The Necromantic Adventures of Lyra Heartstrings 5

“Needless to say, I haven't been able to so much as touch a pear since then.”

Dinky burst into a fit of giggles on her mother's back while Ditzy hid her own laughter behind a hoof. Sparkler, even as she rolled her eyes, couldn't hide the smirk on her lips. “I'm starting to believe you make all these things up to impress my mom.”

Time Turner staggered as if he'd been struck, dramatically holding a hoof up to his barrel. “You [i]wound[/i] me, Sparkler! In so many centuries of life, do you really think I would need to lie about my exploits?”

“Yes.”

Time Turner's melodrama turned into outright sulking as he hung his head. “You could at least act impressed.”

Sparkler continued on nonchalantly. “Well, somepony has to keep a level head when you're around, and it isn't going to be her.”

Ditzy's right eye turned to her elder daughter as her left swiveled in the socket before catching up. “Sparkler...”

“Don't even try to deny it, Mom. You haven't exactly been subtle about what you two do.”

Time Turner and Ditzy both stopped in their tracks, sharing a slightly panicked look.

“Um...” Ditzy's eyes started to drift apart as she looked back to Sparkler. “'What we ‘do’?”

Sparkler rolled her eyes, scoffing. “We both know, Mom.”

“Yeah!” Dinky bounced on her mother's back. “You guys have sleepovers all the time.”

Sparkler gave her adoptive sister a glance. “...yeah... 'sleepovers'.” She turned back to her mother. “Anyway, we've both seen him sneaking away from the house. Either when Dinky walks home from school, or I'm coming back from work. You two are together nearly every day.”

While Ditzy was physically incapable of blushing —lack of a pulse meant lack of flowing blood— she could still feel embarrassment like a living pony. “Sparkler, I am a grown mare. I am quite capable of keeping a level head.”

“So am I, Mom,” she countered. “And I've seen you giggling like a teenager around him more than once. It's pretty obvious neither of you are thinking all that clearly.”

“Bah!” Time Turner did a rather poor impression of a sheep, calling attention back to him. “Thinking clearly is overrated anyway. I've lasted for centuries just flying by the hairs of my tail!”

“That sounds painful.” Dinky —still balanced on her mother’s back— glanced back at her own, rather stubby tail, flicking it around a few times. “It never felt good whenever Sparkler picked me up by mine.”

“Well, Squirt, if you’d stop running off all the time, I wouldn't have to grab it.”

“I don't run off all the time!” Dinky stomped her hoof, then winced. “Sorry, Mommy.”

“Hmm?” Ditzy glanced back, then blinked. “Oh, right, don't worry about it, Muffin. Mommy doesn't feel pain, remember?”

“Oh yeah...” Dinky's ears drooped. “Sorry, Mommy, I forgot.”

Ditzy giggled, pulling Dinky off her back and messing with her mane. “You don't have to keep apologizing for everything, Muffin; Mommy doesn't mind.”

Dinky squirmed and flailed in her mother's grasp, giggling the whole time. “S-stop!” She could barely get out her words. “Mommy! Stop!”

Ditzy started giggling herself, just tickling Dinky without mercy. “What's the magic word?”

“Ple-ehehehehehe-se!” Dinky finally stopped flailing as her mother relented, panting and still giggling occasionally. “What was that for?”

“Because I wanted to.” Ditzy's eyes swiveled in opposite directions as she smiled. “I reserve the right to tickle my little muffin as much as I want, same as every mother.”

“Ugh, gag me.” Sparkler tried her best to scowl at the scene, but couldn't quite make it stick. “Could you two be any more sickeningly sweet?”

“We could pull you into it too,” Ditzy offered with a grin.

“No thanks.” Sparkler took a couple of steps back. “Like I said, one of us has to be the adult here.”

“Aww...” Ditzy layered on the 'baby voice' “Is Mommy's special little star growing up?”

“Moooooooom!” She whined, sounding exactly like the child she was pretending not to be. “I’m twenty-six years old! You can't keep calling me that!”

“Why not?”

“Because I'm not a child anymore!” She stomped her hooves in frustration, continuing to undermine her own point. “Why can't you treat me like an adult?”

“Okay.”

Sparkler, already preparing for more whining, found herself tripping over her own tongue. “That— you— what?”

“I said, 'okay'.” Ditzy fluttered over to her older daughter with a smile on her face. “You've grown into a fine mare, and I'm proud of you for it.” She wrapped her forelegs around her in a hug. “But you'll still always be my special little star.”

Sparkler, though she blushed a bit at the nickname, eventually brought one of her own legs up to hug back. “Okay, Mom. Just don't call me that in public anymore,” she muttered

“Sure thing, sweetie.” Ditzy let go of Sparkler, and started to trot away, then suddenly vanished with a 'woosh' of displaced air.

Sparkler and Dinky both jumped in shock, and even Time Turner recoiled slightly.

“Damn it!” Sparkler's horn flashed as she touched a small gem earring; a silver hoop and a couple of small sacks popped into existence, each snatched up in her magic. “Of course this happens in the middle of the day, and out in the open.” She tossed the circle on the ground, then removed several gems from the bags. “May Luna damn summoners...”

“Technically speaking, you're a summoner yourself.” Time Turner weathered Sparkler's glare with practiced ease. “I'm just saying, you're basically damning yourself with that phrase.”

Dinky simply stood at the edge of the circle, pushing a few of Sparkler's gems into place. “So... who do you think summoned Mommy this time?”

Sparkler sighed, rubbing at the base of her horn. “I dunno; I just hope it isn't that one mare from last month; by the gods, she was creepy.”

“Is that the one that kept talking about eating me?”

“No, it was the one who had her hooves all over Mom and made all those comments you didn't get.”

Dinky blinked, then scowled. “Oh, yeah, she was weird.”

“Anyway, I need to focus; magic around here is kinda weird and I don't want to accidentally summon something I shouldn't.”

Dinky nodded and stepped away. “I sure hope Mommy's okay.”

“Oh, don't you worry, my dear.” Time Turner joined the young unicorn as her sister worked. “I'm sure you're mother is fine, no matter what manner of vile sorcerer summoned her.”

---

“I can't believe you two would be so colossally stupid!”

It wasn't every day, Ditzy reflected, that she got to listen to another parent lecture their kids. Even rarer that she knew the kids getting lectured.

Although, calling 16-Bit and Skeleton Key 'kids' was a bit generous; they were at least as old as Sparkler, though they seemed to lack most of the good sense that came with age. This wasn't even the first time they'd managed to summon her, albeit accidentally. Considering what most summoned creatures would do to them, her appearing instead was actually probably a good thing.

“But, Mom,” Skeleton Key whined, “he said he knew what he was doing!” The off-white unicorn's gray mane was wild from the magic surge of the summoning ritual and his blue eyes were slightly unfocused. Whatever the two had done to get her here, it had taken a lot out of him.

“I don't give a flying feather what he said!” His mother, a green pegasus with a blond mane and tail, flapped her wings with a snap. “You overtaxed your magic and tried to summon a demon! What the hay were you thinking?”

Skeleton Key looked down at his hooves, muttering things quietly.

“I didn't raise you to mumble, Skeleton.”

The unicorn muttered again, not looking up still.

“Skeleton Key!”

He jumped in shock. “I was trying to get laid!” His hooves went to his mouth in an instant, eyes wide in horror and darting around wildly.

His mother's expression mimicked his own; her mouth opening and closing several times, with no sound coming out. “You... you...” Her expression finally turned into pure rage. “Do I need to spell out how many ways that could go wrong? Do you realize what you could have lost?”

“Well, technically my vir—”

Her face just got redder. “How about your soul?”

“Mom, I—”

“I don't want to hear it anymore!” She grabbed his ear in her teeth, making him wince in pain. “Home,” she said around it, “now!”

With a bunch of halfhearted protests and the occasional exclamation of pain, Skeleton Key was dragged out of the room, leaving 16-Bit and his father, 8-Bit, alone with Ditzy.

The older Bit, a brown Pegasus stallion with a blue mane and tail, simply looked at his son, a pale blue earth pony with an off-white mane and tail. He didn't shout, didn't even raise his voice as he spoke. “I taught you better than this, 16-Bit.”

The young stallion hung his head low. “I know, Dad...”

8-Bit sighed, shaking his head. “Go to your room; we'll talk about this after I decide what your punishment is going to be.”

16-Bit didn't say anything, just sullenly trudged out of the room, his eyes not leaving the floor.

Once they were alone, 8-Bit shook his head once more and turned to his unintentional guest. “I'm sorry about this, Ditzy. I really thought I got through to him after last time.” He brought a hoof up to rub at his temple. “By the gods, what am I going to do with that boy?”

“It's not really my place to say,” Ditzy admitted with a wingshrug. “I just hope he realizes the danger before he hurts himself, or worse.”

“Yeah, you and me both.” 8-Bit sighed once more, still rubbing his temple. “Do you need me to send you on your way?”

“No thanks,” Ditzy smiled. “I was with my daughters before this; they should—”

Ditzy vanished with another 'whoosh', leaving 8-Bit to his own problems.

---

And reappeared back in Whinnistrad, inside of Sparkler's portable summoning circle.

“Welcome back, Mommy!” Dinky jumped at her mother and hugged her around the barrel, breaking the metaphysical circle in the processes. “I missed you.”

Ditzy was still more than a little disoriented, but managed to smile and wrap one of her legs around Dinky. “Thanks, Muffin, I missed you too.” As her eyes stopped spinning, she was able to focus on Sparkler as well. “And thanks for pulling me back.”

Sparkler nodded as she started picking up her summoning components. “So, who was it this time? And should I start reworking the wards on the house after we get back?”

“No, they'll be fine as is; it was just 16-Bit.”

Sparkler groaned. “Ugh, that loser again? Can't we report him to the paladins or something? I know he's not a licensed summoner.”

“He's a young stallion who's still getting used to his power,” Ditzy said, “not some dangerous sorcerer. No need to run the risk of him getting some of the less tolerant beings sent to his house.”

“Fine,” Sparkler grumbled, kicking at the dirt. “But I still don't like it.”

“It's not good to dwell on these sorts of things, sweetie. Don't worry about it.” Ditzy fluttered over to her eldest daughter and gave her another hug, smiling at her.

Sparkler, for her part, returned the hug with a blush. As much as she felt awkward in the undead mare's embrace, there was just something comforting about the act itself.

Ditzy finally pulled away from the hug, still smiling pleasantly. “Now, lets see about lunch.” And she was off and trotting. Some of her steps were a bit ungainly, but she had dealt with the complications of her body for long enough that she could avoid looking like a shambling horror.

Sparkler found herself chuckling; for whatever reason, her mother's hugs always made her feel a bit better. Her bad mood hadn't totally disappeared, but it was lessened enough that she could enjoy her day.

“We should probably catch up to them.” Time Turner earned a glare as he interrupted her thoughts. “We're going to lose each other if we don't hurry.”

“Whatever.” Sparkler pushed passed him with her glare still in place, not even turning to look at him when she heard his hoofsteps following her a moment later. Freak.

---

“So, when we all woke up the next morning: I had dyed my coat neon pink, the mayor had an apple painted on his face, and his daughter was sharing a bed with a dullahan!”

Ditzy laughed while Sparkler rolled her eyes; Time Turner's stories always seemed to end with situations like that, and a strangely large number of them seemed to involve fruit in some way. Both of them had long since given up understanding how such things continued to happened to him; it was just easier that way.

Time Turner chuckled. “Needless to say, that gave a whole new meaning to giving heeeee—” his eyes strayed to Dinky, then back to Ditzy, who shook her head very slightly. “—eeeey, what's it matter? They were a cute couple. They were even getting married last I heard, though I think the mayor there still has a standing arrest warrant for me, so I couldn't attend. Shame too, I knew the dullahan a hundred or so years ago; she was a good friend of mine.”

“What's a dullahan?” The tiny unicorn was barely big enough to see over the table, but she was looking back and forth between the older ponies with child-like interest.

“A headless horse, Muffin,” Ditzy said. “Just one that found their head and carries it around with them.”

Dinky tilted her head, thinking. “Oh! Like the pony who lives down the road from us? Miss Minty?”

“That's right, Muffin!” Ditzy smiled at her youngest daughter, lightly clapping her hooves together.

“Mom,” Sparkler deadpanned, “she's not a foal anymore.”

“Aww, you'll both always be my little foals.” She pulled Sparkler into a one-legged hug.

Sparkler groaned. “Laying it on a bit thick today, aren't you?” She shot her sister a glare when she giggled.

Ditzy chuckled herself, but released her hold. “Yeah, I am,” she admitted. “I've been having a bit of a rough day is all.”

Time Turner pulled a pocket watch out from his collar, apparently to check the time. “We all have days like that, Ditzy.” His eyes shining deviously as he replaced the timekeeper. “You know, I think I might be able to help.” Without another word, he stood and headed into the diner the four of them were seated outside of.

“Always trying to show off,” Sparkler grumbled, making Ditzy frown.

“Why do you put him down so much? He's been nothing but nice to you and Dinky.”

“Because you'd kick him to the curb if he wasn't,” Sparkler snapped back. “Seriously, Mom, the guy's a total freak.”

“Just because he's willing to look past my... condition... doesn't mean he's a freak, Sparkler.”

“Or he's using you to fulfill some sick fetish.”

“Sparkler Doo!” Ditzy slammed a hoof on the table at her daughter's comment, then winced as she heard something crack. She gingerly looked down, groaning when she saw the crack in their table; she was lucky the table hadn't broken outright, given her usual luck. And, on top of that, when she lifted her hoof back up, the forelimb flopped about at unnatural angles.

Ditzy chuckled nervously as she hid her broken leg from the ponies around her, her loose eye falling out of sync with her normal one as her gaze darted around. A few ponies were confused, a few had missed the whole thing entirely, and a few more were pointedly looking at anything that wasn't her at the moment. That was part of the problem with an undead body, the rot sometimes made parts of it more brittle and prone to break than others. Especially when she had to deal with a level of strength most non-earth ponies didn't have.

Sparkler just sighed, shaking her head. “Let me see it, Mom.”

Sighing to herself, Ditzy extended the broken limb toward her elder daughter. “That shouldn't have happened...”

Sparkler just eyed the leg, moving the loose portion around as her horn glowed faintly. She was vaguely aware of Dinky peering over from across the table but most of her mundane senses had been pushed to the side as she felt out the spells around her mother's body. “The preservation spells seem to be wearing a little thin...” She glanced up, raising an eyebrow. “When was the last time you visited Lyra to have them redone?”

Ditzy fidgeted in her seat, eyes drifting further out of alignment. “Well... you know how much I've been working lately. And Lyra isn't always in Ponyville because of what she does...”

“Mom, we both know you've been working more than twelve hours pretty much every day. And it's got nothing to do with how busy you are.”

Ditzy's eyes both managed to turn away from Sparkler. “Well, it's not like I need to sleep or eat...”

“Sidetracking doesn't work with me anymore, Mom. How long has it been?”

Ditzy was silent for a moment. “Um... almost two months now.”

“Ugh!” Sparkler's hoof caught her face as she groaned. “Mom, you know you need to make this a priority. Otherwise...” she held up Ditzy's broken leg.

“I know, sweetie, I know. I just... look, can we discuss this some other time? Is there anything you can do about my leg?”

Shaking her head with a sigh, Sparkler examined her mother's leg once more. “It won't be a perfect fix, but I can at least put it back together. You'll have to see Lyra about it when we get back to Ponyville.” The glow around her horn intensified as an aura of matching color surrounded the break in Ditzy's leg. “Just hold still...” she shifted the limb about to make the alignment match up as best she could, then let the spell do the rest of the work.

It wasn't the most complex or even the cleanest of spells, especially since it was meant to repair gems and not bone, but the same principle applied to both. They both possessed a lattice structure that gave them their hardness and the spell would replicate the structure to repair scratches, and even fuse broken pieces back into the whole. It was no substitute for a proper healing spell (or the undead equivalent), but it could stitch a bone back together well enough.

The glow finally faded, and Sparkler wiped some sweat off her forehead. “That should at least keep it in one piece for now. Just try not to hit anything too hard with that leg.”

Ditzy moved the limb about a few times, grateful it was no longer flopping about uselessly. “Thank you. But don't think this means you're off the hook for what you said about Time Turner.”

Sparkler glared at her mother, but said nothing. They both had a few things they needed to discuss later.

“Did somepony mention me?”

The three mares all turned away from Ditzy's newly repaired leg as the object of the disagreement came trotting into view. There was a tray with a few drinks balanced on his head, all of which swayed alarmingly as he weaved among the various tables and ponies with a manic grin upon his face.

“Careful!” Ditzy called out. “You'll spill them all over yourself!”

“Not to worry, Ditzy, my dear.” Time Turner spun around one of the cafe's wait staff as they took the order of somepony else. The drinks went flying upwards, only for Turner to remove the tray from his head and continued to spin about, almost dancing as he walked. One-by-one the cups were smoothly caught as they came down, barely spilling a drop as they landed on the moving platform. Finally, after several overly flourished turns, the stallion came to a stop in front of their table, sliding the tray and drinks up and off his hoof.

“As promised, drinks for all!” He took a low bow with a smirk, and was just about to sit down... when a drink came tumbling out of the sky, bouncing off his head and spilling its contents all over his face.

Sparkler snorted with laughter, almost choking on her own drink as she did. “Seven tries, and you still can't get it right!”

Time Turner raised an eyebrow at her words, then took a lick at some of the liquid still dripping from his face. When he tasted apple juice, he turned his gaze to the younger unicorn present.

Sure enough, Dinky was looking at the three tabletop cups with her head tilted. “Didn't I get one?”

Time Turner quickly shook the spilled juice from his coat and flashed her one of his best smiles. “Hold that thought.” Without further ado, he pulled out the very same pocket watch from earlier and flipped open the faceguard.

Just in time for light blue energy to explode out of the contraption and envelop him.

---

“We all have days like that, Ditzy.” Time Turner spoke up once more, his eyes shining deviously. “You know, I think I might be able to help.” He returned the pocket watch to his collar, then stood back up, heading into the diner once again...

Or for the first time...

Or, more than likely, both.

That was always the trouble when it came to Chronomancy: Equish was simply not a language built to handle the complexity and nuances of time travel. Even a single trip, regardless of direction, tended to play havoc with the tenses.

He was just lucky this was only a reset of the last few minutes, not nearly as many things to remember in that small a timeframe. Nothing like the time he'd had to relive an entire year of his own life, in a linear fashion, but that was neither here nor there.

First, avoid the hole beside the next table over. He smoothly stepped over a shallow depression that had tripped him on more than one reset.

Pause to let the guy unhappy with his salad miss you. Turner stopped dead in his tracks as a bowl of half-eaten salad sailed in front of him, the stallion a few tables away screaming about the quality of the cafe's wares.

Arch your back up. A tiny filly giggled as she ran underneath him. And down. He dropped to the ground to let the filly's father jump over his prone form as he continued to chase after her. And okay.

He stood back up, brushed the dirt from his coat, and continued on, finally reaching the cafe door.

Move to the side. A mare slammed open the door, storming out with a growl. Another followed a moment later, calling out about something being 'just a one-time thing'.

Thankfully, it was much easier to navigate once he'd gotten inside. It was a nice day, and most of the indoor tables were empty. Even the requisite shady corner table for secret discussions remained vacant, which Time Turner could only assume meant something good. As such, he was beaming as he addressed the stallion behind the counter.

“Greetings! One oat-a-pop, two wheat smoothies, and a child's apple juice, if you would, my good sir!”

The stallion, a fairly unremarkable earth pony with a gray coat and a black mane, glanced up from the counter he was wiping down, then grunted something, then said. “Kay, give me a few minutes.” He left the wipe rag and trotted over to the other end of the counter, pulling out a blender when he got there. Wheat grains and some milk came a moment after and were unceremoniously dumped in the blender. “You want the oat-a-pop in a bottle or glass?”

“Glass, same for the juice if you can.” Turner knew the glass wouldn’t be an issue, but that had been what he'd said the first (well, technically fifth) time through; it was best to keep as many things consistent as possible when replaying things like this.

The other stallion grunted something in acknowledgment, pouring out the blended smoothies into their own glasses already. He then pulled a case of large bottles out of a cabinet with a visible 'cold' spell rune etched into the wood and poured out the final two drinks, setting them all on a tray. “That'll be...”

“This should cover it.” Time Turner seemed to pull a small bag of bits out of nowhere and dropped it on the counter. “Keep the change, my good fellow!”

While the stallion counted out just how much Turner had paid him, he pushed the tray onto his head and calmly walked away.

Once outside, however, he set about remembering the next set of pitfalls that awaited him.

Move to the right. He took an oblong way around one of the table, just as a wildly gesturing colt lost his balance and started to topple over, only for Time Turner to push him back upright without breaking stride. Turner didn't even stick around to hear him say 'Thanks', because he could already hear the voice of the most beautiful mare he knew.

“—hook for what you said about Time Turner.”

“Did somepony mention me?” He couldn't help but grin as the three ponies around the table all looked toward him, no doubt incredulous about his method of liquid transportation.

“Careful!” Ditzy called out. “You'll spill them all over yourself!”

And that's the cue to avoid the waitress. “Not to worry, Ditzy, my dear!” He spun and let the drinks fly upward, calculating the time it would take for each one to land as he watched them ascend, remembering how badly he'd misjudged Dinky's last time. He continued his movements, making sure to catch each drink as gently as possible. And maybe twisting time a bit to give himself an edge.

“As promised,” he said as he placed the tray and three of the drinks on the table, taking his little bow a moment sooner this time. “Drinks.” He stood up just in time to catch Dinky's apple juice as it finally came down. “For everypony.”

The youngest unicorn gave a 'Yay!', holding the drink between her hooves as she sucked on the straw, but her sister only grumbled as she held the oat-a-pop in her magic.

“And it only took you eight times to get it right...”

Time Turner narrowed his eyes slightly.

She'd gotten the number of resets right last time too, but he'd passed it off as a fluke. After all, they all knew how his magic worked, but to have her get it right again was just too much of a stretch to call 'coincidence'.

“And how did you know that?”

Sparkler looked up as she sucked down some of her pop, only answering after a good number of seconds had passed. “I've been around Minuette enough to know how chronomancy feels, even when it's just the echos of it. And you've got seven 'echos' around you right now; it's simple math, really.” She went back to her drink as Time Turner's expression darkened further.

“I see...” He would have to have a talk with Minuette. Again.

“Thanks for this, TT.” Ditzy spoke up as she took a long gulp of her shake, licking the foam off her upper lip. She was smiling brightly and one of her eyes was a bit out of alignment, and Time Turner couldn't help but smile right back at her.

The most important thing for a Chronomancer was to never forget the 'now'. He was with Ditzy, there were no pressing needs for either of them, and confronting Minuette could happen after he wasn't needed anymore. That was his 'now' for the moment, and he would live it. He took a sip of his own shake, savoring the taste with a smack of his lips. “As I've said, Miss Doo; always a pleasure.”

Sparkler stopped her sipping so she could snort, ignoring the glare she got from her mother. “So, are we actually going to get something to eat while we're sitting here? Drinks are nice and all, but I actually am kind of hungry.”

“Yeah, me too.” Dinky stopped drinking her apple juice and looked down at her stomach. “Breakfast wasn't very big today.”

“How you stay so small with as much as you eat amazes me, squirt.”

“Hey!” Dinky reared up and clopped her hooves on the table. “That's not funny, Sparkler!”

“Wasn't meant to be, Dinky.”

“Girls...” Ditzy's firm tone cut into the conversation. “Be nice to your sister.”

Both of the unicorns stopped their arguments, neither willing to fight their mother over this.

Ditzy nodded. “Good; now, lets see about that food.” She raised her hoof to flag down the waitress Time Turner had 'expertly' avoided a few minutes ago. “What does everypony want?”

Dinky perked back up. “Pumpkin Soup and grilled cheese!”

“And you wonder why I say those things...” Sparkler sighed, shaking her head. “Okay... just a salad for me, Vinaigrette dressing.”

Time Turner set down his shake. “I'll just have a sunflower sandwich, I'm not that hungry.”

“And I'll just have some dessert; this cheesecake looks really good.” Ditzy licked her lips.

Sparkler chuckled a bit as the waitress walked away. “No muffins this time, Mom?”

Ditzy frowned, or tried to at least; the expression didn't quite take when her mouth kept trying to twitch back up. “Muffins aren't the only thing I eat, Sparkler.”

“No,” Sparkler admitted with a smirk. “Just the only thing you bake every other day.”

Dinky and Time Turner couldn't hold back a chuckle, while Ditzy just groaned, her face flopping onto the table. “Times like this, I wish I could blush...”

Sparkler chuckled herself, patting her mother just about the wing. “Relax, I just had to pay you back for earlier.”

Ditzy groaned again, but slowly pushed herself back up with a sigh. “Okay, okay; fair's fair, and I'm sorry for teasing you earlier.”

Sparkler nodded, her chuckles trailing off as she looked around. Though the half-completed tower still loomed ominously over the center of town, she could pick out ponies dismantling it from here. “Hard to believe somepony got this far along before anypony noticed.”

“Mind magic's good for keeping secrets,” Time Turner spoke up, following her gaze. “Also has a tendency to drive ponies who don't know what they're doing insane.”

Sparkler turned to him, cocking her eyebrow. “Like you?”

Time Turner smirked. “Oh no, nothing like me.” He chuckled, pulling out his watch and dangling it on its chain. “Most ponies go insane from stress, or some sort of repressed issues, or just because the wrong thing happens at just the wrong time. But chronomancers...” Red energy glowed within the closed watch. “Chronomancers are born insane.”

Sparkler's eyebrow rose even higher, and glanced to her mother. All she got was a stiff shake of her head in response. It still didn’t stop her flippant snort. “Right... I'll keep that in mind.”

“Hey, is that ours?” Dinky, still using the table to stand on her hind legs, pointed a hoof toward the cafe. The other turned and, sure enough, they saw the waitress, with a large platter balanced on her back.

“I'd say it is, Muffin.” Ditzy clapped her hooves together. “I can't wait to—”

“Heads up!”

Everypony in the general area stopped what they were doing, and a sound akin to breaking glass was heard, followed by the angry crackle of electricity. Ponies screamed and several dove to the ground, a bolt of magically generated lightning arcing through the air.

Sparkler grabbed Dinky and coated both of them in a thin layer of magic, diving to the ground. Time Turner, a blue glow fading from his watch, pushed himself back from the table and landed on his back with a wince. Ditzy, however, had never had the best reflexes.

The lightning bolt struck her square in the face with a thunderclap, but just as quickly rebounded off as her head snapped back. The bolt struck the middle of the street, blowing out a chunk of ground as Ditzy swayed in her seat, eyes spinning wildly in opposite directions. “Oooooh... I think I felt my heart beat a few times there.”

“Sorry!” A lime green earth pony mare with a darker green mane and tail came running into view, her hair was frizzled and frazzled, static electricity sparking around it. “Accidentally summoned an elemental and couldn't banish it in time! Is everypony alright?”

There was a general response of 'yes' from most of the other ponies, though several looked at Ditzy as she swayed in her seat.

Sparkler dispelled the field around her and Dinky and stood back up. She turned to Ditzy. “Mom, you okay?”

“I'm fine, I'm fine.” She wobbled a bit, then shook her head. “Just waiting for everything to stop spinning.”

Sparkler sighed in relief. “You're lucky that bolt didn't just fry you.”

Ditzy actually giggled. “Not really, remember?”

Sparkler blinked a few times, then mouthed out 'Oh'. “Right, you're too full of magic yourself for most offensive spells to get through.”

Ditzy smiled. "That's r—” And she abruptly popped out existence again.

Sparkler started, then stamped her hooves. "Oh come on! Twice in the same day?”

---

Ditzy, still a bit woozy from taking a lightning bolt to the face, was thus even more disoriented than usual when she appeared in someone's summoning circle for the third time that day.

“Sorry,” she said, trying to make the world stay still for a moment. “I know I'm probably not what you were looking for, but don't worry; this happens a lot.”

“No, there wasn't any mistake. You are exactly the pony I was hoping to see, Ms. Doo.”

Her vision finally stopped twisting and spinning, settling on a pony (a mare, going by her voice) completely covered in a black robe. “Wha...”

“Hello, Ditzy; you and I have much to discuss.”