A Boy and his Watch
By TheAlienBrony22

The Reality Master,
Epilogue

[Tennyson Residence]

"Well, cousin... you gonna be staying here, or are you going back to Equestria?" Ken asked.

Ben stood in front of his human family, his biological family. Ben took a deep breath and tried to think about the best word selection he could use. But, it seems like everyone could tell what his choice was, considering after he ate his breakfast, Ben went into his room and cleaned it all out, ranging from clothes, comics, video games, Ben was prepared to leave.

"I'm leaving, and going back to Equestria." Ben stated.

"And if that's what you feel is best, we'll support your decision--"

"Not. Everyone."

Ben and Celestia turned around, seeing Paradox. Ben glared at Paradox.

"Where did you--"

"You aren't going back. That is not your choice, you need to be here, being the hero that this world needs. Don't you remember a blasted thing about who you a--"

"I know who I am, and who I once was, Paradox!" Ben yelled, cutting him off. "And despite knowing and remembering, I made my choice. You don't tell me what to do. What I do with my life, is my decision. Where do you get off trying to get me to do what you want! I can be a hero anywhere, and my choice to stay wherever I end up is still the same!"

Ben walked towards Paradox, as did everyone else, causing the time-walker to back up. "Benjamin, you don't understand what you're doing! This has to be his doing, he told you nothing but lies--"

"If you're talking about D being a liar, then you must be the queen of Manehattan, you psycho!" Ben interrupted, cutting Paradox off again. "D has done nothing but help me. He gave me a warning ahead of time, reminding me of Nightmare Moon's return. He came to my aide to try and find you to confront you on your attempt to almost murder someone! He sent someone, that someone being Charmcaster, to relay a message to me, he has done nothing wrong!"

"You are everything, but right." Paradox remarked.

"You on the other hand, have. whereas you've been nothing more than a thorn in my side, who kidnapped me, constantly tried to force me to go along with you, and it's been pissing me off that you won't leave me alone! I remember who I used to be, and yet I still want to go back. Admit it, you have another motive!" Ben argued.

Paradox had finally lost his patience. He had been backed into a non-existent corner, which is to say, the RV. Paradox grit his teeth and wielded his cane like a weapon, and rushed forward to strike Ben. In that very moment, Paradox, Ben, and Celestia could see that time was coming to an immediate stop. Ben closed his eyes and prepared to guard himself...

Only, nothing hit him, but the cane did hit something.

"That is quite enough, Paradox."

Ben uncovered himself and looked at the man in front of him, who seemed to tower him in height, though he was easy to recognize. Paradox was quite surprised, but also very irritated. The man was wielding a walking cane sized Candy Cane, and was easily keeping Paradox in one place.

"Salutations, my shapeshifting comrade! A bit in a rough spot on the way back home, hm?" Discord remarked, twisting his head all the way around to share a smile.

"D! Good to see you again!" Ben happily said.

"Discord.." Celestia said with a lack of breath. Celestia leaned onto Ben as Discord pushed Paradox back.

"How!? When I blasted you, it should've--"

"Thrown me into a deeper space of stopped time, to the point where the lack of time would be like limbo?" Discord remarked with a sly smirk. "You surely did have a plan, too bad you failed to execute it properly."

"Excuse me!?" Paradox gritted.

"Not till you eat dinner," Discord snapped his candy cane away and cracked his knuckles. "Anyways, you know how you blasted me? You didn't send me into a deeper space of stopped time, you disrupted stopped time so much, that it unwillingly freed me from my stone imprisonment. All of that chaos, bombarded and trapped in stop time, it was enough to free me!"

"Wait, why were you in a stone prison?" Ben asked.

"Because he was a serious pain and turned Equestria into his personal playground with his chaotic powers." Celestia sneered at Discord, who seemed to only be bemused. "You are lucky that Benjamin considers you an ally, because otherwise, I would have eradicated you, or have the elements put you back in your prison."

"What part of 'unwillingly freed' did you not hear?" Discord chided. "I was helping Benjamin on the side, that's no lie, I gave him the warning about Nightmare Moon's return, I was going to help him solve this heinous crime that Paradox caused, but Paradox instead tried to kill me, and snatched Ben from Equestria. Took me a while to re-locate myself back to my stone body, then an Anodite stopped and chatted with me, now one of your top guards is educated about how much of a threat Paradox is. You're welcome!"

'Am I being ignored?!' Paradox thought to himself.

"As for why I was in stone, Celly is basically telling the truth, Benny boy. But, yeah, I was being a bit of a bad boy back in the day," Discord snapped his fingers and dressed himself up in a greaser outfit, only to return himself to his original look. "I have actually been quite entertained by all that Ben has gotten himself into. It's actually remarkable to know how much can happen when something of this magnitude can cause such a ruckus. Though, it has gotten a bit insane, and so early into the first season, too!"

"I will not be ignored!! Move out of the way, Discord! We're in my universe, and what I say--"

"Is Null and Void, much like the prison dimension of the same name that Celestia traversed just to find our shapeshifting fellow." Discord stated with a scowl.

"What is that supposed to--"

"Benjamin, please cover your ears and cover Celestia's as well, can't risk changing things for the worse, can we?" Unsure of what Discord was about to say, Ben just helped a very confused Celestia inside, waiting till they were done. As the door closed, Discord sneered coldly at Paradox. "Tell me, you remember that restraining order, don't you? The one about not being allowed within 500 light years of any Celestialsapien?"

"That doesn't apply here, especially since none of them are Celestialsapiens, especially--"

"Maybe not, but need I remind you that in one timeline in a single reality, where Benjamin never got sent to Equestria, you broke this restraining order and went into the literal head space of his Celestialsapien form?" Discord smiled as he saw Paradox glowering at him. "If I remember correctly, the fate of that reality was at stake. While I am willing to give it a pass, you broke it a few times after Aggregor was defeated, and an ally was lost."

"How would you even know any of this!? My universe isn't of your concern, let alone what I do to preserve the timeline, no matter the cost!" Paradox remarked.

"That is also true, but hey, it can be pretty boring inside a stone statue, you know, I can take a peek if I remember to not interfere. Can't say the same for you, because you were interfering with another universe's timeline... MY Universe's timeline, and now, I'm going to make you watch as I do your job better." Discord snided.

"What are you talking about!?" Paradox demanded.

"I feel as if there's an unspoken rule for individuals like us, Paradox. You don't go combing around where you don't belong, this includes other universes," Discord iterated. "And you've been interfering before you unwillingly gave me my freedom!"

"I- You-"

"You were looking for Benjamin when he first came to Equestria, yet you found him too late. Accept defeat, Paradox. You're willing to become a villain, just to set this timeline right and ruin things further for another universe you already changed with your meddling, who's going to bring the wrath of those universe-bodied deities down on us? You, that's who!" Discord reprimanded. "It's over."

Time returned to normal, Ben and Celestia rush outside, Paradox looked... mortified. He didn't say a word, or react in any way, he just vanished in a flash of light.

"What just happened?" Was all Ben could say.

"Oh, just spitting facts, nothing unusual. Anyhow, I suppose you'll be using the Null Void to get back, which is the long way, or, we can go back the easy way, via me?" Discord asked with a wide smile.

"I guess we'll be going back... Mind if I say my goodbyes first?" Ben requested.

"Of course, take your time. We'll be right over here, waiting when you're done." Discord stated.

Ben shared one last embrace with his cousins, wishing them the best, as they wished the same for him. He embraced his grandfather one final time, and says that maybe he'll be back one day to visit, maybe it's not gonna be the last time they see each other. Ben embraced his parents one more time, definitely feeling a tad heartbroken that he'll be leaving so much behind... but, the heart wants what it wants, and Equestria is calling to him.

Ben let them go and threw his backpack full of stuff over his shoulders, standing in-between Celestia and Discord as he waved goodbye to the Tennysons. In a flash of light, the three were gone.

[Canterlot Castle, Throne Room]

In a flash of light, Ben, Discord and Celestia reappeared. Ben smiled, though he did regret pushing his human family away because of paranoia earlier. But, he was able to smile again, knowing that, maybe on a whim, or on some rare chance, this may not be the last time he sees them.

"Here we are! Back in Equestria, home sweet home! Let me tell you, Benny boy, I am so sorry that you had to make such a choice, but life can have some pretty difficult choices, it's up to you to decide what'll be the correct one to make." Discord stated.

"Thanks for the reassurance, D, you couldn't have shown up at a better time," Ben looked around and then a thought came back to him. "Hey, D, you remember when I wanted you to do my Pinkie Promise, in case something did happen?" Ben asked.

"Oh uh... y-yes, well... a-about that... I--"

"BEN!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!" Twilight's voice echoed from the other side of the closed double doors.

Ben looked at Discord with a glaring smile, "You couldn't do it, could you?" Ben asked with a wry smile on his face. Discord laughed as he stood to the side. The double doors swung open, revealing Twilight, who had very red eyes and seemed to be in quite the panicked fit.

"BEN!!" Twilight cried out.

"Hey Twi, miss me--"

"YOU FREAKING DOOFUS!!"

Ben was about to get out of the way, until Twilight sprinted at him and tackled him to the ground, squeezing him like crazy.

"Ow!! Ok, okay! I'm sorry for suddenly vanishing, it was a royal emergency! AH MY RIBS!!" Ben wheezed, feeling like his entire torso was being crushed.

"Why the heck didn't you tell us!?" Twilight demanded. "You had us worried half to death!!"

"Because I kinda ended up finding out a bit more about myself... as well as experience things that made Nightmare Moon's return look like a puppet show by comparison..." Ben wheezed more, his face turning a bit blue all over, "Lungs, lacking air... can't breeaathe..."

Twilight eased up on the squeezing, and Ben immediately got as much air back into his lungs as he could muster. "What all did you find out? And who is that?" Twilight asked, gesturing to Discord.

"It's a very long story, I'll tell you when we get back to Ponyville, the others are gonna wanna hear this." Ben remarked, chuckling. "Plus, I grabbed a few things for our Treehouse place, if that's where we're going to stay."

"Well, of course! You know I love books, but I love my brothers just a little bit more... It's good to have you home."

"Nice to be home... man, how long has it been nighttime here?" Ben asked.

"About a couple or maybe even three days, maybe?" Twilight answered.

The three looked towards Celestia, and just laughed. Celestia just couldn't resist and started to laugh with them.

"Guess we better get going. D, can you give us another lift back to Ponyville?" Ben asked.

"I suppose I could, but next time will cost you two bits. I'm not a charity, Benjamin!" Discord remarked with a smile. In a flash of light and a snap of his fingers, Discord, Twilight and Ben were gone in a flash.

Celestia sat on her throne and sighed, she pressed the red button on her uniform and moved her muzzle to it, "This is your princess speaking... Mission accomplished. Benjamin Sparkle is back in Equestria." Celestia stated. She pressed the button again and got her royal wear out, donning it again as she put the suit back where it was, re-locking the safe.

"I need to do this more often, it's not every day I get to deal with alien life again," Celestia said with a cheeky smirk. "This may just be one of the best things to happen to Equestria, since the pony tribes uniting."

Author's Note

Finally done with The Reality Master... sweet saccharine mother of spice, this was longer than I thought it'd be.

Your regularly scheduled Pony Program will be right back, after the break!