The Time Sweeper

        A few hours later Mitro and I were walking around town. I found Dark and he ‘took care’ of the gray pony for us. I don’t even want to know what he did with him. But I did make sure that he didn’t kill him, I hated having unnecessary deaths.

        “So Mitro, what exactly is going on around here? And is there any kind of ‘event’ that might happen in about two days?”

        He stopped and thought for a moment. “Not anything that I can think of is going to happen in two days, but we’re in the middle of a war right now. I don’t know the exact details of it but I’m sure somepony else does.”

        “That’s a bit strange. Now I’m not supposed to ask this but I can’t think of anything else right now. Do you know of anything called ‘The final stand’?”

        His eyes widened and he looked around quickly.

        “Don’t say that too loudly Flare. Not many ponies know about that, and we’re not supposed to. Things have been getting more intense lately, and security has gone higher than usual.”

        I nodded and looked around. There was a soldier walking around that seemed to be off duty right now. He was another pegasus like me. I walked over to him.

        “Excuse me sir but may I ask you a few questions?”

        He rolled his eyes and looked at me. “What do you need kid?”

        “Are you authorized to give information regarding the statement ‘The Final Stand’?

        He pulled out his gun and aimed at me. “Why do you ask kid? Who are you?”

        I pushed his gun to the side. “Oh don’t be like that, you’re the same as me right now. A pony trapped in a war zone, so don’t point your primitive gun at me. I need to know more about what’s going on, and if anything is supposed to happen in two days.”

        He lowered his gun and pointed at a building down the street.

        “If you ask the right questions the pony who owns that shop can help you. Just ask him about ‘it’ and he’ll talk more. Now get out of my sight.”

        “Appreciated. Thank you.” I walked towards the building with Mitro right behind me. “You can ask what you want too, but warn me before you speak up okay?”

        “No problem Flare.”

        As we walked in I could sense the bloodthirsty eyes of hidden gunmen focus on me. I walked up to the front counter with Mitro cowering right behind me. I placed a hoof on him and brought him to my side, reassuring him that we would be fine. I tapped the bell on the counter and an old pony with an eyepatch with a nasty scar walked out from the back room.

        “What are you doing here son?” he asked in a weary voice.

        “I heard that you were the one to talk to about ‘The Final Stand’. What can you tell me?”

        His eyes widened slightly as he looked around. Then he opened up the counters gate and walked back into the back room. We followed him.

        “Why are you asking about that? Only a few ponies dare to ask about it. Who are you?”

        “I am what you would call a ‘traveller’ and I help ponies out in a bad situation. “

        Mitro decided to speak up, “He can also control ti-” I placed a hoof over his mouth, silencing him.

        “Not right now Mitro, that’s too much information about me. Now wise one, answer my question.”

        Mitro removed my hoof from his mouth as the old one started to speak and pull out a map.

        “Right here is us.” he pointed to a small circle in the middle of the map, the only part of it that wasn’t covered with red. “We are ‘The Final Stand’. The only reason we are still alive is because of Dark and his weapon. But nopony is supposed to know about it.”

        “What is the weapon?”

        “I can’t say for sure what it is, but I do know that it’s the only thing holding back the griffons. The only thing he says about it is ‘the time is only right when the darkness falls.’ Even I don’t understand it.”

        “So let me wrap this up in a ball here. You’re saying that a half-insane alicorn is in charge of a weapon and won’t tell anypony about it? Oh this does not look good.”

        “That’s about it. But now that I have answered your question, you answer mine. Who are you and where did you come from?”

        “I am Flare Dasher, and I come from a, sort of ‘between’ place. I was sent here to stop a disaster that is supposed to happen in about two days. Well more like a day and a half now but still. When I’m done I leave and the world continues on it’s own. As Mitro tried to say earlier, I control time. I use my sweeper to help me out no matter what the situation is.”

        He was baffled. “But that’s impossible! Nopony can do that! Not even with super advanced technology!”

        “Well my tech has unusual abilities so it’s a bit more possible for me. Anyway I have to go, there’s a certain pony I need to have a little chat with. Come on Mitro.” I started to walk out when Mitro started to speak.

        “Now hold on just one second there. I want to ask a question too.”

        I stopped and looked at him. “Sure go ahead.”

        “Thank you. Now!” he turned towards the veteran. “How do you know of the weapon if he supposedly doesn’t tell anypony?”

        This caught the old pony off guard. Props to Mitro for thinking of it.

        “Well you see, I, uhm, knew of it because, uhm, well...” he was struggling to find an answer, “I asked him! Yes that’s it, I asked him about why he had so many gadgets and what he was going to do with them. Yes, that’s what I did.”

Mitro stared at him as if he were an idiot.

   “That’s a pathetic excuse for a lie, don’t you think Flare?”

        “Yes Mitro it does, nice thinking by the way.” I walked back to him. “So do you mind telling us the real reason?”

        He pulled a gun out of a hidden compartment and aimed it at me. “The truth is classified, so just accept what I said and leave here.”

        “Oh please you’re so stupid.” I activated my sweeper and everything around me froze in place. I walked around to him and removed the gun. Then to have a bit of fun I placed him facing a corner and walked back to Mitro. I deactivated my sweeper and everything resumed.

        “How did I get over here?” the old pony shouted as he spun around and faced us again.

        “Simple, I paused time, moved you over there, then resumed time. It’s not that hard.”

        “Please don’t do that again.”

        “I won’t as long as you tell me why you know about the weapon.”

        “Fine,” he sighed “the only reason I know of it is because I helped to create it. I don’t know exactly what it is because I was fired before I could figure it out.”

        “If you were building it, how could you not figure out what it was?”

        “The blueprints and explanations were all too vague or complex to piece together. An internal combustion engine, a reactor core, a few pieces of scrap metal that needed to bent in certain ways, it was too much to piece together.”

        “That’s all you know about the weapon?”

        “I swear to you that’s all I know of, but I can tell you that this weapon, whatever it is, is very powerful, and is capable of killing thousands.”

        “That’s why I’m here, to stop that weapon from going off.”

        “Do we have enough information now Flare?” Mitro asked.

        “Yes Mitro, I do believe we do.” I checked the timer on my sweeper. “But we’re running out of time, and I need to talk to Dark to see what he’s hiding.”

        “Good idea Flare, let’s go.”

        I nodded and thanked the old pony for his help, and I walked back outside with Mitro at my side. A storm was raging so it was a downpour. I looked towards the mansion on the hill, straight down the street. I needed to talk to Dark. My time was running out. I looked down at the ground and back up again, sighing.

“I need a drink.”