I lean against the table I'm sitting at and eye the pony before me. Tempus, Lord of time and the deity of ponykind, my grandfather. I knew he was my grandfather, Mom told me plenty about him before, I just never thought I'd be have dinner in his home. Well, it's not really a home in the sense of four walls, a roof and doors. It's more of a cave that he's enchanted to keep for himself and Spatium, or Grandma Spatium, as she's requested to be called. It has the bare essentials, like a few beds, a fire pit, and some sparse furniture. Nothing fancy.

After our initial meeting they decided to take me somewhere private to speak. Spatium said she'd whip something together to eat, so here we are. Waiting. It's been an hour and a half since then. We haven't said much. They offered me water, but I don't feel like drinking from a bucket right now.

"So..." I start, finally succumbing to the silence. "I guess the question you wanted me to ask earlier was, 'when is it'?"

"Hm, yes actually. The year is eleven seventy one," he replies with a smile. "Sorry for the silence, I was... deep in thought."

"It's okay." I tell him, falling into another silence. He just seems happy to have me here. I don't know why, but whatever.

"I'm sorry, it's just... well, having you here means the world to us. You see... this is where we raised your mother and aunt." He tells me, looking around with a warm smile. "From birth to fillyhood, this was our home."

"You gave birth to my mom in here? ...gross." I say, looking around critically. He chuckles to himself, letting out a content sigh.

"Yes, compared to what you know, I guess that is a bit gross." It goes quiet again. I think he likes to think rather than speak. It makes it a bit awkward, but that's okay I guess. I lean over and watch Grandma Spatium working with the food. She's humming to herself happily, filling the cave with her lovely voice. I recognize the song, it's the same one Mom sang to me when I was younger. After a few moments of listening I decide to start to sing along, getting them both to watch me closely.

"Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high. And, the dreams that you dream of, once... in a lullaby." I go through the verses easily, having heard them from Mom a million times before. As I go, Spatium joins in. I almost stop when I hear her singing voice. I thought her humming voice was lovely, but her singing voice! I could listen to it for days and still be amazed! She walks over to us, lightly grazing Tempus before stepping over to me. By this point we're nearing the end, so I stop to listen to her voice. She leans down to nuzzle me when she finishes the last note, making me lean into her as well.

"I forgot how much I love that song," she whispers as she lightly nuzzles my cheek.

"Mom sings it to me all of the time. It's sort of the family lullaby." I tell her, making her sigh slightly. "So... why-"

"Oh! I think the bread is ready!" Spatium exclaims happily before trotting over to the wood over. Tempus gets up and joins me at the table, getting at eye level with me.

"Do me a favor?" he asks in a whisper.

"Sure, what?"

"Just... don't be too harsh." I give him a quizzical look, getting him to chuckle. "You'll see."

"Dinner is ready!" Spatium cheers happily, levitating a couple plates over.

THUNK

"Enjoy!" I stare at the massive loaf of bread sitting in the center of the table. It looks... questionable. It may be slightly burnt, or maybe that's just it's color? I think I'm going to avoid the bread for now. A few other plates sit around the bread. Some having veggies, others having berries and fruit. None of it looks very fresh. Not rotten, but just past ripe.

"Um..."

"Here, let me serve you!" Spatium levitates bits from each plate and sets them in front of me. She takes the loaf and tries to cut a piece off, having some difficulty doing so.

"Spatium," Tempus muses, getting a look from her.

"Everything is.... uhg! Fine! Just... needs... a little... persuasion!"

SNAP

I stifle a chuckle as Spatium goes wide eyed. I glance down and see the handle of the blade sitting on the table top. It broke the knife! What's in that thing? Bricks!? I try my best not to laugh, but a few chuckles escape and make it to their ears. She sheepishly sets the loaf down and takes her seat, blushing slightly. I look over to Tempus and see him smiling as well, making me feel slightly better for laughing.

"Well... let's not let the rest of this spoil then." Tempus nods to that and begins to eat the fruits and veggies, Spatium soon joining. I take a look down at the food and quickly come to the decision that I don't want to eat this either. I'm sure if I start asking questions I can avoid eating it. But... the only questions I have aren't easy questions to ask. Well... no time like the present I guess.

"You put that journal there, didn't you?" I ask, glancing up at Tempus. He glances over to Spatium before sighing, setting his food down before pivoting to look at me.

"I did. I had a friend enchant it to make you want to look at it as well. I had to get you here to speak with you," he tells me, sounding a bit more serious. "Soon you'll be earning your mark, and when you do, I'll be back to train you properly. This meeting is to assure you understand that before your power grows too much to control."

"I have some pretty good control over it now." I say, sitting up straighter. "I can already levitate! And Mom is teaching me to-"

"I'm not speaking about common spells Tempestive. I'm talking about time control." I pause and think about that. I can control time, or, will be able to? That's a bit confusing, I'll think on it later.

"So... my cutie mark is going to be about time control?" I ask, but don't get a response. "Is it?"

"That's not for us to say sweetie." Spatium tells me as she stands to take a seat beside Tempus. "You have to come to understand that on your own. We can't just tell you, it wouldn't mean anything. You'll learn what it means when the time is right. As for now, you'll have to be patient. Marks don't just appear because you really want them-"

"Meh, I can wait." I cut her off, catching them both by surprise. "So, was that drawing in the book a time spell? I think I still remember how it worked. It's a pretty smart spell, using the nether-"

"Tempestive, what do you mean you can wait for your mark?" Spatium asks carefully. I shrug at the questions, having heard it plenty of times before.

"It's just a symbol of something you're good at. It doesn't make you any different than before. It doesn't even mean you're the best at whatever it is you do. It's just a label on your butt telling the world a little bit about you. I prefer not having one. It adds a bit of mystery, like, not being able to guess anything about the pony. Then, you have to actually get to know the pony in order to understand them. No quick glances and summations. Just... ponies." I feel a little awkward at the end of that. Either because of the looks they're giving me, or being so open with them. Or maybe it's both. "What?"

"Ever the human." Tempus laughs, setting a wing on Spatium. What's a human? "As glad as I am to converse with you, our time is drawing to an end. I'll be sending you back to your own time, where everything will return to normality. I'll be checking on you from time to time, always watching your progress. Now-"

"Can I try it!? Sending myself back in time -er- forward, that is?" I ask, jumping excitedly.

"I don't think you're ready-"

"C'mon, I got here didn't I? Just watch!" I close my eyes and focus on the spell, feeling my horn light up with power. Just flow down the river.

"Tempestive! Don't-"

FLASH

I blink a few times as the white light blinds me for a second. When my vision starts to come back, I find myself in Ponyville for some reason. That's weird. Well... maybe not entirely. I mean, Earth is moving, so it would come to say that moving in time would move starting locations. I guess Auntie Celly will be really worried about my not being at Canterlot.

Giving myself a pat down, I stand up and start to trot towards town. I wonder where everypony is, there isn't a soul in sight. Actually... I really don't see anypony around. I stop and move around, trying to see anything out of the ordinary. The first thing that sticks out the most is Canterlot. Out in the distance I can see a massive billow of smoke coming from the castle. What happened!? Did... did I do that? Did my spell start a fire!?I hope nopony is hurt... or mad. Maybe-

THUD

I jump around from the sudden appearance. I let out a quiet gasp of awe from the griffin before me. He's clad in steel armor from beak to tail with light blue highlights throughout. In one claw he holds up a large rifle, similar to the ones the bots in Dads workshop use, but different. He has a dark blue cloak over his back, covering a majority of his body, leaving his wings out for flight. i think I've heard Dad talk about these kind of soldiers before. I forget their name, but they use to be Ulfric's personal army.

"Um... hi?" I ask, unsure of what to do. He looks me over for a moment before he points the rifle at me, making my heart skip a beat.

"Don't move," he says in a low voice.

"I.. okay." I mutter, unsure what to do. He wouldn't shoot me, would he? I'm just a foal, what did I do? As more and more questions flood my mind, more griffins in similar get ups appear all around. Coming out of buildings, flying down from cloud cover, taking positions to cover me completely.

"Orders sir!" One of them yells as another griffin walks up to me and the one pointing the gun at me. He has similar armor, but has red instead of blue.

"Hold your positions! Ready for the Spartan retaliation! You there!" He yells, getting all of the griffins to fly off. He walks up to me and grabs me by the back of the neck. I let out a yelp of pain as he starts to drag me off. "You're coming with me!"

"W-what's going on!? Why are you doing this!?" I beg as he continues to rough me up. I can feel tears to form as he tighten his grip on my neck. Any other questions I had gurgle away as he starts to choke me.

"Silence! I will not-"

FWT-TANG

His body goes limp suddenly and a loud crack fills the air. I pry myself from his grip and start to run home, unsure of what else to do. All of the griffins start yelling to one another before opening fire with their guns. The loud cracks makes me jump each time as I try to find cover, eventually ducking by a fountain in the middle of the road.

I don't know what to do. All of the gun fire and screaming... I just curl into a ball and cover my head. I want it all to end right now, but I can't focus on anything other than being as small as possible. Some of the gun fire, a set that sounds distinctly different, is getting closer. I should get up, I should move. But I can't! I'm... I'm too scared to move. I open my eyes and look out to the body of the griffin that held me earlier. He's not moving. Is... is he dead? I don't see anything to indicate that, but... he's not moving. Maybe he's just unconscious? I can't see his head, so I don't know for sure.

"FUCK!" I jump a little when a splash of water hits me. I slowly glance up to see the barrel of a rifle stick out from the fountain. A few breathes later I let out a scream as I scurry away from the gun above me.

"Tempestive!?" I look up to the owner of the gun and feel my heart stop again. It's... a hairless ape thing. No, not an ape, he looks obviously bigger than that. He has brown eyes and black hair on his head. He has some kind of mark on his forearm and a necklace with the spartan logo on it. "Get over here!" He yells before reaching out to grab me. I tried to run away form him, but he got me too quickly. He pulls me into the fountain and sets me beside him, putting me neck deep in the water. "What are you doing back out here!?"

"I... I..."

"Nevermind!" He yells as he grabs his necklace and brings it to his mouth. "THIS IS SPARTAN ZERO, REQUESTING ASSISTANCE WITH CIVILIAN COVER! WHO READS ME!?" He... he sounds a lot like dad. He looks back before sliding down to be chin level with the water for better protection. Only now do I notice the pool of red coming from his stomach.

"You're hurt." I mutter, getting his attention. He puts a hand over the wound, wincing slightly from the contact.

"Heh... don't worry about it. It'll take more than just this to take me down." I hear him, but it doesn't change anything thing. I try to think of something to do to help... but there isn't anything I can do to help.

"This is Spartan three, we've got eyes on you. Make your way to S.A.A. immediately." A voice, sounding like Big Mac but muffled, responds from the necklace.

"Copy that, moving out." The... person, responds before looking back to me. "We've gotta move. I'm going to run you over to Sweet Apple Acres. Once there, you're going to find your sister okay? Think you can do that?"

"I-I... I'm scared." I hear more screaming and gun fire again, making me shrink up. He reaches out and puts a hand on my shoulder, making me look up to him.

"It's okay to be scared. I'm scared too," he tells me with a small smile.

"But... you're a Spartan. Spartans don't have fear." I say quietly, making him chuckle and shake his head.

"That's not true, and you know that. Fear is natural, it's a part of life. The key is being able to stand up and face that fear head on. That's what courage is. Think you can do that?" I glance over the edge of the fountain and see a couple of griffins waiting for us. I don't know how he plans on doing this... but I trust him. I don't know why, but... I feel safe with him here. I look back to him and nod, getting him to smile. "Atta boy. Now, just close your eyes and cover your ears, alright?" I nod again, doing as he tells me to. I hear him move his weapon to his back before making some quick movements.

It suddenly gets hotter as all of the water disappears into the air, letting out a loud hiss as the steam quickly spreads throughout the air. The person quickly grabs me and holds me to his chest, covering me with both arms. I tighten up when I feel him standing, but at the same time I feel safe in his arms. Both thoughts escape me when we suddenly start to move quickly, bursting out to the steam cloud and into the open. I keep my eyes shut, as he told me to. I can hear a few more gun shots, as well as something close to a canon in the distance.

Just keep your eyes shut and cover your ears. That's all you have to do. Just cover your ears, block out as much of the noise as possible, and keep your eyes shut. It'll all be over soon. Just block it all out. Just-

CRASH

My eyes snap open when we crash through a door. I look around to find us in the Apple's living room. There are a dozens of ponies here, running from one place to another. The person sets me down and yells at me to go upstairs before running back outside. I stand there as I watch him run over to a group of Spartans, giving out orders. They all give a quick salute before running off to do whatever it is that person told them to do.

"GET ME MORE GAUZE DAMMIT!" I turn around and look upstairs to see Doctor Monitor standing up top. He has his white gown on and has a lot of blood on him. He pulls his mouth cover off and trots angrily down the stairs, looking for somepony. "DAMMIT WHERE ARE YOU HEART!? I NEED THAT GAUZE AND I NEED IT NOW!" He yells again, marching to the kitchen. I look upstairs and gulp, unsure of what to do. That person told me to go upstairs, but... I don't know if I should. I drop down when a nearby window shatters. Okay, upstairs it is then!

I shakily climb the stairs to the top. The climb seems to take forever, but I eventually make it to the top. I don't really know where to go from here, so I go to the door on my left on the right wall. The door is slightly open, so I gently push it open. I feel myself go numb when I look inside. Aunt Celestia is laying on the bed inside, her once white coat covered in blotches of red. Most of them are bandaged up, but a few of them are still bleeding up. Most of it is coming from small holes on her side, but the largest one is coming from the one at the base of her neck. She glance over to me weakly and smiles.

"Hey... hey there... Timely," she rasps with heavy breathes.

"A-auntie." I mutter as I stare at her, not knowing what to do.

"Come here." I takes me a moment to get my legs to respond, but eventually I work up the courage to approach her. "That's a brave boy. So... brave. Listen... just... just find... Shadow. She'll... keep you safe... for now."

"What about you? You're hurt." I mutter, tearing up from the sight. She lets out a pained chuckle, twitching slightly on the bed.

"Doctor said... I would be... fine. It just... hurts. Now... I need my rest. Go. Find your sister... stay safe, okay?" I stare at her for a moment before thundering hoof steps catch my attention.

"Get this kid out of here!" The doctor from before yells as he rushes to Celestias side. An all white nurse with pink hair hurriedly ushers me out before shutting the door. I stand there, dazed, trying to comprehend everything that just happened.

"Next time listen to me." I slowly look over and see Tempus standing in the hallway, horn glowing. I run over to him and hug his leg, burying my face in his fur as I start to cry out.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll listen, I promise! Just... just don't let anything happen to her, please!" I beg him. He rubs my back with a hoof, waiting patiently for me to calm down. It takes awhile, but eventually I become calm enough to not be sobbing my heart out. He brings my chin up to look him in the eyes, giving me a comforting smile.

"Lets get you back home, okay?" I sniffle again as he starts to power his horn. But... then something feels off. I feel my horn start to power up as well. I look up to see his equally shocked expression before I blink from the power swelling up in me.

This time around, I lose any form of control I had before as I blink in and out from time to time. Each time I only get a glimpse of each moment. I try to regain focus, but it's far too much to bare.

A meadow with travelers.

Fires and cracked earth.

Darkness.

A blinding light followed by a blue cloud.

A quiet neighborhood with metal carriages.

Ponyville, upside down with flying pigs, dancing buffaloes and all other kinds of chaos.

The man from before, huffing in anger. Spurs of dark energy coming from the tops of his wrists.

I grip my head as the energy starts to become too much to bear. I scream out as it all comes to a point and bursts out from my horn. Layers of magical energy form around it as I feel myself hurl forward, crashing into something. It takes me a moment for me to regain enough control over myself to look at what I crashed into. It's a filly. She has a light grey coat with even purple hair that has a streak of light yellow and is parted with her horn. Her eyes are the brightest blue I've ever seen before. Her wings are pretty small, but not by too much. I'm currently standing over her, huffing from all of the energy that just passed through me.

"Um... c-can you... maybe... get off me?" She asks softly, her voice coming across as nothing other than sweet. It takes me a moment to register anything before I start to-

WHACK

"BOO YEAH!" Some other filly yells as I tumble over from her bucking me. I feel the energy start to form again and take over. I try to push it away, but with every blink it takes more and more control over me. I jump back to my hooves before rushing the filly that attacked me, sliding to kick her hooves out from under her.

Another surge of power.

I rear up and try to crush her, but she rolls away. The other filly screams in fear before running away. I can't focus on anything. I can't even control anything at the moment. The power... it's too much. I start to advance on the filly again, swiping and bucking at her with precision and form that I didn't even know I had. She put up a shield to stop me, but I'm breaking through it fairly quickly.

"MOOOOOOM!" she screams out in fear when her shield breaks.

Another surge of power.

I let out a power yell as all of the power starts to come back. I back up and shake head in agony as I try to fight back. It's a losing battle. Just as I felt I was about to start attacking again, a gently touch on my shoulder stops me. I look back and see Celestia standing over me. She looks like she's been crying, but still has that sense of calm over her. She's always calm, no matter what. I don't know how she does it.

She pulls me in for a hug and holds me as the power comes out again. I grip onto her chest as all of the energy begins to form around us. A sphere of raw magical power begins to whip around us as books and papers fly all over. A couple bookshelves topple over as the energy pushes out. With every pulse of energy, Celestia strokes my back, patiently waiting for me to return to normal. I bury my face in her soft white fur and try my hardest to regain control.

It takes awhile, I'm not sure exactly how long, but eventually the energy starts to thin out. I pant from the exertion, trying to stay awake from all if this.

"It's okay, rest little one." Celestia whispers into my ear. I let out one last breath before my head slumps against her chest.

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