Time is Magic

“Woah! You are telling me a human came over to the Clockwork Prince’s coronation?!”

A human in Equestria at such an auspicious event must have been worldwide news!

“Yes, Sunny, I just did. We don’t know who he is, though. Although he seems to have some kind of magic, based on my notes…” Argyle was telling the truth. Nopony, not even J-corn, knew his true identity, but J-corn knew that he knew this person from somewhere.

“Anyways, sorry for interrupting, Dad, can we continue?”

“Of course, Sunny. We can continue!”

***

“As we were saying, child, who art thou in parlance with? Why is he cussing like a sailor?”

Well, what am I supposed to tell Luna? Do I tell her everything, or do I make something up? I really don’t know what to do!

< Don't lie. Tell fragments of the truth.>
“Uhhh… I was talking to somepony, but I am still confused as to who he is. What I DO know is that I still have a coronation to celebrate. If he comes back to my encrypted line, I will let you know, okay?’

“Of course. We have had visions before, this is nothing new. Let us pray it is not the Tantabus or thine variant of it!”

“Yeah… I remember you telling me about that. Must have been scary!”

“Anyways, thou seemeth distraught. Why art thou upset on this joyous day?”

“Ack! He spoke again! Okay… here’s the 411. Did I tell you yet about my timeline preening?” I need to make sure Luna has all the context.

“Yes, child. We are well aware, continue, no harm will come to thee.” She replies, putting me at ease.

“Well… Equestria has 10 years left before it breaks apart. I don’t know why yet, but the reason I started this student lottery to build a time corps is so I can have more insight on how to prevent this!” I tell Luna, quivering at the thought.

“So, how did I do, mystery voice?” I say quietly to myself, awaiting a response.

“Ten years left? My word! Art thou certain of this? This claim is too serious to jest about!” She gasps, horrified at the prospect.

“Yes, Luna. 100% sure. I don’t know all the details, but I can’t share everything I know, or something worse could happen!” I admit, making Luna shiver.

“Well you said I need to trust her, and she gave me a hug today… I checked this timeline. Celestia is benevolent. It’s just me that’s a bit wound up.”

“Anyways, ma, I was wondering if you have any insight on this? I need to come up with a plan before this lottery for students begins. You’ve saved Equestria a few times, but never from itself!”

“Insight, we have plenty. Breathe, and we shall elaborate. Actually, we have arrived at the griffon delegation. Put this on hold and activate thy “happy face!””
Well, a good pony listens to his mother, so I put this existential issue on hold and do as she asks me.

“Care to listen in on boring political stuff? If I need you, you know where to find me. This isn’t an order, merely a request. Mind you, I like it, but not everypony else does”

Okay, this puts me at ease. With my mother’s company and her hoof on my shoulder to calm me down, we land in front of the griffon ambassador a few files away from Celestia’s estate.

“I believe a congratulations is in order, Sir Clockwork Prince!” The she-griffon ambassador says, reaching out a talon to “shake hands”. I quickly lent out my right forehoof and shook her talon diplomatically.

“Why thank you Madam Ambassador! Pray tell what interesting things are happening in Griffonstone right now! I must admit I am a bit out of the loop!’

“Well, you had a lot of prep to do this past month. All is forgiven, sir! Anyways… we can discuss foreign affairs another time, I merely wanted to give you a gift.” And with that, the ambassador takes out a medium sized box and puts it on the floor. I raise it with my magic, waiting.

“What do you think the gift is? Anything I could use for my students? Remember I can’t see my *own* future, so I am just as clueless as everypony else.”

Opening the box, I see a two-handed (or in this case, hoofed) longsword made out of the finest metal in all of Equus. Grabbing it with my hooves, I try and get a feel for the grip.

“I had a feeling you would like this! Oh, Stallions and he-griffons with their toys! We pray that you never need to use this in warfare, but Griffonstone is more than happy to commission weapons for the Clockwork Prince if need be. Consider this longsword to be a gift from Gilda Griffon herself!”

I quickly fashion myself a sheath for the sword using magic, and place it at my side. It’s not too heavy, so I think I can fly home with this thing.

“Your gift is greatly appreciated, Madam Ambassador. I will be sure to cherish it!” I say. Honestly, I think the sword is really cool.

“Ma, if I recall correctly, the griffons commissioned your weapons, too, right?”

“Yeah, they did. Thank the moon and stars we haven’t had to use them for years!”

“Wait… did the Crown Prince of time just refer to Princess Luna as his mother?” The ambassador asks, a bit confused.

“Yes. Yes I did. It’s a long story…” chuckling at this. I hug my moon mom to prove the point, and she returns the embrace.

“And we love thee as well. Sir Clockwork Prince!” She says, pecking me on the cheek, embarrassing me in front of a foreign dignitary!

“Anyways. My name is Gallus. You might remember me as one of the Young Six back in the day, some fifteen years ago!”

“That’s right… Princess Twilight told me about you guys a while back. The pleasure is mine!”

“Well, I came here fifteen years LATE, so…”

“Anyways, you have more dignitaries to meet, so I will leave you be, sire!” She flies off, leaving me and my moon mom to our own devices.

“Methinks the next set of creatures thou needeth to greet are the Council of Friendship. Come, let us go there at once!”

“This seems like a good idea, right?”

<... Unsure, to be honest… Again, tread carefully. Their loyalty is to an Alicorn who freaks out over a single inkpot being out of place and who practically worships Celestia, who herself isn’t all she shows herself to be…>

“And mine is to the mare who raised me for 10 millennia and loves me for who I am… anyways, I’ll behave, don’t worry mystery man!”

I follow Luna back to Celestia’s estate, where I notice everypony having a great time! Seeing my new subjects happy relaxes me, although that if I screw something up it could all be for naught!

When we finally make it, somepony familiar waives a hoof, beckoning me to come over.

“We shall parlay with our sister now. Go, J-corn. Be a monarch for a few minutes. If thou needeth me, thou knoweth our location!”

Well, Luna is a pony too, not just a coach. I follow Twilight’s instructions and I go into the group. I feel like I am invading some secret society or high school clique!

“Well, congrats Clockwork guy!” A cyan pegasus with a hint of attitude says, slapping me on the shoulder in a friendly way.

“Um… yeah… you did well!” Another pegasus says, very quietly.

“Ah’m happy y’all are enjoying the food. Sweet Apple Acres is caterin’ this event!”

“AND I PLANNED EVERYTHING ELSE!!”

“And I designed your clothes, as well as budgeted the event. Pray tell J-corn, what is a ponycoin? All the fillies and colts are using this newfangled currency instead of bits! I MUST get involved with this. It is so lucrative”

“Well, Rarity, a ponycoin is cryptocurrency that runs on the magical Blockchain, which I’ll get to in a minute.”

“You bucking BETTER wait! We’re convening the council now!”

The aforementioned Alicorn led us from the hall to the Throne room, where, after everypony sat, proceeded to royally freak the buck OUT.

“Somepony told me that we have ten years to get our act together before I lose my kingdom!”

Dammit! LUNA, why did you do that?!

“Mystery man, a little help?!”

“Clockwork King Ain’t looking so bad right now…”

“As the newest sovereign of Equestria, you have some explaining to do. Obviously, I am proud of you for being crowned today, and nothing will change that. I am just confused as to why you didn’t tell me about this?” Twilight says to me, looking quite cross.

“Well… I don’t know any of you that well. I mean, I am not from this timeline for Pete’s sake! Hell, even this Luna who’s my foster mother isn't the Luna who raised me! How am I supposed to trust somepony I don’t know with crucial information like this?!”

“The time pony makes ah good point, Twi. he doesn’t know any of us that well!” Applejack says in my defense.

“Um… J-corn… right? I got a message from Discord… today… he says he saw you and told you to ab… abandon ship… are you going to abandon ship?!” Fluttershy says, looking at me with pouting eyes.

That bucking chaotic neutral son of a mare! He pisses me off and then sells my anger to the highest bidder!

“Nopony is abandoning ship in MY kingdom!” Twilight says, beginning to argue with Fluttershy.

“Well I think the time guy is cool. I like him, and he could probably beat me in a rac-”

“Nopony cares about your racing right now, Dash. Grow up ah bit!”

“Well at least J-corn has the decency to compliment my clothing designs you mule!” Rarity says, beginning to argue with Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

Everypony is arguing… because of me! I didn’t even do any crazy things yet.

“ENOUGH!”

I say, time magic at the hoof, moments away from pausing time or doing something else drastic. Twilight

“This is exactly what my future forecasts predict. Closest of friends becoming enemies, and me having to clean up the mess. We have to prove my prediction wrong, and arguing is making it manifest! Do you want the Wendigos to show up again?”

“Nopony wants the Wendigos again, J-corn.” Twilight says, calming everypony down.

“Well, darling, since I seem to be the only pony here with any sympathy for the colt, I have an idea on how to prevent this calamity!” Rarity says, much to the confusion of everypony here.

“And WHAT would that be, Rarity?” Pinkie Pie asks rhetorically, knowing full well what she is going to say.

“The Clockwork Prince needs a Clockwork Princess! Isn’t it obvious? Love is what will save Equestria from itself!”

“Is Rarity out of her bucking mind? I can’t die! Loving somepony will be horrible for me because they’ll die in a few short decades! I am already bracing for my real mom and sister in 60-80 years.”

<... Not necessarily, my young and ageless pony. Don’t you have the power to rewind time while keeping memories intact?>

“I can rewind time… but death is absolute… Luna and I both agreed that I cannot revive anypony after they die, for it will disrupt the natural order. Only G-d can have that power!”

< You misunderstand me. I’m not speaking about restoration after death, I’m speaking of age-regression while still alive.>

“You are brilliant! But… I’ve tried that before in my ten millennia of frozen time with a frog… and the frog still died. The universe requires death for most creatures.”

“What a lovely idea, Rarity. Finally something another pony can agree on. J-corn. I am going to call my sister-in-law and she will help you find your mare!” Twilight says, quickly writing down a reminder to do so.

“And who would be CRAZY enough to marry this guy?” Applejack ponders,

“Ya think I know? I have no idea! Heck, if my mom wasn’t able to find anypony, how could I find anypony?” I ask, unsure if this idea will be of any use.

“Your foster mother is a unique case, J-corn. I don’t think Luna is like most ponies.” Twilight adds.

***

“Wait, daddy, I am confused. Why is J-corn arguing with everypony about love? If he can’t die, isn’t falling in love pointless? What if the mystery human with magic is wrong?”

“I don’t know, but I know that his bad future with the Clockwork King came to fruition, because everypony is afraid of each other. He might not be ruling with an iron hoof, like he thought he would, but he is policing the timeline with his Guardians to make sure that the status quo remains divided. I must know why!”

“Well, do you know what happened next in this story? Does J-corn the time prince fall in love?”

“It’s not so simple, Sunny. He does fall in love, but love didn’t save him. May I continue?”

“Yeah, daddy. Sorry that I’m asking so many question- actually, I have one more!”

Argyle looks at his daughter with caring eyes, interested to see what her question will be.

“Ask away, my little pony!”

“If J-corn the time prince failed, and he can control time and space, is there ANY chance Friendship will prevail? C… can I really be Princess Twilight’s student?” Sunny is really upset by this proposition.

“I...I don’t know Sunny. What I do know is that your friend Hitch’s grandfather was allegedly on J-corn’s time guardian team for a brief stint. When he comes over to play tomorrow, I would ask him if he knows anything. Now… you should go to sleep. We can continue the story in the morning. I love you. Good night!”

Kissing his daughter on the forehead, he leaves his daughter’s room and returns to his study. He begins to think to himself about his past.

“Poor Sunny. I love her to bits, but she is too pure to know that I am the last guardian… I never even met J-corn, but… I was given the task of recording Equestrian history for Earth Ponies. I disobeyed by including the Magic of Friendship in these lessons. I fear that J-corn will find me and-.”

And then somepony familiar to him broke down the door.

“Argyle Starshine… we need to talk, NOW!”

The Clockwork King himself!

“S...sire! S-sire! I’m h-honored for this unexpected-!”

“Save the semantics, Starshine!”

“P… please don’t yell. My daughter is sleeping.”

J-corn, as apathetic and corrupt as he had become, still has a soft spot for children, so he was willing to comply with Argyle’s simple request,

“What have I done for this visit, Your Highness?! I’ve been recording history as you commanded for thirty years, down to the last letter! I solved the puzzle in the lottery, ...I got the order of the Clock! I...”

“You know very well what you did… you began preaching the vile lie of Friendship to the denizens of this cute town. I have to purge friendship from the timeline… all it ever did was hurt me and those I cared about. Before I decide what to do with you, please explain WHY you did so?”

“Sire… all I ask is that you do not harm my daughter Sunny. She is a filly of seven years old! She is innocent of any of my teachings! You… you can add me to the Hourglass for all I care, just leave her be!”

“Ah… so you know about the Hourglass. Luster Dawn taught you well, I see! You know why I need the Hourglass, right?”

“If… if I recall correctly it has something to do with your mother?”

“Yes… I need my mother back, and… it’s the only way to bring her back. I need 25 million more souls before I can have enough life energy to save her… that DAMN WHORSE who did this to her!”

“But… I thought Princess Luna was alive and well! That’s what Luster Dawn told me all those years ago!”

“She is alive… but she is also dead. Are you familiar with Schroedinger’s Mare?”

“I think so? Somepony who is alive and dead at the same time!”

“Exactly… it is because of Friendship that my mother got into this mess. I really don’t want to hurt anypony, but I need her back. She is my everything. I am sure you can relate to that with that precious thing you have sleeping in your room…”

Slowly stepping towards Argyle, mane wrapping around them while showing Argyle’s past, present, and potential futures, he lowers his voice and coldly continues.

“Now… Do you have anything to say in your defense as to why you are harming my sacred timeline with your vile teachings?”

“I… I wanted to bring the magic back… for my daughter’s sake!”

“The magic? THE MAGIC? How stupid are you? The Magic of Friendship is too dangerous to be wielded by anypony. Friends can do horrible things to each other, and when they work together, can inflict more evil as a group than one pony can do on his own. SURELY Luster taught you that?”

“But...that’s not true! What about-”

“DON’T YOU BUCKING DARE... SAY HER NAME.”

“S...sorry sire! P...please don’t kill me for treason!”

“Kill you? Your soul has virtually no magic! I have always pitied you Earth Ponies for this… I will give you a fate worse than death instead. My mother taught me a few tricks before that WHORSE did what she did to her… however I am a stallion of my word. Not a hoof will be brought towards your daughter. She is of little use to my plans anyways… although there IS one timeline where she somehow becomes an alicorn after defeating me, but the odds of that happening are minimal to none. Like… 1 in 14,000,605?”

“Sunny WILL be that one timeline, NOAH! She will unite ponykind and even the non-ponies as well. I have taught her EVERYTHING!”

How does Argyle know J-corn’s real human name? He hasn’t used it in centuries!

“Goodbye. You were a good student. I truly pity your child, Starshine.”

And with a flash of his horn, Argyle was sent to the Place Beyond Time, left to relive his worst memories forever. A much worse fate than death.

“Alrighty. Now that that guy is gone. I really need to find younger Noah and make sure that he does exactly what I did…”

“I’m coming for you, kiddo. Shame I can’t kill you, because that would kill me and cause a paradox.”

The Clockwork King stops in his tracks. He hadn’t heard that voice in almost 200 years. A blink of an eye for him, but enough time to make him think.

“You again... magic man. What do you want? I am a lost cause already! Leave me alone!”

“You were a bucking liar! You said my mom will live! Look at her! She’s a clump of cells I have been trying to regenerate for the past 100 years!”

“I just want Mom back… I never wanted to kill anypony! You KNOW that. It was the only way. I searched the entire timeline for an ethical solution but alicorn souls can only be nourished with life energy!”

“I will. You know where to find me. I have important things to do. Not everything I do is “evil time emperor stuff” I have a timeline to repair! Just last week some unicorn in Bridlewood activated his magic and tried to rewrite history. I had to fix that! If I need you again, magic man, I will contact you. I bid you well.”

Humming a melody his mother taught him, the Clockwork King teleports away to his castle at the Edge of Equestria, where the Crystal Empire used to be.

“That son of a mare quoting Earth cultu- wait… I forgot he was from my timeline, too! No wonder he can see my future. I must find a way to meet this fellow again. I only saw him at my coronation all those years ago!”

“Greetings, Sire! How is everything?” A mare asks him as he returns to his palace and takes his armor off.

“All is well Phyllis. How’s the Startup coming along?” J-corn obviously wouldn’t talk about the Magic Man, because Phyllis Cloverleaf wouldn’t understand one bit!

“Excellent, sire. Canterlogic tech for Earth Pony cybersecurity and Unicorn/Pegasi attacks are moving ahead at full speed. Your insider trading tips about ponycoin were really useful!”

“I am glad it’s working out, and the colt, is he alright?”

“Yes, of course! Sprout is fine and well. What are your orders, sire?”

“Set the Hourglass to 75% capacity. We are almost there. I have to go pay an old friend a visit.”

“Yes sir!” Phyllis says, galloping off to the Hourglass control console and plugging in the parameters.

“Ma. We are so close!” He thinks to himself as he sees the clump of cells that was once his mother began to multiply.

***

While I was arguing with the Council of Friendship over potential love interests, I felt something really cold down my name… like somepony was pulling from my magic.

“Mystery Man? Do you feel that? Somepony is accessing my magic! This shouldn’t be possible!”

I was about to reply to this, but my mom burst into the room in full battle armor, like she just saw somepony having a heart attack.

“J-corn, our sweet colt! We consulted with Starswirl and he found thy future self. He is a tyrant! Not the sweet boy we know and love! He is out to find you and MAKE SURE Friendship fails!”

Bursting into tears, Luna runs into my hooves and begins to caress my mane.

“P… promise us thou shalt be a good pony. Promise us that thou shalt keep thine Judaism properly and remain pure.”

Geez, looks like Luna saw a ghost! I return the embrace, letting Luna’s cool mane try and calm me down.

“This is bad… This is really bad. J-corn, stay right here. I will come back in a minute!” Twilight says, bolting out of the room to find Starswirl the Bearded.

Future self with a vendetta? This is getting interesting, indeed!