Time Spiral and the Continuum Countdown

Chapters

Chapter One - Continuum
Chapter Two - The Brotherhood
Chapter Three - Continuum Crisis

Chapter One - Continuum

Chapter One

Continuum

It was the day before my twelfth birthday, and that is a tremendous deal for a foal. I remember sitting with my Mother, my father had left for work last week and usually stayed away for almost an entire month, waiting for the clock to strike midnight. I had wondered what my Cutie mark would be for so long, I had no idea I would discover my special talent on that very night.

As the clock struck midnight a bright flash of light pierced the windows. It was followed by silence. Equestria was a strange place, things like this weren't usually considered out of the ordinary.

“Happy birthday, dear,” she said as she stroked my mane with her hoof.

Mom walked with me to the dining table and sat me down at the head of the table. She left my side and went to the refrigerator, she returned shortly with my birthday cake. Twelve candles shone brightly along the far edge. In the middle, the chocolate cake was adorned with a rainbow coloured spiral.

“What does that mean?” I asked her.

“Oh, it's not important right now, dear,” she began, “it will mean something to you one day.”

She smiled at me, I smiled in return.

Lights flashed over and over outside the window. Thunder rumbled in the distannce as rain began to patter on the roof. A gust of wind blew the lounge room window open and put out all the candles on my cake.

“Hold on, I'll light them again,” Mom said as her horn began to glow.

The doors crashed off their hinges as a group of Unicorns dressed in jet black armour forced their way into the house. They parted and stood to attention, making way for their leader.

He stood proudly. Unlike his followers, he wore a bronze Corinthian helmet, it distinguished him from them quite effectively.

“Get him,” he said, calmly.

“Run!” my Mom yelled at me.

I obeyed, fleeing to the darkest corner of the house. I hid in my bedroom closet, it was the safest place I could think of.

I could hear them following me, their hoof steps patting against the wooden floors. I held my breath. They turned my room upside down and finally stood outside the closet door. I knew they had found me, and I couldn't think of a way out.

The door began to glow, they had seized it with Magic. It grew brighter and brighter until it was finally ripped off the door.

There they stood, towering above me as I cowered in the closet.

“You're coming with us,” said the leader.

My horn began to glow uncontrollably, I started to panic. The infiltrators backed away cautiously.

The light from my horn engulfed me completely. A rainbow spiral erupted from the light and I vanished into oblivion.

My body twisted and turned inside oblivion. I dared not open my eyes for fear of what I might see. It felt as though my legs had been turned inside out. My skin was writhing, tearing itself from my body. Suddenly it stopped.

I warily opened my eyes. The sun was shining brightly. How could the storm have passed? I pondered, Where am I?

I gasped in horror as I tried to make sense of what had happened. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of an explanation. I checked my body thoroughly to make sure I was in one piece, that is when I noticed it. My Cutie mark had finally arrived.

Right there on my flank sat a rainbow spiral. I thought it looked similar to one that appeared before I appeared there.

I was conflicted. I had always wondered what my Cutie mark would be, and now that it had arrived I still did not know what it meant. Isn't everypony supposed to understand their special talent when their Cutie mark arrives? I questioned.

My next decision was probably one of the smartest I had made in my five years of life. I took in the surroundings. I recognised the street I was in. It was my own. I stood in the wreckage of my house, the wooden floors and walls were blackened and had long since collapsed. The other buildings looked run down and deserted. The grass had become brown and overgrown, a few mice scampered to and from the houses, but there were no signs of other ponies anywhere.

I carefully walked out of the wreckage and stepped into the long grass. I turned to look at my house, and as I gazed upon the last remnants of my home I was overcome by intense grief. A stabbing pain in my chest threatened to bring tears to bear. I collapsed to my knees, my light brown coat seemed to blend with the grass around me.

I closed my eyes, hoping that it would make the pain go away. I was wrong. An image flashed into my mind. I could see my mother, the shock on her face as our front door was blown off its hinges. The Unicorn wearing the helmet smiled as he watched me run to my room in terror.

Pain seared through my head as the image changed. My pursuers were opening the door. I saw the white light, the Rainbow Spiral. I shrieked in terror as I realised what I had done. I had destroyed the house, my unintentional disappearance had somehow torn my home apart.

I fell onto my belly with my hooves covering my eyes, shielding me from the world. Tears streaked down my face. I cried for my Mom to come to me even though I knew it was pointless. There was no way she had survived the destruction. But I would not listen to reason, deep down I knew that I couldn't.

I don't know if I had sat there for an hour or a day, it seemed like an eternity. The sun, which had been shining brightly before, was now falling below the mountains in the distance and the blue sky began to burn a golden red.

I pushed myself up from the ground, groaning with the effort. I stumbled as pins and needles shot through my legs. I slowly ambled away from the house onto the dirt path ahead.

I heard a voice in the distance. I looked around but couldn't see where it was coming from.

“Hey, you can't be down there!” said a red Pegasus as he whizzed towards me.

“Why not?” I asked.

“It's not safe!” he said as his hooves patted the ground and his mighty wings blew up dust so he could complete his landing.

“This is my home,” I responded, wiping the final tears from my eyes.

“Don't be silly,” he said, “no pony has lived here for one hundred years!”

What? I thought, How can that be true? I couldn't have just skipped a hundred years...

“I-I do!” I replied.

“Quiet, we don't have time for this!” he said, “If they catch us here we are dead for sure, especially you!”

“What?” I asked, “Why would anypony want me dead?”

“Your Cutie mark,” he replied, “the Guardians have been hunting your kind for years.”

The Pegasus thrust his wings outward and forced himself into the air. He moved toward me and wrapped his front legs around me and gripped me tightly before he carried us both into the air.

“W-where are you taking me?” I asked.

“To the Brotherhood of the Continuum, they will be able to help you understand.”

Chapter Two - The Brotherhood

Chapter Two

The Brotherhood

The flight was long, the pony carrying me had been struggling to maintain his speed for hours. Occasionally I felt his grip slip, but every time he would double his efforts.

The sun had well and truly set by the time we arrived at the place my pilot had called the Cathedral. In the daylight, I imagined, it would be a shining monolith if it hadn't been shielded by an array of mountains.

For somepony I had never met, he was being awfully generous, and it intrigued me.

We landed at the gates of the Cathedral, a brilliant light flashed as some kind of light shield separated and allowed us entry.

As we walked through giant wooden doors the light shield glistened once again and then faded from view. The doors were pushed shut by cloaked ponies on the inside.

"Welcome to the Cathedral, Time Spiral," said a feminine voice among the cloaked crowd.

"How do you know my name?" I asked shakily.

"I am Stark," she responded, "leader of the Brotherhood."

"Who?" I asked warily.

She waved her hoof and beckoned me to follow her, I did. We walked down a red carpet in between rows of pews. Everypony stood up. I was keenly aware that they were all looking at me. Some even seemed afraid, though I cannot imagine why, I was just a regular old Unicorn. As I looked closer I realized that may have been the reason. There were no Unicorns here.

Stark pushed a small wooden door open at the end of the carpet and stood aside, allowing me to enter first. I smiled graciously and nervously.

The room was sparsely decorated, only a lamp and an open book lay on the wooden desk alongside the bedhead.

Stark removed her cloak, revealing her dull gray coat and big blue eyes. She seemed intrigued by me, and yet somewhat wary.

"Why is everyone looking at me so weirdly?" I asked.

"The reason is simple, and you might have guessed it already," she said dully, "you are a Unicorn, Time Spiral."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

Stark pulled out a chair and asked me to sit, she sat on the edge of her bed.

"Many years have passed since you disappeared from your home in the destroyed village. Nearly four hundred in fact. During that time a great war swept across Equestria between the worshipers of the Sun and those of the Night. As the
two forces clashed many things were lost. The Crystal Kingdom was entirely obliterated. Eventually the warring factions disintegrated but a New Lunar Empire was forged in the ruin.

"For quite some time the New Lunar Republic shone as a beacon of communication and industry throughout Equestria. Eventually some ponies became restless in their desire for power. The Unicorns, most of them at least, rose up and usurped the throne from their monarch. A civil war between Unicorns and Pegasi soon erupted from the old Lunar Capital. But as they were unable to equal the might of the Unicorns' combined magical powers the Pegasi joined the Earth Ponies and built numerous sanctuaries across the continent.

"Since then we have relied upon technological advancement to keep ourselves safe from the Unicorn threat. This sanctuary is the home of the Brotherhood of the Continuum. It is home only to Pegasi and Earth Ponies, you are the only Unicorn to set foot between these walls."

Confusion riddled my mind as I tried to take in all that she was saying. I didn't want to believe her, but I couldn't sense a lie.

"All the Unicorns are bad?" I asked.

Stark smiled and shook her head. "Not all of them," she responded, "but the ones that aren't live in fear of those that are."

"Why did you bring me here?"

Stark's smile faded. "This may be too much for one so young to understand, so please try to understand."

I nodded.

"When the New Lunar Republic fell almost four hundred years ago Princess Luna made a prophecy. It referred to a pony who would return the land to purity and rid the land of the evil that now plagues it.

"From the fires of rebellion a young warrior shall be born,
though young he will strike courage into the hearts of stallions
and mares alike. Though inexperienced he will bring about the
downfall of all that undoes this world."

"Many believe that it is a young Unicorn that shall free us from this endless war. We believe it is you, time traveler."

"You're being silly," I retorted, "of course it doesn't mean me, I'm not a time traveler; I'm just a regular Unicorn, I don't even have a special ability."

"Then how did you get here, how did you come upon our time?"

"It must have been the pony that broke into my house, he must have sent me here."

"He did not," said Stark, "you are a time traveler and I can prove it."

I was getting cross. "How?" I asked defiantly.

Stark lifted her hoof and pointed to my flank. "Your Cutie Mark is disintegrating."

I snapped my head back to look at it, she was right, my rainbow spiral was spiraling inwards and disappearing.

"WHATS HAPPENING TO ME?" I shouted.

"Time Spiral, remain calm," she began, "getting worked up will serve no pony, this just proves you are a time traveler."

"What happens when my Cutie Mark disappears?"

Stark's face was stern. "It would kill you."

"WHAT?" I screamed, "how do I stop it?"

"You must take control of your special ability before the Cutie Mark is gone completely, it is known as the Time Travelers Curse," she told me, "it is said that, before her death, Princess Celestia placed a curse upon all time travelers in order to weed out those she deemed unworthy of the power it granted."

I was terrified. "How do I do it?"

"You need to understand yourself, to understand your power and above all else you must understand the power you behold."

Chapter Three - Continuum Crisis

Chapter Three

Continuum Crisis

As days passed my Cutie Mark shrank more and more into itself. Stark and the Brotherhood were doing their best to teach me all they knew about time travel, which must have been quite difficult seeing as though none of them were Unicorns.

I would always stop and wonder if any of them hoped that I would fail, perhaps they thought one less Unicorn in Equestria was a good thing. I hoped that it wasn't possible but some of them had to feel that way because I was still receiving scathing looks every time I walked out of my study.

Knowing first hand how destructive my initial means of time travel was I knew I had to find another way. The Brotherhood's lessons were helping, I was slowly getting a grasp on my abilities. It wasn't long before I was able to manifest a new way to travel through time, they called it a time portal.

We monitored my Cutie Mark's degeneration daily, somehow it seemed as though the more I practiced forming portals the less degradation was observed. I took this as a good sign and practiced every day.

Often young foals would come and ask me if I could send them through time, I would simply smile and tell them it was too dangerous. But my fears about sending ponies through time portals was short lived, events quickly escalated and my hoof was forced into action.

I awoke one day after my first month of training had been completed. Members of the Brotherhood seemed more nervous than usual, and for once they weren't looking at me.

Through all the commotion and noise I recognized Stark on the other side of the great hall. I made my way through the crowd to her as quickly as possible.

"What's going on?" I yelled over the noise.

"Our scouts have warned us of an impending attack," she said.

"Who's attacking us?" I asked.

"The faction controlled by the Centurion," she responded, "they're coming for you."

I felt the blood rush from my head and into my hooves, which felt extremely heavy. I blinked slowly, it was the only thing that kept me from bursting with fear.

"How much time do we have?" I asked, panicking.

"Minutes, hours," she began, "either way its not enough, we can't hope to evacuate three hundred ponies and get them somewhere safe in that amount of time."

Loud bangs thundered and echoed through the great hall.

"THEY'RE HERE!" screamed a pony at the gate. We all stared at the gate, terrified.

Stark turned back to me. "It's up to you to save all of us," she said sternly.

"I can't fight them all off on my own," I responded as I shook my head violently.

A bang louder than all the others crashed through the cathedral and knocked the ponies to the ground. I stood up quickly, I had only one plan.

"Everypony this way!" I yelled.

I concentrated and projected my thoughts back to somewhere I hoped was safe. My horn shone a brilliant red and out of it shot a wide pulsating circle, big enough for ponies to travel through.

"The time portal is open, go now!" I told them.

"Thank you Time Spiral," said Stark.

One by one the ponies trotted through the portal and disappeared. Soon I was the only pony left in the cathedral. At that very moment the walls began to glow bright white and slowly evaporated.

Where the door to the Cathedral had once been the Centurion stood smugly.

"Very clever," said the Centurion, "using a portal to aid in your friends' escape. I bet you feel tired now, transporting three hundred ponies into another time?"

"Tired, yes," I answered, "but I'm not finished yet."

"I think you are," said the Centurion