Another Casting of the Cards

We sedately trotted into the throne room. Normally, I would be rather the last to care about art, but this was amazing. The ceiling, as I craned my head back, was truly astounding. My mouth quirked in a small smile as I recognized the elements of harmony, battling various demons and such. One looked like a chimera, and another looked like … nightmare moon?

"If it helps you sleep, I promise to only use my magic now if the princess wants me to. I shall restrain from using, even if I get really panicked," I furthered. She looked over at me, an amused expression on her purple muzzle.

We reached the end of the hall, and I looked up on what could only be described as a truly regal mare. Twilight snapped out of her bioshock in time to look up at the white mare, with her flowing pastel mane, then now before her. I refused to follow suit, for Thomas had bent his knee too many times. "Rise, Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student. I see you have the one of whom you spoke." Twilight rose, and I nodded; Twilight would've written to her mentor as soon as she heard about me. I was a potential danger, and something new. Who wouldn't?

As I was thinking this, Princess Celestia was saying, "it's good to see you Twilight. And may I inquire as to who this young stallion is?" I sat back on my haunches, considering how to respond. That had been a major fault of mine, I remember; not thinking before talking and acting was always a bad idea, and that would be even more important since I was talking to a princess.

I finally settled for the slightly florid but still true answer, "in all honesty, Princess, I have used many names, but that was then, and I am no longer the same as I was. If you don't mind, Princess, I would prefer the name Sam."

She nodded, her multi-colored mane drifting in a wind that I could not feel. "Sam, where are you from?" she asked gently, as though a great deal rested on my response. I shuddered, not happy about what I had to say.

I finally gathered my breath to say, "I'm from a place that was known as Earth, or more commonly Terra. And Twilight," I added, glancing over at the aforementioned unicorn, "remember when I said that there was something I said that I would save for later?"

She nodded, a carefully maintained neutral expression on her muzzle. "This is the part where you should be listening more closely than usual." She nodded, a frown temporarily distorting her expression of studied blankness.

I shuddered, not wanting bring this crashing down on these wonderful ponies. "I'm afraid to say, Princess, that most of the other humans, and Razani, and Sylorians, are not like me. In fact, I found it ironic that the only reason I'm here is because I'm not like them. The humans aren't bad, but we should still remove the link, while we can count the Razani as friends and the Sylorians as enemies." The princess frowned, and began, "I'm assuming the humans are what you used to be?" I nodded unhappily, suddenly a little unhappy of what I had been. "I'm assuming these… Razani and… Sylorians are enemies?"

I nodded, still unhappy. "Well, we know the obvious course. Kill this spy, and ensure it happens painfully." I blinked, panic starting to flood in, but I refused to step out of time, for I wasn't about to break my promise to Twilight. I still cast a nervous glance around, and danced a step back, before asking her to repeat it.

She raised an eyebrow, and responded, "I said, is there anything else you feel we need to know?" I sagged with relief, happy that I hadn't been ordered to be executed. I realized that when she spoke that wrong sentence, her voice had shifted to something… colder, and slightly more sinister. Away from her normal, gentle demeanor.

"My apologies, Princess Celestia. I believe that as there is no active portal open, and the facility where I got here was destroyed, I don't believe they will be here for a while. My money is on the Razani getting here first, which is what I'd hope. Anyway, I'm not sure how much of a shock this is, but apparently I can do temporal magic."

Apparently this was more of a shock than I had anticipated, since she put a hoof to her muzzle, with a faint expression of disbelief on her muzzle. I raised an eyebrow at her, asking a question I was unwilling to voice. The extremely empathic princess realized what I meant, and put her hoof down, saying as she did, "it's not as bad as you think. I mean, provided you don't alter history or anything. Which you don't do, or more accurately, you haven't done." I grinned at the ruler, impressed with her understanding of time travel.

"It's not that hard to do, I mean, I just concentrate on a time. And interestingly, do any prophecies mention anything like a dark shadow?" I asked, glancing at my wraith-like fur for emphasis. I saw Celestia blanch, and Twilight audibly gasped.

I turned, expecting something prophetic, hearing as I turned, "well, Sam, there's a prophecy that says a wraith will emerge from time s to save the soul of one who has been taken before her time, and thereafter he shall save the lands from… evil falling from a hiccup in the fabric of space? I think that's how it goes."

I nodded, taking it in. It likely meant I would resurrect a mare, and then go on to remove the presence of evil that was coming from a hole in the space/time fabric. Or, more whimsically, a hiccup in time.

"Makes sense, in a way. My guess, least ways from the start of the prophecy, is that I'll raise someone from the land of the dead, and then I'll mend a hole in the space/time continuum."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Celestia close her eyes, looking sad. She then opened her eyes and spoke. "Sam, if I may, would you please give a demonstration of your temporal powers? This is one I haven't seen in a long time," she added sardonically. I asked her if I should bring Twilight, and he alicorn sun princess responded positively.

I hesitated, however, "are you sure? It's… unique." The regal ruler simply smiled and nodded. I shrugged as well as I could, given my front hooves were still planted on the ground, and I basically had to move my entire upper body down, then up.

"Could you please move closer? It's a fairly localized thing, and it lasts until I step through," I spoke up. The others obligingly moved to within about a meter of me, and I began to concentrate on a crucial moment of my life. It was one that was rather pivotal, and had led to me doubting my sanity for the rest of my life.

I opened my eyes, and grinned. Right then, a swirling vortex opened up beneath the three of us, one that was, for some reason, bright pink.

We landed with a soft bump on a wooden floor, and I watched the mares as they cracked open their eyes. We were perched in a small, slightly cramped room, one that had the evidence of a life lived spread around it. There were posters all around it, as well as all the usual detritus of any life- books stacked, papers spread, and a pair of shoes stacked untidily by the door, as well as a paintball gun hanging on a hook and a Guy Fawkes mask on the desk. I chuckled at a piece of paper taped to a wall; it read simply 'friendship is magic' in an untidy scrawl-- it rather looked like the author had never held a pen before.

I motioned at Twilight and Celestia to remain quiet, and I murmured to them, "watch this." I quietly trotted the five feet to the bed, upon which my fourteen year old form lay sprawled. I shifted into my best 'underground monster' voice, one that apparently sounded distinctly Gollum. Or a cat with a hairball.

I spoke, shifting my voice back to normal midway between the sentence, "hello, Thomas." As Thomas flickered his eyelids open, obviously not comprehending what he saw, I smiled, and concentrated on the moment right after the three of us left the throne room. As we vanished into the portal, I threw a jaunty wave to myself. I caught him sitting up, a wide-eyed expression on his face. Now he was comprehending.

With that simple set of actions, I had just determined the course of the rest of my life.