Time Turner had a lot to worry about as of late.

The stallion had a quick wit and nigh unmatched prowess in general engineering. Both traits had earned him a fairly lofty position within the dismal era that was post-war Equestria, but such a position came with its own set of problems.

There was a time when he built all manner of wacky and whimsical odds and ends for the simple joy of it. There was a time when his sometimes useful and sometimes impractical inventions brought joy to others. There was a time when his passion for engineering was as limitless as his own imagination—as endless as the sky above.

That time had long since passed.

The war had stolen all that passion away from him in the blink of an eye. Had it been just that, maybe things would've been different—better even. Maybe he could've found the resolve to stay and fight with the rest of his comrades back in Ponyville all those years ago. Maybe he wouldn't be a shell of his former self, smiling his empty smile and putting on a friendly face—all the while kowtowing to the demon calling itself the 'king' of an empire.

Ah, but I suppose it's too late to worry about what could've been, eh?

The weary stallion heaved another sigh as he gazed out at the cloudless afternoon sky. It was possibly the third or fourth heavy sigh in as many minutes, but Time Turner couldn't help himself. They always slipped out whenever he dwelled on the past or his current lot in life for too long. Of course, if one were to look at his position objectively, one would think he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

After all, the stallion had more bits than he knew what to do with. He was the head of a research and development team consisting of dozens of the most brilliant scientific minds in Equestria. What's more, by working directly under King Sombra he was given a fair amount of clout and the opportunity to bring the country he loved into a new modern age.

Slowly but surely, through his tireless efforts, Equestria was beginning to retake its position as the most technologically advanced country in the world. There was still much work to be done and by no means was any of it easy, but there was also something to be said about finding satisfaction in the process itself, even if it was somewhat hollow.

Yes, Time Turner could lament his life and what could've been all he wanted, but at the end of the day, he was still able to reflect on his life from the balcony of his fancy penthouse suite at the top of a ritzy high rise hotel overlooking the entirety of eastern Manehattan and the Celestial Sea beyond. From the outside looking in, his melancholy was more than an insult to the countless others who were far less fortunate.

And yet, for all his vast fortune and ritzy hotel rooms and fancy morning suits, Time Turner couldn't help but lament and worry nonetheless.

It was only from the outside looking in that everything seemed fine; in reality, there were plenty of issues to fret over, even without taking the past into account. These days even good news carried with it the risk of increased stress, but then again, Time Turner couldn't say he hadn't brought it on himself from time to time.

Take the letter he'd received only two days ago for example.

To any officials checking the contents, the letter would've looked like a thoroughly complex report on some of the existing scientific projects in the works at the behest of His Majesty. In many ways, that's exactly what it was, but encrypted within those reports and written by a certain bespectacled subordinate was another message.

It was this message that brought Time Turner both the current relief and anxiety that he was feeling now. Relief because he could finally feel like he was doing something for the good of his country for once, and anxiety because of the risks that 'something' carried with it—anxiety because this information was something that needed to be shared with a certain somepony using a method he wasn't overly fond of.

But really that anxiety was supplemental to what already existed due to simply knowing and conspiring with that 'certain somepony' in the first place. There was pride and even a small sense of self-worth in collaborating with that pony certainly, but again it was the risks that made it that much more stressful.

He didn't have much more to lose, but what was left was something he desperately wanted to cling to. A hollow comfort though it may have been, he still had his work as chief engineer and a place in which he could put his skills to work. Working with that mare and those who would still fight back against what Equestria had become, Time Turner was walking a tightrope with potential death awaiting below should he ever fall, or at least that's what it felt like.

"Apt, considering how much of my life has become one big circus act," the stallion muttered to himself with a humorless chuckle, "performing little tricks for the ringmaster in front of a crowd that despises us both."

"Oh, I'm fairly sure you still have a fan or two out there somewhere in that crowd."

Time Turner started and whipped around to face the very mare that had been on his mind only moments ago. She stood there as calm and as casual as could be in the open doorway leading to the balcony he'd been brooding on. There was no sound, no indication at all of when or how the mare had arrived, and yet there she was.

Her attire consisting of nothing but a homely and simple brown cloak but her visage was radiant and beautiful if marred slightly by a somewhat weary expression. The mare's appearance, though startling, wasn't entirely unexpected. In fact, Time Turner had been waiting for her to arrive at some point soon given he'd been the one to arrange the meeting.

I just wasn't expecting your arrival to be so... sudden.

"I wonder if that's really true," he finally replied with another chuckle devoid of any humor, "well, it's good to see a friendly face again in any case. Thank you for agreeing to meet me here, Miss Dawn."

"The pleasure is all mine, Time Turner," the mare replied with a warm smile that turned to a small smirk at her next words, "doubly so if the information you have to give me is as good as I hope it is. Your letter didn't go into much detail, but I gathered that you had quite a bit to tell me about."

Time Turner winced.

"Well... there is some good news, yes—fantastic news in fact—but in actuality, I'm afraid I must bear some bad news to go along with the good," he sighed as he watched the hopeful smirk dip into a concerned frown, "look, I know we're both busy and you meeting me here like this is already risky enough, so I'd like to cut to the chase as it were."

I still remember a time when I could take as much time and as many risks as I wanted and damn the consequences, but alas...

"I... suppose you're not wrong," Cloudly Dawn agreed hesitantly. She closed her eyes a moment and let out a soft sigh of resignation and what Time Turner though might've been exhaustion before giving a firm nod, "...very well, give me the bad news first."

Time Turner furrowed his brow for a moment and turned his attention back to the cloudless blue sky. It looked to Cloudy Dawn like the stallion was debating the best way to approach the topic at hoof and that did nothing for her quell her sudden unease. After a tense minute or so, he finally spoke, his voice quiet but steady.

"If I'm being honest, Miss Dawn, the bad news... is really quite bad," he said, his tone as grim as his words, "in fact, I tried to sugarcoat it in the letter, but I'd go so far as to say that it might outweigh the good news, and the good news is really quite good."

He fell silent again, no doubt waiting for Dawn's response, yet his eyes remained fixed on the horizon before him. There was no immediate response, but after another moment of tense silence, the stallion could hear soft clop of hooves as Cloudy Dawn approached. The mare continued to move forward until she was standing right alongside Time Turner, gazing out at the same scene with the same troubled expression.

"Go on," she began, "as you said, neither of us have much time to waste, so tell me... what has Sombra done this time, Time Turner?"

At that, Time Turner gave a deep and remorseful sigh.

"Shortly before I was... coerced into joining Sombra's research team I made you a promise," he said before shaking his head, "no, you made me promise to find out what had happened to Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements after Sombra took the Crystal Empire... and I did."

"That you did, and I can never thank you enough for the work you put in to fulfill that promise," Cloudy Dawn replied. Her tone was calm and even but Time Turner could almost physically feel the weight of her short response, "and since you've chosen to bring up such painful memories I can only assume this 'bad news' is related in some way?"

"It is," Time Turner replied simply, "Sadly, I'm not part of the R&D division headed by Doctor Base Pair so I couldn't find out all the details, but contrary to what we initially believed—contrary to what was made public, rather—it seems the Elements... those poor girls are alive."

"Alive...?" Dawn whispered, her tired magenta eyes wide and her voice suddenly hoarse with disbelief as she rounded on the stallion next to her, "Twilight Sparkle, the girls, they all survived?"

"They did... in a sense," Time Turner added, "but before you go celebrating, Miss Dawn, remember that you asked me to give you the bad news first, and that's exactly what I'm doing."

"What do you... ah," it took a second, but Cloudly Dawn's half hopeful, half bemused expression turned dark and though it was difficult to see with her white coat, she'd gone slightly pale as sudden realization set in, "the experiment..."

"Indeed," the engineer nodded grimly, "the good news I've obtained came from our mutual contact within the resistance, but this information I acquired myself from a... friend who works closely with Base Pair."

"They never returned from the Empire," Dawn mused, her composure regained for the most part but her voice still somewhat strained with emotion, "I wanted to send a search party, but..."

"But then Sombra and your 'sister' occupied the Crystal Empire and that wretched stallion declared that he'd taken care of the Elements of Harmony himself," Time Turner finished solemnly, "and that's what officially announced to the public, but you weren't having any of it. I don't blame you in the least for begging me to do what you couldn't—after all, by the time we were able to send anypony in to retrieve the girls, there were no bodies to be found."

They both fell silent for a moment as they thought back to the horrid events of sixteen years ago. It was a dark day—the first of many dark days to come over the next couple of years. It wasn't until long after the war was over that the truth of what had happened that day was revealed to either of the ponies standing there on the balcony.

"From what I understand, the experiment was deemed a catastrophic failure that resulted in the death of Twilight... of all the Elements," Dawn continued, "but you're telling me it was a success and now after all this time, they're..."

"What they are, Miss Dawn, are deadly and potentially unstoppable biological weapons," Time Turner said with another sigh, "weapons, I might add, that have managed to escape captivity."

Cloudy Dawn's demeanor shifted back to one of shock at the news.

"They escaped the lab?" she asked, "how? When?"

"Only a few days ago it seems," the stallion answered, "I don't know all the details just yet, but if the experiment really was a success then we can assume Twilight and the rest may have become a threat the likes of which we've never seen, not even during the war."

Cloudy Dawn didn't reply right away. Instead, she continued to stare out at the bustling city far below, her face twisted into an expression that was hard for Time Turner to read. Eventually, the mare spoke, her voice slow and contemplative, but filled with a conviction that wasn't there before.

"Weapons though they may be, I think it's too soon to assume anything just yet," she said before turning to the stallion beside her, "from what you've told me, you don't know whether they're in their right minds or not, correct?"

"Well, no, the information I was given didn't say one way or the other," Time Turner replied uneasily, "but neither do I want to rule out the possibility that they're minds have been twisted by the virus," he frowned, "and I'm sorry to say this, but even if the Elements were in their right mind, we have another issue to worry about."

"There's more?" Dawn furrowed her brow, "this little rendezvous is turning out to be far worse for my poor old heart than I initially expected, Mister Turner."

"And I can't apologize enough for that, I assure you, Miss Dawn," Turner gave the mare a wry grin, a grin that quickly fell into another grim frown, "I'll preface what I'm about to say by giving you the good news next: Shining Armor has finally escaped captivity and reunited with Cadance and the rest of the resistance."

"Really now?" Dawn replied, her brows rising in surprise, "they finally managed to break him out? How did they do it? Did Sweetie Belle—"

"No, evidently it wasn't any of the ponies from the resistance," Turner interjected, "from the report I received, it was none other than our false Queen herself and her children that did the deed."

"Chrysalis? But why would she...?" Dawn murmured before shaking her head, "no, I think I have an idea, but I'll leave it at that for now. In any event, that really is great news and I'm happy that my niece was able to live long enough to see the return of the love of her life. And if Twilight returns..."

"Yes," Time Turner said with a small smile to match Cloudy Dawn's, "I still think it's rather a long shot, but if she's still the same mare she was before the experiment, then I'm sure she'd be delighted to know that at the very least her brother and sister-in-law are safe."

"One can only hope," Dawn replied, "these days all one can do is hope... but if I remember correctly, you had more to share?"

"I do, one more piece of both good and bad news," Turner affirmed, "following Shining Armor's return to Cadance and the others, and the reason I brought up what happened to the Elements, is because it seems Sombra is planning to revive that ghastly experiment once more... this time with Chrysalis and her children as the new test subjects."

Time Turner's words seemed to stun the mare into shocked silence once again, but the shock quickly gave way to incredulity and—once the realization set in for Cloudy Dawn—outright anger, much to the stallion's surprise.

"Just how far is he willing to go?" she ground out, "he already has both the Crystal Empire and Equestria beneath his hoof and an alliance with the Griffonian Empire. Why does he need more soldiers? Does he mean to try and take over the world?" she snorted derisively at the idea, "And what of her role as Queen? What does he intend to do about that? What excuse will he use for her absence?"

All these questions and more raged in Cloudy Dawn's mind, but the one question that rose above them all escaped her lips in an almost agonized tone.

"What does this mean... for her?" she muttered weakly, "Chrysalis is the only one who knows where she is, and now..."

"Ah yes, about that..." came Time Turner's oddly chipper voice, "looking at you now, I suppose I should've mentioned this much earlier, but apparently Chrysalis has chosen to give the resistance the location of your... well I believe we're calling her 'Selene' now, aren't we?"

"She... Chrysalis did that?" Dawn asked, her voice once again hoarse with emotion, "so then Cadance and the rest... they know where to find her?"

"Indeed they do!" Time Turner replied with an enthusiastic nod, "and it seems the False Queen has given the resistance not only her location but an entire wealth of additional information regarding Sombra and his forces... or so says the report I've been given."

Dawn opened her mouth to speak, but closed and looked away, her expression growing distant and thoughtful.

"I see... I had my suspicions but it looks like I was right," a small smile crossed her face as she raised her eyes to the sky above, "after all that... she may have had her reasons but in the end, she chose to side with Equestria over that tyrant."

"That's the way it appears at any rate," Time Turner agreed, "given the circumstances, I find myself feeling a bit torn over the grisly fate that awaits her and her 'children'."

"'The fate that awaits her'..." Dawn repeated with a thoughtful glance in Time Turner's direction, "can I take that to mean that Sombra has yet to enact his plans for Chrysalis?"

"Well if he had, I assume he'd have already made some kind of announcement to the public," the engineer replied, "but I believe our mutual friend in the resistance mentioned that testing had yet to take place in the reports."

"Do you know how much time we have left?"

"Knowing Doctor Pair, I'd say not much," Turner scratched his chin and furrowed his brow in thought, "I'm not too familiar with his methods, but I'm almost certain we can expect the procedure to begin by the end of next week at the latest."

"Then I believe it's high time I paid the Frozen North a visit."

Time Turner was about to ask what Dawn was on about when the mare turned and began making her way past him. Her words sunk in a second later and he stared at the mare in disbelief.

"W-Wait just a moment!" he cried out, "you're not really planning to—"

"Don't get me wrong, Time Turner, I hold no love for Chrysalis after everything she's done... after everything she's put our nation through..." Dawn paused in the doorway for a moment before glancing back at the bemused and panicky engineer over her shoulder, "but at the end of the day, she chose to do what was right."

"I... I understand that, but—"

"And that's not all," Dawn interjected, now fully turning back around to face the stallion with eyes full of determination, "if that were all it was, then maybe I wouldn't bother, but you know as well as I do—better than I do even—that if we let Sombra turn Chrysalis and her 'children' into what Twilight and her friends have most likely become, then there really would be no more hope for Equestria or any other nation for that matter."

That was enough to stymie the stallion for a moment. Time Turner knew what Sombra's goal had been in having that virus created and if he was starting the project back up again, it could only mean that he found a way to perfect it—or rather make it work the way he intended. At the very least it would be safer to assume that was the case.

There's no arguing Dawn's words, but all the same...

"What about Selene?" he decided to ask instead, "what about your sister?"

"I plan to meet with Cadance about the matter once I reach the Empire," Dawn replied readily, "but if they truly know where she's being held, then I'm almost certain she and Shining Armor are already making plans to rescue her on my behalf," she paused again, "that is, unless Miss Night Waltz mentioned her whereabouts in the letter?"

"Er... well, no she didn't," Time Turner admitted with a displeased but resigned frown, "in fact, she wanted me to let you know that the resistance would handle the retrieval of Selene and they wanted you to focus on doing what you could from within Equestria's borders and away from the Crystal Empire."

"Ah, perfect, then it's just as I suspected and I can leave my sister's rescue to them," Dawn replied happily, "in the meantime I will do what I can to stop another horrific disaster before it begins."

"But..." Time Turner gave a long-suffering sigh, another one to add to the many he'd given today, "oh what's the use? Really, I wonder how many ponies would've looked at you differently back then if they'd known you were this obstinate."

"Oh, I'm sure many of them already knew and agreed that it only added to my charm," Dawn chuckled, "don't worry, Mister Turner, I still have quite a few tricks up my sleeve. Sombra and his soldiers won't catch me that easily."

"Fine, fine, I won't try to stop you, but..." the stallion reached into the pocket of his navy blue morning suit and pulled out a copper pocket watch and eyed it for a second, "...I'm scheduled to board a private airship back to the Crystal Empire in about half an hour.

"If you can disguise yourself a bit more effectively I'll cover for you," he put the watch away and returned his attention to the bemused mare in front of him, "so at the very least, could you please follow my lead and accompany me for the time being?"

"My, what a gentlecolt!" Dawn replied, feigning surprise before giving the well-dressed stallion a playful smirk, "such a risky move! And to think, I'd taken you for the cautious, pragmatic type."

"I'm trying to minimize the risk, believe it or not," he argued, "this should be the fastest way to the Empire without exhausting your magic or exposing your identity and having you immediately shipped to the Empire in chains."

"Well, I suppose you have a point," Dawn conceded with a pout, "very well, I shall accept your generous offer," her smile vanished as she gazed one last time out at the sky, tracking a distant airship as it hovered lazily over the Celestial Sea, "truth be told, I would much rather be searching for my sister or Twilight and her friends, but as things stand now... I feel this is the best thing I can do at the moment."

"Personally, I'd rather you stayed here in Equestria as well," Time Turner agreed, "but then again, you were right. I understand all too well the need to put a stop to... Sombra's..."

The stallion trailed off at Cloudy Dawn's expression. The mare's brow had furrowed, her eyes narrowed slightly in bemusement as she looked past him and towards the sky.

"...Miss Dawn?" he asked with a concerned frown of his own, "are you alright?"

"...It's listing."

The words were muttered and barely audible, but they hit Time Turner strangely all the same. A sudden pit formed in his stomach and with a sudden and inexplicable sense of dread, he turned his own gaze to the sky to see what Cloudy Dawn was referring to.

Though his eyes weren't nearly as sharp as Dawn's he could just make out an airship on the horizon, and just as Cloudy Dawn had said, there was something off about the ship's movement. Even from a distance, it was clear that its trajectory was wrong somehow. Before Time Turner could comprehend what he was seeing, something unexpected happened.

Both he and Dawn saw the firey flash light up the airship's stern before they heard anything. A few seconds later there was another flash and another and one more before the ship began to dip towards the sea. The distance between the airship and the balcony where the two horrified ponies stood meant that they wouldn't hear the explosions for another few moments.

But the sight alone of the flames beginning to engulf the ship's envelope would be enough to make the minds of all the citizens of Manehattan run wild with confusion, speculation, and most of all, fear of what was to come.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for not getting this one out sooner. More distractions led to a bit of procrastination on my part.