Last Thing sat under a tree in my Equestria Dreamscape. She was in the main gardens of the Royal Palace; it was a beautiful late spring afternoon but the mare had an unshakeable sense of impending doom.

Ever since that morning when she’d accidentally slipped both back and forward in time

there always seemed to be a shadow cast across everything she viewed. As if she was nervously waiting for some terrible event to unfold. She was resting on a bright red and white checkered cloth. A small wicker basket with a carafe of iced tea and couple seed cakes sat on the cloth. Also keeping her company were four stout, ornately engraved metal staffs set into the ground around where she was lying. They had brightly colored pennants tied to them. These were directly linked to her monitoring anchor in the palace; they helped to assure she remained securely anchor to this timeframe. So long as she stayed inside their effect. As an added precaution she had her personal time anchor and chrono-throttle in her purse.

She’d slipped at least six times during that uncontrolled hurtling through possible timelines that morning, and hundreds of times afterwards in the hospital in spite of the efforts of the staff.

Two of the initial slips had been from years ago when she was just a little filly and didn’t understand what was happening to her. One was from a recent mission she’d had.

Another was a reoccurring moment she’d seen numerous times in her life. It wasn’t always the exact same scene but the general setting was the same. She’s standing on a rooftop of building in Manehattan. It’s nighttime and she’s staring down at the streets far below. Sometimes that is all. Sometimes she turns away. Sometimes she took a step forward….

Last Thing was uncertain whether she had seen her own death or not? She always temporally shifted before she truly stepped off the edge. But it was something that lurked in the back of her mind.

The other event she could clearly remember was being in Princess Luna’s private chambers. It was from some indeterminate time in the future. The alicorn was lying battered and unconscious in her bed. A multitude of ponies were in the room arguing.

The final event was the one which that had left her invalid and under constant monitoring. It was once again from some time in the future. She’s down in the bowels of the palace. There was a dead unicorn stallion laying on the ground with two other unicorn stallions standing on either side of the body. In front of them stood an earth pony filly. Then the filly began to speak.

The mare shivered uncontrollably and began some breathing exercises to help keep her heart rate down. After several seconds the shaking subsided. She couldn’t remember the filly’s exact appearance or what she had said. Images and events afterwards were a jumbled mess of chaotic terror that usual left the mare on the verge of vomiting.

What had happened to her? She knew from eyewitness reports that she’d told Celestia that a filly was apparently going to open a gate. Apparently she then had a psychotic break in which she’d become hysterical and screamed that the filly had to be stopped. Even if it meant killing her. After that she’d randomly started blasting everything around her until Doctor Steady Pulse had gotten a inhibitor ring on her.

The next 48 hours were a nightmare of feverish delirium. Even being restrained in a warded room her monitoring anchor had recorded hundreds of brief, uncontrolled slip in which her subconscious still tried to jump forward to stop some prophesied event. In desperation the staff had been forced to put her into a magical coma to keep her from killing herself. Princess Luna had offered to enter her dream fabric and attempt to see what was tormenting but both Evening and Steady Pulse advised against it. There was no precedent for what might happen if she temporally slipped while Luna’s mind was joined with hers. Celestia refused to take that chance, and later attempts by Luna had yielded no useful clues.

Finally the staff was able to stabilize her enough to lift her out of the coma. Last Thing then began to regain her facilities. She still couldn’t remember clearly what the filly looked like or had said. Neither could she recall exactly what the filly had done, but she remembered hints of her voice. It was rustic and even if she couldn’t recall what she’d said the mare would never forget what it sounded like.

Over the next couple of weeks her condition improved and Steady Pulse began to let her have brief journeys outdoors. She was thankful for the change of scenery and to feel the sun on her dark coat, but still there was this lingering, nagging dread. Whenever she was left to her own thoughts she found herself listening. Listening for that filly’s voice.

The unicorn gently shook her head causing her dark bangs to slowly swing from side to side. This was not a good habit to form. It was causing her to think that she was hearing that voice.

Then her heart skipped a beat. From the across the garden she heard it again.

“I really wanna thank ya and a Princess Luna fer giving me this chance ta use yer telescope fer my lessons tonight! I’ve never been ta one of yer observatories here in Canterlot!”

From behind a hedge the two ponies came into view about 50yds away. “It’s not a problem dear.” Accompanying the filly was an older member of the observatory staff. “I wish my granddaughter had as much interest in astronomy as you do!” The old, pale green unicorn sighed. “But all she seems to be interested in is. Fashion.”

The other pony was a buttercream yellow earth pony filly with a deep rose mane and tail. Perched on top of her mane was a large, bright red bow.

Last Thing felt a lump of ice form in her belly. Instinctively she knew this had to be the pony from that terrifying vision of the future. Without even thinking the mare grabbed her purse and started stalking them. Leaving the confinement staffs behind on the lawn.

Her hunt ended at the small observatory connected to the gardens. The old stallion unlocked the door to it. With that accomplished he looked at the filly. “Now I’m afraid I must go and relieve a team member why don’t you go in and have a look around. Her highness is on her way down so she’ll be here in a few minutes. Just don’t touch anything please until she arrives and have a great lesson tonight.”

“I will!” Said the filly with a cheerful voice. Last Thing slipped into shadows of a nearby tree. The older stallion passed within 10ft of her but never saw the dark mare. As she watched him leave she noticed a tool tote that one of the gardeners had left by the tree. Sheathed to one side of it was stout, curved bladed knife used for pruning and general cutting. It was a rough thing with a stiff leather and wood loop that let a pony slip it over their hoof while using it, but the edge was keen and its the tip was sharp. She took the knife with her.

Silently the mare slipped into the observatory. Often she had trouble getting other ponies notice or pay attention to her, but this is also what made her such an effective hunter. And she could see her prey not more than 30ft away. Even though the unicorn was trembling she was literally on top of the filly before the earth pony realized she was there and looked up.

To be continued.