Fate Weaver - The Edge of Time

AFTERMATH

SWEET APPLE ACRES

Everyone stared in horror at the scene before them. The dust filled the air, and the human stood over the shady figure whose muscles were completely relaxed... or rather, his muscles were limp.

The human breathed heavily as his light blue eyes focused on the figure before him. Then he pulled his sword from the ground and stepped back, while Cruelty's eyes popped open. He turned his head to his left and eyed the hole in the dirt that rested mere inches away from his forehead. Then he grunted in pain as the human drew his Katanas from his shoulder blades.

He slowly sat back up and stared at the human confusedly. "I... I don't understand... y-you were supposed to kill me!"

The human turned his back to Cruelty and pierced the Katanas into the ground. Then he walked between the Katanas and headed towards the ponies, who continued to stare at him in disbelief. "If I were to kill you, I wouldn't be any better than yourself."

Cruelty sat there motionlessly for a moment. Then he lightly chuckled and shook his head. "My... you surely are a strange one." He backed into a tree and slid himself up to his feet again. "Lucky for you, however... Strange and Cruelty can get along quite nicely."

The human tilted his head confusedly and rested his hands on his hips. "Get along? So wait... you're just going to stop fighting us like that?"

Cruelty nodded his head and stared at his Katanas. Then he walked up to them and lowered his limp arms to their handles. When the tips of his fingers touched the handles, the swords disappeared again. "As a matter of fact, I am... but a word of advice, if I may."

The human nodded his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright, then. I'm listening."

"You may be wondering why I was after you... so I'll go on ahead and say it." He motioned towards the human's left hand. The human stared at it curiously while Cruelty explained. "That mark on your hand is a warning symbol. It means that dark times are coming... and you are either the only one that could keep it from happening... or you will be the one that will make it happen."

The human looked back at Cruelty and asked, "Um... what do you mean by that, exactly?"

Cruelty shook his head again and replied, "I'm something like a bounty hunter, except I don't just simply hunt bounties. Everything that belongs in this world has a fate that they are destined to meet... like me, for example. My fate was to be slain by you just recently... but since you haven't, that means that you have unintentionally altered the Threads of Fate."

"Threads of Fate? What's that?"

Cruelty cleared his throat. "Everything around us has a certain Thread of Fate. The threads are a spiritual strand that determines their lives. At first, they would all be eternal, meaning that their lives would go on forever... but should something happen to those threads, then their lives will end once they reach that point."

"And... what do you mean by 'when they reach that point', exactly?" The human scratched the back of his head out of confusion.

"Simple... the Threads of Fate are all bound to the Fabrics of Time. As such, they all intertwine with each other, and in the end, they form one fabric. Within that fabric, they all affect one another in their own ways."

"And... what does this have to do with me, exactly?" the human asked.

Cruelty replied, "Again, there's a simple answer to that. You see, it also relates to how you know about those mares behind you, yet they don't know you. In another Fabric of Time, you were considered one of their closest friends... but something happened in that fabric... the results are what gave you the cursed symbol on your left hand. As for whether it was already given to that side of you is beyond even my knowledge."

The human looked at his hand again. "You said that this symbol means I could bring the end of this world?"

Cruelty shook his head. "Not you... but the voice in your head. It gets even heavier that that, though."

The human raised an eyebrow and looked up at him again. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean you aren't just carrying a monster in your mind that will destroy this world... you're carrying a monster that already did destroy this world in several different Fabrics of Time."

The human looked at his left hand again. "So, wait... you're telling me I'm going to end up destroying this world?!"

Cruelty shook his head again. "No... well, not directly. Eventually, the dark spirit in your mind will take over your body, and in turn, trade places with you. Then, with it in control, he will destroy the world, and you won't be able to stop him."

With yet another confused expression, the human looked back up at Cruelty and asked, "And just who exactly is 'He'?"

"... Sephtis."

The human sighed and looked at his hand again. "Is there any way to keep him from taking over?!"

Cruelty smirked. "Well, other than killing you, I doubt it." The human groaned and gripped his forehead with his right hand.

"However," the human looked up at Cruelty with a slight ray of hope, "there was something that you just showed... something that could very well be the ray of hope that you're looking for."

"I'm listening."

Cruelty looked at the wounds on his shoulders and said, "As I have said before, I was fated for you to kill me just recently... but considering the fact that we're even having this conversation, you have proven one thing."

"... And that is?"

"It is a sign... a sign that you don't even have a fate." He nodded towards the human and concluded, "It means you are a Fate Weaver."

The human stood there silently. Then he scratched the back of his head again and asked, "Again... and that is?"

Cruelty sighed and slapped his forehead onto the tree next to him. "You surely are a curious one, huh?" Then he turned towards the human and said, "A 'Fate Weaver'! In other words, one who can alter the Fabrics of Time with the Threads of Fate! As in, you could make the world's impending doom not happen!"

The human tilted his head again. "So... I can pretty much keep this Sephtis guy from taking over my body, and in turn, save the world by not letting him destroy it?"

Cruelty nodded his head. "Exactly. You won't be able to stop the future from happening, but you can at least weave it into a better one!"

The human nodded his head. "I... think I understand. But how do I stop these things from happening, though?"

Cruelty tilted his head in thought. "Well, for starters, you could avoid doing those things that you or your caretaker sees before they happen!"

"My... caretaker?" The human turned towards Twilight Sparkle, who was still awake, but staring at the two along with the other ponies.

"Indeed. If she received a message from the future, that means she'll know how to keep you from screwing everything up." Cruelty sighed and fell onto his knees. The human quickly turned to him and rushed towards him. "Looks like I'm running short on blood... but hey, it shouldn't be too big of a deal. After all, you didn't necessarily kill me... blood loss did." Then he closed his eyes and fell onto his chest.

The human quickly rushed up to the unconscious figure and slightly lifted him up. "Hey, wait! How the hell do you even know all of this?!" Seeing that he didn't get a response he groaned and shook his head. Then he turned towards Twilight, who rushed up to the two. "Hey, um... Twilight? Can you help me get this guy to Fluttershy, please? If my memories are correct, wouldn't she be the kind one?"

Twilight nodded her head and replied, "Yeah... but I think he may have lost too much blood for a trip that long!"

The human sighed and rubbed his chin in thought. Then Applejack rushed up to them and said, "Ah'll take care o' him. Y'all get Fluttershy, an' bring 'er up here, instead."

They both nodded their heads to her. Then the human said, "Alright... thank you, AJ."

Applejack nodded her head and replied, "Listen, Ah don't know who or what y'all are, but... if'n y'all was willin' ta protect mah farm an' mah brother, Ah'd say y'all are a friend fer sure." Then she leaned down at the unconscious figure and gently lifted him over her shoulders. "An' y'all have all of our thanks... by the way, what's y'alls name, partner?"

The human rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, but... I can't really remember. Twilight and I were about to think of one before all of this even happened."

Applejack hummed as she carried Cruelty towards her house. "Well, Ah'd say y'all showed a lot of fearlessness when y'all was defendin' us... maybe y'alls name could be 'Fearless'... or somethin'?"

Twilight gasped and smiled at Applejack. "Yeah! Fearless Human, perhaps? Since... well... you're pretty much the only one that we've seen as of yet, and don't have any other 'human' names to go by?"

The human nodded his head and weakly smiled. "Fearless Human, huh? Yeah... I think I can live with that name! Maybe just 'Fearless' for short, though?"

Twilight nodded her head and motioned forward. "Well, then... please follow me this way, Fearless! I'll show you how to get to Fluttershy's cottage from here!"

Fearless rubbed the back of his head while Twilight started rushing ahead of him, not even waiting for an answer. Then he shrugged his shoulders and tried to catch up with her. All the while, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie followed Applejack, in case she would need their help.

"Whoa! Did you girls see how fast he ran? Or how awesomely he fought?!" Rainbow Dash smiled and stared at the running human.

Pinkie giggled and nodded her head. "This calls for a party! Hey, do you think I should call it a 'Welcome to Ponyville, and Thank You For Saving Our Lives' Party, or a 'Thank You For Saving Our Lives, and Welcome to Ponyville' Party? Ooh, but he also discovered that he's a 'Fate Weaver', whatever that is, and also he was just now named 'Fearless', so how do you think I should add those details into the party's name? Should I call it-" Rainbow Dash quickly covered her snout and deadpanned at her.

"I think you can figure it out, Pinkie Pie. After all, aren't you the Party Planner?"

Pinkie nodded her head and gasped. Then she started to giggle. Rainbow tilted her head out of confusion and removed her hand from Pinkie's snout. Then Pinkie's giggling turned into a fit of laughter. "Huh? What's so funny?"

Pinkie pointed behind Rainbow Dash, which caused her to turn around. Seeing nothing, she turned towards Pinkie again. "What is it?"

"Your wings! They're... they're..."

Rainbow's cheeks quickly turned red at that statement. "WHAT?!" She reached behind her back and tried to force her wings down her back again... but they refused to fold, and extended as soon as she released them. "Oh, COME ON!"

Applejack turned towards her friends and smirked at Rainbow Dash's predicament. "Well, well, well! Day one, an' y'all are already gettin' some dirty thoughts in y'alls head about our new friend?"

Rainbow glared at her and retorted, "Hoof, no! I'm just... they're just... um..." she pointed at Cruelty and muttered, "t-that punk must've just injured them somewhere! That's all!"

Applejack rolled her eyes and smirked. "Right~."

They entered the house and closed the door while Applejack carried the unconscious figure to the couch. Then she turned to Rainbow and Pinkie. "Y'all make sure he stays breathin'. Ah'll go upstairs an' get the First Aid Kit."

Her friends nodded their heads and watched over Cruelty. Then Applejack headed into the bathroom to find her medical equipment, but when she turned her head towards the bathroom, she heard her brother groaning inside his bedroom across the hallway. She turned around, frowned at him with a sad expression, and sighed. "Looks like Ah'll need ta take care of y'alls wounds also, Big McIntosh." She then headed inside the bathroom and grabbed the First Aid Kit.

FLUTTERSHY'S COTTAGE

Twilight turned to Fearless and weakly smiled. "Um... please excuse her if she freaks out when she sees you. As her name implies, she can be a little... on the shy side."

Fearless nodded his head in understanding. "Okay... um... should I wait over at the farm, or..."

Twilight shook her head. "That won't be necessary. Besides, if she knows someone's in trouble and needs her help, I'm sure she'll be more than willing to assist them!"

Fearless nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders. Then Twilight turned to the door and gently knocked on it.

About thirty seconds passed when they heard the sound of hooves landing on the other side of the door. Then a soft, barely audible feminine voice called from the other side.

"Um... h-hello?"

Twilight cleared her throat. "Hey, Fluttershy! It's me, Twilight!"

The feminine voice from the other side of the door spoke slightly louder this time. "Oh! H-hello, Twilight! Um... h-how can I h-help you?"

Twilight replied, "Actually, it's not me who needs help. Um... an unidentified creature is badly hurt at Applejack's farm, and-"

Before anyone else could react, the door slammed open, and a yellow, pink, and green blur flew past them at an alarming speed towards Applejack's farm.

Fearless, after being knocked flat onto his buttocks, stared wide-eyed at the now distant blur, while Twilight stood with her mouth agape at the same blur. Her mane was disheveled due to the airwaves from the blur. "Well... that was... unexpectedly fast."

After groaning out of slight pain Fearless stood back up and dusted himself off before nodding his head in agreement. "Should we go back to the farm, now?"

Twilight shook her head and turned towards the town. "I'm sure that they can find a way to help him... and if they could, I'm sure he won't be able to use his arms in a while, so he shouldn't be dangerous when he wakes up." Then she turned to Fearless and smiled. "But that doesn't mean I can't introduce you to the mayor! Then we could look into finding a place for you to stay later on!"

Fearless chuckled and nodded his head. "Sounds like a plan, then. Please, lead the way."

With that, the two of them headed towards the town, where they would be meeting with the mayor, herself.