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The following is a work of fiction copyright Radical Gopher. This story contains adult themes and situations and should not be read by anyone under the age of 18.

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THYME AFTER TIME - part 07

The Professor and Cymbalaria appeared in the middle of what, for all intent and purpose, seemed to be a vast theme park. Everything was bright, clean and completely mismatched. Building facades ranged from ancient Roman, to medieval European, to very old Buddhist and Chinese designs to Byzantine temples. A contemporary glass and steel ten-story building that looked like an escapee from modern-day Tokyo sat adjacent to an ancient Raja's palace.

Elevated monorails dashed about over their heads in every conceivable direction. The trains themselves however appeared to have been transplanted from an old John Wayne western, though they did not belch smoke as their real-life ancestors would have. Every imaginable type of tree in existence had been carefully planted and arranged in order to produce a maximum lack of harmony or cohesion. The one common element to the immaculate discord was that everything was a product of Earth.

Looking around, then upward, the two travelers quickly discovered the "theme park" rested on the inward-facing side of a gigantic ring at least ten miles from base to apex. The ring appeared to be approximately a mile wide. Nestled in its center, floating equidistant from the inside curve of the ring sat a large, iridescent sphere that looked like a pearl.

"I believe THAT is where we want to be." Observed Cymbalaria

"Impressive," muttered the professor. "To think that an A.I program for a computer, any computer could have enough imagination to create something like this."

"I don't know whether to feel complimented or insulted," the pony said.

"You're not a computer," the Professor said. "You're an extremely sophisticated cybernetic being."

"Flatterer," she responded. "It's curious that this isn't how the mainframe looked before."

"Perhaps you didn't get this far on your first attempt. If you were using backdoors, you were possibly working a sub-routine before being booted out."

"True," the android pony acknowledged looking around. "More than likely each building represents a program folder of some kind, each with dozens of related programs and hundreds of sub-routines."

"So... how to we get up there?" the Professor asked.

Without a word, Cymbalaria scooped him up, cradling him in both arms. "Hang onto your carpetbag." There was a flash and roar as she engaged the rockets mounted in her hooves and they began to accelerate upward. Reaching the sphere, the android throttled back and they hovered not far from its surface. It was about a mile in diameter and appeared to be perfectly smooth.

"Now, all we need is a way in," the Professor observed.

Cymbalaria did a quick visual scan of the sphere, and then shifted her position to a point directly above the giant orb. Landing, she set her passenger down and knelt, examining what looked like an access panel next to a large, circular hatchway. Placing her hand next to the keypad, she typed in a set of number codes she had picked up on her first trip inside Sherman. There was a pause then the hatch slid open revealing a twenty foot circular platform. Both she and the Professor stepped on it and it started to descend into the sphere.

The platform came to a stop in a large alcove, which opened up onto what appeared to be a gigantic control center. The room was dimly lit, though the control boards were easy enough to see with their myriad of dials, lights, screens and various types of indicators.

"Somehow, I thought the virtual reality in the computer would be a lot less... realistic," the Professor observed.

"I noticed that as well," Cymbalaria replied. "How precise was that spell you cast?"

"Well, it was intended to take us to the heart of the system."

"System?"

"Unfortunately, there is no word in Thaumaturgical Physics for CPU."

The android pony went over to one of the nearest consoles and studied it for a moment. "This is interesting," she muttered, pointing to a spot on the panel. The Professor looked and saw what looked like some kind of plug-in outlet.

"What am I looking at here?" he asked

"If we were actually within the computer system's virtual environment, there would only be an analog for an external data entry point, not a physical connection port. All access would be through direct data manipulation of the surroundings."

That would mean this sphere and the ring containing all the different buildings are real?" asked the Professor.

The android nodded. "I think we actually teleported from a room in one of those buildings to an external part of the time ship, or chrono-sphere as the Maestro would say."

"So we're not within Sherman's operating system."

"No... but the spell did take us to where we could gain entry to his main control room. We should be able to do something from here."

"ONLY IF I WERE TO ALLOW IT... WHICH, OF COURSE, I WON'T"

The two of them turned in the direction of the voice. There strolling calmly across the control center was a small, freckle-faced, red haired, humanoid boy dressed in a white tee shirt, black shorts, sneakers and horn-rimmed glasses. Cymbalaria recognized him instantly.

"You! You told me you were only a virtual avatar for the game!"

"I LIED," he replied with a large grin. The Professor quickly scanned him with his wand.

"You're not real." He declared abruptly. "You're some kind of cybernetic Waldo, a remotely controlled interactive puppet."

"CORRECT!" the boy replied. I MUST ADMIT, I FIND THE CONCEPT OF MAGIC BOTH INTREGING AND APPAULING. HOW YOU MANIPULATE YOUR ENVIRONMENT THROUGH THE USE OF ETHERIAL ENERGIES IS FACINATING, HOWEVER IT IS A BIT UNNERVING TO THINK THE LAWS OF PHYSICS CAN BE SUBVERTED WITH A POWERFUL ENOUGH SPELL."

The Professor laughed. "The idea that it makes you nervous shows me exactly how little you understand the concept."

"PERHAPS... BUT I DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING TO DESTROY IT."

Two shafts of energy blazed from his eyes, striking Cymbalaria. She rocketed across the room and slammed into a wall; sending a spider-web of cracks racing outward in all directions. She quietly slipped to the floor, momentarily offline as Sherman focused on the Professor, a smile of satisfaction framing his features. .

"YOUR TURN..."

* * * *

"Okay genius... can you figure out what that thing is?" huffed Cinnamon. The four ponies were standing in front of a small alcove just off the hallway. Before them stood a black, rectangular monolith that measured exactly 9 feet by 4 feet and was one foot thick.

"I don't think this is a dimensional doorway... at least not like the spheres," Cyanide muttered.

"It looks too much like a door not to be one," Cassia observed. "Maybe it goes to another part of the Maestro's ship?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out," the chimera replied. He cautiously reached up and tapped a finger against its surface. There was little resistance and his hand pushed easily into the rectangle. He quickly pulled his hand back, feeling no more resistance than he'd felt going in.

"Grab my tail," Cyanide said. The other ponies did so as he stepped fully into the monolith. The chimera found himself standing in what looked like a large theatre lobby, populated by dozens of holographic beings, some of whom he recognized as actors from his own world. He reached out and touched the nearest image, which happened to be a rather youthful Clint Eastwood. The figure immediately split into two separate versions of itself; one dressed as a cowboy wearing a poncho and smoking a thin cigar; while the other was dressed in a 1960's business suit, wore thick sunglasses and was carrying a huge semi-automatic pistol.

A pre-recorded voice suddenly overrode the background lobby music. "Please select presentation."

The pony reached out and touched the figure in the business suit. The lobby was immediately replaced by a cityscape. Cyanide found himself standing outside a bank with Clint Eastwood next to him pointing the weapon at a would be bank robber lying on the sidewalk.

Clint smiled wickedly. "You got to ask yourself...do you feel lucky today?" He paused to create a dramatic beat. "Well...do you...punk?"

Cyanide brought the Maestro's control device up and pressed the reset button. The cityscape vanished and was replaced by the lobby filled with actors. He smiled. This was one killer home movie system. He felt a sharp tug on his tail and stepped back through the portal.

"What did you see? What was in there?" Cinnamon asked.

"My Gawd... It was full of STARS!"

While other ponies looked back and forth at each other in confusion, Cyanide aimed the control device at the monolith and pushed both the reset and on buttons. There was a rippling of the surface and then it returned to normal. He quickly stuck his face through the portal and found himself in a large, ornate dining hall complete with fine china, expensive linens and a large chandelier. There were twelve chairs around the enormous table. Pulling back he smiled.

"I think we just found a way to search this place without going anywhere."

For several minutes Cyanide and the girls took turns peeking through the monolith, resetting it after every view. On about their twenty-third or twenty-fourth shift, they found themselves confronting a domed room filled with monoliths. The chimera gestured to the others and they all followed him into the portal.

"I count thirty-five of these 'doors,'" Cassia said. "This has to be some kind of transport junction."

"Okay, but where do we go?" asked Cinnamon.

"Perhaps we should spread out and look at each one," Clover suggested.

"Not a bad idea, but we should mark the one we came out of, just in case we need to find our way back," Cyanide responded.

"We don't need to," Clover said. "Look here!"

They all examined the floor where she pointed. There, scratched into the metallic tile were the letters 'CYM-01."

"Cymbalaria! She must have come through here!" the pegasus pony observed.

The chimera nodded. "Okay everyone... spread out. Look for a second mark." It only took a few moments for Cinnamon to find it; this one was labeled CYM-02.

"She must have gone in here," the unicorn said. "You think we should follow?"

"Not if ya wants ta wake up alive tomorrow mornin', mates."

The ponies all turned. Across the room stood yet another version of the Maestro. Again, she had the same fur pattern and eye color, but this time her hair, which was a kind of wavy, straw-colored blonde, only went down to the nape of her neck. Her head was covered with a white fedora complete with a red sweatband. She wore a cricket style shirt and sweater, trimmed in red with question marks on the shirt collar, beige and red stripped trousers, a long, beige frock coat also trimmed in red with a celery stalk pinned to the lapel.

"Ya ain't goin' no farfer than 'ere." She yanked a cricket bat out of her coat, then reached into a pocket and pulled out what looked like a hard, black rubber ball about the size of a baseball. Holding the bat one-handed, she casually bounced the ball against the floor then swatted it into one of the nearby portals. The surface rippled for a moment and it vanished, only to reappear an instant later from the portal directly behind the ponies. It slammed into the back of Clover's head knocking her to the floor, momentarily stunned. Arcing upward, the ball ricocheted off the wall and angled back toward the Maestro. Swinging, she connected again, driving the spheroid into yet another monolith.

"LOOK-OUT!" yelled Cinnamon, dropping the weapon she'd been carrying. She tackled Cyanide, knocking him to one side as the ball zoomed past, missing them by inches. It vanished into another doorway, only to re-enter the room from another direction forcing the ponies to dodge aside.

"Nice move mate," the collie barked derisively, removing a second ball from her coat pocket "but 'ow good are ye at 'idin' when ye 'ave ta deal with two o' me lil' buggers?" With that she pulled a second ball from her coat pocket and smacked it with the bat. It flew straight at Clover who was shakily getting to her hooves. Before it reached her, it was intercepted by Cassia. The pegasus slapped the hard rubber sphere right back at the Maestro who was forced to hold up her bat like a shield, deflecting the ball.

"Hey Maestro," the pony taunted, "don't you know better than to bring a bat to a handball game?" She spun through the air and slapped at the second ball, sending it caroming off a nearby wall and back toward the collie. She ducked under the sphere and responded by pulling two more balls from her coat.

"So ya fink ya can play 'ardball wif me, eh ducky! Can't nobody do better than me!" She swung, sending the two balls cannoning off in different directions. One vanished into a monolith, the other bounced off the wall twice before rocketing towards Cassia. She dodged it easily but missed the first one, which exited one of the portals and caught her in the ass. The impact caused her to summersault in mid-air, but didn't stun her as Clover was. Another sphere caught the recovering Clover in the throat, dropping the pony to her knees as she gasped for breath.

"'Ow does ya like gettin' the 'bum rush', ducky?" The collie put three more spheres into play. By now there were seven of the hard, rubber balls ricocheting around the room, or alternately disappearing and reappearing through the portals. The ponies were hard pressed to avoid them. Cyanide launched himself at the Maestro but was stopped when he was hit solidly in the stomach, momentarily knocking the wind out of him. Clover just finished getting to her hooves, only to be caught in the face by yet another of the spheres. She dropped to the floor momentarily stunned.

"The fracking things are speeding up," yelled Cinnamon as she teleported out of the way of three converging balls. She reappeared directly behind the Maestro, grabbed her, and then vanished again. An instant later they both materialized at the top of the chamber. Gravity took over and they began falling.

Cinnamon grinned evilly as she let go of the collie. "Can you fly...Sucker?" There was a pop of air as the green unicorn vanished again, reappearing next to Cassia.

"OH BLOODY 'EEELLLLLLLL!"

Both ponies winced as the Maestro fell a good twenty feet before belly flopping onto the floor with a loud THUD. The rubber spheres immediately vanished even as the collie slowly rolled over on her back with a loud groan.

Cinnamon strode up to her, relieving her of the cricket bat and the stalk of celery, which she triumphantly stuck in her mouth like a cigar. She was joined by Cassia and a recovered Cyanide.

"Okay... We've had enough of your games," the pink pegasus said. "Just what the hell is all this about?"

Instead of answering the collie's eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out. Cyanide knelt next to the Maestro examining her. "She's just like the other two. It's almost as if her mind has shut down."

"So there's no way we can get any information out of her?" asked Cinnamon.

"Not like this," the black and white furred pony offered. He quickly scanned the room. "Did anyone happen to notice which portal she was standing in front of?"

"I did," groaned Clover as she slowly picked herself up off the floor.

"You okay?" Cassia asked.

The blue furred pony simply nodded, pointing towards one of the portals. "I remember seeing the Maestro standing over there when she started batting those weird spheres at us."

Cyanide flew over to the monolith and stuck his head inside. Pulling back he turned to face the others. "Hey guys... You are not going to believe this!"