After making his way home, Check groaned and sat at his desk before pouring a glass of coffee. The memories of what he did were foggy. But looking at his saddlebag told him that, either he should look now to know what to expect. Or wait and see if any of the girls show up to-.

"Mister Check?" Sweetie called. Once he looked over at her she smiled up at him. "My sister said that if I needed help I should come to you."

"That would depend on what you need." He replied motioning for her to take a seat.

Hopping onto the chair she bit her lip. "Twilight said something bad is coming. And is disaster proofing the town."

Check sat back and thought for a moment. "Well what she's doing is important. What concerns me is, why'd that'd have you come to me?"

"She said that her future self told her. And it's happening in a few days." Sweetie replied.

Blinking, Check got up and made his way to the door and swiftly flipped the sign to closed. "Then I don't have time to lose."

"You're taking this really well." Sweetie said as she followed him out.

"Sweetie. I had to deal with a love sucking bug that had mind controlling powers, and a psychotic God's voice in my head." He laughed as they made their way to the tree library. "I think time travel is a bit tame in comparison."

Once they arrived, Check thanked Sweetie and went inside. "Twilight?"

"She's over there." Spike sighed.

Taking a deep breath, Check he saw her looking over papers and looked through telescopes. "No corkboard, red string… but there are a bunch of papers." He sighed in relief before moving over to Twilight who was starting to worry. "Twilight. Tell me what happened. And give me all the details."

Taking a deep breath she started with what happened when she got home that morning. "I'm surprised you didn't hear Cerberus." She pointed out.

"I was sleeping off my hangover and taking care of some papers." He explained. "Carry on."

After a bit more exploration she sighed. "And there's only two signs left."

Check smirked and shook his head. "Sounds like a classic case of paradoxical events." He sighed.

"Why are you so calm about this?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight. First, stop Spike from eating ice cream." He replied.

Blinking, Twilight took the ice cream from Spike. "Now what?"

"Think." He replied. "If you had a chance right now to go back in time and tell yourself that something important like a party was coming. How would you react?"

Twilight thought for a moment and looked at her reflection. "I'd think something bad was coming." She sighed. "But how is this a paradox? Unless…" She gasped in realization.

Nodding, Check smiled. "Right. That Twilight did the same thing. And the only way to break the chain is to stop yourself now."

"But I-"

"Already made Equestria safer, got the guard dog back to his post. And realized that your future self was trying to stop you from making the same mistakes she did." Check pointed out. "Unless something did get out while the big guy was away. Then don't worry. I'll look into it. You relax." Turning to the door he sighed. "Maybe cleaning your mess will help you unwind."

"Thanks Check… maybe I'll swing by later for some tea." Twilight sighed in relief as she started cleaning with a light blush.

"Always glad to help." He replied before going outside. After a few feet he looked around and pulled out a whistle. After blowing it, a bat pony poked its head out of some bushes. "Check to see if anything got out of Tartarus. Report to the princesses and then to me if what they say. We don't want to be caught off guard." With a nod the bat pony vanished back into the bush to wait for nightfall.

Taking a deep breath he returned home. "Let's hope nothing big happens before we learn more about what may have gotten out." He sighed.

As he walked to his door, Check saw the kids getting on the train with their teacher. "A field trip. How nice." He sighed as he stepped inside and spotted a picture of the Canterlot statue garden. His eyes widened as one figure caught his attention. And in the back of his mind the voice laughed. "Discord."

Author's Note

Yes this is out of order. But I just had to get it out of the way. Plus had her friends stopped and did what Check did, then it would have at least saved us from a predictable ending. And I thought it would be a fitting way to lead into the grand arrival for everyone's favorite draconequus.
What do you think?