Chronobreak- Time is but another river

Canterlot

Luna had just woken up from her much needed rest after a night of many surprises, only to be caught off guard by the lack of her sister’s presence in the castle. Normally, her sister would be in the same room as her when Luna rose from her slumber and warmly greet her like the sun she raised on a daily basis. But instead, the room was empty.

Curious on her sister’s whereabouts, The Night Alicorn used a spell that allowed her to sense Celestia’s magic. After finding out where she was, Luna sighed. Casting another spell, she soon teleported to where she felt her sister. One of the things she noticed was an open door to a dining room and from it, she could hear the diarch of the sun.

“ ......... young one, what is your name?”

Peaking a little, Luna’s eyes widened upon seeing who she was talking to… It was the same boy from the vision she had the night before.

“I am Ekko… the Boy Who Shattered Time.”

“Shattered… Time?”

“That is correct.” Ekko answered Celestia’s question.

“That… is no small feat. TIme based magic alone requires years to master and their is a very high risk involving its use.” The princess told him as she tried to see the contraption that was on his pack. “How do you do it though, if I may ask?”

“With my Z-drive.” He told her, pointing to the device. “It allows me to rewind back to different points in time and go back to where I was four seconds ago.”

“That’s quite impressive… May I see you use it?”

“I would, but I can’t chronobreak all the time. Everytime I do so, I need to wait ninety seconds before doing it again. However, I can show you something else. My Z-drive not only allows me to rewind back to where I was with Chronobreak, it allows me to speed up my own time to where I blink towards a targeted location or opponent. This is what I call phase dive.” Ekko soon demonstrated the said skill by walking to the other end of the room and using the ability to dive back to where he was. Celestia herself… was quite impressed. But with that though, the boy also saw something else. “Um… Celestia right?”

“Yes, Ekko?”

“Who’s the pony behind the door?”

The sound of a small squeak was heard from the door as it opened widely, showing the onlooker that was listening to their conversation. Celestia herself, was quite surprised. “Luna? What are you doing here?”

“I noticed that you weren’t in our chambers when I woke up so I came to find you. When I did, I found you talking to this… creature.”

“Human.”

“I beg your pardon?” Luna responded.

“I am a human.” Ekko said again. “My name is Ekko. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. Can I-.” Luna stopped speaking and her eyes widened the moment Ekko’s Z-drive began to glow again and the silhouette of him followed not far behind him.

“Well, looks like I can chronobreak again. I’m no longer on cooldown.” Looking at the confused faces of the few ponies around him, he began to explain once more. “It’s a figure of speech for the time I have to wait to use a certain ability again. Most of them are quick like my phase dive, but like I said, I need to wait ninety seconds before chronobreaking again.”

“H-how many abilities do you have exactly?” Luna stammered, shocked by what she was seeing and hearing from the boy.

“Five. Four I can do on my own and one just works passively. Phase dive is my third ability and Chronobreak is my ace in the hole. My first two abilities are nifty though if you time them right. But I might need some space if you want to see them… and a few other things…” Ekko turned to Luna, who he saw as patiently waiting to ask something. “Oh, uh… were you going to ask something?”

She nodded her head. “Tia? Can I talk to you in private, please?” Ekko watched as the other alicorn nodded her head and walked out the door, leaving just Fancy Pants, Fleur and himself in the room. Ekko at first wanted to know what this was about, but thought that since she wanted to talk in ‘private’ that he shouldn’t be snooping around. After a couple of minutes though, the two of them returned to the room, but something made Ekko think that what they were talking about made the two of them more cautious.

“Ekko…”

“Yes, your highness?” He responded, being polite.

“We would like to see you demonstrate your other abilities at the castle of my student in Ponyville. Along the way, I would like to ask you some questions.”

“Sure. Can Fancy and Fleur come along as well? They might help with answering some of the questions since I told them a bit about myself earlier.”

Celestia nodded, “They can if they want to-.”

“We would… But Fancy and I were invited by Filthy Rich to attend an event he has upcoming in Manehattan. I’m sorry, Ekko. We wish you good luck on your journey though.”

“Thanks… Never had much luck though… Mostly because I never needed it.”

This… was a cue for Ekko to thank them and say his goodbyes to both of them before he began to trot out of the room with the Royal Sisters. On the way, Ekko began to speak about everything that he told Celestia and Luna about himself, his life, being in Zaun, the countries of Valora and also most importantly… The League of Legends.

“Excuse me for interrupting, but what is this “League of Legends” that you speak of?” Luna asked as they left the building and began to walk through the streets of Canterlot. The boy sighed as they turned another street corner.

“The League of Legends was created as a way to solve political disputes because previous wars have left the continent almost broken. Demacians and Noxians were always fighting between one another along with other nations, so the League was created so their disputes could be solved on the Fields of Justice.”

“How does it work though. It sounds like Trial by Combat, but that got outlawed 1000 years ago.” Celestia replied.

“You never told me that…”

“Yes Luna, because before you were banished, you use to place bets on who would win or not. Very illegal if I do say so myself.” Celestia sternly deadpanned at her sister before looking back at Ekko.

“Well, it depends really on where the battle is being held,” Ekko explained. “Summoners Rift has teams of five champions each, like myself, fight each other to destroy the opponent’s Nexus. When you die, you’re resurrected a few moments later. The more time that passes, the stronger you become. Other map are different, but the objective is still the same. Twisted Treeline has three champions against three, Crystal Scar has capture points you need to control and Howling Abyss and Butcher Bridge has one lane and you get randomly selected for that fight. However, there are limitations on the last two maps though.”

“Limitations?”

“It’s hard to explain.” Ekko said. “The League always finds a way to try and increase the difficulty so some people won’t feel like participating is too easy.”

“Right, so Ekko, what kind of champions participate in the league?”

“Well, there are the ones from Demacia and Noxus. Personally hate both of their guts…” Ekko retorted. “There’s Ionia, Mount Targon, the Freljord, Piltover and Zaun. I can’t remember them all because I’ve been in the league for only two months and can’t remember a lot of things.”

“How many of these… champions are part of the league?”

“I don’t know exact numbers. I heard that a new member is introduced monthly and I’ve only encountered a few myself. Including Urgot, who’s too much of a hulking mass as his mechanical arm. Had to rewind three times to beat him when he ambushed me once back at Zaun.” Ekko said. “Still though, I think there’s roughly… somewhere about one hundred and twenty I think?”

Celestia and Luna just looked at one another, surprised. They didn’t expect that many individuals to be involved in this kind of league. Soon, the three of them soon arrived at the main hallway. But this… confused Ekko. Until Celestia casted a teleportation spell and the three of them ended up in a new room… with new individuals.

“Um… Okay? Not what I expected.”

At first glance, he saw six ponies and a creature that looked like a failed experiment from Dr. Mundo’s workshop. One pony was similar to the two princesses, two of them had wings, one of them had just a horn and two of them were just plain ponies. All of them though had their own reactions for what was going on.

“P-princess!?”

“Twilight…”

“Who’s the guy with the Mohawk?!”

“PINKIE!!!”

“Oh, by the league. MAKE IT STOP!!” Ekko pondered inside his head.

“Everypony calm down!!” One pony with some kind of strange hat yelled out. “Princess, I mean no disrespect, but why are ya’ here and what in tarnations is that?”

“Ekko.”

“Uhh… gesundheit?”

“No… Ekko.” The boy repeated to the confused Pink Pony that responded to him. “That’s my name.”

“OH! As in Echo? Like ECHO ECHO ECHO!!!” She shouted gleefully, trying to have an echo bounce off of the walls. All Ekko could do was face smack himself.

“No. E-K-K-O. Trust me, you’re not the only one whose actually said that.”

“Ekko, I would like you to meet my student and her friends.” Celestia intervened. “There’s Princess Twilight Sparkle…”

“Hello!” The Alicorn replied.

“Rainbow Dash…”

“What’s up?” Rainbow Dash stated in the air, acting all cool and carefree.

“Applejack…”

“Howdy!” The earth pony said, waving a hoof.

“Fluttershy…”

“H-hi……” The pegasus squeaked.

“Rarity…”

“Why hello there darl-. My goodness!! What sort of clothes are you wearing!?!”

“Uh… The only ones I have?” He responded.

“... Moving on… You already met Pinkie…”

“Hi Ekko! Where are you from? What are you? What’s the contraption on your back!? Do you like-?”

“Pinkie, please.” Applejack brought the Party Pony back down to earth as she spoke. “Theres no way in Tartarus that he won’t be able to answer your questions like tha-.”

“Zaun, Human, my Z-drive. What was the last question?”

The entire room now stared at the boy in shock. Surprised by what he just said. “H-how?”

He sighed, facepalming himself again… “Wow… Time is really not on your side…”

“Moving on…” Celestia intervened again. “Lastly, this is Discord. Reformed spirit of chaos and thankfully, not so much of a troublemaker anymore.”

“Please to meet you.”

“Now then… Twilight, where’s Spike?”

“Oh he was off with the crusaders earlier, trying to find some kind of urban legend called “The River King”.” Twilight told them. “He’s back now and taking a nap.” However, the mentioning of the Urban Legend caused a chill to run down Ekko’s spine. He had heard of that before.

But it wasn’t the highest of his priorities.

“I see…” Celestia continued. “Anyways, I brought Ekko here because he has a very special talent that I would like for him to show to you and your friends.”

“Seriously? This kid has a talent? What is he, some kind of Punk Rock music guitarist?” Rainbow sarcastically asked. Ekko himself sighed.

“No… I’m a champion in the League of Legends. And you’re soon going to see why.” Ekko replied, smiling a little as he backed up and took a position on the other end of the room.

“Is that a threat?!”

“No, it’s a challenge… Of course, it’s your choice whether or not you want to do it…”

“Oh I am so going to wipe the floor with this guy!!” Rainbow retorted, getting on the ground into a racing starting position like before a Wonderbolt race. Twilight tried to tell her friend to air on the side of caution, but the arrogant and pride filled pegasus ignored it, charging at him and not noticing what he was about to do.

“Heads up!” He called, moving his real body to the side while a holographic projection was seen hitting a contraption onto the floor, at the moment that Rainbow came across the circle, Ekko phased dived into it, setting off the trap he placed.

Parallel Convergence.

“What the hay!?! What did you do to Rainbow?!”

“Calm yourself, the effects are only temporary.” Ekko assured. Soon, five seconds later, Rainbow was moving again and then crashed into a wall. “That… was only one of my abilities. Parallel Convergence. You saw another one, phase dive, at the moment I dove into the circle the same time Rainbow came in. Parallel Convergence is meant to slow down opponents, but when I step into the circle, it temporarily freezes the time around them for four seconds before they could move again.”

“Wait… Freeze time!? Did I hear that right?!” Twilight asked upon hearing that statement.

“Of course. My guile allows me to slow enemies while speeding up my own time so I get a speed boost. Parallel Convergence allows me to corner anyone that gets too close to me. Phase dive allows me to dive right behind them,” The boy explained, pulling out another contraption. “Timewinder can hit opponents before returning back to me-.”

“OOOOH! It’s Mr. Frisbee!!”

“Pinkie…”

“-And lastly, there’s Chronobreak.” Upon saying that, Ekko used his Z-drive to chronobreak back to where he was on the other side of the room, behind the princesses, ponies, and chaos spirits alike. “Where I go back to wherever I was some time ago.”

Twilight herself was just overwhelmed with all the things Ekko showed her that she fainted the moment that he did that while all the other ponies looked at him in shock. “Hey, that’s why they called me “The Boy who Shattered Time” after all.”

“That… makes sense.” Discord was the first to reply. “Should I call you Timey Wimey?” Ekko shook his head as he looked back at the princesses, who began to speak again.

“Well, girls… and Discord. We’ll leave Ekko in your care. Please, don’t mess with him too much.”

“Tell Fancy and Fleur I said Hi.” Ekko replied as he watched both Princesses leaving in a flash of light. Soon, he began to walk to what he believed to be an open window and cracked it open.

“Hey sugarcube, where are you going?”

“Going out for a walk. I need to check something.”

“Dude,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned. “The door is over here.”

“I know… Trust me. I do my own stunts.” Without warning, Ekko dropped down onto the building next to it and began to run along the rooftops of the town. With Rainbow still watching him from her position in the air.

“Wow… Kid’s got skills.” She told the girls. “I’m gonna follow him and see where he’s going.” Quickly, she bursted out the same window that Ekko went out of and began to pursue him. She watched as he went to the edge of town, where the Everfree Forest was, and then entered inside.

“Why would he be going in there?” She thought to herself, as she lowered herself through the canopy of trees. Quietly, she stayed low as she followed the boy as he went along the edge of the river that was inside the Everfree Forest. Soon though, he stopped. At one of the docks that lingered by the coast, Ekko took out a small bag he kept on him. Earlier, he stored some extra food in here from Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis when they gave him breakfast. Now, he placed the bread and drink inside the boat that was nearby, sitting on the edge of the dock and looking down into the water below. The boy couldn’t make anything out of it, but he did see something that wasn’t quite… normal, so to speak.

As Rainbow watched, she noticed that the calm waters from before began to ripple, causing the river to swish around. Then, she began to hear… music? Which was strange because she didn’t see anypony carrying an instrument with them and she never thought Zecora to be the kind of pony to play a song. That’s when she saw a pair of demonic eyes form from the waters below as a terrifying beast rose from the river. However, to Rainbow’s surprise, Ekko wasn’t afraid. In fact, he had gotten up from his position on the docks to meet the creature halfway on the shore.

What surprised the Pegasus the most though was that when Ekko began to speak again. “Hello there, Tahm Kench.”

“Well well, if it isn’t the prodigy from Zaun. Surprising to see you out here in these lands… you are very far away from your home, boy.” The river demon spoke, his tone being a mix of melodic and vicious. “I suppose you aren’t here to make a deal now, are you?”

“Not when your deals lead to you being on the bottom of the food chain.” Ekko retorted. “Judging from your position and the fact that I still see you on the Fields of Justice, I figured that you would know a possible way for me to go back home.” The River King partially smiled, showing all of his teeth and causing Rainbow Dash’s fur to stand up on end.

“You seem to have run out of options if you are coming to ask for the help of a demon.” Tahm Kench’s voice echoed throughout the Everfree. “Tell me though, how did you end up in this world? It’s rare to see anyone else besides a pony in this place, and really rare to find a brilliant mind such as yourself.”

Ekko had his hands rummage through his pockets, taking out the crest that was given to him and tossing it to the monster he was talking too. “A shopkeeper at Summoner’s Rift gave me this as a ‘token of appreciation’ only to have me end up in this place after the fight was over. Can you make any sense of it?”

Tahm Kench shook his head. “It is odd, I can say that. But I do think that there is a way for this to be used. It won’t bring you back home, but it would allow for other people in your position to call upon you for your help. By casting it out into the void, other warriors throughout the void can find it and summon you to them.”

“Like with the League?”

“Almost. However, it’s different. Now, is there anything that you want these brave souls to know of you as? Like a message you want to send to them.”

Ekko thought about it for a minute, and then sighed. “I am known as many things. But, my name is Ekko. If there is a time where you need time to be on your side, summon me and I can help make sure that happens.”

The crest that Tahm was holding glowed for a moment before he smiled. “Message received.” That was when he did the one thing that Ekko was never ready to see him do. Swallow the crest whole.

“Did you just ate the Crest I gave you?”

“Calm down, kiddo. That was only a duplicate I sent to the void. Your real crest is in your pocket.”

“Okay-. Wait, anything you swallow goes to the void?”

“How else do you think I have an endless hunger?” The river demon questioned.

“ ……… Good point.”

“Now, if you would excuse me, somepony in Manehattan has a debt to pay. I’ll see you around, Kid.” Tahm waved goodbye, grabbing the bread and drink from his boat before he shoved off. “Thank you kindly for the food.”

Ekko nodded his head, waving goodbye. Now though, he was back to making the trek towards the Castle. Or in his case, running.

Because he likes doing his own stunts.

End Break 2

Author's Note

I would like to thank Professor Birch for the inspiration to do this chapter after reading his Tahm Kench story, Absolutions.

Now, Ekko's token is out there and ready for summoning. Have fun.

Just out of curiosity, How would Ekko react to meeting the Doctor?