Cast on the waves of time (Patreon)

 Princess Celestia stared at Last Thing's primary time anchor in my Equestria Dreamscape. Wisely she stood back and let the ponies who were experts at this task do their jobs. She might be the Princess of the Sun who had ruled Equestria for over a thousand years, but in this room she was just an observer. Here she had to trust other ponies to do the right thing.

   
  As the princess watched she could see the second set of hands on her primary time anchor jump forward and back as the mare threw herself forward and back through the time stream with her talent. As the hammer comes down The large, secondary stopwatch dial was speeding up and slowing down as Last Thing manipulated the speed at which she flowed through the time immediately around her. The punch card reader was making a constant staccato of noise as punch card after punch card recorded the movements of the time anchor and the various monitoring instruments connected to it. A steady stream of punch cards was emerging from the machine and being collected neatly in a wire frame basket. 

   
  The first hint something was amiss happened when the seconds hand on the primary time anchor suddenly began spinning wildly forward followed by minute and hour hands began moving quickly as well. A second or so later a series of bells started chiming urgently. At the same time ponies started shouting. 

  "We have an unscheduled chronological anomaly occurring!"

   
  "The time anchor is accelerating in an uncontrolled fashion!"

 
  "Last Thing has experienced an involuntary shift from our current timeline!" 

  "Disengage the mechanism now before it damages itself!" 

  Evening grabbed the emergency release lever with her front hooves and gave it a firm yank. There was a sharp, crack sound and hands on the anchor stopped spinning. The elderly unicorn began addressing the team in a terse fashion. 

  "I want to know the last known time stamp for Last Thing! How far into the future we're we able to record her progress before we lost track of her! Also begin a cursory diagnostic immediately on the primary time anchor to determine if it sustained any damage! Also confirm that the backup anchor is functioning. If she returns to our timeline before we bring the primary anchor back online I want her to have some form of support, and double-check to make sure the backup recorder is functioning properly. "

 
  Evening turned to a bat pony stand next to her. "Night Willow. I want you to leave the chamber and check with the Chief Palace Mage on duty. See if they are aware of any phenomenon that might have effected the time anchor!"

 
  Celestia watched Evening and her staff grapple with the problem in front of them. Her heart had skipped a bit when she'd seen the time anchor go into an uncontrolled spin. It had been years since Last Thing had experienced such a plunge this severe into the seas of time. She was anxious for answers but she knew that her questions now would only slow the current search for answers. Also she knew that showing concern would only add to the anxiety of the ponies searching for a solution. So she kept her face as neutral as possible and focused on her breathing. 

  
  With everypony given their instructions Evening's staff went about their assignments. Finally the Mistress of the Anchor was finally able to talk with Celestia. 

  
  "Your Highness. As you just observed Last Thing has experienced an uncontrolled time shift. The last recorded reference point we have for her puts at least 2 years in the future. However that number is only up to the point when we had to disengage the primary anchor. She was still accelerating forward into time when lost connection with her."

 
  "And we've received no confirmation that she's returned again to our timeline?" The princess spoke with a deliberately slow and even voice. A thousand plus years of being a leader was being leveraged now.

   
  "That's correct your Highness." The backup anchor is functioning correctly as is the recorder. However we've received no notification of her return." After a second the elderly mare spoke in a more casual tone. "Celestia dear. We're doing everything we can. I know you're worried, but at this point we just have to trust her to come back to us. Would you like a cup of tea dear?"

 
  The alicorn exhaled slowly. "Yes, yes please. That would be very nice." 

  Suddenly a different set of bells started chiming. One of the technicians yelled out.

   
  "M'am we have confirmation of Last Thing returning to our current timeline! I repeat she's returned and is beginning to synchronize with our timeline!"

   
 To be continued.