Author's Note

Hey, guys. Hopefully the first chapter drew some attention to the story. In this chapter is where the story begins, so I cross my fingers that you guys will like it.

Control Of The Past

Gates

The idea of death never occurred at all in Alister's mind. Instead, he thought his own stubbornness would be more than enough to keep him past the brink of his intended lifespan. But, he always knew that his time would come, but he held more faith that it would be something like a cliche 'big blaze of glory' that was more than called for.

'Why do I feel like I've already lost?' Alister thought, his closed eyes twitching at the light rain. 'Maybe because I already have. . .there's nothing I can do.'

"Um, excuse me?"

'But, Adagio and the girls are counting on me.'

"Excuse me?"

Alister frowned.

'Well, I guess I should-'

"You must be deaf!" A voice jolted the young man out of his thoughts. "Get off of my dumbell of a sister before I give you a brick to the skull!"

"Huh?" Alister questioned. He hadn't noticed somebody was underneath him. Strange. Cracking his eyes open, he was met with the sky; rainclouds drifting by without a care.

However, the person he sat upon did not seem to mind his weight. Slowly getting up, his body began to throb, no doubt from whatever Adagio did to get him. . .wherever or whenever he is. As he looked around, a few stray trees stood about, along with what appeared to be benches.

"Huh?. . ." Alister squinted, a large school in the distance, three tall towers part of the foundation. From the distance he was at, he could faintly make out the outlines of windows framed in the shape of a emerald.

Huh. . .Alister felt as if he has seen this school before.

"So, are you going to get up?" The harsh voice asked in more of a exhausted tone. "My sister and I are just trying to get home, so, I'd realy appreciate you if ya got off."

Alister could sense that the girl was drained. Wiping his eyes, he got a better look at who was speaking to. The first thing he noticed was the devotion to trying to be part cat. The girl was very slim, like her body was built for track.

Secondly, her dark green hair was shoulder length with a cowlick at her forehead, one particular strand standing taller than the rest. Her skin was a light tan, her left hand readjusting the small red pouch on her waist.

"Who. . .are you?" Alister narrowed his eyes and got up, paying the slight throbbing no mind as he patted his body down to make sure he kept all his body parts. "And what's with the black Victorian coat?"

"It's part of my outfit, you twat. Dontcha know? The coat, complete with a cool cane!" The girl laughed, reaching behind the coat to uncover a well-sculpted cane made out of wood, and white shiny material, various carvings of lines and depictions of cats skewed about. The cane's handle was angled like a square. ''And it's also a estoc!''

''A what?'' Alister questioned, only to freeze to when the point of a very sharp blade prodded his nose.

''It's also a sword,'' the girl replied, amusement in her orange eyes as she sheathed it. ''It gets the job done, though it is pretty old. but-''

''Excuse me!'' a shrill voice sounded, as Alister was pushed forward, forcing him to turn around and see a girl who looked like a mime. Well, more so, her outfit was reminiscent of a farmhand, with black overalls with white stitching and white spots with what appeared to be a skin tight shirt underneath.

The rain dripped off of her curly brown hair. ''Don't ignore Io!'' Io pouted, her slightly chubby face turning red. Alister looked down upon the dwarf of a child, silently noting the roman numeral five branded on her forehead.

"Sorry, but I don't think the big kid table isn't reserved for squirts,'' Alister stared down the child, watching as she fumed at him.

''Shut up, you meanie!'' Io kicked at his feet, to little effect. ''Io is still growing!''

Alister sighed, feeling a small amount of pity for what it was the child thought she was doing to hurt him. But, he had to focus. He had a job to do; to try and fix things so that it would be better. . .so that nobody he knew had to be hurt, or even die. It wouldn't be easy, however. He had no clue of where to go, who to talk to, or even what to do. He just knew that something had to be done if there was to be any hope of the future being changed for the better.

''So, anyways-'' the cat girl enthusiast cut in, lifting up Io by her overall straps, leaving her to thrash in the air. ''I'm sorry if we got off the on the wrong foot. It's just that I take protecting my little sister seriously. I mean, you can understand that, can't you?''

''Yea, of course.'' Alister said, chewing his bottom lip. ''No harm done, really I guess.''

''So why were you lying down on the ground? You do know that school is over with, right?'' the girl stared at him curiously. ''Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen you around CPA. Are you a student?''

'CPA?' Alister thought. 'I think I heard of that place somewhere. . .from Aria.'

''Well, I don't entirely know myself,'' Alister admitted, causing the girls to quirk a eyebrow. ''I'm doing something, but I'm 100% positive you wouldn't believe if I told you. It all happened so suddenly, and even I-''

''Oh! Oh! Is it a conspiracy plot against the rival school? Because if it is, then you can count me in!'' the cat girl smiled, drawing her blade from the sheath. ''Or do you need to fight somebody?''

''Well,'' Alister frowned a bit, looking at her. ''I don't know if I even should. I have no idea who you are, so-''

''My name's Lucille Davis. But everyone calls me Lucy," Lucille extended a hand. "And you're?"

Alister paused for a moment, staring at her hand. He still was unsure if he could trust these two, but seeing as nobody else is around, and he does have something to do, why not make a friend or two if they can help out?

"Alister Wolf." Alister said, smiling. "And possibly crazy."

"Hmph, If I had any idea that you weren't crazy, this conversation would be dead," Lucille chuckled, but then remembered something. "So what's this grand scheme that you may or may not be able to tell me?"

"If I was sure of myself, I'd tell you with no pause. But we should get out of the rain before we catch a cold," Io pouted as Alister began to walk towards the school. He could have sworn he knew this place, but where?

Picking up their school bags, Io and Lucille followed after, Lucille offering to him to talk in the gym of the school as it was the closest. She knew this guy had to be pulling her leg. The truth was as clear as day, and she and Io would have him see it.

Seconds later. . .

"You felt that, right guys?" A young raspy voice showed concern. "Well, did you see that?"

The sound of feet splashing in small puddles sounded a few times before pausing. Six figures stared ahead at the trio of the two girls and boy slowly heading towards the school.

Brushing a bit of her hair to the side, Twilight Sparkle frowned at the sight of them. She personally held no malice towards them as she does not know them, but a vibe of uneasiness was about her seeing as the boy from eariler just literally phased into exsistence.

Ever since Sunset Shimmer appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be from a place called 'Equestria', her perception of what is real was often not trusted, even with the aid of science at her side.

She personally bore witness to the things that Sunset Shimmer did, and she is more than happy that her and her friends were able to prevent it from going further. But this boy. . .was different. That much she knew.

"So, what do we make of this?" Rainbow Dash asked, keeping her soccer ball underneath her feet at she peeled at her wet sports uniform, which slightly urked her. "Could this be a repeat of Sunset Shimmer or what?"

Twilight smiled at how Rainbow Dash was handling the situation. Knowing her, she probably would jump first and ask questions later. But given how their school was pretty much destroyed just by not lending a hand or stopping to think, they all would refrain from that.

"The answer is quite simple, dear," Rarity interjected, covered from the harsh rain with a purple and black umbrella. "We should go and consult Sunset to try and figure out what we could-"

"But, what if she doesn't know, Rarity?" Twilight asked, poking her friend with her finger. "Then what?"

"Then we can at least have the fact that we tried to understand. It's not like we have any option but that." Pinkie Pie added with her cheery demeanor. "But maybe this all some mistake."

Taking her phone out and dialing Sunset's number, Twilight motioned for her friends to follow her. Hopefully the group can get the answers they seek, or it would have to be someone else's problem, and that would be bad.

Twilight eyed the school in the distance, frowning as she held some attachment to it, but she let it go as that was behind her. A different time.

'Let's go, the quicker we find out what's going on, the quicker I can put a stop to it,' Twilight thought, her inner emotions beginning to stir and flow. I'll make sure that.'