Timeless

Applejack had found herself becoming altogether far too used to being dragged in to insane situations by now. Whether it was fighting off Nightmare Moon or a Changeling invasion, or just having to deal with the daily madness that occurred when she was with her friends, her life was never really normal.

But she was quite surprised to be stuck in the middle of Canterlot Library, frozen in time. She awoke this morning to find that time had stopped flowing, and now she'd be stuck here forever. It looks like her prayer to Celestia to have just one normal day had fallon upon deaf ears, which was understandable since said ears had been frozen alongside the rest of Equestria.

At least Applejack could still think. She'd have an eternity to do so, so she figured that she should probably get used to the idea. Across from her, similarly frozen was the Applejack that she'd gone back in time to rescue. They'd come so close, only to fall at the last hurdle. Perhaps there were some problems that the magic of friendship couldn't fix? Applejack found such a thought hard to believe, but it seemed it was true.

She wondered if the Applejack from this timeline was thinking the same things as her. It seemed likely, considering that for all intensive purposes they were the same pony. She wanted to look around at Octavia, Rainbow Dash or Discord, but that was out of the question too. Still, she thought, she'd have an eternity to look at itself. There were worse views to have for a lifetime, Applejack supposed. Rarity would probably spend the eternity driving herself insane over a missing hair in her mane.

Rarity. That was a thought that hurt. She'd never see Rarity again. Or any of her friends, for that matter. Or her family... or anyone. Applejack might have burst in to tears if that were possible, but it most definitely wasn't. She wanted to punch Chronus when he came up in front of her to gloat, but she couldn't. She was forced to sit there and listen as he ranted on about his plans and his victory over her. This annoyed Applejack immensely, even if she couldn't show it.

"Hah... I was going to die soon if you had just attacked me a little more, you know? But as it is, I can probably just drain the time energy you're exerting. Not like you're going anywhere, is it?" He laughed quietly, but stopped when he started coughing wildly. "Urgh... it will be a while before I'm back to normal because of you. I'm trying so hard to hate you; so very hard, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I don't like you enough to free you of course, but still..." He trailed off, and looked around the library. "You tried valiantly, I'll give you that. You did better than I thought you would, not that it means much. A farmer from Ponyville, an apples salesmare. But also an Element of Harmony, a saviour of the world. How do you do it? How do you put up with all the silliness of your life? I guess I'll never know, but I'll have an eternity to think about it. Hehe... as will you."

He smiled and circled around both Applejacks, clearly thinking about something. "You know, I didn't just pick you four randomly. Oh no, I had my reasons. For instance, your 'friend', the draconequus. He said he was a reformed villain, a hero of society. I thought that it would be prudent to give him a chance to prove the fact, and I suppose he did. He also wanted another friend, you know? I suppose not, you're an unobservant idiot. But anyway, I'm sure he and Octavia will be keeping in touch after this adventure..." He grinned slyly, and chuckled. "Oh wait, there is no 'after this adventure'. So easy to forget, isn't it? Much like your friend Rainbow Dash was starting to forget how fun adventures were. She missed all this, surprisingly. Just wanted to go on the adventure of her lifetime. Well, this adventure certainly will take up the rest of her lifetime." He coughed loudly, clearly in some pain.

"As for Octavia, she wanted something interesting to happen in her dull, boring life. I gave her something interesting, that's for sure. I even gave her the opportunity to live a life in the past, to avoid all of this. If she'd stayed there, she would still be happy... such a shame she didn't. And then there's you... growing sick and tired of all this, weren't we? I honestly just dragged you along to annoy you. That draconequus joining you was just a happy little coincidence, which only served to make you even angrier." He grinned smugly, and looked Applejack straight in the eyes.

"You're becoming annoyed with my little monologue, aren't you? You can't tell me if you are, of course, but I'm a creature of time, I've been around forever, I know you. You probably wondered why I was created, you asked as much beforehand during that little 'Fluttercthulu' incident. Well, you know those little Elements of Harmony you seem so proud of? Every time you used those, whether it was to banish Nightmare Moon, or your disharmonious friend over there, they used up rather a lot of energy. So much, in fact, that it had to be deposited somewhere. Most of it was used in defeating the villain of the week, of course, but the rest didn't just disappear. Instead it flowed in to the timestream, the only place it could go to avoid doing damage to Equestria. It didn't do damage to Equestria, but it did hurt the timestream. And as the spare energy came from a mixture of the power of the Elements and the hatred in the soul of the villain, such as the jealousy in Nightmare's heart, I was created with rather villanous intentions. It was a slow process of course, and even after Discord's defeat when I was at full power it wasn't easy to escape, but I managed it this morning. Hilariously enough, it was your friend Twilight Sparkle that did it," Applejack would have gasped in shock if she could. Instead she settled for thinking a string of curses that a sailor pony would have been proud of.

"You don't believe me, do you? Well, you can't exactly ask her, can you? She was trying to finish Star Swirls time control spell, and she came so close, so very close! But it backfired before she could complete it, and the resulting burst of time energy destroyed the walls of the timestream that were imprisoning me, allowing me to take control of this pitiful land you call Equestria." He sighed wistfully, before resuming his pacing around the two Applejacks.

"You probably don't care. I just felt that it would be a good idea to get all this out there. It gelt good. I would say tell your friends, but..." He laughed smugly before walking off and sitting in front of the hourglass.

Applejack had seen a lot of insane things happen on that day, all of them completely ridiculous and unbelievable. But she wasn't expecting to be saved from this. She wasn't expecting a blue box to come crashing through the ceiling again and injure Chronus badly, freeing them from this timelock.

Which is why she wasn't surprised when it did happen. Another TARDIS flew in to Canterlot Library, and before it landed, another Doctor - this time wearing a blue scarf - jumped out and landed on Chronus. He shouted in pain, before collapsing to the ground. The moment this happened, Applejack found herself pulled out of the timelock, as did her friends, and Discord. They looked to one another in disbelief, before running over to Chronus.

They all crowded around Chronus, a smug grin on some of their faces, a look of hatred on others. "So...hehe... this is how it ends? Just like that? I almost win and you just come out of nowhere with your stupid time machine and defeat me? Urgh... I probably should have seen this coming." He started coughing madly, and as he did so, more and more of the shadow around his edges disappeared, eventually leaving a pale shadow of a stallion, his once piercing red eyes faded and dark. "I still don't hate you though, even if you hate me." He laughed quietly, before dissipating for the last time in a burst of white light, knocking Applejack and the others unconscious.

Princess Celestia had always considered herself able to deal with anything. Millenia of ruling alongside her sister, and a thousand years without her, had given the Princess more strength than many ponies knew. She was able to keep a calm composed attitude despite the many things that life threw at her, a fact that she prided herself on.

This was why when she walked to the first floor of the Canterlot Library to find the ceiling broken and glass all over the floor, with three ponies and a familiar draconequus lying in it next to a broken hourglass with purple sand spilling out of it, the only sound she made was a small 'oh'.

"An interesting story, I must say. Most ponies would be recommended a psychiatrist if they told me something like thiat. And yet... you're the Element of Honesty, so I find myself believing you," Applejack breathed a sigh of relief as Celestia smiled at her. She had been expecting to be called completely insane when she recounted her story, but she should have known that the princess would be so understanding. "Besides," she continued, "how else am I supposed to explain the fact that one minute eveyrthing is perfectly normal and, quite literally, the next second the halls are full of broken pottery and hoof marks, and half of the Royal Canterlot Library is in ruins, with you four at the centre of it all?" The three ponies grinned sheepishly, while Discord shrugged nonchanantly.

Celestia smiled warmly, walking alongside the group towards the Canterlot train station. Applejack's tale had been a long one, and so the Princess had recommended she tell it on the way back to Ponyville, an idea that made a lot of sense to Applejack.

"I shall talk to Twilight Sparkle and Luna about this. You will probably be called in to discuss a reward, as I know you don't want anything particularly fancy, or any sort of medal giving ceremony," Applejack grinned, glad to be able to avoid any unnecessary hassle, even if she had saved the world - again.

The Princess waved to them as they stepped on the train back to Ponyville, and the three ponies waved back. Discord, meanwhile, walked smugly on to the train, unable to think of much else besides one thing.

Now that time was fixed, and Chronus was gone, his powers were back. A reign of chaos and terror would begin again, a world under his rule! Well, in the designated sectors that Celestia had given him to keep his powers sharp and relieve the itch that came with being unable to cause chaos at will. Until he could get to such a point, he amused himself by making a cup walk around the table.

The other three sat around a table, talking about the adventure that had passed. For Rainbow and Applejack this was a normal thing, but it was slightly newer to Octavia. Well, completely new. Her life had been rather boring until that point, apart from the two years spent in the past. The group spent the entirety of the train ride in their respective positions, only stopping when the train reached Ponyville. rainbow Dash and Octavia, alongside Discord headed to the library to talk to Twilight Sparkle about the events of that day, but Applejack made her excuses and returned to the farm, saying that she was tired. She was incredibly worn out from the adventure, but mostly she just wanted a moment to herself.

She smiled when she thought of Octavia and Discord. She was sure the two would stay in touch, and perhaps another friend was all Discord needed to become a proper member of Equestrian society. Rainbow Dash had acquired a new rival, and Applejack looked forward to seeing the competitions between the two. Their previous arguments had been interesting, to say the least, and they would probably only get better. Applejack chuckled gently to herself, before her thoughts eventually turned back to her, and her life in general.

When she'd awoken that morning she was sick of adventures, and wanted nothing more than a day to herself. That was still true, but now she'd realised something about those annoying adventures. They made those days where nothing happened all the sweeter, and without them she'd never have met her closest group of friends. Sure her life was in danger consistently, and sure she had to do some insane things just to stay alive, but she would always have her friends beside her, ready to help her.

And perhaps Octavia and Discord would be there too sometimes, if the others were missing.