The next morning, Time Turner was sitting at a bench in the Ponyville Park, carefully taking a set of chess pieces out of a bag and placing them, one at a time, on a chessboard that he had set up on a table. Carefully, he put the black rook in place, making sure that it was placed perfectly in the center on the square. Satisfied, he sat back on the bench with a sigh and took out his pocketwatch, watching the second hand tick around the circumference. At 9:00, Turner looked up. Phillip was walking towards him, smiling softly.

"All right?" he asked, touching the brim of his hat in greeting.

"Doing well," Turner replied, sitting up as Phillip slid into the seat opposite. "How've you been?"

"Better than I've been in a while," Phil replied, pondering the army of white pieces before him. He'd played enough chess games with Time Turner to know better than to rush his first moves. He eventually settled on moving his D pawn one square forward, looking up at his friend as he did so. "You sure you're okay?"

Turner frowned, his hoof hovering over his pawns. "Well...I have been worried about retaliation..."

"Don't. The press has made you and your family out as heroes. The Canter Nostra won't bother you or your family," Phil said as Time Turner moved his B pawn ahead two squares. "Besides, their problem isn't with you."

"Yes, about that," Turner replied, giving Phillip a look. "I've been thinking about Straight Flush. He wasn't really a bad pony, you know. He just made some mistakes."

Phil let out an angry huff through his nostrils. "An addiction to gambling doesn't justify—"

"I wasn't trying to excuse his behavior," Turner said in an unusually firm voice, holding up a hoof. "I would be the last one to do that. But he wasn't a real criminal, not like those other gangsters. He doesn't deserve to get hurt."

Phil seemed to chew on his thoughts for several moments, his jaw grinding, before finally letting out a sigh. "Yeah, I...I may have been a bit harsh on him." He was about to move another pawn, but then stopped, noticing the uncharacteristic harshness in Turner's gaze. He sighed. "I'll reach out to some contacts in the Guard, tell them to keep an eye on him...keep him safe."

"Good," Turner smiled, snatching Phil's pawn in the blink of an eye. "You know, Phillip, you can be a bit...aggressive at times. But I really do appreciate what you did for me and for my family."

"For you, Turner, I have all the time in the world," Phil replied with a smile.

The chess game between the two friends lasted until 9:43, and ended with a stunning checkmate on Turner's part involving his two rooks and a pawn that Phil didn't see coming until it was too late. Laughing, the two shook hooves and departed each other's company. Turner walked back to Drury Lane and entered his home to be greeted by the aroma of banana muffins fresh from the oven. With a grin, Ditzy leapt towards him, but stumbled and wound up knocking him over, ending up lying on top of him on the floor.

"Whoops!" she said.

Turner just chuckled and pulled her down for a kiss. His wife may mess up from time to time, but it really wasn't so bad.

Author's Notes:

And that's the end.

I hope you enjoyed this story and are looking forward to the next one!