//------------------------------// // Damp Times // Story: Scales of Time // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// Twilight charged at Celestia, only to find herself flanked by ten guards around her. She dodged several strikes, parrying and countering with her spear and knocking many of them out while stabbing others before moving forward with her plan to attack Celestia. Unfortunately, the pony still hadn't understood that magic was abundant in this time unlike her own. She was promptly compressed onto the floor by a gravity spell summoned by Celestia, who gasped in shock when she saw armored pony somehow struggle through her magic and crawl along the floor, albeit at an extremely slow pace. Seeing the potential threat from this one, the princess created chains made from magic and tied up the pony's legs but forgot to remove the spear which was stuck to Twilight's back. With another spell, the alicorn woke the knocked out guards who all groaned in pain at what just happened. "Guards, take this would-be assassin to the dungeons." The ponies struggled to even speak. "Y-yes, princess," they groaned. "Stop! That's not Princess Celestia! It's an imposter!" "Like we would believe some crazy pony like you," one of the guards said. Twilight started yelling in frustration and trying to free herself from her shackles while being carried off, leaving Celestia baffled as to what just happened and the strange words that came out of her mouth. Celestia was taken out of her trance when two of her servants rushed towards her, worried about her well-being. "Princess, are you alright?" a mare asked. "That crazed psychopath didn't hurt you, did she?" a stallion worried. Both of them were poking and prodding Celestia to see if she had any cuts or bruises, but they were pushed aside by the mare who gave them a warming smile. "It's alright, my little ponies. I'm more than capable of fending for myself." She looked upwards towards the pony thrashing about in the arms of her captors who were struggling to walk out of the castle and round the corner. "I'm more concerned about that mare." The stallion looked towards the princess then the pony repeatedly. "Have you gone insane? She's clearly fit to go to a mental ward!" "While that may be, don't you find it strange?" "W-what do you mean?" the mare wondered. "If she truly was crazy, then the chances of her being able to fight and defeat ten of my personal royal guards seems highly unlikely. Plus, did you see that weapon of her's and that armor? Those are NOT pony made." "What are you trying to say?" the stallion asked. "That there might be some sort of story behind her, and I intend to find out what it is. She was looking for me then became enraged when she saw me and accused me of not being myself." The stallion and mares shrugged. "Maybe she's confused?" they said in unison. "Maybe, or maybe..." Twilight found herself stuck in a small cell with a metal door and stones all around her. The only light she was given was from an orange crystal above her and fluorescent, blue moss growing along the damp walls. The guards didn't bother undoing the chains that bound her, most likely because they didn't have any way to undo them. Instead, she started to struggle a bit, using the blade of her spear to try and cut the chains of magic. It was a long shot, but it was still worth an attempt. She had to find Celestia and kill that imposter. With her dead, then the first step towards a better future would be more than possible. It took several minutes of effort, but the pony managed to cut the chains and dissolve the magic. Ecstatic about her success, the pony stretched a bit then grabbed her spear and was about to burst out of the door when it opened, showing Celestia and several guards all around her. Twilight almost immediately aimed her weapon at the threat and started charging it. The alicorn sat on her haunches and lifted her forelegs as a sign of peace. "It is okay. I will not hurt you. I'm only curious as to your actions and how you managed to get past my guards. We haven't even heard of your intrusion yet, although there were some disturbances in Canterlot, if I saw correctly." She pondered. "Were those you?" Twilight refused to speak and kept her weapon pointed at the alicorn and would not back down. "Princess," one of the guards stepped in front of Celestia and blocked Twilight's view. "she obviously won't let you talk to her. Let us disarm her." "But she would see that as a sign of aggression and won't trust me." "She already doesn't trust you! Look at her!" the guard whisper-yelled. "That's not a reason to not try diplomacy." "But--" "I understand your concerns, but I can take care of this myself." Celestia pushed the pony away and stepped into the cell despite the protests of all the guards, and closed the door. "There we go. We're all alone now." "Yeah, so now I can kill you without being impeded." Celestia looked around casually and chuckled internally. "While it is true that this cell is far too tight for me, it doesn't mean I'm under any threat," she smiled. "What are you talking about?" "If you truly believe me an imposter and those ponies out there to be under my 'influence' or whatever it is you think might be allowing me to manipulate them, then certainly you must know that just killing me will result in all the guards outside coming in here and decapitating you." "But killing you would release the spell you have on them, using your...disgusting sorceries," Twilight spat out. "Oh? And what if I took that into account and manipulated them with words? They won't be 'freed' from their own thoughts and delusions, now would they?" Twilight opened her mouth but closed it soon afterwards, and Celestia could see, through the thin slit in her visor, that Twilight was thinking about what she had just said. For Twilight, while she really did not like Celestia for reasons she certainly wouldn't reveal...yet, she was begrudgingly agreeing with what the alicorn had just told her. There was no way to know what the imposter could have done to those guards outside and, were she killed, she would never be able to stop the Draconic Apocalypse. She loosened up and lowered her spear, showing her reluctant, good will. "Good. That's a good first step. The next, to allow my guards to feel a little less under suspicion of you, is to remove your helmet." "And how do I know that you want shoot me through the head with some sort of magical blast the second I take it off?" "You don't, but if you don't want the guards to attack you at every opportunity, it would be best for you to at least remove your helmet." Twilight audibly grumbled and undid the buckles on the back of her neck linking her helmet to the rest of her armor. Once it was undone, she attached it it to her armor, just above her left foreleg to keep it close by, and looked up at Celestia, anger in her eye. The cool, smooth attitude of Celestia both visibly and audibly dissolved when she saw Twilight's face and head. "What...?!" she gasped. "What's wrong with you now? Can't stand to see a pony under the influences of war?" "What?! What war? Is this why you hate me? Did I cause a war where you come from?" "Cause it? No..." Twilight narrowed her eye. "Then why do you hate me?!" "That's for me to know." "I--" Unicorns behind the door used their magic to swing the metal open and pull the princess out and stepped forward to threaten Twilight, but they too were horrified to see the scars on her face. They might have been soldiers, but they had yet to see any sort of horrifying, long term war with such damages. As such, what had happened to her was beyond their comprehension. "What the--" "Guards, bring a doctor here at once. Only one of you needs to get one. We will...remain here. Let her roam out of her cell in the mean time," Celestia trailed off. "But princess--" "NOW!" Twilight raised an eyebrow and walked out of the cell. The rest of this dungeon didn't look any better to what she had witnessed in her own cell. It was all identical to what she had seen those few, brief minutes, actually, but there were other cells whose doors were closed. "Don't try anything funny, pony. We're watching you." Twilight looked around and hummed. "So, what. Is this the luxury housing for ponies?" "L-luxury housings?!" Celestia shouted in horror. "I thought you were going to imprison me. This place seems to be quite nice, actually." She laughed, attempting to taunt to the guards and alicorn. "Even this floor feels nice." Her taunting failed as everyone could not comprehend her point of view. "You're lying," one of the guards accused. "Nope. Always slept on harder floors than this during the attacks." "What attacks?" "I'm here!" a pony shouted. The doctor had arrived. She carried saddle bags overflowing with green plants that fell onto the floor in a trail behind her. Her mane and tail were both dandelion yellow with a few lines of mint green running vertically along their surface, while her coat and wings were a color identical to Twilight's coat. She was a bit larger than the other ponies around her and seemed a bit more clumsy as well. "Where is the patient?" "She is there, Sparkles." Celestia pointed to the pony. Sparkles' eyes twitched when she saw the condition in which Twilight's face was in. "You poor thing!" she shouted. "Who did this to you?!" She grabbed Twilight's head and forcefully twisted it left and right to get a proper view of her scars and wounds. "What do you mean?" "Wh-Even royal guards don't get wounds like this!" "Then they aren't doing their jobs to properly protect you from the dragons and ejge." Everypony in the dungeon started mumbling about what she had just mentioned. Celestia pushed the doctor aside and looked at Twilight with extreme sadness akin to that of mother who just lost her child. "You mean you have been battling dragons this whole time? Where do you even come from?" "I dunno. I'm not going to tell you anything. Maybe I've been fighting them, maybe I've been fighting something else. It's not information for you." Celestia frowned. This pony had something to say, but she was obviously confused about what she as going through. Her physical appearance was enough proof to show that she wasn't lying about her background of battle, and her combat prowess and strange equipment compounded this fact. "Please remove your armor so that I may verify that you're fully healthy," Sparkles asked with her squeaky voice. Twilight decided to add to the 'trustworthiness' she had. If she could get the guards' trust, then she could eventually prove to them that this Celestia was an imposter. The guards gasped and Celestia put a hoof to her mouth when she saw Twilight's full body and how casual the pony acted about it. "What?" Twilight asked. "This one is a veteran of whatever dark pit she came from. These wounds aren't normal, but I'm determined to learn just where and what exactly she comes from." "Alright...Let me just take out my needle to get some blood from you and analyze it," Sparkles said. "Analyze...blood? You can't analyze blood!" Twilight mocked. "What? Of course you can! It's basic, medical knowledge!" Twilight scoffed at the doctor. "Preposterous." Sparkles frowned and folded her lips inwards. "Guard, I need some help getting my syringe out. I didn't have time to organize when I was called." "Okay." "Thank you." The unicorn stallion fumbled through the saddle bags with his magic, scanning the contents then eventually pulling the syringes out with his magic and floating them towards Sparkles. "BLACK ARTS!" Twilight bellowed. She sliced the syringe in half then tackled the guard onto his back and pointed the spear to his throat. "Did the Dragon Queen bring you here?!" "D-d-dd-ragon Q-queen?!" the guard stuttered in fear. "She's scared of magic?!" Celestia and Sparkles shouted in unison. "But she's a unicorn!" Celestia gasped.