//------------------------------//
// Ch 13: Back to the Present. 
// Story: Meta Gamer in Equestria Bonus Chapters: Archimedes's promise 
// by reflective vagrant 
//------------------------------//

A few days later, at the preparations of Hope's birthday party, we were expecting half the town's children to be there.  Her playmates from the park were around her emotional and physical age with her being their equivalent of five or so. Where her playmates ages ended, her classmate's ages started.  As such, her younger friends saw her as the smart one, and her older friends found her to be proportionately innocent.  The few of her classmates that found her annoyingly childish still didn't treat her bad, due to in part them knowing they would get in trouble for picking on a classmate not even half their size.  The rest of the cause was peer pressure from the rest of her class being former playmates of years past and/or being more mature than normal with older siblings in the school of friendship, who were ironically also invited by "professor" Pinkie Pie.
Some wouldn't make it, mostly among the older children and teens that had either little connection to Hope, or had obligations elsewhere, but Pinkie Pie insisted on having supplies ready for them just in case.

Pinkie Pie was the only professor at the school of friendship in attendance, however.  Even with several of the local servants of the Animus Mundi attending and Fluttershy being on good terms with them, she had to be elsewhere on a diplomatic mission with the breezie migration in another part of the country due to this years wind currents.
Different ponies had different activities ready.  Pinkie Pie had made sure each activity was well made, and some with interesting twists to the normal activity.
The one I had been assigned was no exception.  With my shape water spell, I could transform the normal bobbing for apples game into a more immersive challenge, letting the ponies grab from the sides or below, with globules of water floating mid air.  At least, that is what I hoped to have with the teens and a few of the older kids.  With the younger kids, I'd have to have the water glob just move around in a circle and let the kids try to grab apples when they passed.
That is part of why I had to give a discount to the Apple family for the work Scraps, Keen Wit and I had done for them.  A part of the deal for the rush order was access to their greenhouse crop of early spring apples.  They weren't the top of the line for the farm, but no other fresh apples existed this time of year outside of the greenhouse Keen Wit and I developed for them as a prototype.  But even so, I had to pull some strings with them to get apples in time for Hope's party.
One would think that simply having made the greenhouse for them would have been enough, but apparently it barely got my foot in the door with how in demand the early spring apples were.  To get them prioritized for me this year, I had to get the greenhouse roof to come off at the pull of a lever wheel and let the trees enjoy natural spring weather without having to take the roof parts off manually.  The Apples said they had spent too much time doing it the year before that the other early spring chores they needed to do at the same time almost suffered, had the students from the School of Friendship not helped.
Applebloom had become quite the negotiator as she blossomed into a proper young adult and took on more and more of Applejack's and Granny Smith's farm chores.  Poor old lady had only a few years left at best, even if she did insist she'd out live us all.


My area was also set up for double duty in taking care of emergency boo boos for the kids.  While the servants attending could heal, it either took a lot of them sharing the load with their mana style casting or it would drop all but the strongest among them attempting to cast it quickly like spell slot casting.  I even had a few salve packs from my alchemy kit in the shop to boost the healing word spell to the power of my clerical casting if I had to.  As marvelous as my æther style healing was, it still wasn't quite as potent as my faux cleric or druidic healing.  I really didn't want to disturb Archimedes if I could help it and my Animus Mundi spell preparation was tied up with higher level spells.
Speaking of Archimedes, I had finished bringing the last of the baskets of apples and was about to go fetch the water for the barrel style tubs when I saw Archimedes coming down to land.
Letting him land on the arm that was normally for my shield gauntlet was weird, but I managed.  Since I couldn't exactly retrieve my other gauntlet from the Fey, my right handed auxiliary was acting as my substitute until I could properly rebuild a new one.  As such, the other hand had to act as the perch.  It just meant I'd be casting all my spells with my right hand, including my artificer spells that I'd normally cast through my left, and getting my shield reflex to bring up the correct arm was a flip of the coin until then.
"Still conserving your spells, I see."  Archimedes called to make small talk.
I nodded.  "It's easier to keep the create water spell in reserve to replenish quickly if I have to, or to clear a drowning pony's lungs in an emergency.  I still have plenty of time to set up.  I'm surprised you are actually still in town.  Got some business you need to wrap up before you go?"


Archimedes gave a quiet hoot, expressing his emotion verbally.  "While I can't thank you enough for letting me go to her, yes.  I do have one last bit of unfinished business lingering in my mind.  I don't feel right going to her until I've clarified something with you."
I looked at him odd for a second, then nodded.
"I once said not all words of the ancient tongues translate well to your tongue.   Your amulet was able to fill in the gaps rather well during our mission, but back when I spoke to you about her I was meaning something deeper.  Ebony Nexus was an amazing healer of her day, but not just with wounds."
He put his beak down as if to tear at my arm, but didn't actually make contact.  "There are many words that translate to the word of healing in your tongue.  She healed flesh as a servant, medic and potion maker.  She also healed minds as a dream walker."
He tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes as if to sleep, then opened them again and turned the side of his head to me, as if listening.
"She also healed bonds between friends and family as a counselor.  Each of these types of healing have a different word in the old tongue."
He then turned his head to face me normally, took a breath and prepared himself for the important part.
"But the word Diary used to describe her death was the one that means 'to heal another's heart.'  I once said she died healing another, but it wasn't Father Gatekeeper as a child.  It was you.  She spent her last precious breaths seeking to heal your heart.  To preemptively mend it and help let the pain out properly before it broke... Again... And then hopefully set it on the mend when you got back and the time loop closed.  The song you sang was so effective that it even helped Diary's heart to start mending again before she died of old age from what Discord tells me.  A feat I myself had given up on before you had arrived."
He went down and gnawed at my hand, gently.
"So while you may feel you risk releasing poison with every step you take in this world, don't you ever think you're not worth the effort.  If you want to honor her last breath, keep fighting your good fight until your own final breath.  If you have the ability to ask if your chapter of the eternal fight is over, then your chapter isn't over.  She believed in you, and so I do too."
It was weird.  This moment was probably the most at peace I had ever known him to be, with the energy his telepathic communication was giving.  It felt nice.  Too nice, really.  It was like I was almost... Jealous of him?  Respectful jealous, but jealous.  Normally he felt even more disturbed than myself, but now I was the one in the lead in that department.
It was almost like he could sense it in me, which could have actually been the case because he nodded again and spoke one last time.  "In order to get the paperwork done correctly, I have to meet up with Moon Dancer in Canterlot to get it finished.  Everypony says she's the best at navigating the magical preservation department's technicalities and I refuse to ask the royalty to help me bypass them just because they are hard.  I just wished to say goodbye before I meet up with Sunburst to use his copy of the talking card table he keeps in the capital for me.  And do not worry about not coming along for direct translation.  I would rather have you here at the party with loved ones.  I will make do.  Take care, my friend."


A little while later, as I poured the last pale of water into the tubs, I went to start putting a few apples in to practice moving the water with apples, only to see what looked like a worm on one of them.
Considering they were grown in a greenhouse, the chance of parasites were slim, so I inspected closer and quickly thought "Oh no..." while backing up.
"Well, well, well."  Discord promptly grew to his usual size and uprooted the top of a water well in his paw that hadn't been there before.  He then tossed it into the distance to poof back into non existence, leaving the grass as it was before.  "What do we have here?"
His eyes looked me over as he swarmed around me.
"The great rift sealer, Moss, using his basic gear instead of his quality gear?  And where, might I ask, is your normal left handed casting shield-glove?  Why are you using your right glove today?"
I looked at him with a cold stare.  "Why are you beating around the bush?  Just ask what you really want to ask."
Discord looked me in the eyes, not in anger but in firmness.  With power I had only seen him use twice before, he said,  "Answer my question!"
Knowing I didn't have the power to fight him, I didn't even bother.  So I just let the magic compel me to respond.
"I lost both the glove and my good gear in a journey to the past, visiting the first rift war."
I stared into his eyes as my view of him in the present day merged with my memories of him in the past.  Unsure of what to do at first as he glared at me, I swallowed a lump in my throat.
Slowly he grinned, snapped his talon and I found a tropical resort chair sitting next to the stool I was going to use.
"Oh I've been aching to catch up with you since then.  So many things have happened."
Hesitantly, I sat down and chatted with Discord for a time.


Eventually, I had mentioned how I saw him reset civilizations that gave no care about the environment through the Animus Mundi.
"Ah yes.  For the longest time I thought it was the Animus Mundi that was to be our common ally, but it wound up being our dear Fluttershy.  Nevertheless, having the Animus Mundi see me as a 'net positive' for her health and fulfillment of her will definitely has had its benefits.  Keeping her servants off my back being the most basic of them."
I nodded and brought myself to ask.  "So, I understand if you don't want to answer but, Diary mentioned something about a weakness involving natives.  If I might be so bold, what was it?"
Discord blushed a little and rolled his eyes, then put them back into position with the claws of his talon.  "Oh if you must know I suppose I can tell.  The princesses already know it anyway.  If a native ever gained the ability to wield quintessence, even partial, I would have no significant weight against it.  It could potentially hit me as hard as any mortal.  Likewise, my magic, depending on the purity of the quintessence and potency of the magic overall, would have a hard time pushing back.  In some cases it would barely make a dent.  It's one of the reasons Equestria survived my reign a thousand years ago by sealing me away with a still young set of the elements that otherwise would not have had the sheer power to work on me.  Fortunately, with Celeastia's leadership, Equestria managed to get itself to live more harmoniously with nature, adverting my wrath besides a little vengeance for being sealed away."
He then looked at me in a low key menacing glare/squint of the eyes.
"But that handycap only works with natives, Moss.  So don't get any ideas."
We heard a whining of Time Turner's blue box appearing.  Turning to see it nestled in the trees, I looked back at Discord in worry.  Instead of him getting up at the sight of the door opening and Time Turner stepping out, he was calm.
"Oh don't worry, my moment of desperation has passed.  I'll find a way into that box some day, but I can bide my time now."
I couldn't help but look at him with an uneasy smile as he laughed lightly.  "It is funny isn't it?  I can do most anything, even out power that old feather brain, Bunny Angel.  Yet bringing back the dead and traveling time..."  He scratched the back of his neck with his paw for a second.  "Well, technically I can astral project into the past, but I can't affect anything while doing so.  So 'properly' traveling through time without assistance and bringing back the dead are beyond me.  Yet, though it's not why I wanted in originally, I wouldn't mind being able to see Diary one more time.  We weren't proper... 'friends' by the end of her life, but I think we could have been if I could speak to her as I am today."
Tentatively, I brought my hand over to his paw and held it supportively.  "I can't imagine the pain of being so long lived."  I made the point to avoid the word "old."
With this I looked down at a small friendship pendant with Princess Twilight's face half obscured by his talon, normally hidden in his fur.
Following my eyes down to the pendant, he picked it up and gave a slight tearing sniffle.  "Yes, the unfortunate side effect of an immortal learning the true meaning of friendship.  I'll outlive just about all of them save for perhaps Time Turner.  Fluttershy's memory will probably haunt me the most.  Thank you for the reprieve from that fate."
He tucked the pendant away and willed the tears in his eyes to go back inside.  "But fortunately, like Time Turner, I have a different perspective of time than most.  It will hurt.  It will hurt eternally once it comes, but I'll survive."
With this, Time Turner had come up and nodded to me.  "Nice to see you here, Moss.  Are you ready to go, Discord?"
Discord snapped the chair away and popped in beside Time Turner, giving him a wink.  "You always somehow know when I'll be available in advance when we book a guys night.  What are we doing this time?"
Time Turner turned to the party.  "Celebrating Hope's eighth birthday.  But don't worry, we'll also have a proper guys night tonight.  Just consider this a two for one."





The party went smoothly for a while, and I even managed to chat it up with my old friends from the tribal griffin lands as they took turns doing their own party items with the servants.
When the youngest two of the group were relieved by their aunt to come over, I greeted the elder of the two, the vulture griffiness.   "Hail, Brings the Thunder.   How do my cousins among the griffin servants fair?"
I already knew from their aunt, Cries when Slaying, but it was polite to speak to each of them as if you were still in the dark at gatherings like this.
The vulture griffiness looked at me with a smile, "It is believed my own power in calling lightning as a mountain walker specialist is roughly equal to the high shaman's now, though my ability to heal is the furthest behind among full servants for my generation..."
She caught herself before she put her head down in shame, she brought it back up.  "As we all have our strengths and limitations.  As for my junior here, my raven half cousin has earned his name since the last time you visited the tribal lands years ago."
Cries when Slaying had purposely withheld her child's name so he could do the honors himself.  With giddy anticipation, I looked at the mostly grown splitting image of my late battle brother, save for the lack of permanent half scowl being replaced with a chipper smile.
The smiling raven griffin bowed in respect and said, "Let me introduce myself properly, Beast-kin.  I am the animal specialist servant, Whispers to Wolves, son of Silent Mercy and Cries when Slaying.  Although my beast tongue is as universal as any animal specialist's beast tongue is, I still understand wolves the best.  I am a little disappointed, though.  I had hoped the pony you call Fluttershy was here.  I wished to compare the differences in our beast tongues.  To think that she learned how without the aid of a spell or the Animus Mundi's guidance is simply amazing."
My mind went to the adventure I had with him as a near-teen/almost not a child anymore "tween" during my last visit, and how I could read the body language of the wolves, understanding they didn't want a fight and managed to avoid one while with him.
I resisted my urge to hug him despite not technically being my battle brother's "son" and only his "spawn"/nephew in the eyes of the tribes.  Almost as if she knew what I was struggling with, Brings the Thunder spoke up, breaking my beaming pride of a stare before it got too awkward.
"As for your battle sister, Jumps through Shadows,"  She nodded to the parrot griffiness playing a flute with the other servants giving music to the festivities.  "She's still embarrassed about overusing your wand and breaking it, but at least she has finally stopped seeking a way to repay you and accepted it as a sacrifice on behalf of the village."
I shook my head.  "I told her it was bound to break eventually and I was glad that it did the job and helped her protect her end of the village defenses.  I had the gut feeling she would have to split up from me that fight and I'm glad I asked her to attune to it in advance."
Brings the Thunder once again showed embarrassment, but from pride rather than shame.  "Her talents are split between the shaman arts and the ways of the braves, but her healing studies are proving unparalleled for a quasi servant.  She has already overcome the circle healing barrier for quasi servants and can help me in one with most tasks, though she must still rest more often."
With this, Brings the Thunder shook her head.  "It will be time soon for the local servants to bring their gift, yes?  I hear you coordinated their efforts in this."
I nodded and looked over to the Speaker, Hope's father, doing his best to be cheerful for his daughter.
"Yes, it is soon but there is one last thing I need to do before that happens."


It felt so long ago after my time travel trip, but it wasn't actually all that long.  I had been coordinating with others to give Hope her birthday song this year.  It was one of the few gifts she cherished above all others save only a handful like her mother's sash and I wanted it to be special, though I suspected it would be overshadowed shortly after by what I hoped her father's would be.
Moving along to Dawn Seeker, Guiding Star's twin brother and my assigned dream walker after Princess Luna wasn't able to be my regular anymore, was sitting down next to Tree Hugger and the Speaker, Hope's dad.
"Look I can't tell you what, but trust me, I prom... Oh hey Moss, you got here just in time!" Dawn Caller called out, "This guy is feeling down on his luck and I think we need to give him the good news, but it's not my place to say it."
I nodded, "And did our insistent new guest singer learn their lines already?"
He shook his head up and down somewhat vigorously, being the cheerful goof he was.  "Oh and then some! She picked it up like no-pony's business!  I may not have the pipes my sister, Guiding Star, does, but that doesn't mean I don't know music theory!"
I couldn't help but smile at this.  "I know, right? if it weren't for your lessons, I wouldn't have been able to record a tenth of my songs I've managed to pull from out of here.  Singer, only basic, but teacher? Exquisite!" I said as I lightly tapped my temple with a knuckle.
"My help with sifting through your memories helped too. Getting the notes and words remembered just right."
I nodded, "And not once with having to use Astral Judgement to force it, you skilled bastard."
With Dawn Seeker pleased at my compliment, I looked at Tree Hugger, who answered the question I was about to ask.  "Zecora should be getting her and the others in position now. Now that you're here, should we join them?"
"Sounds good, you should come too, Speaker."
The Speaker looked at us and tried to wave us off with a smile.  "I know you are trying to cheer me up, but this is a very personal time for me. I barely have the strength to get through it without my daughter noticing.  Please, just leave me to my misery for now.  Maybe you can tell me of it next month."
I then knelt down and stared him cold in the face.  "Let me clarify, I wasn't asking you. I was telling you. Now you can walk over with us and leave Hope over there none the wiser or I can pick you up kicking and screaming and get her worried, but either way you're coming."
Without his staff or other spell casting focus, the speaker had limited ability to fight me, not that he would.  But even if he had it his biggest worry was causing Hope to suffer by her two closest parental figures fighting.
"And when whatever secret you have in store for me does nothing?"
"Then I'll leave you to your misery like you asked."

A short walk later, where Zecora and several of the other local and semi local servants were getting together to sing for Hope, the Speaker started to say, "And so where is this..." just as his eyes fell on it.
"Yea... I pulled a few strings and called in a few favors so that I could call in other favors, but I still didn't get it totally clean cut.  They said something about some paperwork and headache for you later, but for n-!"
The Speaker had shoved my face away, cutting me off and immediately ran towards the thing he saw.


A few minutes after, the stage was set and the children were seated.  Hope was seated in the best spot front and center, being the birthday girl, naturally. When they suggested the high chair, I shook my head and said that anything but a short stepping stool where her hooves could still touch the ground would be a bad idea.
And so the curtains opened and from behind the cardboard hills, Tree Hugger, Zecora, Consolation, a young apprentice yak shaman and Jumps through Shadows came forth singing the Circle of Life from the Lion King, with Dawn Seeker acting as their conductor.  Dawn Seeker set down my song modifying music box, the particularly large chunk of sirenite at its core playing out the instruments with a simple spring powered kinetic/æther conversion system.  The system was a device just strong enough to power the music box's system designed by Keen Wit when we made it. Anything more would blow the music box's more delicate systems.  It was set to power the music just as soon as Dawn Seeker disengaged the latch that kept it paused at the start of the song.
It was a corny play to me, but of all the songs I knew this was the one the servants felt would be most appropriate for me to have them sing for her, being about life and nature.  As much as her father wanted to keep her from the village, he also wanted her to still have an interest in the Animus Mundi.  The servants were his best way to do that.
The audience was enjoying it quietly, even the more fussy of kids loving the story they adapted from their own teachings about the Animus Mundi, by pulling out props and watching them move around the "circle of life."  One or two of them I now recognized as the evolved forms of what Ebony Nexus once showed me back in the past.
And then the guest voice actor started singing, taking over for Zecora from the first half of the song.  My amulet translated the ancient servant tongue, being the guest singer's natural language from birth, but nobody else besides the servants heard the words.
And yet, this is when Hope's ears perked up, exactly as I had hoped they would.
Even before the cardboard hills in the back most of the stage parted, she was already at the edge of her seat, breathing heavily.
And then there she was, the guest singer.  An adult female satyr, horribly battered and bruised like she had been tortured for years, because she had been, but carrying her scars with so much pride she refused to let me or any servant heal them.
It was barely four more seconds of song after the reveal before Hope leaped out of her seat, jumping headlong onto the stage calling, "Mom!" and promptly tackle-hugging the newcomer like she had known this stranger since forever.  Fitting, given that this was the satyr she had imprinted on at birth.
The song was promptly over as Hope grappled her mom as closely to her as she could, positively balling her eyes out.
A colt from the audience was about to boo but I put my hand to his mouth, saying "Hey, it's her party, she can cry if she wants to."
Seeing his job as a conductor was done, Dawn Seeker came up by and picked up on what I was saying, with the Speaker following behind, having just as many tears as his daughter.
With a snicker, Dawn Seeker added his own comment as he put my music box back into his cloak pocket to return later, knowing I would have rather had my hands free than hold it, "And you would cry too if it happened to you." Then looked at me, getting a smile from me for the inside joke from my memories.
As I knelt down to the Speaker, I could hear Hope's balling turn into outright animistic bleating like a sheep or a deer fawn calling out in joyous pain.
"Yes, you managed to get them to let her go, but not without cost.  The fact that I will have to change my alias to 'The Banished' as she shall now become 'The Speaker' shall only be the lightest of it.  To think they would demand her loyalty to the village by having Name Keeper use her true name against her before they unbound her life force from the village web.  We will still never have another night together with how she must always return to the village each night.  But I suppose even this compromise is still more mother for Hope than I had ever dared hope before.  It also means I'll be less significant to Hope now, with her bonded parent now returned, but I would have had it that way from the start if given the chance. You truly are a creature of many strange ways, Beast-kin."
I just shook it off as we watched Hope start filling an eight year hole of loneliness in the form of tears falling onto the cardboard stage. "Don't mention it.  It just cost me a glove and a little dignity.  Just be ready to take the credit and get in there you oaf."
At this point I picked him up and carried him over, much to his shock.  At first he wasn't sure, thinking this was just their moment, but Hope quickly roped him in, hanging on him almost as tightly.
He looked at me oddly for another moment then, seeing me give him the thumbs up, just joined in on the family hug merrily.