Night Rush blinked rapidly, his overloaded mind trying desperately to take in what had just happened.

In truth, it had felt like somepony had ripped his skin off, covered it with salt, and then put it back onto his body. Every part of him felt gritty and dirty, and most of all, he was thirsty! He couldn’t remember the last time that he had ever been so thirsty. He tried to say something—he wasn’t sure why—but it ended up as a dry rasp and a cough.

“Time travel has that effect on mortal ponies. Some ponies get sick to their stomachs, some get headaches… You simply appear to be thirsty, so consider yourself lucky,” the grey pony said.

“T-time travel?” Night Rush managed to rasp. He looked around, still blinking like an owl.

In front of him, nothing major seemed to have changed. The trees were quite a bit smaller, but other than that, they still had the same shape and size. A bird chirped here, and a squirrel scrambled through the brush there—which was odd, since Night Rush didn’t notice anything besides plants and bugs living in the Everfree forest before.

And then Night Rush turned around.

The sprawling cottages and quaint houses were gone, replaced by a large field of grass. Wildflowers dotted the field here and there, and Night Rush thought that he saw the grass part a little bit as a rabbit munched got tired of munching on a certain leaf and moved on to another patch of weeds.

“Where the hell is Ponyville!?”

“In about three hundred years, the first establishment—a bar, of all things—will be erected in this clearing. A hotel is erected afterwards, and a small town soon follows.” The grey pony had taken on an almost bemused tone. “Your town is much older than most of you ponies realize.”

“What is going on?!” Night Rush managed to scream, despite the fact that it felt like there were shards of glass in his throat.

“We are in the past,” the grey pony said as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

Night Rush narrowed his eyes at the grey pony and opened his mouth to speak, but immediately shut after a particularly nasty throb of pain shot through his throat. “I need water. We can talk about this afterwards…”

The grey pony nodded and, raising his head, inhaled deeply. He pointed with a hoof towards the far end of the grassy field, saying, “There’s a small stream just through those trees.”

Night Rush nodded and started walking in the general direction of the stream, the grey pony walking a short distance behind him.

“So,” Night Rush started, wiping his muzzle with a forepaw. He had sat his hat down in the grass next to him, and was lying comfortably along the mossy bank of the small stream across from the grey pony, who was still standing stoically. He had stuck most of his muzzle into the six inch-deep stream, taking long draughts of the crystal-clear water, coming up only to take a breath. The gritty feeling had subsided, though his hooves and other extremities still tingled a little bit. “First things first: what’s your name? I can’t just call you the grey pony—you’re scary as hell, but that doesn’t mean I can’t show you a little decency.”

“I told you not to ask any questions,” the grey pony growled.

“I think I deserve at least five minutes’ worth of straight answers.”

“Alright,” the grey pony grudgingly agreed. “You deserve at least a few answers, especially since you have been taken here, despite not knowing anything about me or where I took you. My name is Fate, but most ponies know me as Death. You may call me either; it makes no difference to me.”

Night Rush fought back a shudder as he realized the implications of his name. Does that mean that he guides ponies to the afterlife? Is that where we are? “So, Mr. Fate. Where are we, exactly?”

“We are in Ponyville.”

“No, we’re not. We’re in the woods next a field. Ponyville is nowhere in sight.”

“That is because Ponyville hasn’t been built yet.”

Night Rush narrowed his eyes. “You make it sound like we went back in time.”

Fate nodded slowly. “That is correct.”

“But that’s impossible!” Night Rush flicked his ears in annoyance. “You can teleport through space, but you can’t go through time! It hasn’t even been tested by the unicorns or anything like that!”

“Keep in mind that I am not immortal.”

“What difference does that make?” Night Rush cocked his head.

“It is of no consequence.”

"Then why did you say it in the first place?!" Night Rush sighed, annoyed. “Fine. If we’ve went backwards through time, then how far back are we?”

“It has been approximately eight thousand years since this world was created; or, if you prefer, 610 B.C.”

“610 Before Celestia?! That’s nearly six thousand years ago!” Shrieked Night Rush hysterically.

“Incorrect. 610 Before Celestia is right now, not six thousand years ago.” Night Rush glared daggers at him, but Fate looked as impassive as ever, his stiff-looking posture betraying no emotions. “It is common for mortal ponies to get what you call ‘culture shock’. Although, I do not see how one could get it; there is no culture to speak of.”

Night Rush stared at him. “Did… did you just try to be funny?”

Fate nodded slowly. “I have been told that I am too serious and depressing, and that I should try to be funny every once in a while. Did it work at all?”

Night Rush forced a small smile. “A little bit, yeah.” He massaged his temples with his forehooves. “Six thousand years in the past. Have Celestia and Luna even been born yet? Or created, or however they came into being?”

“Yes,” Fate nodded. “Right now, they are relatively young; approximately your age.”

“Okay.” He scratched the tip of his nose with his hoof. “What’s the Schism?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because you have to find out for yourself.”

“Oh, great.” Night Rush rolled his eyes. “I get to go on this epic journey, meet Celestia and Luna, fight some gigantic, evil something and develop into a better pony along the way, and I’ll realize that the Schism was right under my nose the whole time, and simply by being there I stopped it.”

Fate stared at him for a moment. At least, Night Rush thought that he was staring at him; it was hard to tell, seeing as Fate didn’t have any eyes. “That is one of the most ridiculous things that I have ever heard.”

Night Rush narrowed his eyes at him. “So, are you going to be my guide through the whole thing or something, or are you just my taxi driver?”

“That depends. Have the effects of the time jump worn off?”

Night Rush rolled his tongue through his mouth; the gritty feeling had gone away, as had most of the tingling. “Mostly. My hooves, ears, and nose still feel a little funny, though.”

“Then there is no longer a chance that you will experience any ill affects from the time jump, and I no longer have any reason to stay.” With that, Fate disappeared in a flash of blinding, multicolored light before Night Rush could protest.

“That’s it? That’s it?! You’re just going to leave me out here on my own?!” Shouted Night Rush at the spot that Fate had been standing mere seconds earlier, blearily trying to blink the spots out of his eyes. He waited for a few seconds, as if expecting Fate to hear him and come back, and then sighed. “Wonderful.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 3 Estimated time remaining: 48 Minutes