//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Against Time // by GoldenChozo //------------------------------// "Ego ipse ut tributum ad Epochust." The pillar crashed down with a sickening crunch. Ace didn't have to watch to know what had just occurred. Pepper had just given her life to complete the final trial. The Temple of the Epochust was now opened. Ace had to push on. He couldn't fail now, not after his friends died for this. It was his choice to come here, and he was responsible for their deaths. He didn't want them to be in vain. Ace opened his eyes. A creature flying towards him caught his attention, and he drew his sword. A midnight blue alicorn landed a few feet in front of Ace. The alicorn's wings disappeared in a burst of blue magic when she landed. "Prinshesh!" he exclaimed, sheathing his sword. "How did you get away?" "Luna's back in Canterlot," the unicorn said. "She decided to check on things through me. She lent me her magic to get out of that hive." "Good to have you back," Ace said. "Now let's get to the temple." The two reached the entrance within a minute, as it was right near the final pillar. The large door had three what appeared to be locks in a triangular pattern. The lower left one had a pattern appear on it. It was a light purple star surrounded by a crescent moon of the same color. "Isn't that...?" "Crescent's cutie mark," Ace finished for Stella. The lock extracted itself from the door and floated in front of it. The lower right was next. The pattern on it was that of a yin-yang. "And Nighthawk's," Ace added. The second lock followed along with the first. The lock at the top was the last one. A pattern of a blue peppermint with water droplets around it appeared. "And Peppermint's," Stella said. Ace looked away and closed his eyes as she said Pepper's name. He regained his strength and watched as the final lock pulled itself out. The three locks rotated around each other before coming together in a central point. They exploded upon contact, the shockwave nearly knocking the two ponies off their hooves. The door slowly sank into the ground. The inner walls of the temple were lined with statues. The statues appeared to depict random ponies, each one in a state of perpetual horror. There was a large spiral walkway leading up to the top of the temple, which also had statues along it. They stopped before reaching the upper levels of the walkway. Ace and Stella began to climb the spiral walkway, passing statue after statue along the way. The second floor was mostly bare, save one large statue in the middle. The statue was that of an alicorn. It looked similar to the Princesses, except much larger and more masculine. There was a stone in front of it with an inscription, which read: "Vos qui completur in iudiciis, accipere title Temporis Custos. Redire ad vitam, quorum sacrificium institutus es hic tua cotidianam vitam resumere. Tibi revelare tuum recenti abilities, vitae est forisfaciet Epochust." "We did it, Ace," Stella said. The horn on the statue began to glow white. A wisp of white magic came out and floated between the two. It split into two separate wisps, which went into both of them. They both started to glow white, the powers of the Epochust being granted to them. The glowing subsided. They both understood what they could do and how to do it thanks to the magic from the statue. "The reason we even went on this journey was because I joked to Crescent about speeding up time to see the perihelion," Ace said. "I think we should go back to that morning. That way I make sure not to mention it to Crescent, and nopony has to know about the Epochust." "Good idea," Stella responded. "I'll teleport us to Ponyville. Just remember that we can't tell anypony about this." She used their new ability to stop time entirely, followed by her using her own magic to teleport the two to Ponyville. The bustle of Ponyville sped by in reverse as Ace threw back time. The bustle died down as the sun set on the eastern horizon. The moon crossed the sky in a matter of seconds before setting to the east as well. Ace watched the sun move backwards along the sky as he recounted what they did on that day. He looked back as they traveled from Canterlot to Whinniesburg, and the sun again set in the east. Various booths and activities were reconstructed as the perihelion rose in the west. The moon visibly crept towards the eastern sky. It stopped before it made it to the horizon, however. A flash of light blue and the pair found themselves on Princess Luna's balcony, time resuming as normal. "Welcome back," Luna said. "What? Why did we stop here?" Ace asked, looking to Stella. Stella put a hoof to her face. "We can't go further back than the perihelion," she said. "Why not?" Ace asked. "The moon and it's ruler have power over the Epochust," Luna answered. "The perihelion, which is when I'm at my strongest, automatically stops all who try to return to a time before that." "And you didn't mention this before we left?" "I apologize. I'm surprised you didn't bring it up along the way," she said to Stella. "To be fair, I was under your command for three days until you shed me," Stella countered. "I was preoccupied with fighting changelings in the first trial, at which point I was captured. I wasn't able to escape until after Ace had already finished the other trials." "I was joking," Luna said. "Now get your friends and go to Ponyville. I'll call a Lunar Guard to escort you." Ace and Stella bid Luna farewell and went down the hall to the guestroom. Stella rounded a corner and bumped into a mint green pegasus. "Pepper!" Stella exclaimed. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" The pegasus replied. Ace came up behind Stella before she could respond. "I see you've met Stella," he said. Pepper smiled upon seeing Ace. "Is this why you stayed back?" She asked. "To get a souvenir and talk to some mare you've never met before?" "You could say that," Ace replied. "Actually, there's something I need to say to everypony. Can we head back to the guest room?" "Sure." "Great. You go on ahead and let them know. There's something I need to tell Princess here in private." Pepper started back towards the room as Ace pulled Stella back a few steps. "What was that?" he whispered furiously. "What do you mean?" Stella replied. "This is the night before we left. We never even saw you until tomorrow." "That may have slipped my mind," Stella replied slowly. "Sorry." "I'm pretty sure she thinks I told you about her, so we don't have to worry about that. Let's get to the guest room and be on our way." *** "You have served in the Royal and Lunar Guard well. On behalf of my sister and all of Equestria, thank you. Farewell, Chrysoberyl, Blaze, Nighthawk. May you find success in your future." The retired guards stood up and made their way into town, away from the Lunar Princess. Nighthawk, however, was tackled down by Crescent. "Nighthawk!" she yelled. "I didn't expect to see you here, Crescent," the dark pegasus replied. "I take it you two know each other?" Luna asked. "We were best friends when we were younger," Nighthawk said, standing upright. "We were neighbors in Canterlot before I joined the Royal Guard. I heard Crescent had moved away, but I had no idea that it was the same town that we're being released in." "Well I'm glad I could bring you back together," Luna continued, smiling. "Now, there is something I must speak to Ace and Stella about. So if you two could come with me." The two did as they were told as Luna walked away. When there was nopony around but the three of them, Luna spoke up. "Have you not told them about the Epochust?" she asked. "We're not supposed to tell anypony, or we die," Stella answered. "But I know of what transpired, yet here you stand," the Princess said. "Perhaps if they figure it out on their own, everything will be fine." "That makes sense," Stella replied. "Let's split up and try it out." "I wish I could join you, but I must speak with the mayor. I wish you luck." Luna walked away, towards the town hall. "I'll go find Pepper," Ace said. "You hunt down Crescent and Nighthawk. I don't think we really need Cherry to know, since she didn't want to be involved anyway." The two went their separate ways to find the others. Stella managed to find Pepper. While Pepper had tried forgetting the past week, Stella was still able to direct her. She managed to figure out what happened, or rather what would have happened. Ace managed to find Crescent, who was with Nighthawk. "Pepper, are you alright?" Stella asked as Pepper had trouble keeping her balance. This attracted Ace's attention, and he flew quickly to where he heard it. "Pepper!" he yelled upon seeing her struggling to stand. There was blood between her and Stella. "Princess, what's happening to her?" "Luna was wrong," was Stella's response. Pepper finally fell victim to gravity and collapsed, unconscious. "Pep!" Crescent exclaimed, running up to the scene as well. Nighthawk was right behind her. He went up and knelt beside her. He put his ear to her mouth first, then put a hoof on her chest. "She's still alive," he said, standing up. "But we should get her to the hospital as soon as possible." "I can teleport us there," Stella said. A flash of blue and the group was in front of the Ponyville hospital. Nighthawk lifted Pepper's unconscious body onto his back and carried her in. Two nurses carried her into a room where they examined her. The others sat in the waiting room. There was another stallion in there, a white pegasus with a black and red mane. Thunder, who had seen Pepper collapsed, joined them in the waiting room. Stella explained to him what happened, making sure to leave out details pertaining to the Epochust. After what felt like forever, a nurse came out. "I'm sorry to say that Peppermint isn't going to make it," she said. Ace stood up and walked out the door, unable to take Pepper dying again by his own ultimate choice. Stella got up and followed him out. Time stopped everywhere except for those two. "I'm sorry, Ace, I didn't think this would happen," Stella said consolingly. "It doesn't matter now," he replied, his expression somber. "Let's go back to the perihelion." "Ace..." "I don't want Pepper to die like this!" Ace snapped. "If the price for revealing the truth is death, I'd rather die myself than watch her die." "Ace, no. Let's go back to when Luna spoke to us earlier and tell her it wouldn't work." "I don't want to keep lying to everypony," Ace replied. "I want them to know the truth." "Fine," Stella said, defeated. "But I'm going to help explain it as well." "You don't need to get yourself killed like that." "It won't be much of a life without you." This caught Ace off guard. He hadn't really thought about it, but he had become closer to Stella than he had been with Pepper over the past week. "Alright, we'll tell them." Ace unfolded his wing, allowing Stella to slide in under it. "Together." They sat down, Ace's wing still draped around Stella. Time began to reverse itself. The two ponies watched Pepper go by on a stretcher to the front desk. From there, she was transferred onto Nighthawk's back. Nighthawk and Crescent then went out of view around the corner. The reversed time sped up, making a backwards week feel like a few minutes. A flash of blue bid them stop as the two again found themselves on Luna's balcony. "Thank you for giving me time to leave a copy of myself in that other time," Luna said. "Wait," Stella started, "do you remember the events of the next week?" "When I stopped you last time, there was a brief period where I was transcending time with you," the Lunar Princess said. "I think that allowed me to move freely while you alter time. By the way, try not to do that too much, as every time you go back, you create a parallel universe." "Noted," Stella said. "Anyways, we came back because you were wrong. Pepper figured it out on her own, and lost her life because of it." "I see. But why did you come back this far?" Luna asked. "Surely it would have been better to resume before you hinted it to her." "I did it because I can't keep lying to everypony," Ace said. "I want them to know the truth, even if it kills me." "That is a very noble decision, Ace," the Princess said. "You should probably be on your way now. They may come looking for you if you linger here too long. I don't think Pepper would be too keen on seeing this." Ace stood up and folded his wing. Stella stood up as well. "And Ace; farewell." "Farewell, Princess Luna." The two made their way down the hall, where they encountered Pepper. "Ace, what's wrong?" she asked. "Ace, are you sure you want to do this?" Stella asked one final time. "Yes, Princess," Ace replied. "Let's get back to the guest room, Pepper. I'll explain everything there." He led the way back to the guest room.