Griffon of Canterlot
Chapter 96.5: The Future is in the Past
Gale had no idea what was going on, one moment he was on the way to check on Shadow after dinner before going to bed, next thing the teenager knew he was at in the ruins of the castle, looking around nothing seem to make sense, buildings looked twisted and warped. Roads went up and twist around with destruction everywhere, he saw Grogar the goat that caused him to become a griffon held up in magical chains in the air.
“Grogar?” He tilted his head looking up at him.
The goat slowly open his eyes looking burned, hurt and both his horns snapped off, the eyes white looking around. “Y-you came... It worked.” He said weakly.
Gale blinked trying to process what he was seeing. “What worked?, you try taking magic in me.”
The eyes shift to the sound of the voice. “You would be surprised young Gale, it been a long time since I heard that young voice.”
“Young?” Gale flew up to him. “What happened to place, what happened to you? Why home in ruins?”
Grogar listened to Gale. “Shal-Quz happened...” He coughed a bit. “My created became the master of her creator...”
Gale reach a talon to the side of the face of Grogar, feeling the fur to the touch. “Shal-Quz? Who that?”
“She captured the pure magic and took it for herself, used it to warp reality, twist reality to her will, betrayed me...” He chuckled lightly with a few wheezing coughs. “Now I hang as her helpless pet, blinded, magic mostly stripped from me and the endless chaos she causes to the world, the suffering she brings to others to her enjoyment...”
Gale didn't understand what he was talking about. “My magic still in me, why you say I younger? Why this Shal-Quz do this?”
“Because I created her and the magic from that brush to do such a thing... No one could stop her not even those ponies with the Elements, even Discord, Tirek, Sombra or Chrysalis could stop her...”
Gale was shocked to hear about Discord, he knew Twilight Sparkle and five others were these Elements bearers, but he had no idea who the others were. “Mum?”
“She was one of her first victims...” Grogar sighed. “The start of the day to the Grand Galloping Gala Shal-Quz steals her life force.”
Gale gasped. “Y-you mean-”
“Yes...” His ears twitch. “Right on time, Shal-Quz is coming, hide and stay quiet, allow us to do this for you and your future... Reality has been bent that we do not exactly excise in the normal flow of time any more.”
Gale was confused. “What?”
“Quick hide!” He growled.
Gale quickly does as he said and hide under some rubble looking up at Grogar, soon he saw a blackish grey anthropomorphic bunny wearing a white robe holding a large paint brush walk into view. “Oh creator of mine, I see you are awake today, how do you feel?”
Grogar growls. “The worst mistake I ever made and still regretting making you.”
With a flick of the brush Gale watched a stone stair case formed up to him, she causally walked up to him. “Oh so right you are, I became what you couldn't do, all your schemes and planning for that moment when the Past and Future would collide-” She pauses with a paw finger to the tip of her muzzle. “Oh wait! That never happened! Cause I twisted reality and captured it at a endless moment.”
She waved the brush to form a orb showing a tiny version of the Flaputa captured with a the Gates of Elysium frozen. “Even capturing a time traveller and his companions as a extra bonus.” She bragged making it vanish. “Now I am done with my usual boosting, I like to show you something.” She turn her head. “Bring him in!”
Gale watched two monsters in armour walked in dragging a battled griffon, no it was him a older him. Gale was startled to see himself with one wing missing, the other with torn feathers, cuts and patches of fur and feathers burned away. “Older me...” Gale whispered.
Shal-Quz chuckled. “I know you can't see since I took your sight, but I finally got him after he escaped when I stole almost all that pure magic.” She wave the brush pulling up the battered older Gale to her. “Time to take what is left from your body Gale.”
He opened his eyes. “Buck you Shal-Quz...” He growled. “With what I had left is already used up, there just enough to keep me breathing to say this to you.” He spat at her.
She wiped the spit off her face. “Oh?” She pulled him closely to her. “You been running away all this time and that all you had time, no time left for you Gale Solarclaw, whatever you did won't make a difference.”
“You removed all that stood in your way or a threat.” Grogar coughed.
She chuckled. “I did and the last two out of Alicorns, Element Bearers, villains, family all gone.” Shal-Quz laughed. “That griffon Gilda before I drained her of all the magic and life force put up a fight.”
Gale felt sicken hearing that. “N-no...”
“Nothing can stop me!”
Old Gale grinned. “Oh I definitely think one could, since you destroyed the Tree of Elysium, time haven't been straight and a big mistake on your part.”
“Please tell me.” She gave a unamused response. “Your boring me.” Shal-Quz made a goat eye sphere appear. “Now say and I can finally end your suffering.”
He directly look down to his younger self. “Midnight, the day of the Gala is when my mum was taken from me, the moment the War of Reality began, at the peak of the Mountain that Fell, with help from Grogar my enemy gave me what I needed to know, how to stop you after all this time.”
She yawned moving the orb closer to him, his magic started to be pulled from the body, Gale watched his older self start to become transparent before his eyes. “Bored...”
Older Gale spoke. “Shattering the orb before you get to use it on my mum, unleashing all mum's rage forcing you to splitting Daybreaker from her into a pony shell, changing the moment mum die to having two mum's.” He chuckled weakly as his limbs go limp.
Shal-Quz pulled it back and stared at the semi solid form of Older Gale. “Wh-what did you just say!?”
“Thank you for being over confident and thanks for not taking all mine and Grogar's magic.” He than shouts. “NOW GROGAR!”
Shal-Quz turn to see the broken horns glow as Older Gale's talons did too. “Nothing you do will stop me now.”
“Not now, but that night 10 years ago.” They said together with smiles.
“Because you can warp time, travel to other realities, bend dimensional barriers to cross over to other universes, but you can't travel through time, one thing that would of insured your victory.” Older Gale grinned.
Shal-Quz didn't bother to try and stop them, she allow them to destroy themselves.
“Because you destroyed all the magic that could travel in time part from two that Avatar came a piece each to before she passed!” Grogar also grinned.
“US!” They unleashed their magic bursting to dust before Gale's eyes.
Shal-Quz shook her head. “What a waste.” She dust her paw off against the robe. “Now f-” She heard a rumbling growl and turn to the directly to see Gale emerge. “No...”
“YOU MONSTER!” Gale roared charging right at her, she ready the brush to simply take care of the teen, but in a sudden moment Avatar appears grabbing him and vanish.
Shal-Quz stared at the empty spot. “Change the past can't change the future fools.” She look to the brush. “Wait... If the tree isn't destroyed that means the branch of time this is would-”
From the fleet of 62 airships, Smolder, Spike, Applejack, Big-Rig and everyone else watched Canterlot burst apart in a blinding shattering light, everywhere around them started to break down rapidly.
They knew the deed was done, their last moments grace was honouring their heroes and knowing Shal-Quz had been defeated, it was only seconds but for them this was their victory as time and reality collapsed.
Celestia in griffon form, Gilda and Pom-Pom being held by icy rock formations with the creature Splitjaw, standing before them holding up the Orb of Grogar's eye to them. “Thank you for being test subjects for absorbing magic and the life force, when I am done all be left of you is a stony remains she chuckled.
“You are without honour monster.” Arbiter growled.
“Whatever, I will deal with you after dealing with Celestia.” She wave the brush for the icy rock to move Celestia towards her.
A anger squawk followed by as Shal-Quz turn to get a talon grabbing hard into her wrist, she screeched in pain dropping the orb to have it caught by the talon, it was Gale holding it. “Son/Cub/What!?” Celestia, Gilda and Pom-Pom said at once.
Gale slam the orb hard into the rock shattering it to pieces. “No take magic! No take life!” He growled going for a punch to get a icy rocky vine come out of the ground wrapping around his foreleg and slamming Gale into the snow. “Gah!” He gasped in pain.
Shal-Quz shook her hand paw a few times. “That hurt you brat! And you destroyed my orb! Now I don't care about taking your magic! I am going to end you for that!” Shal-Quz said with fury using her reality brush magic to throw Gale into the rocky side of the peak, than alter gravity to pin him to the ground.
“Leave my son alone!” Celestia pleaded.
The blackish grey rabbit showed true hatred in her eyes as she continued to warp gravity around Gale. “No! I am will crush his bones in front of you! Rip him apart for what he did!” She growled. “And I get to watch with glee as you suffer the lose of your son!”
Gilda and Pom-Pom try to break free to save Gale, but Shal-Quz tighten the icy hold on them too, Arbiter glanced over to Celestia seeing a strange orange yellow glow form around her body, the ice starting to melt with steam billowing out. “Something dark awaking within her.”
They start to feel the heat and they came to witness the awaking of something deep in Celestia as she snaps.
Celestia let out a mighty lion roar from her beak, teeth in it turning sharp, fangs forming too, eyes turn orange and slitted, the whites turn black. “I... WILL... NOT... LET... YOU... HARM... MY... SON!” Her feather colours change from different shades of colour to a burning orange yellow flame. She shattered the restrains from intense heat blowing out of her.