//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16 - An Unearthly Discovery 
// Story: The End of Time 
// by Leondude 
//------------------------------//

Luna and Whooves walked through the corridors with Derpy in tow, though she was mostly flying into the walls as she followed the other two.

"Are you certain she is a danger to others?" Luna asked Whooves.

"Well..." Whooves replied sheepishly.

Luna gave Whooves an unamused look as they continued trotting down the corridor. Soon enough, they noticed a pair of Kronos' guards walking down the other side of the corridor chatting to each other.

"Do you believe all this Seals of the Planets nonsense Kronos is on about?" One guard said.

"Well, it's a big universe out there and we have seen weirder things in Equestria," the other guard replied, "The idea of seven golden seals that can grant ponies the power of an alicorn does sound pretty neat."

"Yeah, but doesn't one of those alicorns usually get their rump whooped?"

"True, but have you seen the power of four alicorns at work? Who knows, maybe the seals can grant the user of four alicorns and a draconequus for good measure."

"Well, guess we'll find out once Kronos has all the seals in his possession."

Luna grew tired of waiting and used her magic to butt the two guards' heads against each-other, instantly knocking the two of them out. She, Whooves and Derpy then continued to travel down the corridor until they turned to their left and entered a hangar filled with spaceships, most of which were made of clockwork. There was also a big grandfather clock in the centre that told the time. When Luna stopped to look at the time, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head as she rapidly blinked, something Whooves quickly took note of.

"Princess?" Whooves said while observing Luna's still form, "Are you okay?"

Whooves then put his hoof under Luna's chin to observe her face more closely. A minute passed and Luna stopped blinking, with her eyes rolling back down.

"What happened?" Luna asked.

"I believe you were having a mild epileptic seizure," Whooves replied, "I didn't even know alicorns could have epilepsy."

"No, I don't think that was it," Luna said.

"What do you mean?"

"What if I told you there was an ancient evil in my head that I agreed to share my body with in order to find out Kronos' plan?"

"I presume that evil goes by the name of Nightmare Moon."

"No, it wasn't Nightmare Moon. It was a dragon named Sanies and he practised magic that was once used by King Sombra. My sister fought him during my banishment and we fought him together when he escaped from Tartarus. He and his master, a deformed unicorn named Sacanas, returned with an army of extraterrestrial invaders in an attempt to take over Equestria. He possessed me and forced me to trap my companions in a dream world of his design that fulfilled their greatest desires, but he used that world to torture and corrupt them. I thought he would have been gone for good when we got hit with the Elements but a part of him still managed to linger."

"I see, and Kronos knew that this Sanies was inhabiting your form?" Whooves asked.

"Since Kronos was in league with Sacanas, he informed Sanies of Kronos' plan. But, given how Sacanas' attack on Equestria was two years ago, it wouldn't be out of the question to say that Kronos might have changed the plan."

"Well, Kronos was known to be a master planner. He actually tried to launch a coup against Princess Twilight during the war. Anyway, we're getting off track here so it would probably be a wise idea for Muffins and I to hide in one of these ships."

"And what of me?" Luna asked.

"Well, since Kronos knows there's a little demon inside your head, you could just pretend to be Sanies and say we got away. Besides, I think Twilight and her friends are going to need all the help they can get."

"I'm not sure I can trust myself around them just in case Sanies uses my body to murder them when they least expect it."

"Well, there's more of them than there is of me and Muffins here. After all, Muffins and I have been on many dangerous adventures before and came out relatively unscathed. I'm sure we can easily handle ourselves. Allons-y."

As Luna walked out of the hangar in order to find out where Twilight and her friends were, Whooves and Derpy looked around to look for a ship to hide in. But they had to pick a ship that was unlikely to be entered by any of Kronos' forces any time soon. And that's when they came across something that didn't look like any conventional spaceship. Rather, it looked like a big chrome canister with two doors on the front. Whooves wondered what it could be, but since time was ticking, he and his companion quickly hid in the shiny canister thing. When they entered, they noticed to their surprise how big and roomy it was on the inside, even though the colours were extremely bland. Both Whooves and Derpy looked on in awe at how massive it is on the inside.

"Great wickering stallions!" Whooves exclaimed, "My entire understanding of physical space has been transformed! Three-dimensional Euclidean geometry has been torn up, thrown in the air and snogged to death! My grasp of the universal constants of physical reality has been changed... forever!"

"Huh?" Derpy said, for she was in as much awe as Whooves and wasn't listening to what he had just said.

"Or in laypony terms, Sweet Celestia! It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside!"

Derpy then smiled and nodded, then flew around to observe the various buttons and levers on the console in the centre of the room. She then had a sudden urge to press every single button. And so she did, much to Whooves' concern.

"Uh...Muffins? I don't think that's such a good idea."

But before he could say any more, there was a noise. A noise that stopped Derpy from pushing the buttons, since she wondered where that noise came from.

VWORP! VWORP!

And soon enough, they were off, with their vehicle dematerializing and then spinning off into the far reaches of time and space.