A Boy and his Watch

A Boy and his Watch
By TheAlienBrony22

Friendship is Galactic,
Part 1

[Outside the Sparkle Residence; 3 days before the Summer Sun Celebration]

Ben held a duffle bag, packed with some of his favorite things, his prized possessions, and fresh clothes. Nightlight and Velvet smiled as they hugged their son one more time as a bus pulled up. "En route to Ponyville, no stops from here on out till the final destination, all aboard?" The bus driver announced.

"You guys gonna be okay?" Ben asked.

"Of course, we've been through tougher stuff, son." Nightlight said with a smile.

"Just make sure you don't get into too much trouble, understand me, Benjamin?" Velvet asked.

Ben smiled and shrugged his shoulders before hugging Velvet again. "I promise I won't get into too much trouble... unless I have to. Anyways, I better get going, a little birdie told me I'm supposed to expect something at Ponyville once I get there." Ben said.

He waved to his parents as he hopped on the bus and took his seat, holding his duffle bag close to him. He was really anxious about actually moving out, but it was gonna be good for him to have some independence.

[Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres]

"C'mon now, let's keep goin'! We've only got a few more days till the celebration, y'all!" Applejack called out. Several other ponies of various sizes nodded as they kept collecting apples from the apple trees. One of these ponies, a yellow stallion with orange hair, dressed in more traditional western wear, trots up to Applejack, looking exhausted.

"Applejack, I appreciate that I can help out a bit more for the Summer Sun Celebration, but ah can't really believe that every single member of the apple family, sans the ones in Ponyville, aren't gonna be able to make it. Sure, we're helpin' a lot with preparations, but there's just-"

"Braeburn, shut yer trap and listen. If a few members have to miss the celebration, that's fine, they're still family, nothin's gonna change that. So stop yer worryin' and yer bellyachin', otherwise you can go back to APPLELOOSA." Applejack interrupted. Braeburn nodded and went off to take a short break, all the while she tipped the Stetson hat on her head and sighed. "Ya just had to up and jump tha gun, didn't ya pops. look where that gotcha."

[Town Hall]

"Remember Pinkie, keep it on theme! Suns, Moons and Stars everywhere, please!" A pony called out, adjusting their glasses as they exited the Town Hall. Pinkie was steadily hanging up several decorations, each one correlating to a specific time of day.

"Okie Dokie Lokie, Miss Mayor! Hmm, let's see... Oh! Silly me," Pinkie reached into her poofy mane and pulled out a green six-sided star, stuck it to the wall and surrounded it with three smaller white sparkles, and three slightly bigger pink sparkles. "All done! Now with that out of the way, I can go and greet Benny! It pays to be a good party planner!"

The peppy pink party pony sped off in a flash, anxious and excited to see one of her friends again. All the while, a couple guards keep an eye on the place.

Pinkie found her way to a bus stop, and began to wait patiently. A couple hours of waiting later, the bus pulls in as Ben pays for the bus fare and hops off. He looks around at Ponyville, and at the jittering smiling pink pony in front of him. He couldn't help but smile himself.

"Hey Pinkie, thanks again for meeting me. It's gonna be good to finally get out of Canterlot, that way I can focus more on hanging out with my friends, and maybe putting my powers to good use." Ben said, squeezing the pink pony.

Pinkie giggled. "Ahh you don't have to worry about that, Benny! Besides, with you here, preparations are gonna be a snap this year for the Summer Sun Celebration." Pinkie said, walking through the town.

Ben followed the pony, though he never did hear about a Summer Sun Celebration coming up. To him, a lot of holidays were just days he couldn't be given grief or nonsense about using his powers 'irresponsibly'. Ben didn't think using his powers to save lives or make someone's day a little better as irresponsible, then again a lot of Canterlot natives just didn't seem that friendly, albeit for a few exceptions.

"Pinkie, what exactly is the Summer Sun Celebration, if you don't mind me asking?" Ben asked curiously.

Pinkie stopped in her tracks and gasped, looking at the human with shock. Ben could immediately tell that he asked a question that shouldn't have been asked, but he was still curious.

"You don't know what the Summer Sun Celebration is!? It's like, the most important event in all of Equestria, ya big goof!" Pinkie fished out a pair of reading glasses from her mane, as well as a history book, flipping it to one of the pages before coming to a stop. "The Summer Sun Celebration commemorates the summer solstice. Ponies everywhere throw raucous parties the previous night and stay up until dawn to watch Princess Celestia raise the sun. How have you not known about this?"

"You'd be surprised by how many holidays I rarely ever celebrate. Not because I don't like them, but mainly because I don't really know how to add my contribution without looking like a clueless outsider." Ben admitted, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepishly embarrassed grin.

Pinkie sighed and smiled, hopping onto Ben's back and holding on. "Then I'm gonna tell you everything you need to know, starting now! Get to moving, Benny, to Sweet Apple Acres!" Pinkie pointed towards a very busy farm in the distance. Ben looked back at Pinkie quizzically, only to see her wide smile and a very friendly glow in her eyes. He sighed and decided to get a steady jog going, moving in the direction of the farm.

[Canterlot, Twilight's Study Home]

The hard-working and focused unicorn read through an old book while she used her magic to guide a quill in writing on a piece of paper. Twilight wrote on, deep in focus as she took in information and wrote on the parchment beside her, until there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Spike, can you go and get the door for me? I have to finish writing up this thesis before the deadline!" Twilight called out.

From a small makeshift bed, a slightly more capable and very tired purple dragon child walked groggily to the door, yawning as it kept itself bundled in its blanket. Spike opened the door, seeing a mail pony hold out a scroll and a small white cue card to go with it. Spike nodded and took the card and scroll, closing the door behind him as he tossed the items at his sister's hooves.

"There, saved you a very quick trip, again. I'm going back to bed now-"

"No you aren't, Spike," Twilight stopped writing and used her magic to pull Spike back towards her. "Your sleeping patterns have been getting pretty out of sync, you're sleeping less and less every night and staying up less and less every day."

"Just read the scroll and the card that was sent to you, don't lecture me about how I need to sleep, Miss 'I Must Impress and Amaze Princess Celestia'." Spike grumbled tiredly.

Twilight sighed and let Spike go, putting her focus on the scroll and card delivered to her. She undid the ribbon that held the scroll closed and unrolled it. It was much shorter than any other letter she'd gotten, even from Princess Celestia, but her curiosity did see some interest in this letter, though something told her this may not have been Celestia.

To my dearest and most valued student Twilight,

You know that I value your diligence, your hard work, your determination, and that I trust you completely, you're like the daughter I never had, but I have one simple request that I have to ask of you. Fair warning, it's a difficult task I must ask of only you. I need a sample of your brother's blood, Ben's to be exact.

I know how this must sound, but there's something coming up, and I need a sample of it to prevent it. Enclosed in the cue card is a spell that will summon a special kit that will turn any remnant essence of a creature's presence into the blood of that creature, be it hair strands, tears, skin flakes, anything will suffice. I just need that sample, all will be explained soon.

I know you won't let me down,

Princess Celestia

Twilight just about fell over, but she kept herself steady. She was at a loss for words, speechless. Twilight carefully and slowly read the letter again, and still couldn't find the words. She eyed the cue card cautiously, and decided to wrap the scroll back up, shoving it and the card into an old box before bucking it towards an empty corner in the room.

"Spike, take a letter," Twilight called out, her voice cracking with a worried tone. "I think there might be something wrong!"

[???]

"Oh, that's cheating!!"

"Maybe so, but remind me, who are you to sniff out a cheater in the multiverse's biggest game of life?"

"I may be a god of chaos, but even I have standards, you gumball swallowing demi-god!"

"Says the atrocity of nature and order. Besides, it's not like I'm doing anything malicious, I'm just trying to get someone back-"

"Someone who doesn't want to go back. We discussed this before, haven't we? We both know Ben Tennyson won't come back, and you seemed very eager to try and get one over me when you had your chance to be rational, let him take the bait with enough patience. Your patience ran thin right at the start, and you almost brought your shenanigans to THEIR attention! Are you trying to wipe out two worlds at once, you labcoat loving sore loser!?"

"You don't know that. As far as I'm concerned, it was probably that big eldritch creature from a couple years back that brought their attention forward, nothing on my part."

"So you admit that you attempted and tried to scare the sparkles off of Celestia's prized pupil!"

"More to worry them, at best. To terrify them, I'd have to go to greater lengths. Prevent the union of the Elements of Harmony, that could very well resort in chaos, it'd free you from stone early. Once this timeline is unrecognizable, and Ben Tennyson is recognized as the constant between these variables of chaos, all will be set right when I bring him back to his universe. You won't see or hear from me again, Ben Tennyson can return to his original universe, and there won't be any issues. What's wrong with that kind of chaos, Discord, the kind of Chaos that can fix anything... and everything?"

"You're an irritation that not even rash cream can get rid of. I'm warning you, Paradox, if you try anything else, it will be a very cold day in Tartarus when you are rendered powerless and answer for your otherworldly offenses."

"Big talk from a magical experiment gone wrong. Ben Sparkle is just a flash vectored caricature of the hero I am trying to bring back. Him being here, will just create chaos! It'll free you either way-"

"Because that's how the story goes, Paradox! Besides, wouldn't be that much chaos anyhow, there's no less or more chaos freeing me, or strengthening my powers to allow me to escape right now, and it's only through your subtle manipulation of the world around you, that you've broken your oath to never interfere, and when I am free, the first thing I will do, is bring you forth and expose you for the insane time walker that you are!"

"You will try, and you will fail."

"At least you're willing to project onto the better reality warper!"