//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Tempus Alicorn // by cerealkiller78 //------------------------------// After some time of travelling, they happened upon a village in the forest. "Oh, look!" Twilight watched the ponies going about their business in the village ahead. "Ponies living in treehouses! I wonder if they have a library??" She squeed, and trotted on ahead. "Hey! Check out the buffet!" Spike oogled some shimmering crystals in the ground. "Don't think about it Spike!" Twilight scolded. "It may not be taken well by those who live here." "But-but-but-" Spike protested as they trotted by them, crossing his arms and pouting. As they entered the town, Twilight noticed something was off. "Uhh...why is everypony staring at us?" She questioned, as indeed, everypony had stopped what they were doing, and were staring at them. Some were whispering to eachother. Twilight attempted to ignore them and move on. "Oh, look!" One tree in particular stood out to Celestia. "The Crystal Tea Room! I think we could all use a bit of tea right now." She opened the door, as a bell clanged. "Welcome to the Crystal-" The pony cut himself off when he saw them. "What in Equestria?..." He questioned quietly. Once again, everypony in the tea shop was staring at them. "You...you're alicorns...and a dragon, and..." He looked at Discord. "Uhh...whatever you are." Discord humphed in annoyance. "Oh..." Celestia spoke. "I guess you don't have many alicorns around here." "Many?? There is only one I know of in existence in all of Equestria! And that happened only recently! I thought Sunny was the only one!" "Sunny?" Discord asked. "Ya, Sunny Starscout?..." "Oh..." Realization dawned on Discord and the group as they looked at eachother. "Me thinks we made a mistake..." "What do you mean?" "Does the name Hitch Trailblazer ring a bell to you?" Luna asked. "Hitch? What about him?" Alphabittle asked. "Well...crazy story..." Discord spoke as he took the artifact out. "We aren't from this time. This Hitch Trailblazer came to our time with this artifact, and sat upon one of our ruler's thrones." "Mine..." Luna spoke bitterly. "He was fantasizing about ruling Equestria with this...Sunny." Discord continued. "I thought he was talking about our princess of the sun, Celestia." He gestured to Celestia. "He is currently in prison in our time." Alphabittle was staring at the artifact, while at the same time, appearing to be struggling not to laugh. "Oh, Sugar, Honey, Iced Tea!!" He burst out laughing. "That artifact is mine! It's the Tempus Alicorn ancient artifact! But I...I had no idea it actually worked! I'm rich!!" He cried happily. "Wait, it's yours?" Twilight asked. "Ya, it's mine! Now give it here!" He grabbed it from Discord suddenly and kissed it. "Ya baby!!" He laughed. "And I always knew Hitch had a thing for that mare!" He looked back at them. "Where did you say he is now?" "In prison." Celestia said. Alphabittle laughed again. "Hitch in prison?? A sheriff is in prison?" He laughed. "He's a sheriff??" Twilight asked, surprised. "Oh ya, he's the sheriff of Maretime Bay. Poster boy for justice." Alphabittle explained. "So, he doesn't deserve to be locked up?" Celestia asked. "Oh no. He, along with his friends actually helped Equestria. You see, for the longest time, there had been no magic in Equestria at all." "No magic??" Twilight asked, shocked at such a thought. "Nada." Alphabittle confirmed. "And the pony species were all pitted against eachother." He kicked at the ground. "I, uhh...was one of them." He admitted. "Unicorns hated pegasi and earth ponies, and vice versa all around." He explained "Sunny, Hitch, and their friends united us all together again, and magic returned to Equestria, and Sunny became an alicorn." He finished. "This was all very recent. Unfortunately though, she lost her home in the process. There was one pony in particular who wanted to start an all out race war, and Sunny's home ended up getting destroyed." "That's terrible!" Twilight cried. "Yes, it is." Alphabittle agreed. "She is currently staying with-" The door opened, and a unicorn and another alicorn entered. "...Izzy Moonbow." Alphabittle finished. "Hey Alphabittle!" Izzy greeted."Can Sunny and I get...some...tea..." She trailed off as she saw the other alicorns in the room, along with the little dragon, and Discord. "...WOW!! I didn't know there were other alicorns in Equestria!" Izzy squeed excitedly. "and is that a little baby dragon?? He's so cute!!" "Hear that Twi? She thinks I'm cute..." Spike winked at Izzy. Twilight rolled her before approaching the newcomers. "Hello! I'm-" "Twilight Sparkle..." Sunny finished in a whisper. "You're...you're Twilight Sparkle..." She looked at the others. "Spike...Celestia...Luna...Discord." She stated all of their names quietly, in awe. Twilight, along with everypony else looked at Sunny quizzically. while Discord simply looked pleased that SOMEPONY knew who he was. "You know who we are?..." Twilight asked, surprised. "My dad used to tell me stories of you all when I was little. Along with stories of Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy...and Sunset Shimmer." Twilight stared. "...Your dad knew about ALL of us? What about everypony else??" She looked at Alphabittle and Izzy, for any sign of recognition from them. "This is the first time I'm hearing of any of you." Alphabittle said. "Same here." Izzy agreed. "I was just surprised to see more alicorns!" "How did your dad know about all of us?" Twilight wondered. "I don't know...other ponies would just tell me he was making up stories as he went." Sunny said. "How...how are you here right now?" She asked. "Does the name Hitch Trailblazer ring a bell?" Twilight asked. "Yes, we've been friends since we were kids. He heard some of my dad's stories too." Sunny explained. "Well, he used that artifact," She pointed to the Tempus Alicorn. "to travel back to our time. He ended up in our throne room, and got caught by Discord sitting on Luna's throne." Twilight told her, while deliberately leaving out the fact that her childhood friend most likely has a crush on her. Sunny burst out laughing. "Oh Faust! That must have been quite awkward." "Ya...I kind of mistook it for him trying to take over Equestria or something...I had him put in prison." She admitted. "I'll be sure to let him go, now that things have been sorted out." "You put him in prison??" Sunny laughed. "That's ironic, cause he's a sheriff!" "So, I've heard." Twilight said. Celestia turned to Alphabittle. "Alphabittle, was it?" Celestia asked, remembering Izzy's name for him. "That's me." He replied. "Will you so mind as to rub that artifact please?" "Uhh, strange request, but ok..." Alphabittle rubbed the surface of the artifact, and its eyes flashed red, before opening a portal back to the throne room. Everypony watched it in awe. "Well, I'll be..." He stared. "All I had to do was rub it to get it to work??" He asked in shock. "How cliché is that?" "I will be right back, everypony." Celestia said, and stepped through the portal. She appeared on the other side, and trotted off.