of what he taught me.”

The Crusaders nodded along. Apple Bloom seemed the most satisfied with the story. Sweetie Belle looked mildly disturbed, maybe the death part of the story was a bit much for her. Scootaloo, on the other hand, looked confused.

“Wait, so you tried the drums out like, a thousand times, but you didn’t get it until then?”

“Yep, I didn’t understand what it was about them that drew me to them. Once I did, it just happened.”

“Oftentimes, girls.” High Rise addressed the three of them, catching their attention again. “What makes for a cutie mark isn’t something you have to search the world for. More likely is that what makes up your cutie mark is right under your noses, waiting for you to see it.”

Can you guess what the girls did? I think you know what it is. The moment they heard his metaphor, the Crusaders had all gone cross eyed looking at the ends of their muzzles. High Rise burst into laughter, followed shortly by Twilight’s barely contained giggles.

“Wait! Do you know what this means, girls?” Scootaloo said.

“What?” Asked Sweetie Belle.

“It means that something we’ve already tried could still become our cutie mark!”

Apple Bloom gasped, and stomped her hooves. “We gotta make a list of everything we’ve tried already! Maybe we just gotta try it again!”

“Wait, girls, that’s not what I-.“

“Maybe I could try the piano again!”

“Or that guitar is for me after all!”

“One more time on the drums!”

“…Oh boy.”

Celestia’s sun was soon leaving the horizon when Applejack and Rarity came to pick up the girls. The three fillies, tired from a day of playing instruments, slept soundly on the backs of the mares. Applejack had both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, and promised to get Scootaloo back home for them.

That left High Rise and Twilight Sparkle at the front of the store. Vinyl was getting things ready for the nightclub, and the two older mares were already off. Only them, and nopony else.

“That was good advice you gave them, by the way.” Twilight said, breaking the awkward air that had formed around them. “About their cutie marks.”

“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” He said in that same friendly tone you’d use to talk to your boss. “I don’t think it quite worked on them, however.”

“Maybe not today, but I'm sure they’ll figure out what you really meant, and please, call me Twilight.”

High Rise hesitated, she knew that he had been referring to her formally every time. It was time to break down the first barrier! With less formality she would be able to get past this distance they had.

“…Alright, I will start to do that in the future.” He didn’t say it, in fact, that was somehow more formal than before! Why was he only like this with her?!

“Thank you.”

“I’m pretty tired after all that, I'm going to get some rest.” High Rise didn’t let Twilight get to the next step of her plan, already walking away from her. “Have a good night.”

“W-Wait!” Twilight sputtered. She had to get the next step in right now! High Rise turned to look back at her, confused. “Do you have any plans for tomorrow, High Rise?”

He was a deer in the lamplight. “Uh… I…”

“I talked with Fluttershy and she said you only do the meals with her once a week, and I don’t believe you currently work in Ponyville at all, right?” Twilight knew that for a fact, she checked the employee list for every business in Ponyville. High Rise didn’t work for anypony. “If there’s nothing else occupying you tomorrow. I would like to ask for your assistance.”

High Rise was giving her the expected response, which was no response. The other expected responses were made up excuses or panic running, thankfully it was the first and not the other two. “It’s only a small task I need help with, but I'd really appreciate the help!”

For High Rise himself, he had no idea what to think. Why would Twilight Sparkle be asking him for help? Surely any of her other friends would be better suited to whatever task she needed. Why does she need it from him? Why has she thrust herself into situations with him? From the drums to the Crusader babysitting to now this? What was she hoping to get?

It’s not like he could ask her outright. That’d be like a dead giveaway. “Hey, are you trying to find out that I'm a time traveler?” That would be really subtle. Even if he didn’t say it, any implications from questioning her could make her investigate more! This was Twilight Sparkle, future Princess, Prodigy with magic, and probably the most well known nerd in all of history. She read books on complex theoretical topics as a fun afternoon activity. If she really, really wanted to find out secrets, it would be effortless as long as she put enough effort in.

He can’t refuse for no reason, that’d be too weird. Any excuse he could make up would be too easy to disprove. Technically he was a time traveling freeloader, so despite being in the wrong time, he had a lot of time on his hooves. So of course he’d have time to help Twilight Sparkle…

There was only way he could keep things from getting suspicious. He had to say yes.

“Sure, I'll help out in any way I can.”

Twilight beamed. “Perfect! I’ll see you at the library at eight o’clock sharp! Have a good night.”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to leave. “Wait!” cried High Rise. “Is that AM or PM? IS THAT AM OR PM??… She’s gone.”

6 days remaining.

9 - Drumming up a Schedule

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All he could do at that moment was stare at his flank. His shock was apparent in his wide eyes and open jaw. What he saw on his flank was nothing he ever believed could happen. The image of a drum, a drummer. High Rise was destined to be a drummer.

“He got his cutie mark!” One of the foals pointed enthusiastically at his rear, and soon every foal, filly and pony in the auditorium crowded around High Rise.

He was barraged with questions from every angle. How did it feel? Was he going to be a famous drummer? Didn’t your dad have a similar cutie mark? Everypony had a question, and the rest gave words of encouragement. Congratulations, it’s perfect for you.

“Your dad would be proud.” Daisy Trot’s voice caught High Rise’s ears above the cacophony. That was the second time that Daisy had broken down the floodgates for him today. Unlike the previous time, however, this was a happy one.

High Rise cried, he cried and he laughed. He cried between his smiles. The pure, unadulterated joy he felt overwhelmed every part of his body. He didn’t realize how much he missed his dad, how much he wanted to play again with him. To go to one of his shows. Or even simply sit down with him. After he was gone, High Rise had started to forget what little connections he had with his father. His own stubborn, rebellious acts had fractured their relationship. He didn’t have a chance to fix it before he was off to the next world.

He would have done anything to tell him he was sorry, that he wanted to do it all over again. If it meant he could be with him one more time. To be by his side once again.

Now? He had his dad with him wherever he may go. The cutie mark on his flank proved that. So he cried, and cried, and cried. The drumsticks in his hooves felt like his father’s hooves, holding him tight, telling him it was going to be okay.

The actual pony who held him at that moment was one of his friends, Crescent Sun. “Alright, move out the way!” She said to the other foals, creating a path for her to guide High Rise out from the event. Without a word, she led him to his mother, who waited at the side of the auditorium with the other parents of foals that were present.

A cream colored earth pony with a vibrant red mane. His mom, Bright Twirl, watched the two foals approach. The commotion around her son had made her worried, but the moment she laid eyes on her son, she dashed to meet the crying child.

“High Rise! Are you alright? What happened? Did you get hurt?!” She frantically asked. Crescent Sun placed a hoof on her shoulder, and smiled.

“Everything’s alright, Missus Twirl, look!” Crescent pointed to his flank, and Bright Twirl gasped.

“Honey! You’re cutie mark, it’s-!”

“Moooom!” High Rise cried as he dove into her hooves. His words were mixed with sniffles and hiccups. “M-My mark looks j-j-just like… just like Daddy’s!”

Her hooves held him tight against her barrel. Gently stroking his head. “I see it, sweetie. How does it make you feel?”

“I miss-miss him Mom, I really miss him!”

“I know, know. But now? Now, he is with you forever, and you know it.”

He continued to cry into her chest, squeezing tight in their hug. Crescent Sun wasn’t known for being a hugger type of foal, but she wasn’t safe from Bright Twirl’s grasp. Soon, she was dragged into her loving hooves, and the three stayed that way until he was done.

…

This was the first memory Luna witnessed from him that didn’t leave her heart wrenching. It was a simple, sweet moment. She did not know the context, but she didn’t have to. What was more important to her was that this dream wasn’t about High Rise’s loss of his bandmates. Something in his life was able to distract him away from the thoughts of his grief, and towards a bittersweet memory of his father.

In a way, this signified to Luna that High Rise was happy that night. Which made her happy as well.

It was AM.

“High Rise! Twilight is here for you!” Time Turner was always up earlier than him, and that meant he caught the door when a knock connected with it at 8:15 AM. When Twilight Sparkle schedules a time, she means it.

That meant that High Rise had to fall out of bed, clean himself up, and throw on his trusty goggles within five minutes. Time Turner made sure to remind him of how long he was making Twilight wait. All he had to do was point to a clock, there were quite a few clocks in the clockmaker’s house. Anywhere from ten to a thousand. Each time he did it, he got a groggy glare from High Rise. Not that he could protest much, he did say he would help her…

At 8:21 AM, High Rise came down the stairs. Where Time Turner and Twilight Sparkle sat at the dining table. Breakfast was shared between them, while a cold plate sat at an empty seat for him.

“Good morning, High Rise!” Twilight said with a smile on her face. If she was annoyed at how late he was, she didn’t show it.

“There you are, you kept the mare waiting.” Time Turner said with a grin of his own.

“Morning to you too, Doc. Good morning Twilight Sparkle.”

“Just Twilight.”

“…Twilight, I'm sorry for not showing up on time.”

“It’s quite alright, we didn’t have to meet at the library anyways. Since this will be a field trip!”

High Rise turned his head to the side. “A field trip?”

“Yes! That does mean that we will need to be ready to leave for Canterlot at the train station within the next fifty minutes.”

Suddenly, High Rise felt the need to eat faster. “Twilight, may I ask why I'm going with you to Canterlot?” He asked between his bites. “This is all a bit abrupt for a little bit of help.”

“I understand how it must feel, but it really is not a big deal. A round trip to Canterlot and back!”

“That doesn’t tell me why we’re going to Canterlot.”

Twilight got up from her chair and levied a long look onto him. “I also understand your apprehension. However I would really like to show you what I need help with first, before explaining it. I promise you I am not trying to trick you into something, in fact, I believe you will enjoy it.”

A confident smile soon took over her, and High Rise was forced to choose. Back out and refuse without information, or trust in what she says. On one end, this was Twilight Sparkle. She wasn’t some evil creature out to get him. Sure, some of her actions of late have been peculiar, but maybe he was overthinking things? At worst, maybe this was just Twilight trying really hard to be friends with him?

Then again, on the other end, this was Twilight Sparkle. If there was a single pony in Ponyville who could find out his secret(outside of Time Turner, who found out pretty quickly), it was Twilight. What if all this suspicious behavior she had been doing was actually to find out that he is a century too early? This trip to Canterlot could be a trap, to get him where she needed to perform all sorts of tests on him! Okay, maybe that’s too ridiculous of an idea, but if she did suspect anything from him, maybe she would take him to meet the current rulers of Equestria.

The current rulers. High Rise hadn’t even considered them up until now. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, twin rulers of Equestria. In the future, the two sisters retired from the throne and Princess Twilight took their place, joined by her friends in a council that led Equestria.

That made High Rise also think about how he’d been regularly doing cookouts with one of the future council members.

Too many thoughts, put that to the side. Not many ponies from High Rise’s time actually know much about Celestia and Luna. They appeared for special events and ceremonies, but have largely been out of the public eye for decades. Most ponies who lived under their rule have passed away at this point. High Rise was lucky to have met two of the alicorn princesses in the flesh, but he didn’t even know what the Princesses of the Sun and Moon even looked like. How would they react to a time traveling intruder in their country? He had no idea! Celestia once banished her sister for a millennia, didn’t she?…

So either a future friendship, or possible banishment. Great choices, and High Rise desperately hoped he was overreacting.

“Alright.”

“When you are ready, we will depart for the train station, preferably within the next ten minutes”

“…Right.”

It takes exactly two hours and three minutes to get from Ponyville to Canterlot by train. High Rise knew because Twilight told him the moment they arrived at the train station. When Twilight Sparkle plans a trip, she plans every detail. They would sit in the second train car from the front, which was the closest to the Canterlot train station exit. She had two door-adjacent seats already chosen for them, and once they noticed those seats filled with an elderly couple, she used her back up plan to sit across from those seats.

The train car was soon filled with the rest of the riders, and then it set off for the mountainside capitol. The two sat next to each other, High Rise hoped it would be in silence, but that was a foolish wish to expect.

“Now, we have a two hour and three minute window in which to relax.” Twilight had brought a book with her on the train, this book was titled The Waiting Games: 100 Games to play with friends while you wait. “I just found this book and have been excited to try it out! I would like to play a particular game if you don’t mind.”

“If you want to play a game, sure, I don’t mind.”

“It’s this one-“ She opened the book and presented it to High Rise. “Page Fifty three!”

“You did what!?” A guessing game where you try and find out the craziest thing about your friends!

-Take turns making guesses about your friends. The crazier and more detailed the guess, the better! Examples include:

“Turtle Dove is a heavy sleeper”
“Cherry Blossom has eaten five daisy sandwiches in one sitting.”
“Wishing Star once visited the town of Trottingham and studied culinary arts there!”

-The pony you made a guess about then has to say whether the guess was a Truth, a Lie, or a Close One!

-Keep going around your friend group to see who guesses the craziest things, and which ones are right!

-The craziest guess wins.

“Seems simple enough.” High Rise hummed.

“Which is great for a morning train ride!” Twilight closed the book and grinned. “Why don’t you start?”

The odd thing about this game was how unfair it seemed to be. Even if they didn’t count High Rise’s knowledge of events that haven’t even happened yet, Twilight was a recognized hero of Equestria. Surely many of her crazier stories would be passed around quite a bit. So repeating them here wouldn’t be a problem for High Rise to “guess”. Whereas he was a nopony who Twilight would have no right idea what he has or hasn’t done.

What would he actually say, however? He didn’t want to say anything that would make her suspicious. “Uuuh… Twilight Sparkle has read every book in the Ponyville Library.”

“That would be a lie!” Twilight said, surprising even High Rise. “Though only on a technicality, I just got a brand new shipment of books two days ago that I have yet to read through.”

“Ah, and how long does it normally take you to read through a shipment?”

“Two days, actually. I’m pretty behind now that I think about it.”

That was the first time that High Rise had chuckled around Twilight. “Alright, your turn.”

“Okay, High Rise grew up in Trottingham.”

“Close one.” He replied.

“Oh? I thought you and Time Turner grew up together.”

Oh no… wait, I can work with this. Panic was held back as an idea popped into his head. His improviser powers had come back to him. Thankfully, he did actually grow up in Trottingham, partially. “I was born and raised in Canterlot, actually. I had family on my mom’s side in Trottingham, though, and we lived out there when I got a bit older. That’s when I met Doc.”

“That would explain your accent! I’m surprised to learn that you’re from Canterlot like me though.”

“Yup, my turn again?”

Twilight nodded her head, and High Rise thought of another guess to make. “Twilight Sparkle knows over… forty spells.”

“Truth! Only recently, the exact total today is forty two. Now… High Rise was friends with his teacher during High School!”

“Uuuh… Lie, I think? I honestly can’t remember. I didn’t have many teachers that stuck with me then.”

“Really? Not even Time Turner?” Twilight asked.

“Huh? Time Turner wasn’t a teacher.”

“Oh! He was your classmate?”

“Yeah, why would he be my teacher?”

“Well- I just assumed that-.. I mean- isn’t he-?… Nevermind!” Twilight laughed nervously and looked away. “Your turn!”

“Ooookay.” High Rise raised his brow. Was she thinking that Time Turner was much older than him? “Actually, how old do you think I am?”

“Early twenties, about the same age as myself,” She replied, not as a question left up to answer. Twilight was absolutely sure about it,

“I’m actually twenty seven.”

“You’re older than me?! Wait, I didn’t mean to say you were old! It’s just, you look very young for your age! My brother is the same age, and he looks young too! It’s just a surprising thing to learn!”

This time, High Rise could let out a full blown laugh at her reaction. Even with his apprehension, watching her stammer and trip over herself was something he did enjoy. It helped him to relax on this little trip he was on. “I guess I am older than you. I should start getting you girls to call me Big Bro Rise.”

“That has to be the worst nickname I've ever heard.” Twilight said through stifled giggles.

“Hasn’t anypony told you to respect your elders?”

The barrier was broken, and High Rise felt comfortable enough to talk with Twilight more casually. Throwing in more ridiculous guesses he wouldn’t have done before into their little game. Twilight’s guesses were far more tame compared to his. Mostly they poked into his history, and none of them focused on anything that would reveal his time travel. He didn’t even realize that an hour had passed as they played.

“Twilight Sparkle once used her magic to turn a water tower into a baby bottle for an Ursa Minor.”

“…Truth! How did you know that?”

“Are you kidding?” High Rise scoffed. “Do you really think the story about you carrying an Ursa Minor with your magic, creating a baby bottle with milk included at the same time, and then sending it back to its lair, wouldn’t get shared across all of Equestria?”

The subject of this particular story had her cheeks grow bright red at that suggestion. Twilight’s head tilted away from him. “It wasn’t that big of a deal, I mean, everything worked out so I assumed it wasn’t heard of outside of Ponyville.”

“Oh c’mon, Twi.” He had begun to use Twi, that’s how successful this game had been. “Do you think that’s the only story that’s come out from you and your friends in Ponyville?”

“Well, I suppose not, but it can’t be that many!” She waved him off.

“How about the story of how you possessed the entire town to obsess over a children’s toy.”

“T-that?! That was an accident! I didn’t mean for that to happen, actually, I did, but I didn’t mean for it to get that bad!

“There’s the easy ones, like Nightmare Moon and Discord and the Crystal Em-… no that one’s from a sci-fi novel I think.” Improviser saves the day again!

“Well I know those are known! I don’t know anything about a crystal though.”

“Forget about it. What about the time you and your friends scared off an ancient dragon polluting Equestria with its snoring?” That one wasn’t particularly fair, he didn’t hear about that one from the future. He heard that from Fluttershy.

“The dragon was not me at all! Fluttershy was the one who convinced him to leave.”

“Can’t forget to mention the Grand Galloping Gala with you and your friends.”

“Okay, I get your point!” Twilight suddenly shot a hoof up and onto High Rise’s mouth before he could say the next one on his mind. “There are a lot of stories about me, I got it, I just… I'm not quite used to that kind of attention.”

“You aren’t? But you grew up as Princess Celestia’s personal student, didn’t you? I mean, everypony knows that.”

“Not everypony! At least they didn’t when I was growing up. Sure, the ponies around me knew, but they never treated me differently for it. Canterlot is big and not a lot of ponies paid attention to me. Everypony in Ponyville treats me as another member of the community. I don’t think anypony has treated me like you have-.”

The words just came out, but it was clear Twilight didn’t mean to say them. She covered her mouth and stared at him with wide eyes, waiting for his reaction. She waited at least half a second, and then stammered again.

“I didn’t mean to imply that you were rude or anything like that! You spoke differently to me than to other ponies. I’ve never had anypony treat me like um, like how-“

“Like how I treat you as somepony important?” High Rise asked, and with her damage control cut off, she quietly nodded.

Surely she had to be kidding, right? Nopony in her entire life treated her like she was an important figure? Being the student of a Princess meant you had privileges. You could walk through the castle in Canterlot freely, and had access to the private library that nopony else was allowed into. Not to mention that they were personally taught by the current ruler of Equestria, they could meet them whenever they wanted! High Rise knew of these things because he was friends with a pony who enjoyed these privileges quite frequently!

Not to mention the other things about Twilight Sparkle. Her personal babysitter when she grew up was none other than Princess Cadance. A literal princess was her nanny! Her brother married that princess! Actually, that didn’t happen yet. At least High Rise thought it didn’t. Which major event in Equestrian history happened after Discord? If it wasn’t the wedding, what was Prince Shining Armor’s title right now? He certainly didn’t pay enough attention in school to remember a detail about some old prince in the Crystal Empire.

Too much to think about, put that one aside with the “cookout with a ruler” thought. Twilight Sparkle clearly didn’t realize how much privilege she had been afforded. Nor did she realize what standing she was placed in thanks to her saving Equestria twice at this point. Ponyville had shielded her from that one. It had given her a small town life to live without thinking about titles like “hero” or “famous”. If she had stayed in Canterlot after the Nightmare Moon event, things would be very different for her, or so he thought.

High Rise had to recognize that this Twilight Sparkle was very different from the one he knew. One hundred years of life would change a pony quite a bit, but this was still a young unicorn who runs a library, hangs out with her friends, and studies magic and the lessons of friendship. She wasn’t a Princess, or a grand hero of legend, or anything else like it. She was just Twilight, and she was nopony he had to be scared to talk to. Just like how he had grown used to the rest of the Elements, the Element of Magic was no different.

“Look, Twilight.. “ He began, “I’m sorry about that. I just didn’t know how to talk to you, that’s all. I didn’t want to say something wrong.”

“But how would you say something wrong? That’s what I mean!” Twilight pointed an accusatory hoof. “You don’t have to be scared about what you would say! Like you do with Fluttershy.”

She had no idea how wrong she was with that, but High Rise kept that impulse in. “I guess you’re right,” He said instead. “I’ll just have to talk to you normally now.”

“I would like that very much.”

Twilight Sparkle had no idea what to expect during this train ride. Her idea for the guessing game was mostly to coax information out of High Rise. If she could make enough close guesses within the game, it would be easier to figure out what felt weird about him to her.

Everything she learned about him, however, was normal. He was born to an earth pony mom and a pegasus dad, he grew up most of his foalhood in Canterlot, but spent his teens in Trottingham with his grandparents. When he was younger, he was a rather rebellious and rambunctious kid. Only growing into his full personality after his cutie mark. None of the stories that she got him to tell were anything more than… regular. Sure, some were funny, others were interesting in their own way, but none of them were what Twilight were looking for.

But what exactly was she looking for? Some secret reason why High Rise felt so peculiar? That gnawing feeling was still there in her mind, even as she laughed with him, but did it really matter? This was first and foremost a trip to break down the barrier she felt was between them. The prying would come later.

In that regard, she had succeeded before the main event! They could speak candidly to each other for once, or at least they could speak more openly than before. They didn’t share their deeper thoughts or feelings, but High Rise and Twilight Sparkle finally came to understand one another in one way. It felt good whenever Twilight could connect with somepony, and found herself a new friend from that.

They weren’t quite friends yet, but she could feel the bud begin to form between them. Twilight could put away those gnawing questions and suspicious thoughts for the day. Forming friendships and the trials with them is what Princess Celestia had sent her to Ponyville to learn, and the lesson she was learning today was more important.

It was nice to have some good company while you were learning, anyways.

“So, are you finally going to tell me what we’re doing in Canterlot?” High Rise asked, and Twilight checked the clock on the train car wall. It was 10:45 AM, they would soon be in Canterlot.

“I suppose I can, only because you are not being as formal with me now.” Twilight gave him a knowing grin and went into the saddlebags on her back. “You’re going to love it.”

Out of the bag were two slips of decorated paper. She held them up for High Rise to read. Numbers and words on them designated times and places, 2:00 PM, Seats F15 and F16 at the Canterlot Rising Rockstars Showcase. Names of different performing groups were shown on them, many of them were smaller indie bands that weren’t as well known. A mixed bag of variety between different genres and subgenres of rock.

Among the names was the amateur rock band, The Night-Mares.

“You got tickets to the Rising Rockstars Showcase?!” High Rise’s jaw dropped, his hooves stomping the floor in excitement.

“We got tickets.” Twilight grinned.

“And the Night-Mares are performing?!”

“You came to Ponyville for a Night-Mares performance, right? I figured you would enjoy it.”

A very un-coltlike squeal sounded out from High Rise. In one quick motion Twilight found herself wrapped in his lanky hooves, squeezing tight. She yelped in surprise, but soon giggled at his excited reaction. That was when Twilight Sparkle knew that today was going to be a good day.

Six days remaining.

10 - A Study Into Rock Music(with a Drummer)

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Canterlot was a breathtaking sight when you first stepped into it. Pearl white spires shot up into the sky, marble architecture at every corner, decorated with the standard purple and gold of the Equestrian royalty. It was a sight that took your attention, grasped it firmly in its hooves, and held it until you gave in to the awe inspiring sight that was the city.

For two ponies that grew up in Canterlot, however? It was just a beautiful skyline, hardly necessary to stand in the train station with their mouths agape. There were a few ponies that got off the train with that exact look, but they just brushed right by them. Right to the exit and into the city proper. The castle was hardly noteworthy, it was not their destination, why bother describing it?

High Rise had something far better to be excited about. Another chance to see the Night-Mares perform! He was honestly spoiled in his time so far in the past, not only did he see their music club performance, but he got to play with them as well! By all accounts, this much good luck in his peculiar situation was already far too much than one should expect. There had to be some sort of catch, a trick he wasn’t seeing.

Too bad he was too excited to think about that.

“They gotta play Mare in the Moon today. No! Freefall from Cloudsdale! Oh! Oh! Para-Mare. That would be a hit!”

His brain was too excited to keep up with his body. Twilight Sparkle couldn’t keep up as he listed song after song with foal-like glee. She wanted to get a word in from the looks of it, but each time she tried he had another thing to get excited about. It was one after another, and eventually Twilight had to bring him back to reality.

“High Rise!” She nearly yelled, knocking him out of his happy trance. “The show isn’t for another two hours. I planned for us to have lunch at Donut Joe’s in twenty four minutes, but we’re going the wrong way.”

His stupor had made him take the lead in their little trek through Canterlot. As if he knew which way Twilight was planning to go. A flush of red covered his cheeks. He sheepishly fell behind Twilight’s step. “Hehe… sorry.”

She couldn’t stop herself from giggling at his embarrassment. “It’s quite alright, my friends get me out of stupors like that all the time.”

“Really? The great mind of Twilight Sparkle gets caught in stupors?”

“I have been known to be a bit of a worrywart, and get so caught up in them that I forget the smaller details.”

“What do you define as ‘Smaller Details’, exactly?” High Rise asked.

“Sometimes it means the more obvious solution to a problem, other times it means food or sleep.”

“Sounds like some very unimportant things.” He said, sarcastically, in case you couldn’t tell.

“I’ve gotten a lot better about it! I haven’t had a single episode like that since the time travel incident.”

The fur on High Rise’s back rose, he didn’t hear that right, surely. She didn’t just say time travel, did she? Did she already know about it? He looked towards his guide and gulped. “…Time travel?” He asked.

“Oh, you didn’t hear about that?” She asked, her head turned away as she led the way for the two of them. “What’s the shortest way to explain it… a few months ago, a future version of me appeared and tried to warn me about something, but she couldn’t get the warning out in full.”

Twilight Sparkle omitted that it was her blabbering questions towards her future self that didn’t let her finish the warning.

“All I ended up hearing was that something was going to happen ‘Next Tuesday’. Since I had no idea what future me meant, I… went a little bit crazy trying to figure out what she meant. I was convinced she was trying to tell me about some oncoming disaster! I did everything I could to try and prevent it, but everything pointed to the future I feared coming to pass. So I snuck in to the Canterlot archives-“

“Wait,” High Rise held up his hoof. “You snuck into a place you already had access to? The personal student of the Princess would have access to that already, right?”

“That would be right,” Twilight said, surprised, “I wasn’t in my right mind when I did it. How did you know that?”

“Uuh, I just figured as much.”

He omitted that his best friend was her future student.

“Please, continue.”

“Huh, good guess.” She hummed, but did continue. “I went to the Canterlot archives for an- admittedly- silly reason, I was going to try and stop time until I could figure out what the catastrophe was.”

“Ah, and, given that time is still moving, I assume that didn’t work?”

“Hey! Maybe I already solved the catastrophe instead. She said, barely able to keep up a serious look. The cracks in her facade eventually broke, and she laughed at the same time he did. “Yeah, no, it didn’t. I even cowered as the sun began to rise. Then? Nothing happened.”

“When I realized that it was nothing to worry about after all, I used a different time travel spell to go back in time to tell myself not to worry about what will happen next Tuesday.”

“Ooooh I see where this is going.”

“Yup, I barely got a word in as me from the past kept asking me questions, then I returned back to the present.”

If only it was so easy. High Rise thought. “That would be a… causal time loop, right? Where events that occur are influenced by something from the future going to the past, and those influenced events eventually lead to what caused the travel to the past in the first place?”

“That is correct! Did Time Turner teach you that?”

“I think the better term is ‘tried’ to teach me that, multiple times, with diagrams, and marbles.”

“He succeeded then!” Twilight said with a smile.

“At least something he tried to teach me stuck.” He chuckled. “Doesn’t make it any less confusing, honestly, those loop things.”

“Oh I agree, I tried to understand how I got myself stuck in a time loop for quite awhile during the cleanup, but that’s the thing about causal loops, you can’t!”

“Why not?”

“Whatever trigger happens that begins the loop is erased when the loop begins. I have no idea what made me decide to go back in time in the first place, but whatever it was triggered the loop, and once the loop began, the original event that triggered it ceased to happen in the timeline. All that is left is the loop.”

High Rise needed exactly two minutes and one second to process that. The idea of the loop just kept… looping in his head. “So how do you know when you’re in a causal loop? What if, for some random example, you went back in time and stayed there awhile, how do you know if what you did in that time triggered a loop?”

Twilight had to think on that one for a minute, a metaphorical minute instead of a literal one. She thought about it from all angles, but only came up to one conclusion. “I don’t think you can, at least while the loop is happening. You would need to know the trigger for the loop, but since it doesn’t exist after the loop begins, it would be impossible to know. You would only know after you exited the loop, like I did.”

“Even so,” Twilight continued, “It would be incredibly unlikely. A causal loop requires an extremely specific set of parameters to happen to be created. There isn’t any artificial way to create one, and successful attempts at causal loops erase the evidence of its own success. The more likely scenario is that the time travel permanently alters the future, with the original time travel event erased. I just got really lucky when my time travel ended up being a loop!”

She turned back to see if High Rise had understood what she said. Twilight was surprised to see that his ears had folded back on his head. Head cast downward, did something she said make him feel bad?

“Are you okay, High Rise?”

“Huh?” High Rise looked up. Concern was painted over Twilight’s face, and he realized he had been lost in his own mind until just then. Her explanation had made sense to him, and that understanding hurt. For just a moment, he had thought that there was some hope in his situation. That he himself may have been unknowingly entered into a causal loop. That everything was supposed to happen this way, and everything would be the same when he finally had a way back home.

It was a foolish hope to have, he knew as soon as she explained it. His travel through time wasn’t planned by Crescent or by himself, this was an accident, and there was no way it could end in something as neat as a loop.

There was no way Twilight would hear any of this, of course.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just trying to comprehend what you said.” He rubbed the back of his head and smiled weakly. “I guess the finer details are still a bit too hard for me?”

Twilight Sparkle tried to smile back, but it was just as weak as his. The mood had dried up, an awkward air had returned. Barriers were beginning to form, and if one of them didn’t act fast, they would solidify again.

“Enough about all that time stuff, we’re here for something else!” She exclaimed.

“You mean the concert?”

“I mean donuts!”

His gaze looked up at the shop they found themselves standing in front of. Donut Joe’s, specializing in, you may have guessed, donuts. The barriers would stay down for now, at least until the donuts were eaten.

Canterlot was often known for its posh, haughty lifestyle among the higher nobility. It was just a part of the greater game of politics. To look the part, to be seen as above the common lifestyle. A pony of high society had to be seen in the purest image of that society. Even if that meant taking part in, oftentimes, boring galas and slow paced opera.

Most nobility had their personal enjoyments, however. Their secret entertainments that helped them relax between uptight art galleries and banquets. Some make it a game to find out what other ponies’ secret comforts are. Rumors will spread about one stallion who quietly places bets on national Buckball games. Or another who privately trains to get the fastest time in a “video game”, as they are called.

Though not all of these comforts are particularly secret. Princess Celestia, the highest of high society, was well known for her love of baked goods, for example. It was an open secret that she hosts the National Dessert Competition to try her hoof at the newest and best sweets being made in Equestria. Nopony would dare judge her for that. It was the Princess of the Sun after all, and her love of sweets certainly didn’t ruin her majestic form.

Princess Celestia may have had her’s revealed openly, but nopony knew what Princess Luna’s personal entertainment was. The mysterious princess was not as open among the higher rungs of society. Her Night Court was the less popular of the two sisters’ for ponies to plead their case towards as well. She had no major royal duties outside of ceremony, and the greater impact she had on Equestria was never seen or remembered. Ponies did not often remember their dreams.

There were still many that found themselves wary in front of Luna’s presence. The stain of Nightmare Moon still lingered to this day. Though it had become far less widespread over time. The princess had been able to take part in more events as of late, and that meant more eyes had fallen upon her. The game to find out her secrets were on, but the rumor mill surrounding her had stayed largely silent. Nopony truly knew that much about her, except for her sister. Celestia, of course, was not one for gossip, and never indulged in sharing details about her that Luna herself didn’t divulge.

That meant that nopony else found out about Princess Luna’s secret love of rock music. The peculiar genre of music she had found now existed after one thousand years on the moon. She was first exposed to it from a popular rock band that was invited to perform for a celebration of her return. The band was called “Black Saddle” and they played the most violent music Luna had ever heard. It was loud, the singer practically screamed into the microphone, and the way the crowd reacted to it was unlike anything she had ever seen.

When Celestia later asked her what parts of modern day she would like to learn about, Luna requested more of this “rock music”, not because she liked it, but because she wanted to understand it. The ponies who listened to that drivel stomped their hooves along with it, as if it was good music! Luna had been there when the classics were created, classics still revered today! This rowdy cacophony they called music could not compare, and she would prove it!

For hours she would listen to the different bands and their songs, silently judging them. She didn’t know when exactly she began to dance along to them, but she eventually did. Even the Black Saddle music she thought she once hated soon became part of her regular playlist. In the quiet of her room, when she was monitoring the dream world or designing new star charts, she found herself with headphones over her ears, headbanging to the latest Nine Inch Tails album. She particularly enjoyed the “industrial” music they performed.

So it was with great joy that Luna had learned the Rising Rockstars Showcase would be hosted in her very own backyard! Celestia had secretly arranged it with the event organizers behind her back. The Princess of the Sun generously offered to let the event be hosted in the palace gardens, as a gesture of support to the young musicians.

She knew that Luna had not been feeling great these last two months. This was because of her request to have her watch over the dreams of the time traveler High Rise, and she knew that it was wearing down on her sister’s mind. It wouldn’t be enough to ease the burden and guilt she had made her feel, but it would allow her to put it aside for a night of fun.

Luna was more than happy to take a break to attend the showcase, but she was not interested in sharing her love of rock music with others. At least not yet. Plus, the presence of a Princess, a sometimes feared princess at that, may place unnecessary pressure on the performers. It was in times like these that Princess Luna had an alternative method in mind.

The mare who left the palace that day was not Princess Luna, but a tall, navy blue unicorn mare by the name of Star Sign. Her long and wavy green mane was brushed straight and fell down her side, with her tail getting similar treatment. On her flank was not the moon cutie mark, but a constellation by the name of “The Big Dipper”. A constellation she had made a very long time ago. She was happy to see that the constellation was still remembered in history books to this day. It was one of her favorites.

Star Sign, with a wide grin of excitement, set off to the gardens. Where she would enjoy the newest and brightest that rock music had to offer!

Donuts had done much to lighten the mood again. Donut Joe really was a master of the donut. His sprinkles and fillings had relaxed the tension between High Rise and Twilight Sparkle, and they left with smiles and satisfied stomachs.

“So he’s gonna be in that dessert competition too?” High Rise asked.

“Yes! Pinkie Pie and the Cake family have been hard at work for weeks to get ready for it. It’s only two days away, so they’re locked up in Sugarcube Corner working on their dessert for it.”

“Wow, I wish them the best of luck!” He exclaimed as they walked out from Donut Joe’s Donut Shop. An hour had passed, and they now had to set off for the show! High Rise could barely contain his excitement, some of it bleeding out in little tippy taps he made while they walked. It was probably why he could hear Twilight giggle randomly, but he didn’t care.

Actually, wait, he did care. There was something he has been forgetting about this entire time.

“Hey, Twilight.” High Rise suddenly stopped. Finally, he saw through the excitement in his mind and tilted his head. “Wasn’t I supposed to be helping you with something? All of this feels like you’ve been treating me.”

She stopped as well, and turned to look back at him. “Yes of course, you are going to help me. Everything up until now was just some fun beforehand.”

“But you’re taking me to a concert, a concert I specifically would enjoy being at. One that, with all due respect, doesn’t seem to be something you would like.”

“That… is correct, yes.” It was presumptuous of him to think she wouldn’t be, but he was indeed right. As Twilight just confirmed. “Rainbow Dash has tried in the past to show me these types of bands and music, but I found myself disliking it quite a lot. It’s a lot… harsher than most music that I enjoy.”

“But that is where you come in!” She smiled wide, “I brought you with me so that I may better understand rock and roll music! A drummer of rock music will be a great teacher towards that.”

High Rise pondered, and eventually came to the conclusion. “So you had me come with you to Canterlot to attend a rock concert, and tell you why that concert is fun?”

“Indeed!”

“…Okay.” That’s enough for High Rise, excitement had taken back over. Sure, that was a weird thing to help her with, but she was the studious type. Maybe this study method was something she did before to great success. Who was he to judge how she learned things? It hardly was the worst way to learn, and he got a ticket to the best band because of it.

“After tonight, I'm going to get you headbanging.”

“Head… what?”

“You’ll find out!” He gleefully replied as they headed to the Canterlot Palace Gardens. The host of today’s events. It turns out his hunch was true, Twilight WAS bringing him to the castle. It just wasn’t to present the intruder upon their timeline to the rulers of Equestria.

At the center of the large hedge maze that featured throughout the garden was an open air concert stage, with hundreds of simple seats laid out in front of it. The whole event had been assisted by the servants of the castle, who helped to decorate and prepare the venue. This made for an interesting contrast between the guests and the venue itself. The decorations, stage, and features were all designed by servants used to serving royalty and important nobility. While most of the guests that started to flood into the venue were far from nobility.

For the first time in a long time, High Rise was surrounded by ponies just like him. Colts who proudly wore their band memorabilia. Mares with stylized manes and face paint. If there was one thing that hadn’t changed in a century, it was this!

“Oh this is gonna be good!” High Rise let out an uncharacteristic squee, or maybe it was characteristic. This was a side of himself that only Twilight Sparkle had seen so far. She certainly couldn’t understand the excitement he had. All the ponies here were dressed… peculiarly. Twilight wasn’t a pony who judged purely off of appearances, but the full black and white face paint one stallion had made her wonder what exactly it was for. Not to mention how that colt kept sticking his tongue out.

Her magic grasped on to a notepad and quill she had in her saddlebags right before they went to take a seat. Good note taking was important to any study session! She already started writing down the details of the crowd around her, much to High Rise’s amusement. “What are you doing?” He asked.

“I will need written details to review after the show is over! I can’t remember everything.”

“Alright, if i’m going to help you enjoy rock music, we’re going to have to set up some rules.”

“Like what?” Twilight tilted her head.

“Rule number one, no note taking. You have to be there in the moment to enjoy it!”

“Hey! I can be ‘there’ while taking notes! I am an excellent multitasker, and listen to music all the time as I work.”

“Multitasking with music is for when you’re working, but today you’re at a concert. With the band right there!”

“…Please?” Twilight’s eyes had suddenly grown in size. Encompassing half of her face. It was the most powerful tactic anypony could use. The face that made it incredibly hard to refuse…

“Fine! But only between songs or bands. No note taking during!”

“Deal!” She grinned, knowing victory was hers. “Any other rules?”

“Rule number two, anytime the crowd starts to play along, you have to join them. If they start stomping your hooves, you stomp with them. If they chant, you chant. Okay?”

Twilight pondered this rule in her head. Why specifically did he want her to do that? She couldn’t quite figure it out, but then again, it wouldn’t hurt to do it. As long as they didn’t start shouting something vulgar or anything like that. “Okay, I can do that. Anything else?”

“Rule number three,” High Rise leaned in towards Twilight, his muzzle was inches away from hers. Their breath mingled as he continued to stare her down. What was he about to say that was this important? Twilight held her breath and waited to find out this valuable rule.

“Whatever you do, do not touch the hard cider over there, Twilight Sparkle.” He pointed to one of the tables, where rows upon rows of mugs were laid out for ponies to take. “Do you understand? Do. Not. Drink. The. Cider.”

“………. okay?”

“Perfect!” He retracted his face from her face and grinned a big stupid grin. “Now, let’s have a good time.”

The two ponies sat down in their seats. Twilight Sparkle to the left and High Rise to the right. On Twilight’s side, she was happy to find that a rather plain looking unicorn was who she was sitting next to. The only distinct feature was the band necklace she had around her neck. It seemed to be a song name from a rock band, This Pyre. She’d have to find out what band that was from for her research

High Rise didn’t have a neighbor next to his seat for a while, until finally a unicorn came to sit next to him. A beautiful, tall mare with navy blue fur and a long, straight green mane. High Rise gave her a polite nod when she sat down, but the face she gave him was far more surprising. Rather, the mare had a look of utter shock on her face!

“Are you alright, ma’am?” He asked, poking at his cheeks. “Is there something on my face?”

Both High Rise and Twilight stared at the unicorn, who stared back at them with wide eyes. The unknown mare’s gaze flicked between the two, back and forth, until finally she let out a loud cough.

“A-Ahem, apologies,” The unicorn said, her gaze snapping forward towards the stage, “We- I thought you looked like somepony else.”

“Aah, yeah, I do that a lot too at concerts,” High Rise replied, then leaned to the side to get a better look at her. “Have we met before at all, miss? You look familiar.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, we have never met in our lives.”

“Honestly, you look a bit familiar to me too, but I am not sure why…” Twilight squinted at her, High Rise squinted, now they both squinted at her.

“I-I suppose that I have one of those common looking faces?” The mare replied.

“Hmmmm…” High Rise scratched his chin, and squinted further. There was something about her that feels familiar to him. The way she gazed towards him before gave him a chilling feeling. Like the one he got after he woke up from a dream.

But that was hardly enough to freak out a random mare. “Guess you do, sorry about that.” He shrugged and moved on. High Rise didn’t notice the visible sigh of relief that came from her.

Any further thoughts and words were put to rest when a small orange stallion came to the stage. Approaching the mic with a large grin.

“Hey, Hey, Canterlot! How are we doing today?” He called out, and received a roar from the crowd. Cheering from everypony present. The stallion feigned pain in his ears, holding his hoof up to them and laughing.

“Sweet Celestia! We have a loud crowd, wicked! Thank you everypony for coming, and welcome to the fifth annual Rising Rockstars Showcase! Before we begin, we would like to give a special thank you to Princess Celestia, who graciously gifted us this venue tonight. Can I get a cheer for our Princess?!”

Another roar came from the crowd, but this time Twilight received a bump in her side. She looked up at High Rise next to her, and saw his lips move in the shape of words. “Number two” He mouthed to her.

“Wait? Now? But the show hasn’t started,” She whispered.

High Rise nodded.

“Right.” Twilight scribbled some in her notes, and focused on the stage. She had to keep up with what the crowd was doing, or else she was breaking a rule. If there was one thing she wouldn’t do, it was not put her all into a learning assignment!

“Ooh yeah! Sadly, she was unable to attend today, but we were given word from the castle that she hopes that we all have a wonderful performance. As well as a special wish for a ‘dearest pony of hers’ to enjoy herself.’ How sweet of her!”

Neither High Rise or Twilight noticed the unicorn next to him shift uncomfortably.

“But that’s enough sweetness for one day!” The colt on the stage stomped. “We’re here to see the best, and brightest young rockstars pour their hearts out. So without further ado, let’s welcome our first group tonight. Welcome to the stage, Green Mane!”

The audience erupted, and Twilight was ready to join them this time. She had to really let out her voice to keep up with the noise other ponies around her let out in cheers. How did they not lose their voices after all of this? Actually, maybe they did lose their voices. High Rise and the mare next to him was even louder than her!

The first band of the night came onto the stage, to her surprise, they did not have green manes.

Her expectations were dashed, and not in the way she had expected. Twilight Sparkle was expecting more of the loud, obnoxious, “epic” music that Rainbow Dash had tried to push on her. What she found instead was a mix of styles and songs from all different types of ponies. The only things that made them similar were the instruments that played them. She had taken note of how each band and musician that performed had a different ‘style’. A way of forming music that was wholly different from the next. Yet they all were rock music, from Green Mane, to Purple Waters or even Nine Inch Tails.

Different parts of the crowd had obvious favorites when it came to these styles. Some enjoyed the harder, more electric music, and stomped their hooves and screamed to it. Others enjoyed the slower, more melodic rhythms, swaying to the chorus as it came to their ears. What came as a surprise to Twilight was that she couldn’t tell which one High Rise favored more. He danced and chanted and sang along to every song. Every single one, as if he knew them by memory.

Even more surprising was that the mare next to High Rise was doing the exact same thing! It was like a duet between them, perfectly in unison. He had made sure that Twilight would continue to follow rule number two as they did. They were three quarters of the way through the concert, and she barely could stand. All the dancing, singing, chanting, and stomping had left her legs wobbly and her chest heaving for air. She was ready to collapse, but those two were already excited for the next band to play!

“How… How are you still going?” Twilight asked between heavy breaths. “I can… barely breathe!”

The mare was the one to respond. “It is the music! The ebb and flow of the rhythm, the beating heart of the drums! It fuels our hearts and minds and pushes us to keep going!”

“I was just gonna say excitement, but that explanation works too!” High Rise said, “Nice one Star Sign.”

“You two… know each other?”

“Oh no, I just got her name after Purple Waters.”

“Yes, I am Star Sign, that is my name, I do not have any other name.”

“And you two…” Twilight sat back down in her seat, which everypony at the concert seemed to have forgotten existed. “… enjoy all this?”

“Why yes, it is the most fun I have had in a milen- a very long time.”

“What do you think about it so far, Twilight?” He asked.

“What do I think?” She was tired, but like any other lesson she tried to learn, she had put her all into understanding it. Her notepad had been filled with the information she had gleaned about it. From the crowd, to the performers, the specific instruments they used, the musical theory behind their music. Everything she could think of was written out on her notepad.

“The performers are very good… the instruments are played well. The singers are incredible vocalists…”

“But?”

“But I don’t think I understand the enjoyment still. Every song, no matter how different each one was, all of them were so… dark.”

That was it, that was what bugged her so much. What kept her from finding any form of enjoyment from any of these songs. Each one had something harsh to say. Some of them sang of broken societies, others about broken hearts. The worst of them got vulgar and violent, words she had never even heard before but knew were inappropriate. They were filled with anger, and sadness, and rage and fear and pain. Nothing like the music she shared with her and her friends. Not even anything like what Rainbow Dash had shown her.

“I don’t understand how anypony could enjoy the… the violence of all of it!”

Star Sign and High Rise looked at each other, and in their gaze, they knew exactly what the other thought. Both of them had heard that before.

“Twilight Sparkle, I too once felt that way about this broad genre of music. It lends itself to a harsh, sometimes discordant feel that is unlike most music shared among ponies. We often lend ourselves to happier, melodic, and more harmonious songs. That does not mean there is not a place for this type of music.”

“Well said, Star Sign, yet again!” High Rise smiled. “It’s darker sometimes, harsher, yeah, but that’s not a bad thing! For me, rock music isn’t so much about the words that are said. It’s about the emotions tied into the song.”

“Indeed, he is correct!” Star Sign exclaimed.

She didn’t quite know how this tag team had started, but it was surprising enough that she didn’t notice how Star Sign used her full name. “Why would anypony want to listen to… these kinds of emotions, though? Surely everypony here isn’t all that angry, or hurt?”

“It’s not about that. You don’t have to be feeling that way to enjoy it! Though it can help.” High Rise turned to face Twilight directly. “Everypony can get angry, or sad, or afraid. We don’t always want to share those feelings, so we bottle them up. Put them away for another day. Even if they’re harmless, leaving them inside you can be pretty bad. That’s where this music comes in!”

He gestures to the crowd around him, then to the stage. “Rock music lets you tap into those emotions you put away deep down. It lets you release it in a meaningful way. A way that lets you smile. You stomp your hooves, you pour your heart out, and when it’s all over, that weight you didn’t know you had on you is gone.”

“Does it really help you that much?” Twilight asked, and High Rise dialed back his grandiose explanation.

“Well… no, it doesn’t suddenly make your sadness or anger go away, but it does take the edge off. Clears your head for better thoughts. Does that make sense?”

Star Sign nodded in agreement to his words. Both of them waited to see the reaction of Twilight Sparkle. Lost in her own thoughts, until she finally brought her notepad up and scribbled new entries in.

“I believe I understand what you are saying!” Twilight smiled wide. “Most music we listen to and sing lets us channel our happier feelings and thoughts, but the opposite does exist. Music made to channel negative emotions, such as rock music! I’ll have to experiment with this in the future. Maybe I can get Pinkie to sing her smile song, monitor her brain activity, and then make her listen to this rock music afterward! I should be able to see concrete evidence after-“

She looked up to see the two tall ponies giving her concerned looks. In mere moments she had turned their heartfelt explanation into a science experiment. Twilight chuckled nervously and put away her notepad. “Maybe I can think about that later.”

“Good, because the next performance is gonna be the best one!”

“Who is performing next?” Star Sign asked.

“The greatest band to ever exist, the Night-Mares!”

11 - The Night-Mare’s Drummer

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Ditzy Doo had been tasked with her regular route through Ponyville. Her saddlebags are full of regular mail envelopes. No packages in sight. She still isn’t allowed to deliver packages until she can prevent an accident for one week. Ditzy did get close this week! No accidents for a whole day. Only six more days to go!… Oh wait, she did drop her bosses’ coffee on his hooves this morning. Oh well, a day was her new record!

Among the houses that were scattered around her regular mail route was her friend Doctor Hooves’ house. It was always nice to see the Doctor, he always had some fun words to say and funny things to talk about. Not that she really understood them. She was actually a pretty good student in school(2nd in her graduating class!), but the things Dr. Hooves talked about went in one ear and out the other for her. It was still pretty fun to listen to though! Maybe she just liked the sounds his accent made.

He had two pieces of mail today. One was another ad for Rich’s Barnyard Bargains. Filthy Rich keeps the post office budget afloat with his ad mail alone. The other was the only type of package Ditzy was allowed to carry. A soft envelope package carrying a small object. It was padded and secure, and wouldn’t immediately break if she accidentally dropped it.

Ditzy never got to give many packages to Dr. Hooves! Most of the packages he got were heavy or delicate. She was, of course, told to stay twenty feet away at all times from packages like that. Being able to give him a package was exciting! Ponies always looked so happy when they got packages. He wondered what the Doctor’s happy package face would be! Her favorite was anytime she got to deliver a package to Twilight Sparkle. Every new book she ordered made her squeal in delight. Except for that time she accidentally dropped a box on her. That squeal was a very angry squeal.

She did her customary knock on the Doctor’s door, Knock… Knock-Knock Knock! Then, she hummed and waited patiently, until finally the stallion himself came and opened the door. He looked tired, but not the same tired she normally saw him have. Most times he had this manic tiredness, the bags would run deep underneath his eyes, but his smile and energy still kept going. A constant fervor that he put into every project and job he worked on, no matter how little sleep he got.

Today? He just looked tired.

“Hello Ditzy, “ Doctor Hooves said, his voice breathy and weak. He barely put any effort into using his vocal chords to speak. “What do you need?”

“Good afternoon, Doctor!…” She tried to hold up a smile in front of her friend, but the concern she felt pushed it down. “Are you alright?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, yes I am,” He said in a dry tone. “Great, even, I have made a personal breakthrough on one of my projects.”

He didn’t seem too excited about that breakthrough. “Oh, okay, are you going to take a breakthrough nap, then? You look like you need it.”

“Thank you for pointing that out, Ditzy.” Dr. Hooves tried to add sarcasm to his voice, but he didn’t have the energy for it. “I probably will rest soon, I assume you have mail to give me first?”

“Oh! Yes, here you go!” Derpy pulled out the two pieces of mail she had for him. The Doctor took them from her, and looked curiously at the package. Here it comes, the happy package face!

“…What is this?” He asked her, “I didn’t order anything.”

Aw, there was only confusion on his happy package face, tired confusion. That was disappointing for Ditzy. She even had a camera ready! Ditzy put her camera away and shrugged. “I don’t know, it doesn’t have a return address on it, but it was in with the rest of the mail. Are you sure you don’t need anything before I go, Doctor?”

“Yes, yes I am sure. Thank you Ditzy, have a lovely day.”

“Okay, bye bye!” She waved before the door was shut, and the Doctor continued to look confused at the odd package in his hooves. Back down to the basement he went, the Barnyard Bargains ad in the trash. While the package was placed on a nearby table. He would open it in a minute, after he put the finishing touches on the newest device.

Out of any of the experiments he had conducted for Project Century, this experiment was far different. It used centuries old techniques that were already proven to work, and with enough personal research into magic connections, he was sure that this would be the one. He had found a way to bring High Rise back home.

Almost.

The device needed one final piece to function. An expensive magical tool that was often used by the higher nobility of Canterlot. A Surge Protector. A special bracelet that you place on a young foal unicorn. This bracelet was used to cut the connection a unicorn had with the magic around them. To prevent a unicorn that was undergoing magical surges from creating magic. Most unicorn foals simply dealt with the consequences of magical surges, a common part of unicorn growth. Nobility, however, did not like the chaos it could create. So they used ridiculously expensive jewelry to suppress it.

By itself, the surge protector wouldn’t do anything more than prevent a foal from using magic. It wasn’t powerful enough to influence even earth ponies. However, the device the Doctor worked on would be used to amplify its effects. A series of enhancing crystals, coils and machines to bring the surge protector’s power high enough to even suppress a fully grown unicorn. High Rise was tethered to this point in time by magic. An anchor that prevents his body from returning to its natural point in time. As Star Swirl’s original spell was supposed to do. With this device and the surge protector, it will cut High Rise off from magic completely. Any spells or magic that affect him, including things as small as earth pony magic or their ability to grab things with his hooves, will be temporarily severed. Natural parts of his magic will return to him, but the magic spell will dissipate.

Once the anchor had been lifted, he would return home. High Rise would be one hundred years in the future again. The surge protector was expensive, but after a few more clock repairs, he would be able to afford one from Canterlot. It wouldn’t be much longer until he could send him home.

Beep!

This should be a happy moment, joyous, even. He had done it! He had found a way to save his friend. He could fulfill the promise he made on the very first day they met. All would return to normal again. So why did he feel so much guilt?

Beep!

There was no kidding himself, he knew why he felt guilty. If High Rise had gone and asked for Twilight Sparkle’s help, as he first planned to, he would have been home the very next day. As magic-focused as Twilight is, she would have noticed the problem immediately. Unlike him, she had access to unicorn magic. She could dispel the magic that anchored him, and that would have been it. The only reason High Rise was still in the past for two whole months was because of Doctor Hooves.

Beep!

The fact High Rise was anchored here was known to him since the very first day! He had the recording to prove that he knew. Every since the beginning he had this method in mind for returning High Rise home, but his excitement took over his rational thought. Project Century wasn’t a way to return High Rise home, it was a way for Doctor Hooves to try again at his lifelong dream. It was only after he exhausted all of his research yet again on the topic that he realized what he had really done. He had kept a pony from his home. Forced them to participate in ridiculous experiments that he already knew would fail, and acted as if the next one was going to be “the one” that did it!

Beep!

He had to make things right. He would finish this device, and send him home. The Doctor knew for certain that this one would work. All he needed was the final pie-

Beep!

“What in tartarus are you going off for?!” The Doctor glared at the hoofheld device tucked between stacks of boxes. His temporal anomaly detector. He had tucked it away after realizing that it would go off whenever High Rise was around, which was constantly. High Rise wasn’t here though, he was in Canterlot assisting Twilight Sparkle. It should have no reason to go off!

Beep!

…So why was it?

The anger he felt at the noise was soon subsided by a new curiosity. An anomaly has appeared in Ponyville! He hadn’t had any anomalies show up since High Rise appeared. The assortment of random objects he found in the past have largely been nothing important, but it was still a point of great enjoyment for him to find one.

His hoof grasped the device, and waved it around the room. The Beep!s stayed steady on one section of his basement lab, on a table near the staircase. The Doctor brought himself closer to the table, and it soon became clear what was setting off the detector.

Beeeeeeeeeeeee-! Click. He no longer needed the detector, he knew what the anomaly was. The temporal anomaly was the package he had just received from Ditzy. The package had time traveled to his time, and was delivered to his door.

“…Great… withering…”

“Stallions!”

“Alright everypony, give it up for… The Night-Mares!!” The orange announcer stallion exclaimed, and the crowd went wild as the next band stepped onto the stage. An all female group. The band consisted of Pink Lady, the singer and leader of the group. Flowing Strings, electric guitarist and energy behind the band. Low Tempo, the cool headed bassist.

And finally, the drummer.

High Rise was excited for this performance, but in the back of his mind, he feared the worst. His performance with them in Ponyville was something he greatly enjoyed, but a nagging feeling had left him worried. What if what he had done changed the future of the Night-Mares? Had he set certain expectations on them? Maybe they would have considered somepony else now. Maybe they wouldn’t get a new drummer at all! That feeling had sat at the pit of his stomach ever since he got to Ponyville. It was never as strong or as panic fueled as his other worries, but during today it had begun to creep up inside him.

That feeling was immediately washed away when he saw her step onto the stage. The fourth member of the Night-Mares. High Rise’s personal idol since he was a foal. The mare who taught him how to play the drums. She was there, in front of him, on the stage next to the mares he already met before. Her light red fur was covered in a simple t-shirt with the words “Night-Mares” written upon it. Her cutie mark was a single slice of cake, with a cherry on the top. Her messy pink mane was styled into a loose mullet, ending just above her half lidded eyes.

Cherry Cake, the drummer for the Night-Mares.

“It’s her! It’s her! It’s HER!” High Rise half whispered, half squealed into Twilight’s ear. Twilight recoiled from the sudden breath on her ear.

“What?” She asked, confused, but High Rise had already turned towards Star Sign.

“We’re gonna see Cherry Cake play on stage. This is the best day of my life!”

High Rise had gotten so close to Star Sign that his head accidentally touched her horn. A slight graze, but it was enough for her to jump back in surprise. Not that he noticed, he was already back to squealing over Cherry Cake. What Star Sign had felt when her horn touched him was unlike anything she had felt before, and it took her a few moments to repose herself afterward. Even as Pink Lady approached the mic, she continued to give sidelong glances to High Rise. He, however, was lost in his own world.

“How are we doing, Canterlot?” Pink Lady asked from the microphone, and despite every other band doing the exact same opening line, the crowd was just as loud as the first time it was asked.

“We want to give thanks to the Princesses for letting us perform here tonight! In honor of the return of Princess Luna, here’s our newest song, Mare in the Moon!”

High Rise’s excitement couldn’t reach higher. It was in the clouds, beyond Celestia’s sun, into outer space. Where it mingled with meteors and blue songbirds. He was practically vibrating in his seat, anticipating the moment with so much intense focus he couldn’t possibly have noticed the concerned look the two mares on his sides were giving him. High Rise looked ready to fulfill his namesake and launch into the sky.

Any moment now, any moment and the single greatest moment of High Rise’s life was about to begin. One of his favorite songs, from his favorite band, with his idol drummer, live on stage, in front of him. He could die today and be happy, as long as he got to live long enough to sit through this one moment. Any moment now, any moment now, any momen-.

Bum-Bum! Cherry Cake’s drumsticks met the drum kit in front of her, and Pink Lady’s voice took over the stage.

I trot alone upon an empty mind, waiting to find my way!

Bum-Bum!

Back to warmth among your side.

Bum-Bum!

But I won’t find kindness in my heart when I set upon the land. Twisted by desire-!

Bum-Bum-BaBaBaBa-BumBum-!

Suddenly, the Night-Mares erupted into a slow, discordant melody. At first, it sounded like it was a mess of harsh noise, with no cohesive flow. But a few moments in, even Twilight could begin to hear the tightly woven song that they formed together.

For High Rise, he was lost in another world entirely. His eyes were shut while listening. The world around him shifted and fell apart to show a cold and lonely landscape. Gray land as far as the eye could see, with the planet of Equus in all of its glory high above the black emptiness of space.

In this cold and empty place was a single mare. Her form shifted and changed in High Rise’s mind. He didn’t know what she looked like, but he knew she was there. Mare in the Moon was a song dedicated to her, and the pain of what she had been through.

The mare stood on that cold, lifeless land, shadowed by a world she once called home. A home that no longer welcomed her. The terrible wrong she committed had placed her here. A wrongful, terrible act that still festered within her, wanting to take more. She had to stay, but she still longed for the warmth of her home. Of the ponies she once knew, and most of all, the family that she had torn asunder.

Her place in the endless gray sea saw the mare cry out in song, scream the pain and misery from every pore in her body. She tried to release it all, to let anger leave her saddened heart. Only to find the fury inside of her become endless.

She remembered the love and happiness that she once felt, and for a moment, the gray expanse had color. The color of her love for her sister, for the ponies she once ruled over, even the celestial body she now resided upon. The memories overwhelmed the sea of nothingness, and brought life to her solitude.

But like any memory, the feelings will soon fade, and the fury is all that would remain. Fury with no purpose, and she cried out yet again to be released from it. For the Mare in the Moon wanted to be home again.

…

His eyes opened when he heard the crowd erupt in cheers. The band he had waited all day to see were bowing their heads, and their moment in the spotlight had ended. His vision was tinted slightly by the pair of goggles that had fallen over his eyes, or did he put them there? High Rise wasn’t sure. The song was over, the audience cheered to bid the Night-Mares farewell, and the stage was prepared for the next of the few bands remaining.

It was perfect.

The song was, in Twilight’s opinion, alright. Which was a higher rating than what she had thought of it at the beginning. For a tribute to Princess Luna, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. She could feel the pain and heartache that the Night-Mares had meant the song to be. A heart wrenching cry for help from the mare in the moon. Only to be met with silence and sorrow.

She knew Princess Luna, and already knew some of the struggles that she had faced while banished to the moon. This song, however, recontextualized it. Twilight never thought about the depth of her banishment. One thousand years, ten whole lifetimes for the average pony. A millennia of nothing but your own thoughts, and most of those thoughts were of the things she had lost.

Twilight Sparkle tried to imagine being in that position. Alone in the world, with everything she cared for taken away from her. Spike, Shiny, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, her parents, Princess Celestia, Owlicious. The list kept going, and the longer the list went on, the deeper that pit in her stomach felt. She would have gone insane if placed in the same position as Princess Luna.

Star Sign must have felt similar to Twilight. Tears streamed openly down her face.

High Rise’s reaction was the most peculiar. The moment the song began, he had brought his goggles down to cover his closed eyes. For the entirety of the performance, his forelegs followed the movements of the drummer Cherry Cake. Imitating every hit of the drum down to the tiniest detail. He was lost in the world he had created in his own mind, all while he blindly mirrored the drummer on stage. When it was over, his eyes opened, and he looked very confused.

“Is something wrong, Twi? You’re staring at me funny.” He asked her with a flick of his ear,

“I don’t think I've ever seen you wear those goggles before, High Rise.”

“Huh? Oh!” His hooves reached up and pulled the goggles back up to his forehead. A ring around his eyes had formed. Where the fur had been pressed in. “I wear them when I get pretty into it.”

“I see that. Have you heard this song before? You seemed to know the drums for it.”

“Yeah! It’s the best song they ever made! Of course I know how to play it.”

But isn’t it their newest song? Twilight thought, but her pondering was interrupted as Pink Lady approached them in the crowd. The pink on pink mare(notably lighter shades of pink compared to Pinkie Pie) was smiling wide as she came up to them. Her eyes were centered on High Rise.

“High Rise! I’m so glad you’re here!” She exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell us you were back in Canterlot? We would have gotten you tickets.”

“Hey Pink Lady! How did you know I was here?”

“Are you kidding?” She laughed, “Only one colt we know would start air drumming during our songs.”

Her laugh continued as High Rise’s cheeks began to match her shade of pink. A different voice cut in, Twilight speaking up to her. “You know High Rise, Miss?”

Pink Lady turned her head to Twilight, she raised a brow. “Friend of yours?” She asked towards him, before addressing Twilight directly. “Yeah, he helped us out big time before. Filled in for drums during a gig in Ponyville. I’m Pink Lady, you are…?”

“Twilight Sparkle.” She reached up and shook hooves with the other mare. “I thought that High Rise came to Ponyville to attend your show, I didn’t know that he played in it.”

The pink on High Rise’s cheeks grew to a deeper shade of red. “Really? You were keeping that a secret, High Rise?”

“To be fair, she never asked!”

A pink hoof came down to bonk High Rise on the head. He whimpered, even though it barely hurt. “What, not proud of playing with us?”

“No! No! It was the best day of my life! Second best after today!”

“Good! Then boast about it to your friends, dummy!”

“I will! I will!”

“Even gooder!”

Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help but watch this interaction with a chuckle. Even if it left her with more burning questions. She had to actively tuck those thoughts of hers away, lest they accidentally ruin the budding friendship she was building.

“With that sorted, want to come backstage, High Rise? Tempo and Strings wanted to see you too. You can bring your friend if you want to.”

Their gazes were on High Rise, who immediately went to speak. His eyes were wide with excitement, but hesitation held his voice back. Hesitation for what? Twilight had no idea, but he was about to miss out on talking with his favorite band.

“I’d love to join, come on, High Rise!” Twilight got up on her Hooves and smiled wide at him. Her confidence was just the boost he needed, and he rose up to his hooves as well. “Of course! Oh, hey, Star Sign, wanna come too?”

He turned to look at the unicorn who was currently wiping away tears. She looked up in surprise, and shook her head. “We are fine, thank you for your offer. We shall be departing soon anyways.”

“Too bad, nice meeting you Star Sign alright see you later bye!” High Rise rushed out his farewell to her before happily trotting off with Pink Lady. Twilight took the time to wave goodbye properly, then followed along behind them.

Star Sign kept her gaze on High Rise as he left, and shuddered at the feeling she had when her horn connected to him.

The reunion with the Night-Mares was not anything grand or special for High Rise, but seeing them again was a welcome bonus to this already awesome day. Flowing Strings had immediately bombarded him with questions as soon as they entered their small backroom. How was he? Was he still in Ponyville? What is he doing back in Canterlot? Did he try the cakes at Sugarcube Corner?

Low Tempo only had one question for him in contrast. This question was if Twilight Sparkle was his new marefriend. The question made her erupt into a flustered tirade about their platonic relationship, and made High Rise roll on the ground in laughter. He was joined by Strings, she was good at matching his energy.

After their questions were (mostly)answered, Twilight asked a few of her own. She asked them how they met High Rise, and they told the story of how he attended one of their gigs in a Canterlot music club. Oddly enough, she started taking down notes as they detailed the way he was air drumming their songs. Or how he happily accepted the offer to play with them in Ponyville, in return for a train ticket, but rejected the offer to continue playing with them afterward.

“Do you know how bummed we were when you said no, man?” Flowing Strings huffed at him. “Here was the best drummer we’ve ever played with, and we only got to play with him once!”

“Really bummed,” Low Tempo agreed.

“Sorry, but you girls got a really, really good drummer now. It worked out great!” High Rise grinned, and the two bummed mares had to nod in agreement.

“Cherry is pretty great, but we were pretty lucky to get her.”

He tilted her head at Pink Lady, lucky? It was always meant to happen! High Rise wanted to say that, but Flowing Strings spoke up before he could. “Yeah! She missed the audition time by nearly an hour!”

“Exactly,” Pink Lady continued, “We were going to pack up the audition and try our luck elsewhere, but Tempo reminded us of what you said. We’ll find a mare who can play the drums better than even you in Manehattan. You told us that, so we decided to stick around for a little bit longer. Just as we were about to give up, in comes Cherry Cake.”

“Mhm! She was traveling a lot with family and got the time zone messed up. She still thought she was an hour behind like it is in Appleoosa.” Strings chimed in.

“Wait wait, you were this close to missing out on Cherry Cake?” High Rise asked.

“Yup,” Low Tempo said drolly, “If it weren’t for you, we’d still be looking for a drummer.”

High Rise smiled, but behind that smile was a deep confusion that he felt. If it weren’t for him? There was no way. They would have stayed longer even if he hadn't said what he said. It was a nothing sentence, just meant to reassure them so he could leave. Cherry Cake was always meant to be with the Night-Mares.

The description of the Butterfly Effect came into his mind, and he quickly squashed that thought.
There was no way.

“Well, I'm excited you've got such an amazing drummer now!” He said hesitantly, “Where is she, anyways?”

“Bathroom.”

Fluuush…

The door to the room opened, and the short and stout mare named Cherry Cake walked in. All eyes were now on her, and she had no idea how to respond. The tall brown stallion at the center of the room looked at her with the most fanatical, excited smile she had ever seen.

“Uh… hey?”

“Hey Cherry,” Pink Lady replied, “This is High Rise and Twilight Sparkle. High Rise filled in on drums for us before you joined in.”

One little known fact about Cherry Cake, that even a time traveling super fan like High Rise didn’t know about…

She was incredibly awkward when meeting new ponies.

“…Um.” She pawed at the ground and looked away, “Nice to, uh, meet you… what was his name again?”

“High Rise.”

“Yeah, um, that name. High Rise. I’m Jerry Bake… uh, Cherry Cake. You were the, uh, dude that was miming my drums, right?”

After her botched introduction, she held out a hoof to High Rise. The only stallion in the room began to vibrate violently. His voice was a high pitched squeal that was barely audible to pony ears. Any moment now and he would shoot off into the sky.

Then his brain short circuited and he promptly fainted on the spot.

“Dad, these girls suck! Can we go back to the cartoons?”

“Oh come on! You sang along with me last time.”

“That was uncool me, cool me knows the Night-Mares are lame!”

“Cool you, huh? So this vintage Night-Mares CD I found in your room is lame?”

“…uh, yeah! Duh! I mean, why would I ever want that dumb thing?”

“Of course, of course. You can throw away that dumb thing then, whenever you want to, i’ll just leave it right here.”

“I-I’ll put it in the trash tonight!”

“Okay, I believe you, now enjoy your cartoons.”

His dad left his room, leaving the Night-Mares CD on his nightstand. High Rise grumbled and moaned about how he was gonna destroy that stupid CD. His dad liked the Night-Mares, and all the foals at school said that liking the things your dad likes was lame! He wasn’t lame, High Rise was cool!

That CD was gonna be torn to little pieces!… After one more listen. He popped it into his cd player and turned up his headphones.

As soon as the first song on the track began to play, High Rise had his hooves in the air, drumming along to Cherry Cake. His dad watched from the slightly open doorway, and smiled.

When High Rise regained consciousness, his immediate thoughts from before he fainted came back in full. She said my name! Cherry Cake said my name! I get to shake her hoof! Her hoof is right there! I’m going to die!

Then he woke up to the familiar sound of a train whistle. Sat comfortably in a chair, with Twilight Sparkle next to him. Her notepad was floating in the air in front of her, eyes scanning each line to review what she had written. When High Rise began to stir, her notepad floated to the side and she smiled towards him.

“Did I… faint in front of Cherry Cake?”

“Yes, yes you did.”

“Sweet Celestia…” High Rise groaned and brought a hoof up to slap his own face. “My chance to meet the one and only Cherry Cake, and I faint. This will be part of my memory forever. Burned into my psyche! I’ll never live this one down! No, actually, life is just over. Please, Twilight, release me from the pain of life.”

“You are being very dramatic,” Twilight said with an amused eye roll. “Besides, you’re already friends with their group. I’m sure they’d love to see you again!”

“If there is an again…”

She frowned, obviously there could be an again! It wasn’t like the Night-Mares were going to disappear after today. High Rise was just being melodramatic over his fainting episode. Luckily, she had gotten just the thing to cheer him up.

“Oh, well if you don’t want to live anymore, I guess you don’t want this signed autograph card from Cherry Cake?”

High Rise turned to her, and in her hooves was a Night-Mares branded card. His pupils took over the whites of his eyes. “Nevermind, life is precious. I want to live forever!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes I am sure!”

She giggled, and held out the card to him. It was snatched from her grasp faster than a teleport spell. High Rise’s eyes were glued to the back of the card, where writing in red, scratchy ink had dried.

Thank you for being my first ever fan.

-Cherry Cake

Underneath her signature was a poorly drawn image of a cake with a cherry on top. It was a downright awful drawing, the worst signature ever from an amateur band’s drummer. High Rise loved it with all his heart.

“Twilight Sparkle, you have made today one of the best days of my life.” His smile took up his entire face. The gratitude he felt pouring out in every word he said. “Thank you, really, thank you.”

The smile she returned was just as genuine. “You are very welcome, High Rise. I must say that you fulfilled your role today admirably as well.”

“Oh? Have I gotten you to like rock music now?”

“Not in the slightest!” Twilight said it in such a tone that there was no room for questioning. “But I did come to understand it. I know now why you or Star Sign or Rainbow Dash can enjoy it. Music that can channel negative or more passionate emotions, and turn them into something good. Not only is it a fascinating idea to research, but I learned a valuable lesson as well.”

“And what was that lesson?”

“Never close the door on something that, at first, seems like something you wouldn’t like. Because even if it isn’t something for you, you may learn something important in the process. You may just make a new friend.”

Those last few words set into High Rise. Burying deep within his chest, unable to be dug free. A new friend of Twilight Sparkle’s, and her eyes were dead set on him. High Rise was Twilight Sparkle’s newest friend. He was friends with Twilight Sparkle.

High Rise and Twilight Sparkle are friends, and that didn’t bother him in the slightest. “If you’re going to be my friend, then I'm gonna have to give you a secret.”

“A secret?”

“Oh yes, only the closest of friends can repeat to me. Are you ready?”

Twilight leaned towards him, and he brought his muzzle to her ear. Gently, he spoke out his greatest secret.

“My friends call me Hi-Hi.”

Immediately, Twilight Sparkle burst into a fit of laughter. Her notepad fell on the ground, and the kicks of her hooves startled a few ponies nearby.

“Hi-Hi?? THAT is your nickname!?”

“My best friend’s the only one that uses it. Also not so loud! Secret, remember?”

She tried everything she could to suppress her laughter, but only succeeded in turning it into a fit of giggles instead. “Hi-Hi, that’s really not a good nickname.”

“If you wanna make it worse, you can call me Hee-Hee instead.”

“Pfft-!” And there she went again. All the way back to Ponyville they went. Two new friends, laughing the day away.

Celestia had just finished reading her latest friendship report from her faithful student. A smile formed on her lips. It was a valuable lesson that she had learned, and one she didn’t need to go on a crazy adventure to understand. She had learned to understand the different interests of ponies that she didn’t like herself, and even befriended somepony because of it.

She always found her mood lightened whenever she received a friendship report. Celestia had begun to get reports from all six of the ponies in Twilight’s friend group, and each one made her smile more than the last. Her plans for Twilight were grand, she knew that, but if anypony would be capable of surpassing even her expectations. Celestia knew in her heart that it would be Twilight Sparkle who would do it. After all, she already had confirmation of it. A stallion from the future already proved it.

That stallion, High Rise, was one of the next visits she had to make among her schedule. First, the announcement of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s engagement would be decreed tomorrow. Then the day after will be her long awaited National Baking Competition. Celestia could barely keep the saliva in her mouth at the thought of all the treats that she would eat in two days.

After the announcement, plans would have to be arranged for the wedding itself, such as its party planner. Shining Armor has already expressed that he has the perfect mare for the job. Only after all of those are settled, will she and Luna make a private trip to Ponyville to meet the time traveler. High Rise had shown no signs of being a threat in his time here, and Luna vouches for his innocence from her dream observations.

That still didn’t leave Celestia completely free of doubt. She had experienced a great many peculiar things in her long lifetime, even time travel with Star Swirl the Bearded, but not even that compared to this. A time traveler from a very distant future, who has somehow stayed in the past for over two months. She was cautious for a reason, and until she knew of his full intentions, she would stay that way,

Celestia hoped it would be for nothing.

“Sister!” The door to Celestia’s private study slammed open, and the mare Star Sign walked inside.

“Good evening, Lulu. Or should I say Star Sign? Did you enjoy the concert?”

Star Sign looked down at her body, realized her illusion was still present, and promptly removed the false image. The regal form of Princess Luna replaced Star Sign. “We did quite enjoy it, thank you. It was… more heartfelt than we expected, but we have pressing news.”

“What happened?” Celestia now gave her full attention to Luna, placing the friendship report to the side.

“As we sat for the concert, we found ourselves sitting next to the time traveler himself. He and your student Twilight Sparkle had attended the show together.”

“That is… unexpected, did he do anything suspicious? Was there anything off about Twilight?”

“Not at all, thou’s student and High Rise were on friendly terms. He was excitable to the show and tried to teach Twilight about rock music. That is not what is important, however.”

“I see, then what is?”

“We had a brief moment where our horn brushed against High Rise. What I felt was dangerous magic upon him. Only one other uses such magic. The Time Traveler is filled with chaos magic!”

Five days remaining.

12 - Drummer Comics

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“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?”

13 - Power Ponies, Baby Dragons, and Chaotic Drums

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“If he does not know, then we must warn him. The energy surrounding him is too potent to ignore. Any spell pointed towards him could-“

“I understand, Luna, and I agree.” Celestia and Luna were given a brief moment of alone time. Before Luna went to bed and Celestia to her first meeting of the day. Today promised to be a busy one for the sun princess. “I do not, however, wish to bring attention to him. We cannot send royal guards to Ponyville to deliver a message and act as if it will not be gossiped about for the next month. We have to wait until our scheduled trip.”

“The stallion is a delicate bomb of chaos magic. It amazes us that nothing has set it off yet! We cannot wait any longer. Your student’s assistant, Spike, can deliver the message.”

“I would trust young Spike with any message, except for one that I do not wish to meet Twilight’s eyes. Their bond is too close for him to not mention it to her, and I would not ask him to go behind her back.”

Luna paced back and forth in the empty hallway the two princesses stood in. She had already been awake for far longer than she normally would be. “We are able to deliver it tonight.”

“Luna…”

“We understand that it will reveal that we have been within their dreams, but our other choice is to allow the risk to continue. We would send our Night Guard to bring him to the castle, but there is no guarantee that he would come willingly. This is the safest option, that does not risk igniting the chaos that has built up within him.”

Celestia already knew that she had asked too much of Luna these past few months. The concert was only the first step in repaying her for it. She could hardly deny her this, it was her dream realm after all. “What will you say?”

“Only what is necessary. Anything further may be discussed when we visit personally.”

“Alright.” Celestia let out a long breath, and used it to move on from the stress this situation has built up over two months. “Be careful, Lulu.”

“Always.” Luna smiled at her older sister, she knew this was the right thing to do. Fatigue soon caught up to her, and that smile fell into a loud yawn. “…I shall leave you to your duties, sister.”

“Of course, sleep well!”

As Luna departed for her chambers, Celestia had only a moment to herself before a new voice echoed through the hallway.

“Auntie? Are you here?” A mare’s voice called out. An alicorn turned the corner from behind Celestia. Far younger than herself and Luna, the alicorn had not even grown into her mane yet. Her regal attire however spoke of her position, royalty, a princess just like Celestia.

Princess Cadance, Celestia’s adopted niece and the Princess of Love, looked towards her. “There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you.”

“Is everything alright, Cadance?” She asked, and Cadance scowled in return. Her niece has had that look on her face for a while now. Celestia hoped it was because of the wedding planning stress and nothing else.

“No, it is not. I thought that the marriage was going to be this week. Why am I hearing that it’s next week now?”

“The engagement caught the attention of a hoof full of important diplomats that needed more time to make the trip. As well, there are still multiple parts to the wedding we have to plan.”

“And you said you would take care of it, Celestia.” Cadance responded curtly.

That was another new thing about Cadance, her use of the name Celestia. She almost never called her that before, only Auntie or Celly, even momma on accident. It felt weird to hear her niece call her that, and only made her want to lighten her mood to fix it.

“I am sorry, Cadance. I am going to have the perfect group of ponies invited to help plan the rest of the wedding later this week. I promise you, it will be perfect.”

An uncharacteristic ‘humph!’ sounded from the Princess of Love. Turning away from Celestia. “The sooner the better. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“Of course, it will be perfect, dear. You have my word.”

Cadance’s horseshoe covered hooves were all that could be heard as she turned the corner away from Celestia. The older princess let out her own uncharacteristic sigh. She hoped in her heart that things would settle after this time traveling mess and the wedding were concluded. The stress hasn’t been good for her health, and her strained relationship with her niece was worse than anything else. She promised to make her happy, and she would.

Today’s National Dessert Competition couldn’t start sooner for Celestia, she needed some sweets.

Spike wasn’t having a very good day in Ponyville. Not that anything bad had happened to him. He was just a disappointed baby dragon. Twilight was invited to the National Dessert Competition in Canterlot by Pinkie Pie, but somepony had to stick around and watch the library while Twilight was gone. So here he was, alone in a tree house/library, sorting books and being bored.

It wasn’t even about missing the dessert competition that Spike was disappointed about. Twilight always brought back sweets for him. What was the problem, then? It was the second time in a row where Twilight had gone to Canterlot without him! First she went to that rock concert with that one colt he’s forgetting the name of, now to this competition with all her friends! It meant he was missing out on something he loved to do when in Canterlot, check out the comic book stores!

Ponyville is nice and all, but it doesn’t have a comic book store. The only place that sells comics at all is Vinyl’s shop, but they only sold the big publishing company issues, and none of the special prints. If Spike wanted to find an obscure comic series, or get a limited edition issue, he had to be in Canterlot, and he missed out on it twice already!

Even worse, he can’t check out the comic stand in front of Vinyl’s today. If he left, nopony would be around to watch the library. Sure, Spike doubted that there was anypony who would steal a book from the library in Ponyville, but as annoyed as he was he still was a follower of the rules. That didn’t stop him from grumbling about it.

So Spike expected a slow, boring day in an empty library. Put away some books, clean up, and maybe make a gem salad for dinner that night. Hardly the worst of days, but he wished for more to happen. He certainly didn’t expect that wish to be fulfilled by nine AM.

“Spike?” The tall brown stallion asked him. His confused gaze pointed at the small dragon. The look he gave him felt… oddly judgy. Spike felt the sudden urge to cover himself up.

“Yeah, that’s me, Spike, the number one assistant. Could you stop lookin’ at me like that? Feels weird.”

The stallion eased off from the creepy stare, sheepishly scratching his head. “Sorry, I thought you were, uh… bigger?”

…Now he went and did it. “I’m not small! I’m just a baby dragon, I grow a lot bigger than this.”

Spike had to give him a piece of his mind! That’s the first thing he says to him?! How dare he!

“Oh, I believe it. You’re gonna be larger than everypony one day.”

Normally, that sentence he just said would have set off another angry response from Spike. What stopped that from happening was the way in which the stallion said it. He didn’t say it to make him feel better, or to tease him and pass off his annoyance. It was a matter of fact, straightforward confirmation. He would be larger than everypony one day, and the stallion in front of him knew it.

That simple statement was enough to deflate the puffed cheeks Spike had formed. “Well, uh, yeah, thanks for agreeing I guess.”

Spike moved his cart out of the way, and faced the pony directly. He was tall, at least as tall as Big Macintosh. A dragon as small as him was used to craning his neck to look at ponies, but this was like looking up at Princess Celestia, no, Luna would be a better comparison. Except that this colt was somehow skinnier than Princess Luna. What Spike really was looking up at was a brown beanpole.

“I’m Spike, but I guess you know that already. How did you know me, anyways?” He asked the beanpole.

“Huh? Uuuh,” He stammered out a reply to Spike, “Twilight told me, you’re her assistant, she talks, you know.”

That was enough to convince him, it was Twilight after all. “Makes sense, what’s your name?”

“High Rise.” Said with a big smile. Spike knew that name, he had heard it frequently over the past few months. Namely when Twilight thought he didn’t hear her muttering it. He’s the weird stallion.

“Oh! You went with Twilight to that rock concert.”

“Yup, almost got her to like rock music. If only for academic reasons.”

Spike let out a giggle-snort. He knew that Twilight would turn it into some study session. Her checklist that morning included ‘Study Rock Music with High Rise’. “Don’t worry, I'm sure you did your best. Twi’s just not much for that stuff. How can I help you today though? Lookin’ for a book? I can help you find what you need.”

“I was looking for…” The words stopped midway, and High Rise changed his response. Clearly whatever he was about to say wasn’t right. “Actually, a bit of an odd question. Do you have any comic books?”

Way to rub salt in the wound, even if High Rise didn’t know it. Spike sighed and shook his head. “None to borrow, we don’t get any comic books for the library.”

“Not even graphic novels.”

“Nope! I’m still trying to get Twilight to order the Watchcolts volume!”

“What about you, do you have any comics yourself?” High Rise asked him directly.

“Well, yeah. A few for myself. Some Spider-Mare and some indie comics. Whatever I can get from the comic shop anytime we go by Canterlot.”

“Really? You don’t get any from Vinyl’s stand?”

High Rise looked surprised to see Spike react so disinterested towards the comic stand. “All of that stuff’s just Marvelous or PC series. I only like Spider-Mare from them. The rest I'm not too interested in.”

Not that he could go see what was at the stand, today… “Really? You don’t even like the Power Ponies?”

“…The Power Ponies? What’s that?” Spike asked.

He doesn’t know.

The Spike that sat in front of High Rise, right now, didn’t know what the Power Ponies was. He still remembered vividly the collection his future self had. One of the largest comic franchises of all time(in the next century), and Spike didn’t know it yet.

Maybe this should have been a warning for High Rise. If there ever was a moment that screamed Break in the Timeline!… this was it. Spike hasn’t discovered his favorite comic book series yet, and his meddling would influence how he discovered it. The Butterfly Effect rang through his head again, maybe this small change would turn Spike into a Batmare superfan instead! Or he could become interested in those black and white comics from Neighpon! He shouldn’t get involved, he was not ignorant of that. What he did, he did willfully, and without a single thought towards the consequences of his actions.

High Rise pulled out the Power Ponies comic from his bag, and held it out to Spike. Despite his claws, he was incredibly delicate taking the paper book from him. Years of working and helping Twilight in libraries helped to prevent unnecessary tears in pages. He turned the comic over and read the synopsis that was laid out on the back.

“Join Maretropolis’ greatest heroes as they team up to protect the city from the dastardly villain, Mane-iac! Can they band together to become unstoppable, or will their differences tear them apart?… I dunno about that one.” Spike’s disinterested gaze looked back up at High Rise and held the comic back up to him.

“I knew you would lik- wait what?” High Rise was left fumbling. “H-How could you not like the Power Ponies?”

All those bad thoughts he threw to the wayside came rushing back. He was too excited at the idea of hanging out with somepony he knew, he never realized he could influence them so badly.

“I’m sure they’re fun and all, man, but it seems a bit, I dunno… generic?” Spike shrugged, “I mean, isn’t Maretropolis the city Superstallion is in? Not very original I think”

High Rise couldn’t even argue with that. What was he supposed to say? ‘You’re destined to become its number one superfan!’ As if that would make any sense for the baby dragon. He came in here wholly unprepared, expecting a single comic book to set off a fun day of comics with Spike. Without realizing how different he would be when he was a century younger.

“Well… uh, I guess.” His nervousness took any confidence he had left. Taking the comic from Spike’s outstretched claws. “I-I think you’d still like it if you, uh, tried. I’ll get out of your way, sorry about that.”

Before High Rise could turn tail and run, Spike called out to him. “Hey, wait! Was that really all you needed? Not looking for a book or anything?”

High Rise looked incredibly disappointed after Spike called his comic book uninteresting. He felt bad, very bad. Clearly this guy wanted to share something he liked with him, and Spike stomped it in the ground. There weren’t a lot of ponies in Ponyville who liked comic books, none that Spike actually knew about. Vinyl sold them but didn’t care for them. The Crusaders weren’t really interested when he tried to tell them about comics. This was the first stallion he met that actually wanted to talk comics, and now he was running away!

“Uh, no. Sorry, I just, um, was asking about comics is all.” For some reason, he was tapping on the ground nervously while he talked. The tapping somehow sounded like the batmare theme.

Don’t lose this chance, Spike! Get him talking, or else you’ll be alone in this library all day! “Were you looking for any comics in particular?” He asked, desperately hoping it was enough to catch High Rise’s attention again.

Spike had fortune on his side today, as High Rise pondered the question presented to him. “…None in particular, has Paper Fillies come out yet?”

“Paper whadda?”

“Actually, nevermind, that one’s a bit too much for a baby. Oh! Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortoises?”

Now that one Spike knew about! “Oh! Yeah I got a bunch of those. Both the newer publisher and Lunarwave Studios issues. Did you wanna see them?”

High Rise came in with high expectations, full speed ahead towards a day of fun with a dragon. Immediately, his journey crashed into a wall and made him crumble… and then somehow succeed?

Here he was, laying down on the floor next to Spike, as he showed off his small collection of comic books. The word “small” should be better defined here, as Spike’s collection was small compared to what High Rise had seen in the future. Spike still had upward of fifty comics stashed into a box for his current collection. A number no comic enthusiast would scoff at.

The thought of possibly destroying Spike’s interest in the Power Ponies still weighed on him, but for the moment, he put that to the side. Here he was, spending time with Spike. Admittedly, a very different, tiny version of him, but still him. He was just as enthusiastic when you talked comics in front of him. That was enough to work with, this whole situation was salvageable!

“This one scene where Rafa Yell and Dona Cello are fighting Slicer is some of the coolest art i’ve ever seen!” Spike exclaimed, showing the fight scene in question to High Rise. It seemed to him that the baby dragon had forgotten all about his library duties. The more peculiar part for him was seeing the comics themselves. All of the comics in Spike’s collection were considered classic, rare finds in his time, and here they were in pristine condition! Available for a bit each at any comic store. If High Rise really could bring things back with him when he returned, he’d be rich if he just brought a handful of these rare comics back with him.

Most of Spike’s showings were of the cooler fight scenes that happened in each issue he shared. High Rise would skim through the pages and when he was done they would pull out the next one and do it all over again. Again, and again, and again. Until no comics were left to showcase.

“You have a really nice collection, Spike!” High Rise exclaimed after they closed the last comic. “Honestly, my collection’s only a bit bigger than yours. Mostly Spider-Mare issues.”

“Hey, Spider-Mare ain’t too bad. I still read that series, I just don’t keep a lot of the issues. I think Vinyl has the newest one at her stand.”

He tilted his head at Spike. “I thought you didn’t like the two big publishers?”

“We all have a few we like! Mine just happens to be Spider-Mare.”

And the Power Ponies. High Rise thought to himself. Then an idea sprung into his head. He still had a hoof full of bits he could spend, and it wasn’t like he was going to need them when he got back home. Why not have a bit of fun?

“Tell you what, Spike,” High Rise said with a mischievous grin pointed at him. “I’ll go to the stand right now, and get us every unique comic on there. Then we’ll see how many you really dislike.”

Clearly something he said caught Spike’s interest. His eyes went wide for a few short moments, until his eyes squinted at High Rise. “Don’t you have better things to do than stick around with me, though? Unless you’re a reader, there ain’t much to do here in a library.”

High Rise shook his head. “Why wouldn’t I want to hang out with you? I can’t think of anything better to do today than check out some new comics with a fellow comic fan.”

He smiled brightly down at Spike, who looked back at him hesitantly. Slowly, but surely, Spike formed a smile onto his face, and nodded back towards High Rise. “Okay, let’s do it!”

With newfound energy, Spike shot his claw out towards High Rise in a fist, and High Rise returned it with a hoof. Their fist/hoof bump was the final confirmation he needed. “Alright! On one condition though.”

“What’s that?”

High Rise pulled back out the Power Ponies issue, and held it towards Spike. “You have to read this in full before I get back!”

Spike huffed at the idea at first. Did he really have to read this thing? It looked so generic and girly. What could possibly be so interesting about it? Oh how wrong he was.

Within minutes of High Rise leaving the library, Spike was engrossed. He tried to scoff it off as nothing special, but the artwork, the characters, and fights! They were unlike any other comic he had ever read! A fact he inevitably gave to High Rise when he returned with a new stack of comics, and he looked incredibly smug about it.

“-this last panel, where Saddle Rager shows off her enraged form, i’ve never seen anything as cool as that! Are you sure this is a PC comic?”

“Yup.” That smugness he felt oozed out of him. Spike could practically smell it! “And the Radiance reveal?”

“She’s definitely the favorite! I mean, look at her!” Spike was already imagining a certain fashion designer in Ponyville wearing that exact same superhero outfit as Radiance. “Radiance is awesome.”

“I dunno, Mistress Mare-velous is pretty cool. With her psychic powers and strength.”

“But Radiance can create literally anything! That’s so much cooler, think of all the gems!”

High Rise chuckled. “They’re just constructs she creates. I don’t think you can eat them.”

“Aw come on, have a bit of imagination, man!”

He chuckled again at Spike’s huff, and soon Spike himself joined in on the laughter. The day between them was spent just like the Power Ponies talk. They would pick a comic, share it between them, and talk about it. From the artwork to the characters. As well as debate certain aspects of the comic book. It wouldn’t be a proper comic book discussion without a debate on power levels or theoretical matchups. Spike picked the bigger, more explosive characters to win in most matchups. High Rise liked the smarter ones, and claimed that Batmare could beat any character with enough prep time.

They had spent so much time doing this back and forth, that it took them a while to see the sun had begun to set. Spike looked up from the most recent comic they had been talking about to watch the orange skyline.

“I should probably start getting things ready before Twilight gets back.” He said with a sigh, disappointed that it was going to end.

High Rise seemed disappointed too. He clicked his tongue as he rose to his hooves. “That’s too bad, but I had a lot of fun today with you Spike. Thanks for indulging me!”

“No, thank you!” Spike exclaimed, tapping his claws together. “I honestly don’t have a lot of friends to hang out with in Ponyville. Most of my friends are Twilight’s friends, and none of them are interested in the same things I am… It was awesome that I got to share it with somepony! Do you think that we could do it again sometime?”

Spike had hope, and that hope was quickly squashed when High Rise’s face scrunched up. “I had a ton of fun too… but I don’t think I'll be able to come by again. At least for a while.”

“…Man, okay,” He said, Spike didn’t try to hide his disappointment. “I get it.”

“It’s nothing like what you are thinking, Spike.” High Rise reached up and patted the baby dragon on the head. “I’m not going to be in Ponyville much longer.”

“Huh? You aren’t?”

High Rise shook his head in response. “Where are you going, then?” Spike asked.

“I’m going home in a few days, can’t stay in doc’s house forever now can’t I?”

“Are you gonna come back?” Spike’s words were simple, but made High Rise’s face scrunch up again.

“I’m not sure, Spike. I don’t think so, at least not for a long time.”

All the energy that had filled the loft of the Golden Oak Library had been drained. They had all sorts of fun today, and it would never happen again. Spike may have been mature for his age, but he was still a baby dragon, and the knowledge that his first comic book friend was unreachable hurt him.

“Hey, hey.” High Rise spoke gently, and reached a hoof up to wipe a tear away from Spike’s eyes. He didn’t realize he had gotten so emotional. “That doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen. Not for a while, but the next time we see each other, I want to see every comic you’ve collected, alright?”

“But what if we don’t see each other?”

“We will, I know it. Just like how I know you’ll be as big as this tree one day!”

His smile was genuine, and more confident than High Rise had any right to be, but it was enough to convince Spike. The baby dragon smiled up at him, and nodded.

“I’ll just have to get a ton of cool comics to show you next time!” He exclaimed, “Here, let me get all of your comics togeth-“

Riiip…

In his excitement, Spike had forgotten an important part of his comic enthusiast rules. The number one rule on the list… be careful with your claws. Spike had quickly grabbed the stack of comics that sat between them, and in his rush pressed a little too tightly on one of them. His claw dug into it, and as he pulled away, it created a clean cut through the first few pages.

A clean rip straight through the middle of Power Ponies! #1. High Rise’s eyes went wide in shock, and Spike quickly dropped the comics in his claws.

“O-Oh no, i’m so sorry! I didn’t mean- I'll get you a new one! Vinyl’s shop should have more. I’ll get you one first thing tomorr-“

“Spike, it’s alright.” High Rise was smiling at Spike, smiling. He just ripped his comic book and he was smiling at him! What he said next was even more baffling than that grin on his face. “I… actually want you to keep these, all of them.”

“What?! I can’t do that, they’re yours!”

“Don’t worry, I don’t think I can bring them with me anyways.” Why was High Rise so happy?! He looked positively overjoyed while looking at that ripped up comic. Like it was the best thing that ever happened to him. Spike felt awful, and now he was being rewarded for doing that awful thing.

“But I ripped your comic!”

“Honestly? I can’t think of anypony better to rip that comic.”

High Rise had gotten to his hooves, not a single one of his comics was back in his possession. Before Spike could try and give them back to him, High Rise was heading to the door.

“It was really nice meeting you, Spike!” He exclaimed with a giddy excitement the baby dragon could not understand.

“Hey, w-wait!” Spike called out to the excited stallion, but he was too late to stop him before High Rise was out the door. Now he was left with more comics than he knew what to do with, and one partially ripped Power Ponies comic…

Maybe just one more read of it.

The rip! The rip! The rip!

The rip!

It was the exact same one from the future. That comic book Spike ripped up was the same one future Spike told High Rise about. It was the first Power Ponies comic he ever read, and he kept it for an entire century! High Rise gave him that comic!!

A billion thoughts ran through his mind as he galloped away from the Golden Oak Library. A billion more questions followed every thought he made, and his mind had become an excited, jumbled mess of words and images that none of it made sense. If somepony were to peer into his mind, they would see a party more chaotic than the reign of Discord. With a thousand different High Rises all falling into two different emotions. Pure, unchecked excitement and happiness, or nervous, barely contained panic. The excitement group currently outnumbered the panic group, but the balance between them teetered back and forth like a violent seesaw.

He didn’t know what to make of what just happened, how it happened, what it meant. High Rise needed somepony to make it clear to him. To find a clear answer among the questions and confusion that filled his head. There was only one pony for the job, the premier expert on time!

“Doc!” High Rise called as he burst into the basement. He didn’t wait for a response. “Something crazy just happened! I hung out with Spike today, but I actually hung out with Spike before so this is the second time, but the first time was in the future, and in the future there was this comic book he showed me and he said it was super important, but he didn’t have that comic book today because he hadn’t gotten it, but I gave it to him! He has that comic book because of me but that doesn’t make sense because I'm not supposed to be here and me giving it to him implies I was supposed to be here, but that makes even less sense and my mind is so confused! Can you help me out… Doc?”

The Doctor was currently at a desk in the basement, his head laid out against it with his mouth wide open. Snoring openly and very loudly. Not a single thing High Rise had done was able to wake Time Turner from his slumber. High Rise’s rant was only heard by himself.

The sight of a peacefully resting Time Turner was enough to calm the chaotic thoughts filling his head. Whatever just happened to him, it could wait until tomorrow. A clearer head would help the both of them. High Rise smiled, and gathered a blanket to cover his friend in. The blanket wrapping around his body made Time Turner snort, and curl into the soft fabric. After he was sufficiently snuggled into the blanket, High Rise went upstairs to his own bedroom. Snuggled into the guest room bed, and found peaceful slumber waiting for him as well.

“Spike, did you buy all of these?” Twilight asked as she stared at the new stack of comic books sitting inside of their library home. She wasn’t alone, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had joined her to eat a meal before the night ended. Spike was in the middle of cooking a late night dinner, and called out from the kitchen.

“No! High Rise came by and left them for me!” He replied.

“Oh, are you friends with High Rise, Spike?” Fluttershy asked. The baby dragon came out of the kitchen with a steaming pot of Vegetable Medley. The three mares and dragon sat around the table while the conversation continued.

“We are now! He stayed almost all day and we chatted about all the comic books we had here. He even gave me those before he left!”

“That was nice of him,” Twilight said, magically handing out bowls of the vegetables to her friends. “Is he a comic book fan too?”

“Yeah, it was awesome to have another comic guy around.” Spike’s tone quickly grew somber after that sentence. “Too bad we can’t do it again for a while.”

“Why is that, Spike?” The question came from Fluttershy, who tilted her head towards him.

“He’s leaving town soon, said he won’t be back for a long time.”

“He’s WHAT?!” Pinkie, who had been silent up until this moment, jumped up from the table. “Oh nuh uh! He won’t get away from me this time!”

“Wait, Pinkie.” Twilight held a hoof up, and miraculously, it worked. Pinkie Pie froze in place, perfectly solid. “High Rise said he was leaving?”

Spike nodded, and both Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle shared a surprise look. “In a few days, he said.”

“He never mentioned that to me.” Fluttershy replied.

“Me neither.”

The frozen spell on Pinkie ceased to contain her, bursting forth in bouncy chaos. “Which MEANS we have to throw him a goodbye party! There is no way I'm gonna let him get away this time! Pinkie Pie doesn’t miss a party twice in a row! I gotta get started already!”

“Pinkie Pie, we just got back from the Dessert Competition, and you ate nearly the entire cake everypony worked on! You need to rest for a bit.”

“Rest is for the wicked, Twilight! And not wicked too, nopony is wicked, but it sounded neat!” Pinkie scooped up her vegetable medley and gobbled it down in one quick gulp. “ThankyouforthemealSpike! I’llseeyoualltomorrowattheparty!”

She was gone, in a blink, Pinkie Pie no longer existed. The girls knew that nothing could stop Pinkie Pie from party planning, and there was no doubt that missing three days on High Rise’s first party was still a sore spot for the party mare.

“I’ll have to ask him tomorrow when he visits,” Fluttershy said, notably not gobbling down her meal. Instead she took gentle nibbles of the broccoli. “I don’t know why he wouldn’t have mentioned that he was leaving…”

“I agree,” Twilight replied, “Hopefully everything is alright.”

The mystery stallion was leaving town, before Twilight Sparkle could even begin her full questioning! Even if she ignored the curiosity she had about High Rise, Twilight didn’t like that one of her friends was going to leave town without telling her. She wanted to know why, and thanks to Pinkie Pie, she would have the chance to tomorrow.

High Rise expected another memory to appear in his dreams that night. He didn’t remember the last time he had a normal dream, where nothing made sense and it was all forgotten in the morning. Every night, he relived a moment in his past. Some good, some bad, all just as vividly real as real life. Sometimes, he had to convince himself that he wasn’t awake, that it was a dream. It was more confusing when he felt that way when he was actually awake.

He was asleep, he knew that, he could clearly tell he wasn’t awake this time. The constant sound of clocks ticking wasn’t present, in fact, nothing was present. An empty, peaceful void, waiting to be filled with whatever memory decided to appear today. High Rise hoped it was a better one this time. The last few haven’t been bad, he just doesn’t want another reminder of his band right now, not when he’s been feeling so good.

The void began to form the scene for his dream, he could see the tall bookshelves and giant telescopes come into view, the forms of Crescent Sun and Princess Cadance inside the room with him. He was about to relive this moment. If he wasn’t currently a formless consciousness waiting for his body to form, he would shudder.

When his body did form, and he found himself within it, the world around him crumbled to dust. Before any words could be said from any of the actors on the stage, High Rise now found himself in a limitless starscape. An endless night sky reflected on a shallow, crystal clear pool that extended across the horizon. High Rise’s hooves created small ripples in the water, which continued on for eternity. He had control of his body, and quickly realized he was no longer in his own dream.

“Stay calm, you are not in danger.” A mare’s voice came to his ears. High Rise turned his head to see an indigo alicorn. Her mane and tail endlessly flowing in an endless breeze, the night sky blending into the stars in her own hair. Royal regalia accented her form, silver horseshoes and a black chestplate with the image of a crescent moon upon it. A mark that matched the cutie mark on her flank. Turquoise eyes regarded him with a neutral expression.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out who this was. High Rise stood before Princess Luna, bearer of the Moon and current co-ruler of Equestria. A chill ran up his spine, and his hoof began tapping the pool below. Ripples constantly forming underneath it.

He was about to speak to a Princess.

Three days remaining.

14 - A Nervous Drummer is a Chaotic Drummer

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High Rise prided himself on his ability to socialize with anypony. He didn’t have royal etiquette or style, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get a noble to crack a smile with him. His social ability, however, ended in front of an alicorn. There was something different about alicorns, their stature, their behavior, maybe just the mane? High Rise didn’t know exactly what it was, but whatever it was, it made High Rise feel small. Which is not a feeling a pony as tall as him often feels!

So when he stood in front of Princess Luna, all of his normal social confidence fell apart with it. Immediately, he felt out of his league, just like the first moment he saw Twilight Sparkle or Princess Cadance, High Rise choked on his words. Instead of saying anything at all, he brought himself down to bow before the night princess. What he didn’t plan to do was slam his muzzle into the water below, which is what he did.

Apparently, when you are having a lucid dream with the protector of the dream world, all of your senses are present. Which meant that the pain receptors in his brain sounded alarm bells when his face planted with the hard ground underneath the water. Luna, not too far away, let out a surprised gasp after High Rise yelped in pain.

“Are you alright?” She asked him, her stoney expression wiped away with new concern.

“Yush Pwhrinsh…” High Rise pulled his mouth away from the water, but still kept it firmly pointed downward. “Yes, Princess, your holiness, ma’am… i’m okay… please, uh, forgive my… uh, rudeness.”

“We are not offended, please rise, you have done nothing wrong.”

High Rise did, indeed, rise, but he was stiff as a board. Water dripped from his face while he stood perfectly still. “Yes, your highness… holiness…ma-“

“Stop that, Luna will do.”

“Luna… ma’am.”

She sighed, and her sigh echoed through the entire realm around them. As if it bounced across invisible walls that surrounded the two ponies. It made a pretty interesting sound, and High Rise wished he could have recorded it for a mix.

“We apologize for interrupting your slumber, sir High Rise. It is something that wouldn’t have been done if not for a good reason. We come with a warning, one thou must heed carefully.”

The fact she spoke in a mixture of ancient Ponish was one thing, but the warning made High Rise’s body tense. Well, it tensed more than it already was. He was already a statue.

Did the Princess know the truth about him? Had he done something to gain their ire? If there was one absolute worst case scenario, it was pissing off the Princesses capable of moving celestial bodies. There was a chance Princess Luna didn’t like a drummer, or a time traveler, or a time traveling drummer! Was she here to tell him off? Or he could be banished!!

“Pleasedon’tputmeonthemoon!”

“Thou must be informed tha-… Excuse me?” Luna raised a brow. High Rise fell onto his haunches and covered his face with his hooves.

“I don’t know what I did to make you angry, Luna ma’am, but I really, really didn’t mean to do it!”

“Sir High Rise, you are not in-“

“It was all an accident! I was just a bystander! If you need to punish anypony, punish he- wait no, don’t punish her!”

“What are you even sayin-?”

“She was just doing her best, please don’t put her on the moon! You can send me instead! I’’ll accept it as long as sh-”

“SILENCE!” Luna’s Royal Canterlot voice echoed through the endless sea, and High Rise’s mouth shut tight. “Thou hast no need for hysterics! Pray clamp thine lips shut until we are finished!”

With his mouth firmly clamped, he nodded in response instead. Somehow, his nod made it feel like he said ‘ma’am’, which made Luna’s eye twitch.

“Thou… You are in danger, High Rise.” Luna did her best to ease off the old Ponish habits while she explained. “We…I cannot explain how I came upon this knowledge, but know that I have discovered a dangerous source of magical energy stored within you.”

She stepped forward, approaching High Rise until they were a few feet apart. Luna gestured for him to rise to his hooves, and surprisingly he followed her directions. The two ponies were the exact same height, and the princess could appreciate not having to look down like she did with most of her subjects, or crane her neck up when looking at her sister. High Rise didn’t feel any comfort from her height, her words, or her presence.

“Within your waking body is a torrent of chaos magic. Discordant energy that cannot be controlled by ponykind. I know not how you came to possess this chaos within you, but that does not matter for now. What matters is preventing any form of magic from being cast upon you.”

Luna could tell that High Rise wanted to ask a question, or maybe his tapping was getting annoying. “You may unclamp.”

The floodgates opened, “What is chaos magic? Why would I have chaos magic in me?… What happens if magic is cast on me?”

It was, surprisingly, coherent. The seriousness of the situation overtook the rising nervousness about being in front of an alicorn in High Rise’s mind. He needed answers, just as much as Luna needed to answer.

“Chaos magic is the magical energy of disharmony, the direct opposite of harmony. We ponies use harmony for our magic, and chaos magic is its antithesis. It is a form of magic that cannot be controlled by ponies, and attempts to do so produce… chaotic results.”

“How you came to possess chaos magic is an answer I cannot give. Only you would have the knowledge necessary to understand how you came to have it. What I do know, is that the chaos within you is only rivaled in size by the spirit of disharmony himself.”

Tap Tap Tap.

“Chaos magic does not react well to the magic of our kind. You cannot control it, and nopony else can either. One errant spell may set off the built up energy within you. I come to warn you of this, High Rise, and tell you to avoid being the subject of any spell, at any cost. Do you understand?”

TapTapTapTapTapTapTap

High Rise’s crazed tapping was stopped when a silver horseshoe pressed into his shoulder. Princess Luna stared into his eyes. A gentler and more calming gaze looked at him, and the firm hoof on her leg held his tapping still.

“Take the time you need to breathe. You are not in immediate danger. The chaos within you has already stayed dormant for several months. You have avoided setting it off so far, and need only continue as you have been. Now with the knowledge necessary to make no mistakes. I ask that you keep following the same, safe path you have taken so far. In a few days, we will be able to help you find a way to contain this chaos.”

Luna let go of him, and his tapping didn’t return. Stepping back from High Rise towards the endless night sky. “Sleep peacefully, High Rise, and await our return.”

The princess’s steps faded into the sky that surrounded them, until her entire form blended into the sea. High Rise was alone, and moments later, he slept without any dreams to stir him.

High Rise felt well rested, and that alone was enough to keep him from exploding. The Princess’ message to him last night was still vividly present in his mind. It was an idyllic morning, birds chirping, Ponyville residents just starting their day. High Rise, however, would not move an inch. He was staying in this room until tomorrow.

Knock Knock. “High Rise? Are you still asleep? It’s almost noon!”

“I’m still asleep! Come back later!”

“That is not funny, I'm coming in.” Time Turner did not wait for his protests before opening the door. A stack of pancakes balanced on his back. “You aren’t an early morning pony, but even this is a long time for you, is everything alright?”

High Rise used his sheets to create a cocoon around him, eyes darting nervously towards the Doctor. “Everything’s fine, why wouldn’t it be fine? I definitely didn’t just learn I am a ticking time bomb waiting to explode or anything like that!”

Time Turner stared blankly at High Rise. Hysteria was slowly setting in, if the way he rocked back and forth in the bed meant anything. Gently, the Doctor placed the pancakes on the edge of the bed. “You can explain to me what you meant by that… but only after you eat.”

…Hysteria could wait until after pancakes. A single hoof reaching out from the bed cocoon to get the plate. High Rise didn’t have a proper dinner yesterday, and already missed breakfast. This brunch was a sorely needed meal that helped to calm his nerves just as much as the peaceful rest did. Which is to say it afforded him five minutes before he started tapping again. This time the tapping was to the tune of Equestrian Idiot by Green Mane, but nopony would hear it from the muffled fabrics.

When enough pancakes were shoved down his throat, High Rise explained what happened. How he was approached by Princess Luna in his dreams, and what she said to him. High Rise notably didn’t mention what happened with him and Spike, but that event was well past his mind at this point.

Time Turner needed time to process this information. High Rise only gave him five seconds to do so. “What am I supposed to do?! I’m a bomb, Doc!”

“H-Hold on, High Rise. Please calm dow-“

He reached a hoof to gently rest on High Rise’s shoulder, but retracted it after he saw him recoil from his reach. “D-Don’t do that! I don’t want to blow you up!”

“High Rise, you aren’t going to blow me up.” He replied calmly and evenly. “If that were to happen, why did it not already happen when I conducted several very physical experiments on you. Remember the rubber mallet? Or the twisty chair?”

“…That twisty chair really hurt.”

“And I apologize for that, but it didn’t set off this… magic within you. I believe it’s safe to assume that anything short of a magical spell will not set it off.”

“That is what she said…”

“And the Princess is a trustworthy source of information. There isn’t a higher authority in Equestria, only her sister. She told you herself that you do not need to change your daily routine, did she not?”

“Yeah…”

“Then we should follow her advice.”

High Rise had stopped tapping, his gaze pointed towards Time Turner. It was hard to gauge his emotional state from the expression he gave him. If he had to guess, the closest emotion it could be was fear. “What does this mean for our experiment, Doc?”

The hesitation was clear from Dr. Hooves, and High Rise’s fears were not tempered by recognizing that. “I should have the device finished by tomorrow… but this new information requires me to rethink our method. I am not at all knowledgeable on chaos magic, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

“I promised not to tell another soul about your circumstances, but if this is all true, I must ask that we reconsider that. A pony with more magical expertise would be better suited to help with this. We have a pony who could be considered a magical prodigy here in Ponyville. With Twilight Sparkle’s help, we could-“

“No! Not her, anypony but her!” High Rise snapped.

“But-“

“Look, Doc, I can’t prove this for a fact, but I know that the things i’ve been doing here? They have had a real impact in the future. I practically saw one of them with my very eyes yesterday! I don’t know if it’s the causal loop thing or something else entirely, but I do know that me being here is making tangible differences to the future!”

Time Turner had no idea what he meant by that. Of course he wouldn’t, High Rise never explained the Spike story to him. There would be another time to go into detail. “The fact I can call her my friend is already too much! What if all this chaos surrounding me is the reason Twilight, Future Twilight, goes missing!?”

“Alright! Alright!” The Doctor could try and make several arguments against that ridiculous claim. How could it possibly connect? Time Turner guessed, however, that such arguments would only send High Rise further down his nervous breakdown. Giving in would keep him calm, at least he hoped. “Twilight will not be involved, I promise, but the Princess also made a promise to you. She said she would come to help in a few days. It may be in our best interests to tell her the truth.”

That… was likely the correct choice. Even a panicking High Rise could agree. If there were any ponies knowledgeable enough in magic to help him, they were Twilight(out of the question) or the two alicorn princesses who were over a thousand years old and could move the sun and moon at will. That also meant they were knowledgeable enough to question why he had a hurricane of chaos magic swirling around inside him. He couldn’t answer that question, he had no idea why he had it. Unfortunately, ‘I don’t know why I have the most dangerous form of magic trapped inside my body waiting to explode’ probably won’t cut it as an answer for an ancient princess.

“So, we wait for the Princess, and… that means waiting on the experiment?”

“Indeed. I will finish it, but I don’t want to take any risks when it comes to your health. I’m sorry.”

Time Turner didn’t see High Rise tapping his hooves, he was no longer breaking down into a nervous wreck. What he had done, however, was look downward in defeat. A silent, saddened acceptance. It hurt more to look at then the panicking.

“Look, High Rise, we will find a-“

“No, no, it’s alright Doc. We’ll find a way, I know it too.” High Rise rose from the bed and stood in front of Time Turner. His hooves wrapped around the Doctor’s neck, squeezing tight. “You’ve always done the right thing for me. I’ll wait.”

If only I had done the right thing. Dr. Hooves thought.

“I just remembered, I promised Fluttershy I would come see how her animal choir are doing today. Wouldn’t want anypony to think I went missing and put up all those missing colt posters again. So I'll go swing by her place and come right back.” He smiled weakly at Time Turner as he let go. Immediately heading for the door.

The Doctor decided this wasn’t the best time to stop him. High Rise would need time to process all this. He was a day away from going back home, and that hope was taken away in a single night. The revelation of the magic inside of him was shocking, but if it had been there this entire time, changing how life has been was more likely to set off what is inside of him than letting things continue as they have been. One day alone with his friend shouldn’t be dangerous at all.

…Right?

The meeting with Fluttershy was… quieter than normal. Which was saying much, given how quiet Fluttershy normally was. High Rise was normally the chatterbox, with Fluttershy chiming in.

“… Did you, um, want to talk about anything?” Fluttershy asked him while they worked in the kitchen. They decided to cook lunch for the animals before he listened to the choir. This was when most of their conversations would happen, but High Rise never spoke up. In a surprising turn of events, Fluttershy was the one to start the conversation!

“I could tell you about the Dessert Competition? It became a really good story.” She said with a smile, but was only met with a weak smile in return from High Rise. The story wasn’t enough to stir him, and at this point Fluttershy could tell something was wrong.

“High Rise, are you okay?” She asked gently, stepping away from the kitchen counter to walk over to him. “Do you need anything? Somepony to listen? A hug?”

His smile grew wider, but it was still forced. “Thanks, Fluttershy, but it’s nothing important.” He waved his hoof to try and ease her concerns, not that it worked.

“It’s always important when one of my friends is feeling down. If there is anything I can do…”

“No, there… actually, yeah, there is.” He plastered on the best smile he could, one that didn’t look so meek. “I’d love to hear how the choir is doing, did the metronome help?”

His change in conversation topic succeeded in letting Fluttershy ease off of him. Returning back to the kitchen counter. “Oh yes, Dotty must have been having an off day, a few practice songs with the metronome got him right back on his talons. They’d be happy to show you right after this.”

“Perfect, I'd love to hear it!”

Even though he held that positive attitude, the conversation did not continue. They finished the meals quietly, and handed them out without anything of note happening. This would normally be Fluttershy’s best interaction with a friend. Quietly spending time together while taking care of animals, but she knew that High Rise wasn’t like that. He was energetic and emotive and talkative. It only made her more concerned, and that concern didn’t go away as her birds gathered together on their choir tree.

“Alright everyone, let’s do it just like we practiced.” She smiled warmly to all her gathered singers. Dotty, a pigeon that was slightly larger than the average pigeon, puffed out her chest. She wanted to impress today, and she would put her all into it! High Rise sat on a nearby stump and waited, that same still smile on his face,

“And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three, four.”

The birds began in unison, and the song that played from their combined voices was beautiful. A violinist would spend years of their life replicating the delicate flow the choir performed. It was so perfect, in fact, that High Rise was left with nothing to say. Even Dotty was singing perfectly in tune. A fact that made the bird dance with joy after it was finished. High Rise clapped his hooves together in applause.

“That was fantastic! You could play that at a royal wedding!”

Fluttershy blushed at the compliment, and Dotty looked incredibly smug. The entire choir chirped at his words. “That’s um, I don't think that would ever happen, but thank you. It was nice that you got to hear them sing one last time.”

…Wait a minute. “Uh, what do you mean?” He asked her. Clearly, Fluttershy didn’t expect her words to be questioned. A small squeak escaped her.

“W-Was I not supposed to know that? I’m sorry…”

She recoiled, and High Rise shook his head. “No, no, it’s not that. I don’t understand, why would it be the last time?”

Now Fluttershy blinked, High Rise was even more confused, and he blinked too. His confusion fed into her confusion, until they were an endless cycle of shared bewilderment. Fluttershy finally answered to clear this never ending circle.

“Spike mentioned to us that you would be leaving Ponyville soon. Was that not, um, is that a lie?”

Now the dominoes fell into place. Immediately it clicked, and a weight dropped into the pit of High Rise’s stomach. He did say he was leaving Ponyville to Spike, and that was why they couldn’t hang out again… Except he wasn’t leaving now, and they still couldn’t hang out again. After learning about the magic inside him, he didn’t want to interact with anypony that wasn’t absolutely necessary. That included Spike, dragons could send messages with their magic firebreath, what if he accidentally got licked by one of the flames? Would that set off the chaos magic? There was no way he would risk that… even if it meant he lied now.

“Ah.” Was all High Rise said, his ears flat on his head. Fluttershy, being the empathetic pony she was, immediately saw this and approached him. She went to wrap one of her wings around his barrel, but held back when she saw him tense. Clearly, he didn’t want to be touched…

“I’m sorry if that wasn’t something you wanted others to know, High Rise.”

“I’m not unhappy about that, no. I just…” High Rise didn’t want to say he wasn’t leaving. He was, he just had to wait until this chaos magic was fixed. That probably meant a few more days of staying here, possibly a week or two more… He didn’t want to think about any possibility of it being longer than that. “Well, my departure got delayed. I’ll be in Ponyville for… a little bit longer.”

Fluttershy’s wing were brought back in. The pegasus mare approached him from the front now with attentive eyes, and looked up into his downward cast ones. “You’re… not leaving? At least, not yet?”

He nodded.

What did he expect would be Fluttershy’s reaction to that? Relief that her friend was sticking around? Sympathy for his sadness about the delay? Those were the most likely outcomes. What High Rise actually saw was a look of surprise and fear wash over Fluttershy.

“O-Oh dear, I have to tell you something, then. Um, how do I say this-.”

Fluttershy didn’t have to say it, as a pair of baby blue eyes met High Rise’s. “Hi there, Hi-Hi!” Pinkie Pie said with less than a centimeter’s space between the two ponies. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

You quickly learn that when you are friends with Pinkie Pie, you will have to learn how to quickly process information. Such as how she will appear right in front of you at any time or moment. If your vision suddenly becomes a blur of pink, blue eyes, and more pink, don’t panic, it’s just Pinkie. High Rise properly learned that lesson the fourth time he nearly shit himself after a morning greeting from her.

“Hi, Pinkie… Did Twilight tell you about that nickname?” High Rise asked. He only told her that a few days ago, surely she wouldn’t have spilled the secret that quickly!

“No, silly. It’s the nickname I made for you, duh!” After the first greetings are exchanged, Pinkie Pie usually steps back from her jumpscare greetings. This time, however, she was still face to face. In the physical sense, their faces were touching. His cheeks could really use a break from the pink fluff pressing onto them. Her breath smelled like strawberry frosting.

“What, uh, were you looking for me for, Pinkie Pie?” He asked, but before Pinkie answered, the meek voice of Fluttershy tried to cut in.

“Um, Pinkie, before you say anything, could I talk to you?” She pleaded.

“Of course, Fluttershy! But only after I get help with something that only one super duper drum pony in Ponyville could help with!”

“But… Pinkie, he’s…”

“You need help with some drums?” High Rise asked.

“Pinkie…”

“Yup! I have this drum I need to get ready for an extra special surprise party I have planned tonight, but I can’t get it right! Could you help me with it, Hi-Hi?”

“He’s not…”

“… Alright, as long as it doesn’t take too long. I said I'd be back home right after this to Doc.”

“Don’t worry! I’m sure he’ll understand!” Pinkie Pie grinned wide, which really wasn’t that different from normal, but it felt different. The glint in her eye spoke of a hidden meaning to her request. A glint that High Rise missed, but Fluttershy didn’t. Fluttershy didn’t have another chance to protest. Pinkie Pie grabbed High Rise’s hoof and began to pull him back towards Ponyville at a surprisingly fast gait.

“C’mon, Fluttershy! You come too!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“…Oh Dear.”

High Rise had no idea what drum related emergency could be so urgent. Her grip on his hoof was tight, and he doubted he could slip out of it if he wanted to. Wherever Pinkie Pie was taking him, he had little choice but to follow her. It was better described as being dragged, but Pinkie had the patience to let him stay on his hooves at the very least.

The gingerbread looking building of Sugarcube Corner soon approached. High Rise hoped that he could fix the issue with Pinkie’s drum without any issue. Being in the center of Ponyville after what he learned last night was bringing to light an anxious energy he had been holding down. His eyes nervously glanced around, surprised to see how few ponies were actually outside in the afternoon. Was it normally this quiet? High Rise supposed he had to count himself lucky, he didn’t know how to feel about moving through a crowd right now.

Thankfully, drums are definitely not magic, and he was pretty knowledgeable about most percussion instruments. He would help out Pinkie, and be on his way. She stopped them just outside of Sugarcube Corner, and allowed him to open the door. Just a quick fix and then back to the Doctor’s Ho-

“SURPRISE!”

15 - Hold it Together, Drummer!

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Sugarcube Corner was packed with smiling ponies, surrounded by streamers and balloons. A banner sat above the indoor gathering. A clear message for what this party was meant for. We’ll Miss You, High Rise! Written in colorful, fancy hoof writing, and surrounded by drawings of balloons. As well as a drawing of High Rise himself, cartoonishly smiling on the banner.

High Rise was not smiling when he entered the room.

“No missing out on a party this time! No siree!” Pinkie giggled and turned to High Rise, the current center of attention. “As soon as I heard you were leaving I knew I had to make this party PRONTO! Or else everypony would have missed you!”

It hasn’t been a full twenty four hours since High Rise told Spike that. Pinkie Pie was able to find out that information, gather all the supplies she needed, bake multiple different desserts and snacks for the occasion, and got a whole group of ponies together to celebrate. All for a going away party, for yours truly.

He’d be extremely flattered if he wasn’t panicking like crazy.

TapTapTapTapTapTapTapTap

Fluttershy stepped in behind High Rise, and placed a wing gently over his back. “Pinkie, I was trying to tell you… He isn’t actually leaving yet. His departure got delayed, he learned that today.”

TapTapTapTap…TapTap…TapTapTap
BlinkBlinkBlinkBlink…BlinkBlink…BlinkBlinkBlink

Pinkie Pie’s superpowers also seemed to be able to match her blinking to the beat of High Rise’s erratic tapping. “What?! So you mean-“

“He didn’t need this party, Pinkie Pie, I'm sorry.”

The crowd around them lost the joyful energy it had at the start. Watching High Rise’s slowly growing panic attack and hearing Fluttershy’s words. Ponies gave unsure looks to each other. Whispers were shared, and nopony knew what to do. Especially Pinkie Pie, who deflated the moment she heard the truth. She rushed a party together to make sure she didn’t miss the chance, but now she jumped the gun!

“I-I’ve never thrown an accidental party before!” Pinkie said nervously, which caught High Rise’s attention. “I-I should have double checked before I set this all up. You shouldn’t have been put on the spot like that, Hi-Hi, i-i’m sor-“

“Please don’t apologize, Pinkie.”

High Rise was holding his breath, but forced himself to say those words. He couldn’t fall apart now, not after everything that’s happened. It was a party, a premature party, but a party nonetheless. Pinkie Pie put every ounce of her time and energy into making a party that would send him off with a smile. If there was anything in this world worse than the panic he felt, it was the face of a sad Pinkie Pie who only tried her best.

So he would fight his fears, control his beating heart, and smile. “I’m not leaving yet, no, but I will in the future. So this isn’t entirely wrong, and… who am I to turn down a party?”

Life returned to Pinkie Pie, and her huge grin encompassed the entirety of her face. Pulling High Rise into a tight embrace. High Rise tensed and shut his eyes at the sudden contact, but didn’t stop her. The crowd around them regained some of their own energy, and when Pinkie turned to the crowd, her words sent them back into cheers.

“Let’s party!!”

…Deep Breaths, High Rise, you can do it.

Twilight Sparkle was trying to unravel the mystery of High Rise once again, but she was at a loss on what to do. Before the concert, her feelings on it were curiosity and suspicion. There was something about him that confused her. Now, after the concert, her feelings have changed. She wasn’t suspicious of him, she was concerned.

How much did she actually know about him? Twilight knew where he was from, where he grew up, even his relationship with Time Turner. High Rise is a huge fan of the amateur band the Night-Mares, and is a drummer himself. After a Night-Mares concert here in Ponyville that he helped perform. Then he stayed in Ponyville for over two months by staying in his friend Time Turner’s house.

…Why was he staying in Ponyville, anyways? What made him decide to stay here? When Twilight heard from Spike how he was leaving, this was the question that came to her mind. Whatever the reason High Rise was in Ponyville, it was soon coming to an end, and he wasn’t planning to tell anypony about it. Until Spike came and asked him.

That was what Twilight was going to get answered at this party. Before High Rise disappeared from Ponyville, she wanted to know the real reason he stayed here. She was going to get that answer, no matter what!

At least until Twilight saw him start tapping. The crowd had just cheered, Pinkie was starting the party properly after a rocky start. High Rise followed her, but if you paid attention, you could see the nervous tic that made his hoof continue to tap, tap, tap on the ground. It must be taking a lot of willpower for him to hold it back enough to not make any sound. Even so, he couldn’t make it go away.

As the party kicked off and High Rise was taken to the first activity, Twilight approached Fluttershy. Who nervously stood at the entrance to Sugarcube Corner. She watched High Rise as he mixed into the crowd, and then turned to look at Twilight.

“Is something wrong, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked her. Fluttershy nodded in return.

“Yes, but I don’t know what exactly. I think it’s because he was really hoping to go back home.”

The two mares watched him again. A few ponies were chatting with him while Pinkie grabbed him a drink. He politely refused, probably because his constant tapping would stop him from walking and carrying it at the same time. Both of the girls noticed it, and didn’t know what to do. “Did he say where home was for him right now? Canterlot? Trottingham?”

“He didn’t say anything about where, but when he came to visit me today, he was really bad. I have never seen him so sad before.”

“I haven’t either.” Twilight said, “Maybe the party is hitting a sore spot for him?”

“Still, this doesn’t seem like how he would react to a simple train delay… High Rise never said how long he would be delayed for.”

No, he did not. Twilight just needed a moment with him, and with Fluttershy backing her up, it became two friends concerned with their friend’s well being. The buzz of the party made it difficult to approach him, however. From a game of darts, to a surprise conga line, Pinkie Pie was able to keep him busy. One particular moment during the conga line caught the two mare’s attention. High Rise, caught in the middle of the line, tripped and fell out of the mix, his goggles falling off of his head.

“My bad! You alright?” Asked the unicorn who stood behind him in the line. Lyra, a unicorn mare Fluttershy and Twilight both knew. She helped High Rise onto his hooves, and used her levitation to pick up his goggles.

“Thanks, and that wasn’t your fault, I just tripped over mys- Aaagh!” High Rise jumped back from the goggles that levitated in front of him. Fear etched into his eyes. His sudden scream caused Lyra to yelp, and drop the goggles from her magic. The ponies around them came to a stop to watch High Rise quickly snatch the fallen goggles from the floor.

“Sorry! Sorry!” He nervously laughed. “Just surprised, is all.”

Lyra looked positively confused, but didn’t press the issue with him. The goggles were back on his head, and Pinkie came to the rescue. A new game to play and distract the gathering from what just happened. Twilight noted that she could hear his tapping now, and he was tapping to the rhythm of Mare in the Moon by The Night-Mares. She’s had that song stuck in her head for days now, of course she could recognize it.

Unfortunately, any chance to get to High Rise was taken by Pinkie’s favorite party game. Pin the tail on the pony.

“How do we even get to him?” An exasperated Twilight asked.

“I think I have an idea.” Fluttershy muttered, she mustered the courage and spoke up with a louder voice. “Oh, I'm not having a lot of fun at the party today…!”

“Hey Fluttershy!” A pink blur appeared in front of Fluttershy. “Want to go next on pin the tail? Here’s a piece of chocolate cake!”

A slice of cake fell into Fluttershy’s hooves, but before Pinkie Pie could rush away from her, one of her yellow wings wrapped around the party mare. Twilight caught on to Fluttershy’s trick, and moved in front of the caught Pinkie. She was trapped!

“Hey, is this a game?” Pinkie asked, “Am I winning or losing?”

“Pinkie, we just need a moment of your time,” Twilight said, followed by Fluttershy.

“It’s very important.”

“Sure! There’s about twenty two seconds left until Hi-Hi’s done with limbo, whatcha need?”

“Could you give us a moment to talk to High Rise? We have something important to ask him.”

Pinkie Pie shook her head, a jingling sound came from her mane when she did. “No can do! Hi-Hi is really down in the dumps right now. I gotta do everything I can to help him out of that!”

Fluttershy pulled Pinkie closer, and in a low whisper, continued. “We know that, that’s why we want to talk to him. We just want to understand what’s bothering our friend.”

“Oh, nonono!” Pinkie shook her head more emphatically this time. The jingle played faster. “You can’t do that now! Important and emotional conversations can wait until after the Pony stacking game!”

“The what?”

“The pony stacking game! Where we stack ponies until the base falls over, the last team standing wins! We played this at your welcoming party, Twilight!”

It always stung a bit when Twilight was reminded of how she left her own party. She had every right to be focused on the Nightmare Moon situation, but she still ditched her friend’s party for her, even if they weren’t friends yet.

“Oh! Games over, gotta get going. See ya!” Despite Twilight blocking the path and Fluttershy’s wing holding her, Pinkie Pie was gone in a blink of an eye. There was no way to stop the pink blur.

Fluttershy and Twilight were left with no options, once again. The pony stacking game they were told to wait for wasn’t until the end of the party. The two mares watched the rest of the ongoing events from a nearby table.

“Do you think he will tell us the truth? When we do get to talk to him?” Fluttershy asked Twilight, “I’m worried he’ll try and laugh it off…”

“Me too. I have an idea for that.” Twilight brought a book up to her eyes with levitation magic.

“Where did you get that book?”

“Unimportant, but the spell I've been practicing inside is important! A lie detection spell, once placed, anything the pony says will be marked as either a truth or a lie.”

“Doesn’t that seem a bit… much, Twilight?” Fluttershy shifted nervously.

“It is, but High Rise hasn’t been entirely honest with us. If we want to help him, we have to know what’s going on. I’ll only use it for that one question.”

Fluttershy still looked unsure, but she trusted Twilight enough to know she wouldn’t intentionally hurt him. So they waited until the pony stacking game was completed.

High Rise’s pony stack was the first to go down. A single pony was put on top of him, and he toppled under their weight. He laughed it off with a wave. It was the expected outcome, and it was fun to watch the other ponies play.

He refused, however, to be stacked. Pinkie had the help of a unicorn to raise the ponies up, and the mere thought of that unicorn magic on him made him think of the worst possible outcome. After he nearly touched magic earlier, he had to take no chances.

Never has High Rise felt uncomfortable in a crowd. He was used to it. As a drummer, he performed on stage to hundreds of ponies before. There couldn’t have been more than forty packed into Sugarcube Corner today… and yet it was the most terrifying crowd he had ever been in. They were all smiling, laughing, and enjoying themselves, but all it took was one wrong move to blow it all to pieces.

Well, he didn’t exactly know what “blow it all to pieces” really meant. What chaos magic actually did when triggered was far beyond his understanding. High Rise hoped he wouldn’t find out today. The final game of the night was winding down, the ponies he had become acquainted with were starting to depart, and soon he could excuse himself as well.

He held it together, now get out of this crowd and run back to somewhere safe.

“High Rise?” Asked Twilight Sparkle as she and Fluttershy approached him. “Could we talk to you?”

Twilight was his friend, High Rise was well aware of that. He wasn’t trying to avoid her for any of the previous excuses he had used. If the circumstances were different, and he didn’t know that he was a chaos bomb, he would happily accept the conversation. But right now Twilight had a very menacing looking horn on her head. It was like being a drum of gasoline next to a matchstick.

“I’m sorry, I really gotta get going.” High Rise said hurriedly. “Doc’s gotta be wondering where I am, I was supposed to help him out tonight, you know how it is.”

High Rise turned from Twilight to see a pair of baby blue eyes staring at him. “Hey, Hi-Hi, before you go, can I talk to you?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Pinkie too?! She wasn’t a unicorn, and probably wouldn’t set it off, but accepting her while denying the other two would look even weirder! High Rise glanced between the three, trapped and without options… There had to be a way out right? One that didn’t make him look like a complete weirdo. Try as he might, he couldn’t think of one, and with three sets of eyes looking at him, he had very little time to choose.

“…Alright, but only for a minute girls, I really need to get back.”

Twilight was about to ask her question first. If only her mouth could move as fast as Pinkie’s. “Well after the party you were looking pretty scared and I was really really worried that I put you in a scary spot after doing your going away party too early so I wanted to see if I could make it up to you…” Pinkie Pie took a moment to breath. “…If there’s something bothering you, or you’re unhappy about something, I’d be happy to talk with you about it if it’d make you feel better!”

“Actually, that is what we wanted to talk about as well.” Twilight finally got her chance to say her piece. “We wanted to know why you were leaving, and see if you needed to talk before you left.”

“Mhm.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “We’d feel awful to let you go without making sure you’re okay.”

He tried his best to hold back the nervous tapping that he had just gotten to calm down. Instead, he bumped his hooves together instead of hitting the floor. Unfortunately, they noticed that

“Like that!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, hoof pointing towards High Rise’s hooves. “It’s your scared tappy tappy thing!

“Pinkie, you shouldn’t, um… point it out…”

“But that means he’s scared, Fluttershy! We don’t want to scare you, Hi-Hi!”

High Rise quickly shook his head. “No, nonono, you aren’t scaring me! I-I’m just, I-“

“Are you scared of telling us something?” Twilight Sparkle hit the nail on the head. High Rise’s silence after her words was more of an answer than anything he could say.

This was the moment. High Rise had to say something, and Twilight would be able to tell if he’s lying after one simple spell. “High Rise, whatever it is that you’re scared of, you don’t have to worry. We aren’t here to hurt you.”

His eyes shifted between the three mares in front of him. Ears following his eye flicks. He was about to speak, and Twilight Sparkle took the opportunity. Her horn began to glow, and High Rise’s eyes went wide in fear.

“Stop!!” He cried out, shocking the three mares in how quickly he backed away. The ponies left from the party all watched the sudden commotion, and Twilight’s spell fizzled out before it could be formed.

“High Rise!” Fluttershy gasped in surprise, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Nothing! I-I just-!” High Rise’s eyes never looked away from Twilight, still backing away from her. “I need to get going, thank you for the party, Pinkie. I’ll see you all-!!”

It was inevitable that High Rise would stumble against something while walking backwards. His back hooves caught on the edge of a lopsided tablecloth. The contents on the table spilled off as High Rise lost all grip underneath him. His backwards flip was set to land his head onto the hardwood below. The enamored crowd barely had time to gasp.

Twilight Sparkle was quick to react, her horn flared and a nearby cushion was flung from its place and underneath High Rise’s head. No matter what was happening, she wasn’t about to let her friend get hurt. Pure instinct led her magic to line up the cushion with him. In a few short moments, his head would safely land on it and no dangerous injuries would be suffered.

The moment High Rise’s head connected with the cushion, a crackle of green energy sputtered from their point of contact. In a blink of an eye, Sugarcube Corner was enveloped in a blinding green light.

Every part of Twilight Sparkle felt… wrong. The way her fur felt on her skin, the length of her muzzle, how her ears shifted and bent. She had an odd amount of control over her tail that she didn’t have before, and she noticed the considerable absence of a horn on the top of her head.

What probably felt the weirdest was how she was floating in the air. Everypony from the party in Sugarcube Corner was now floating high in the air, with the building itself below them. The top of the bakery was opened like a can, its roof peeled and the main floor was now exposed to the afternoon sky.

The ponies floating above were also… not ponies, Twilight included. Every single pony that was at the party has been changed into either a cat, or a dog. Twilight herself was a lavender tabby cat, nearby her were the dog forms of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The butter yellow fur of a great dane indicated which one was Fluttershy, and the bright pink pug that was scrambling through the air next to her was definitely Pinkie.

“What just happened?!” Twilight surprised herself by speaking with a cat’s mouth, the great dane looked at her in pure fear.

“This is AMAZING!” Pinkie laughed at her tiny floating stature, “but it’s also WEIRD! How do we go back?”

“I-I don’t know! High Rise fell over, then some form of magic shot out… and now this!”

The other ponies, who were now cats and dogs, were starting to recognize their own situation. Some of them started to panic, others cried out to ask what was going on, a few were surprisingly receptive to having their entire body changed into canine/feline forms. Lyra in particular was enjoying the paws.

“Okay, whatever’s going on, we have to make sure everypony’s okay!” Twilight said, and her two friends nodded in return. “Let’s see if we ca-!!”

It was at about that moment that the magic holding them in the air gave up. All of the dogs and cats in the air plummeted straight down towards Sugarcube Corner. Screams of fear and panic echoed across Ponyville as they all fell down. Awaiting a hard stop at the bottom.

Boing! Boing! Boing!

Instead of the grotesque sounds of animals splatting against the hardwood. Each and every cat and dog bounced off the floor like bouncy balls dropped from a great height. Each bounce was unique, and sent all of the not-ponies flying out of the open Sugarcube Corner. Regular ponies dodged out of the way as dogs flew in their directions, then bounced again in a completely different direction.

Each bounce had the unique effect of returning a limb back to normal for them. Cat Twilight Sparkle bounced away from Sugarcube Corner and regained her foreleg, then bounced off of the Vinyl Scratch Music Shop and regained her snout. Again and again she would bounce, until somehow her final bounce brought her back to Sugarcube Corner in her regular pony body. After every piece of her body was back to normal, she no longer bounced, and landed flat on the ground.

The ponies of the party were scattered across Ponyville, and Sugarcube Corner’s opened roof closed itself to cap off this chaotic mess.

“Uuuugh…” Twilight groaned. Her entire body felt numb, and when feeling returned to a muscle, a tiring ache replaced the numbness. The transformation and subsequent bouncing had sapped her of any and all energy she had. Twilight barely had the energy to open her eyes and see High Rise staring back at her. Horrified, and shaking from head to toe.

“High… Rise?” She asked with a weak voice. A voice that made High Rise’s frantic tapping even louder.

“Twilight… I-I-I…” High Rise could barely get a word out. Terrified was the word to describe how he looked… and guity.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight, I have to go.” High Rise didn’t give her the chance to yell “wait!” before he galloped out the door from Sugarcube Corner.

Fatigue would not let her give chase, and she collapsed on the cool wooden floor.

Drummer Out of Time

by MrPip42

1 - A -100 Year Old Drummer

2 - The Background of a Drummer

3 - How to Find a Drummer

4 - A Party for a Drummer

5 - An Outgoing Drummer and a Very Notgoing Mare

6 - Befriending a Drummer

7 - A Drummer’s Way of Dealing With Gossip

8 - Drumming With the Crusaders

9 - Drumming up a Schedule

10 - A Study Into Rock Music(with a Drummer)

11 - The Night-Mare’s Drummer

12 - Drummer Comics

13 - Power Ponies, Baby Dragons, and Chaotic Drums

14 - A Nervous Drummer is a Chaotic Drummer

15 - Hold it Together, Drummer!