//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Tempus Alicorn // by cerealkiller78 //------------------------------// The portal closed behind Hitch as soon as the Earth pony stepped through to the other side. He took in his new surroundings. There were vast pillars, and stained glass windows which seemed to tell stories of times past. There were two thrones in the center of the massive throne room. One had the symbol of a sun on it, and the other had the symbol of a moon on it. They were currently vacant, and the throne room was completely empty. Hitch looked around carefully, making sure the place was indeed completely empty. When he was convinced he was alone, he looked back at the thrones. Setting the Tempus Alicorn on the floor, he approached the throne with the moon. Clearing his throat, he announced grandly. "Presenting, Prince Hitch Trailblazer the great!" Seating himself on the throne, he looked over to the throne next to him with the sun symbol. "Ahh, yes Sunny, with you at my side, we shall rule Equestria together. What do you want? The moon? I'll lasso it down for you..." He winked at the vacant throne. "Careful there, princey..." A voice suddenly said, startling Hitch as he looked around frantically but saw nopony. Suddenly, a figure popped into existence right in front of him. "Celly's mine." "Gah!!" He jumped off the throne. "I wasn't doing anything!" "Really, because it looked like you were playing out some fantasy of you and Celly ruling Equestria together. I'm pretty sure when Luna finds out about you taking her throne for yourself, and having a crush on her sister...thou shalt surely die." As terrified as Hitch was at being found out, he couldn't help but stare at the strange creature speaking to him. He looked serpentine, but was comprised of several different creatures. He had a lion's paw, a griffin talon, two mismatched wings of a pegasus and bat, a lizard tail, two mismatching legs of a reptile and a goat, and two mismatched horns. The creature raised an eyebrow. "Why are you staring at me like that?..." "I...uhh, don't mean to be rude, but...what are you?" He asked. The creature huffed. "Rude indeed..." His eyes landed on the Tempus Alicorn. "Hey, what's this?" He went and picked it up. "T-That's mine! I need it!" Hitch panicked. "Breaking and entering into the royal throne room, usurping Luna's throne, and playing pretend on the sacred thrones, and you think you have a right to have this back?... whatever it is. For all I know, you could have stolen this!" "I swear I didn't steal it, but I really need it back! You may not believe me when I say this, but it's capable of time travel! I'm not from this time! I'm from the future and I need to get back!" "Time travel, you say?... So, you use this artifact to go to whatever time in history you want, steal all of its valuables, and vanish without a trace, taking it all back to your own time in the future." The creature concluded. "Yes! I-No! NO! That is NOT it at all!" Suddenly, a new, female voice was heard, approaching the throne room. "I don't know, Sunset. I just can't see cell phones ever becoming a thing in Equestria. That's human stuff. We ponies in Equestria have quills and burping baby dragons." A purple alicorn entered the throne room, dictating to a young green and purple dragon who wrote her words into a journal as he followed her. Hitch stared. That alicorn...she was the one Sunny had a toy of when they were kids...she was identical to that toy. "Oh, hey Discord!" She greeted. "Do you know where Celestia is? Sunset is trying to convince me that Equestria needs cell phones and updated technology, and I want Celestia herself to tell her once and for all, that no...no, we don't." "Ahh, Twilight, your timing is impeccable." Discord directed his attention toward Twilight. "Celestia is in a meeting right now, but there is a time thief here, who has no regard for the royal thrones. He seated himself in Luna's throne and was playing out some fantasy of ruling with Celestia!" He accused. Twilight blinked. "...what?" "He said that this artifact is capable of time travel." He showed her the Tempus Alicorn. "He travels through time, taking treasures and riches, and vanishes without a trace back to his own time." "I do NOT!! This is all a huge misunderstanding!" Hitch insisted. "It does seem plausible...and why were you in this throne room in the first place? How did you get past all the guards? Unless, you used your artifact...and to seat yourself in Princess Luna's throne? This is a royal throne room, not a furniture store, and certainly not a playhouse to act out your fantasies. This is a serious offence against the Princesses themselves!" "I know, and I'm extremely sorry! If you just let me have that artifact back, I will be out of your hair forever." "Oh, I don't think so. As the princess of friendship, I'm confiscating this." She took the artifact from Discord. "I'm also putting you in custody until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna can know about this, and decide what should be done." She turned to the entrance to the throne room. "Guards!" She called. Two guards ponies entered the throne room. "Put this pony in a cell until Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna decide what should be done with him." Twilight sighed as the guards led the Earth pony away while he kept protesting. "Sometimes, I really don't like this job..."