Chapter 4: Temporal Encounter

In Pyro's POV

"Gahh!" I shouted, flinging away something covering me. Not the best feeling in the world waking up to a severe headache.

I held out my right hoof to clutch my head due to the immense pain, when I noticed something in the corner of my eye. Or, rather, someone. Err... more than one.

I looked to my right and saw six ponies staring at me. My first thought was to greet, but then I just stared back. I did not know what to do. Where exactly am I again? This place does not look like a forest. The six slowly walked towards me.

"Umm... doc?" I heard. "The pony's awake."

Ahh. The hospital. With what bland colours for its rooms. Just then another pony rushed in. He looks like a doctor, with the labcoat and the stethoscope hung around his neck.

"Don't worry, you only have a high fever, we have given you some aspirin to bring it down." He said, looking at a chart which I think shows my body temperature. "Also, what happened to your hoo-"

"Not gonna talk about it." I interrupted. It felt refreshing; I haven't spoken in a really long time. "And I also like my body temperature at 43 degrees Celsius, where it should be."

The doctor was now confused. "The normal body temperature is 38 degrees Celsius." He raised an eyebrow.

"Not for me." I got off the hospital bed, which resulted in several attempts to push me back on it. Annoyed, I lifted up my right hoof. And I thrust it into the air on my right. Immediately, the doctor was repelled away from me in the same direction, allowing space for me to get out of the room. The push wasn't forceful enough to knock him over though, it was at the right force such that he was pushed back and still standing. Where's my bag? Here it is, hung up on a coat rack.

From the six ponies came a question: "How'dja do that?"

To which I bluntly replied, "Magic." It's simple, is it not?

Of course, I didn't specify which kind of magic. The only kinds of magic an earth pony can learn are those faux slight-of-hoof kinds and Arcana. Or, at least, that's what I've encountered.

I walked to the door, but a purple unicorn appeared in front of me, with the exaggerated expression of curiosity of her face. How did I know her gender? It was simple: muzzle size.

I was then bombarded with a torpedo of questions. "Magic? What kind? Where did you learn it? How did you learn it? You're an earth pony, you can't possibly know how to use magic. Or can you? Can earth ponies learn magic?" I looked at her with a bored expression.

So I lifted my hoof again and levitated her upwards and behind me, clearing the exit. I continue walking.

"Are you deaf or something? My friend asked you a question." Another pony shouted from behind me. I stopped walking. Now, don't get me wrong here. I wasn't trying to be rude to them. I just had matters to attend to that were more important than answering questions.

"I have no obligation to answer." I reply. "And I have more pressing matters to tend to. Such as finding all the pieces of this." I held out my watch, which was only the casing at that moment. "I have already wasted enough time being unconscious."

"Is this one of the pieces?" The purple unicorn held out a mechanism. "I've been trying to open it, but the casing is shut tight."

Now I'm curious. I levitated the object toward me and inspected it. Looking at it, I found some scratches on the casing, presumably from landing. I then sat down and twisted it open. The casing came apart with a satisfying pop, and the gears inside were still functioning properly. It just lacks a power source to activate the motor. I think I just found the clockwork gearing for the watch.

Meanwhile, the six ponies watched as I tinker around with the mechanism. "Don't mess around with it, it could be extremely dangerous!" The purple unicorn said. She has obviously no clue what it was. "I tried so many ways to open it, but you did so effortlessly."

"Well, its the clockwork mechanism that is used to run my watch, so obviously I know how to open it! I made it!"

"And how do we know that it's yours?" An annoyed voice from an orange earth pony.

"Because," I replied. "I built it from scratch." And I say so proudly.

I put the pieces back together and took out my watch. I fit it into the slot it was supposed to be in. Fits like a glove.

"And now it's exploded into who-knows-how-many pieces. And obviously if I made it, you would ask: 'Why not rebuild it from scratch again?' The answer to that is very simple. I do not want these pieces to fall into the wrong hooves. If they do bring them all together and tinker about with it, they may gain access to time itself and undo everything they have done wrong, eventually leading to the mass destruction of the world as you know it. Of course, since we are looking at each other, it means that I have found every piece of my watch and have successfully avoided mass destruction," I continued. "And of course, the standard truth holds. Never trust a time-traveller unless you see the time-travelling in action. Besides, they take a long time to make."

"I still think you are familiar. Something about you is just... off. I remember seeing you somewhere, I just don't know where." The purple unicorn spoke.

Ergh. Time-travel. Always a hassle to deal with. "In a history book maybe." I'll just shrug it off. "I best be off. I need to look for the parts." I said. "And thanks for the piece."

"Wait!" She shouted. "You haven't even given us a name yet!"

Well, I don't think I can use 'Infernus' anymore. I'll just use my nickname and pass it off as my real name. "The name's Pyro." And I exit the hospital, with no bearing or direction whatsoever.

So I stood outside for a couple of minutes trying to locate any other civilisation besides the hospital in the middle of nowhere. I reckon that if I walk in one general direction, I can reach a village. Or some decent civilisation, whichever comes first. And it just so happens that there is a path laid down in front of me! Let's follow it and see where it leads! I'm sure nothing can go wro-

Then, the six ponies exit the hospital. "Hey! We realized that we haven't given our names yet."

Ergh. More of this nonsense.

I turn around to look at them. One of them was the purple pony, one was orange, one was light yellow, one was cyan, one was white and one was a blob of pink. Really colourful.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle." The purple pony introduced herself. "And, in order, are Applejack, Fluttershy ,Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie... where'd she go?"

"Got it." I answered. "And what time is it now?"

"Pretty sure it's about noon." Twilight replied.

Oh well then. Have to wait for a bit to tell the time directly from the sun. Or find a clock, that helps too. Time to set off, I suppose.

And it just so happens that I walk in the exact same direction as the remaining five. I can clearly hear the five happily chatting away behind me. Is that a town I see ahead of me? This road lead right to it, it seems. Do those ponies live here?

A cool breeze blew by. I've only been unconscious all morning and I'm already feeling cold. So to heat myself up again, I used some arcane fire. I ignited my body. The fire rejuvenates me, giving me a boost of energy.

Of course, the moment my body is set on fire, I hear screams. From behind me no less. I think I hear 'go get some water' or something along those lines.

Not a moment later, I was splashed with freezing cold water. I felt the water hit my body, but the fire immediately evaporated the water. I hear someone running towards me, shouting, "Quick, get more!"

I look behind me. I see a rainbow trail zoom away, presumably to the nearest unfrozen lake. It then zooms back, revealing Rainbow Dash with a bucket full of water ready to splash it all over my back again. The water was hurled at me. I lifted my hoof and aimed it at the water. Within milliseconds the water evaporated. Then I aimed my hoof at the bucket, heating it up. Rainbow dropped the bucket onto the floor, which then melted and resolidified into a heap of junk metal.

"Hey, what gives?" I hear her shouting at me. "You're on fire!" Heh. Someone's ignorant.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" I shout back. "Just so happens that I like being on fire."

I ignored the others and continued walking to the town. Really though, as much as I like being on fire, onlookers may think that the fire is a threat. I mean, it's not everyday you get to see a pony on fire and going about his day as per normal, right?

Slowly, the fire died down. Without fuel, even arcane fire can be put out. I open my bag. I reach in to take out my spellbook. I hear a couple of gasps behind me. As usual. Haven't you all seen a pan-dimension bag before? It's quite simple really, it's just a hole to a pocket dimension which has a size limit. The hole is open and access to the pocket dimension is through the hole. One entrance, one exit, same hole. More than two holes can lead to catastrophic consequences. And of course, I reach my hoof in all the way, without any sign of any bulge appearing on the bag's surface.

I took out my spellbook and flipped to a page. It was labelled 'Invisibility'.

I read out loud from the book: "Abscondia indespectus mihipte ex eos."

I was really getting annoyed at them, so I used an invisibility spell. Simple? Well, it was just an illusion spell, so to them I have disappeared into oblivion, but I can still see myself.

I walk away from the confused group and into the town.

~scene change~

In 3rd Person POV

Pyro vanished into thin air. Twilight and her friends crowd about where he just stood, thoroughly confused. "How did he do that?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know. I think it's the same way he melted the bucket without touching it." Rainbow answered. She shrugged in mid-air.

They reached Ponyville a short while later. They split up and went home.

Twilight, upon reaching her house-tree, was greeted by Spike, who was eager to tell her something.

"Somepony came in and fixed our window for us." Spike said. "He worked so fast, I almost got dizzy trying to watch."

"But I didn't ask anypony to help." Twilight is now even more confused than before. "What did the pony look like?"

"He was red. He had red hair with an orange stripe, a green bag, a golden watch with a green strap around his neck and a hoof which he did not want to talk about."

She went upstairs with Spike and looked towards the window. It was indeed fixed, but has a note attached to it.

"The letter was addressed to you, so I didn't dare open it until you got home." Spike said.

Twilight went over to the window and picked up the letter. Opening it, she read aloud: "Dear Twilight Sparkle, Told ya time-travel was real. This is a single timeline universe. If you are interested, I left a book in your kitchen. I was a bit thirsty. The next time you get the chance, ask me about my age and compare. If you are reading this, don't let the past me know I came here. I've been through that. Also, sorry for the piece crashing through the window. Sincerely, Pyro. 738 years."

"Well, that was very confusing." She concluded. "Even if it is interesting. It's still weird knowing that time-travel is possible, but I've only managed to travel back a week. Spike, make a note to Princess Celestia."

Spike took out a parchment and quill. Twilight then spoke: "Dear Princess Celestia, Today I met somepony very interesting. He stated that he can time-travel. Although I do not believe him at first, knowing that the spell I casted a few months back only took me to a week prior to casting the spell. However, I came across a letter that stated that he time-travelled to fix my window. It stated that he was 738 years of age, but I do not believe that statement. I will send you the original letter with this one, while I keep a duplicate. He also said that he can use magic, although he did not specify which type. He had a spellbook which was purple in colour, with a gold star in the centre. This pony also has a metallic left hoof, which he did not want to talk about. Lastly, he said something about seeing him in a history book, but I recall meeting him somewhere else. I hope you can help me with this conundrum. Your student, Twilight Sparkle."

"Hope you can help me with this conundrum... your student... Twilight Sparkle." Spike repeated. "Finished."

"Ok." Twilight then asked Spike to copy the contents of Pyro's letter over to another parchment. Once that's been done, Spike attached Pyro's letter to Twilight's letter and sent them to the princess.

~scene change~

In her workroom, Princess Celestia was reading several court appeals and letters. Suddenly, a whiff of green smoke drifted into the room, which then coagulated in front of the princess, forming a rolled up parchment, with another note attached to it. Reading the parchment and the note, her smile faded into fear. She ran down the halls looking for her sister. Upon reaching Luna's room, she pushed the doors open, waking her sleeping sister up.

"What is it... dear sister?" Luna asked, yawning.

Without skipping a beat, she said, "He's arrived."

"Who? Who art thou talking about?" Luna sat up in her bed.

"Infernus. Infernus Pyriclysm Burnem." Not long after, Luna became scared as well.

Author's Note

Before you say that it's a self insert, do note that my username is the name of my OC. My username has nothing to do with the story.

Next chapter: Confusion ensues! Pyro gets welcomed into Ponyville, Pinkie Pie style. Also, what made the Princesses fear for their lives?