Time floated through the space above the world like a ghost, forever vigilant, taking in the sights and sounds of the life he helped sculpt into reality. His figure was relatively thin, thinner at least than the creatures that so closely matched his image, and his legs weren’t exactly the longest either, however tall he was. But his wings, his brilliant wings of magic and radiance, they were unmatched in length and beauty. With a single flap he could launch himself from one end of the horizon to the other. Or so he claimed. Flight wasn’t something manual, something he had to actually put work in to achieve. His horn was what truly carried him, and the expanses he could cross were limitless.
But he liked to take things slow. This night, as with every night, he carried himself up the height of a tall mountain. A castle sparkled in the dull light as the moon neared the end of its arc, and the sun had already begun its own, spilling curls of purple and orange into sky. In another hour it’d be a vast blue, and his opportunity would have been long missed. But he always knew when to arrive, and did so precisely each and every time.
He scaled the overhanging walls of the castle and came to a small balcony overlooking the landscape behind. He draped his hooves over the railing and right on cue, the balcony doors opened. Out stepped Princess Celestia, her mane a bit disheveled and some notable lines drawn under her eyes. Her horn shone its brilliant gold and she pointed it skyward, beating back a yawn as she rubbed at her face.
A smile crawled across his face as he sat there watching her, admiring her and taking in her beauty. He sometimes wondered what she’d think of him if she could see him, if she could hear him. But alas, reality as he knew it just wouldn’t let it happen. He lived in a dimension of his own, after all, like a ghost. He could only watch the world around him and spread across it his influence, though his influence often took too long to be properly appreciated by a single life. But he liked to take things slow. He’d let this moment stay forever if he could, but he knew he shouldn’t, because even time must move on after a while.
After a couple of minutes, the sun’s course was firmly set. Princess Celestia smiled to herself and walked back into her bedroom, closing the balcony doors behind her. Though that wouldn’t stop him, as he could always drift right through them, but he understood some ponies liked their privacy. He surely cherished his own.
He could hear the faint sound of a gentle song on the other side of the doors, and he sighed. Turning away, he drifted down from the balcony and towards the front entrance of the castle, where he was sure to see her again.
Princess Celestia was scheduled to hold a meeting with the mayor of a small town this day, and she was already on her way there. Her chariot was being pulled through the skies by a team of the strongest pegasi, and Time followed. He loved to see the wind in her mane as much as she loved to feel it; it was his little hello to her, the best he could manage. At times, she’d glance over the side of her chariot and smile down at the landscape below, and it made him proud to see her enjoy his work. The rolling hills and dipping valleys were his gift to her, things he took centuries finely crafting to get just right. He thought the many forests and rivers were the finest touches, and while he never intended for the pony settlements to so blemish the surface, he didn’t mind them too much. They were her creation, after all. And together, they definitely made for something beautiful.
The chariot dipped down with Time just behind them. They came to a stop in the middle of a town’s square, and once the ponies around noticed what was going on, they politely bowed but ultimately failed to withhold their enthusiasm. For Time, it was never difficult to figure out why.
Princess Celestia disembarked and made a small address to the ponies present before excusing herself to the town hall. By what he’s overheard, she wanted to talk to the mayor about planning a festival of some kind. He always wanted to listen to these conversations, but that’d ruin the surprise, so with some hesitation he decided to wait outside the town hall, fluttering lazily beside the door. He figured it wouldn’t be too long before she returned, as these conversations never took too long anyways.
About a minute passed before he noticed something peculiar, something he hadn’t seen for quite a while. Someone, rather, and it was definitely a surprise to see him here.
Across the street, there were a number of fillies and colts running around each other, and in the midst of them was his brother, Disregard. The tall, lanky stallion was laughing along with the kids, using his relatively small wings to keep himself stable as they made sharp turns and jumps around his hooves. Not that they tried to avoid him—they didn’t even know he was there, after all—but it was always a game Disregard played with himself, to try and not let them touch him. But eventually one did, skipping right through his leg without a care, and Disregard hobbled to the side before jumping right back into his little game.
Why his brother always fained being grounded, always forgoing the use of his horn, never failed to mystify Time. But it was just one of his brother’s many quirks, he knew.
He continued to watch Disregard play with the kids before they decided to start a game of hide-and-go-seek. A call went out and one filly was the last to stick her hoof on her nose, so she ran off to close her eyes before a tree while the rest of the group scattered. Disregard seemed confused at first, but then quickly realized what was going on and went to go count with the filly. They reached a hundred and then began the search for the other kids.
Princess Celestia’s meeting was sure to go on for a little longer, Time surmised, glancing back and forth between the door and his brother. With a little pulse of magic, he pushed himself across the street to the shop whose front porch Disregard was currently crawling underneath.
Disregard popped out from beneath with a disatisfied grunt, but his eyes immediately lit up upon seeing his brother. “Time!” he shouted, jumping up to wrap his brother in a hug. “Do you want to come play hide-and-go-seek with us?”
Time chuckled. “Maybe later,” he said. “I was just in the area and saw you here, so I thought I’d come and say hello. We haven’t seen each other in nearly a thousand years.”
“Has it really been that long?” Disregard asked, stealing a quick glance at a potential hiding spot across the street. “Why, I must’ve forgotten. We should hang out together and catch up!”
“I can’t now, but you know I’d love to.”
“I’d love to hear one of your stories!” Disregard said. “And I could tell you some of mine, too. You wouldn’t believe the places I’ve been to, like...” He brought a hoof to his chin. “Like uh... huh. You know, I had it on the tip of my tongue. I know I’d been there a lot, at least.”
Time chuckled. “What about here?”
“Here?” Disregard asked, perplexed.
“This town,” Time said, a little more directly.
“This town...” Disregard mused, taking in the scenery around him like it was his first time here. After a moment of thought he suddenly did a little jump and said, “Oh, this town! I’m sure I can make a story here to tell you!”
“How about the time you played hide-and-go-seek with the town’s kids?”
“Hide-and-go-seek?” Disregard asked. “Oh, that must be what game those kids are playing,” he said, pointing to a filly who just overturned a basket and uncovered a colt. The two sneered at each other before giggling and running off to search for the others. “That sounds like a lot of fun. I wonder if they’ll let me play?”
“Go give it a shot,” Time encouraged. “I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time, and I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“I’ll tell you everything!” Disregard shouted, a smile on his face as he ran after the kids.
Time watched him go, his own gentle smile fading with a sigh. He heard a click behind him and saw Princess Celestia exiting the town hall with the mayor, their conversation having moved to their favorite salads. The mayor then bid farewell and Princess Celestia climbed into her chariot, before taking off back towards Canterlot.
Without a second thought, Time followed her all the way there.
The next time Time met his brother, it was far sooner than he expected. Just about a decade in fact, and in Canterlot no less. Time didn’t need to go far from his usual stoop before he found Disregard laying down with a young unicorn at the shore of a creek, peering over her shoulder trying to read the book she had. She was a little fast for Disregard, but he didn’t mind too much. He got the most satisfaction out of the pictures than the words, anyhow.
Time waited until the unicorn finished reading, packed her things, and was about to return home. Disregard stood up to follow her, but was stopped as soon as he saw his brother floating above the grass at the other side of the creek.
“Time!” Disregard shouted, jumping across the water to wrap his brother in a hug. “I haven’t seen you in so long!”
“It’s only been ten years,” Time said, nonetheless returning the gesture.
“Has it really been so long?” Disregard asked. “It feels like only yesterday when we last met.”
“Sometimes it does,” Time said, glancing back to watch that unicorn leave the park. “What was that book you were reading?” he asked. “It must be newly published. I don’t recall ever seeing it.”
“Something about the princesses,” Disregard said, making a thoughtful look. “Did you know Equestria has two of them, and that their names are Celestia and Luna? I’d love to go to Equestria and meet them sometime. They sound like real nice ponies.”
Time hummed. “I’m sure we could do that sometime. But I don’t think both of the princesses are around to be bothered right now.”
“Oh, well I wouldn’t want to get in their way. They sound like really busy ponies,” Disregard said, waving a hoof. “Say, since you’re here, can I hear another one of your stories?”
Time chuckled. “Sure thing,” he said. Disregard flopped down into the grass and Time lowered himself until he hovered just above it. “How about when the three pony tribes first came together? It’s one of your favorites, but it’s long and we don’t often make it to the ending.”
“Well, then just start with the ending,” Disregard said. “I’m sure I remember how it...” He wrinkled his nose. “How it... huh. I guess I forget how it began. You know I have trouble remembering things.”
“It’s okay,” Time assured. “You know how good my memory is.”
“You can remember everything!” Disregard squealed, kicking his hooves out. Then he fell silent. “We’ve probably had this conversation before many times, haven’t we?”
Time almost said nothing. But he did end up finding the right words to say. “It doesn’t really matter how often we talk. What I enjoy the most is just sharing a couple of hours out of the day with you.”
“You know I’d never forget you,” Disregard muttered.
“I know,” Time said, reaching out a hoof to rustle his brother’s mane. “Now then, how about that story I promised you?”
Disregard blinked. “What story?”
“The one about how the three pony tribes first came together, you knucklehead.”
“Oh, that sounds like a great story!” Disregard said.
And then Time told his brother all he could.
“Where are we?” Disregard asked, looking up at the marble pillars all around. Ponies milled around and in between them. Disregard almost tripped when a guard walked up in front of him, but his brother kept him level and they walked right through each other. Disregard gave the stallion a sideways glance before he asked his brother, “Where are we going?”
“I promised you that I’d take you to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” Time explained. “It just so happens now we have the opportunity, so we’re going to visit them during open court. This is the first moment in a while they’ve been together.”
“Why haven’t they seen each other in a while?” Disregard asked.
“That’s a story for later,” Time said, and then he led his brother through a set of tall double doors.
On the other side, sitting atop two of the most finely crafted thrones, sat the two princesses. Time’s breath was nearly taken away but he steeled himself and steered his perplexed brother over towards the far corner of the room, well out of the way of where everypony would walk but near enough to get a good look of the whole room, as well as hear anything said. Even now, Time could just barely make out the whispers of a conversation between the two princesses.
“Who are they?” Disregard asked, after he finally got settled.
“Those are the princesses,” Time said. “They’re the ponies you wanted to see.”
“They’re beautiful,” Disregard said. “Especially the one on the right. I really like how her mane’s all sparkly.”
“She likes that too,” Time said with a nod. “Her name is Princess Luna. She’s the reason why the moon goes up and down in the night. And her sister is Princess Celestia, and she’s the reason why the sun goes up and down in the day.”
Disregard whistled. “Those sound like hard jobs, moving the sun and the moon. But not as hard as yours, right?”
Time chuckled. “Remembering everything isn’t exactly a job. It’s just... just what I do. And it’s not really hard, either.”
“Probably because you’re so good at it,” Disregard said with a smile. “Gotta be sure to take a break from time to time, though. I don’t think I could ever handle a job like that.”
Time said nothing to that.
Soon thereafter the doors to the chamber opened and the princesses stopped their idle conversation. The two brothers watched as a small crowd filled the room, with Disregard in particular being fascinated by seeing so many ponies. Which was comforting, because Time was never much of a talker. He always liked to take his time and watch.
The first of the ponies opened up to the princesses a question, which Princess Luna answered along with a bit of commentary from her sister. Then came the next, and the process more or less repeated until the entire crowd was through with their questions. A guard standing by the door began to escort them out of the room when Disregard jumped to his hooves.
“I want to ask the princesses a question!” he declared. The guardspony didn’t notice him however and he ushered the crowd out, closing the door behind and giving the princesses a small break. The princesses themselves ignored him outright, but that didn’t stop Disregard from skipping over the spot at the base of their thrones.
‘They can’t hear you or see you. They don’t even know we exist,’ Time wanted to say. But he loved his brother dearly, and these kind of things were what Disregard enjoyed doing.
Disregard stuck his tongue in his cheek before asking, “What’s it like to be a girl?”
Princess Luna flicked her hoof and laughed, turning away from the silly face her sister was making at her.
Disregard wrinkled his nose before blurting out, “Oh, I know jokes! Wanna hear one? Just let me think... okay got it! Did you hear about the fire at the circus?”
A pause.
“It was in tents!”
Princess Celestia couldn’t help but smile at the admittingly deprecating tease her sister made.
Disregard laughed along with them. “They liked it!” he exclaimed. He looked towards the distant corner of the room and called, “Come on, Time! This is fun!”
Time rolled his eyes. Had he been on his own, such a thought would never have crossed his mind. But he always got a delight out of seeing his brother so happy and he’d never do a thing to hinder that. But she was also right there, her laugh a bliss of its own, so it was with a little hesitation that he drifted away from his perch and hovered right beside his brother.
“Go on, tell them a joke,” Disregard urged. “You’ve gotta know tons!”
“Heh, alright.” Time looked up towards the two princesses and after a second to steel his nerves, he said, “Why did the scarecrow get a promotion?” A pause. “He was outstanding in his field.”
As if on cue, they both giggled. Obviously, the princesses’ laughter was because of their own conversation, but the effect it had on the two brothers was just as inviting. Disregard nearly doubled over in a fit of his own laughter, and Time would be a liar if he claimed to have kept his face straight. He might have even laughed himself, but at who or what, he found he couldn’t quite say.
And for the first moment in a long time, he didn’t care to know.
He cocked his head towards his brother and lowered himself to help him back on his hooves, when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked back up to the thrones and saw the princesses were quiet. In fact, the whole room nearly fell silent except for the soft chortles of Time’s brother. His eyes wavered up a little further and met the soft, gentle stare of Princess Celestia.
“Is something wrong, sister?” Princess Luna asked.
“I...” Celestia blinked, perplexed. “I’m sorry, I thought I saw something for a second there,” she added, shaking her head.
“The shadows also like to play tricks with my eyes,” Luna added, opening her mouth to laugh but was quickly blindsided by her own words, and slightly lowered her head. “I... forgive me, I did not intend to phrase my words like that.”
Celestia sighed. “Come now, Luna. What’s in the past is in the past. Don’t let bitter memories ruin your day.”
“They will not,” Luna assured. After a moment, she looked towards her sister and asked, “Our break lasts for another twenty minutes, correct? Mind if I go get some tea?”
“Of course,” Celestia said with a nod. “I could go for some myself.”
With that, the two sisters got up off their thrones and walked out of the room. Disregard was on his hooves and turned to follow them, already thinking up a number of more jokes he could tell them, when something made him pause. He turned around and saw his brother, frozen as if encased in ice, silently looking out towards the door the princesses walked through. Disregard backed up and returned to his brother’s side, giving him a sidelong glance.
“Time?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”
“She...” Time muttered. “She didn’t see me, did she?” he asked, though he already knew the answer. “That was just a fluke of her mind, wasn’t it?”
“Whose mind?” Disregard asked.
Time ground his teeth. “You know who!” he shouted.
Disregard’s eyes went wide and he took a step back. “I-I don’t...”
“She was right! There!” Time shouted, throwing his hooves out at the thrones. “The one I... I-I try to...”
He fell silent.
Disregard took a step forward. “Time? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” Time muttered. What felt like an eternity passed before he finally glanced up and saw his brother still standing there. He sighed and said, “Disregard, do you know what it is we do?”
“I... I-I of course!” Disregard stammered. “You remember everything! And I... uh...”
“You forget everything,” Time answered for him. “Much like those two raise the sun and the moon, bring warmth and cold, we’re the reason things become recognized and forgotten. Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to not have to have me keep reminding you of everything? Not that I don’t mind or that I don’t like your company, but have you ever wondered what it’d be like to remember?”
The silence that followed was shorter than he expected. “Not really,” Disregard mumbled. "And I already knew that."
Time couldn’t think of a thing to say.
Disregard shuffled on his hooves. “It’s the only thing I can remember, and you, of course,” he added. “I try not to think about how things can be and enjoy how they are, because I know I’ll forget them eventually. I get that. But I don’t get why you’re...” He pursed his lips. “Are you saying you want to stop remembering?”
“Of course not,” Time said, rolling his head back. “But, sometimes, there are things I wish I could forget.” He sighed again, turning his head towards one of the empty thrones. “Forget her.”
Disregard tilted his head. “Princess Celestia?” he asked, and his next thought was quickly overridden by another. A smirk crossed his lips and he said, “Aw, you like her, don’t you?”
Time snorted and blushed.
“You love her!” Disregard teased, hopping up and down and fluttering his wings.
“Oh, shut up.”
“She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
Time wanted to spit something at his brother, but he just couldn’t bring himself to fight against that silly smile. The light of his horn flickered away and he fell dumbly onto the ground.
“Yeah, she is,” he said with a small smile of his own. “When I first saw her all those millennia ago, I just... I don’t know what to say. For the first time in forever, she gave me something to look forward to. Something to try and care for. But as she grew I realized... I just couldn’t bring myself to see her go like all the creatures and mountains and stars I’ve let go forgotten before. I... I-I might have done some things to uh, to make sure the memory of her doesn’t go away. Of course I make sure to keep her happy, like keeping the memory of her sister alive as well, but now? Now I just don’t know what to think. I still can’t ever touch her, get her to see me or ever hear me say how much I love her. That’s... that’s so selfish of me, isn’t it? She—both of them get cursed to see the world through my eyes and here I am, continuing to force upon them some sense of immortality and overrule your influence. That’s... I don’t...”
Disregard bent down to his brother’s level. “If you told me then you wanted to make her unforgettable, I’m sure I’d be okay with it.”
“But what about her?” Time asked, throwing out his hooves. “What would she think? She’d hate me if she knew I did this to her!”
“Maybe not,” Disregard said with a shrug. “Why don’t you ask her?”
“I can’t! You know this!”
“No I don’t,” Disregard said, standing back up. “Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it can’t. Why, with a bit of luck, I’m sure anything’s possible. What’s ever stopped you before from trying?”
Time snuffled. Nothing went said between them for the longest while. Then, the doors to the room opened and the princesses returned to their thrones, merrily sipping their tea and talking about this and that.
“Time?” Disregard asked, ignoring them entirely. “What’s wrong? Are you crying?”
Time wiped his eyes and returned to a short hover above the ground. “I’ve just been thinking,” he said.
“About what?”
“I think I need a break,” he said, turning towards the door. “Come, I’ve got a story I want to tell you.”
written by, RazgrizS57
Author's Note
This story was ~~written~~ rushed in three and a half hours in the five before the contest ended.
