Doctor Whooves grunted as the chains around his neck were pulled and he was forced to continue walking through a long corridor made of stone. The guards escorting him wore dark armor he couldn’t quite recognize. He had tried to stop for a short moment to look at the banners that hung on the walls. They had looked familiar. They depicted a silhouette of a unicorn head with a curved horn.
The Time Pony was also a little embarrassed that he had been caught. He was still recharging so to speak, so hadn't been able to just disappear. Traveling to another world was both difficult and more dangerous, far more draining than when he simply time traveled. Whooves had thought this would be easier and safer since this world had appeared to be more similar to the Equestria he knew, but clearly, it was still different.
“Are these chains enchanted?” he asked and glanced at his bonds. There were also chains around his legs. Because they are actually interfering with what little time magic I've managed to recover. Ooh boy, this isn’t good.
There was no response from the guards. Whooves looked around some more, but there wasn’t much else in the hallway, aside from torches that lit up the way.
Okay, not the first time this has happened, just need to explain I am not a spy to whoever owns this fortress, he thought. He had noticed the guards looked Equestrian, but couldn’t be sure since the armor covered their cutie-marks, if they had any.
“Look, this really is just a misunderstanding,” he decided to try his luck with the guards, but the only response he got was a harder pull on his chains, clearly a sign he should be silent. Fine, fine, I’ll talk with your boss instead.
“These banners though.” He tried to look at the banners again. He was positive he had seen them somewhere before.
Finally, they came to a set of large doors. Another set of guards quickly opened them and Whooves was marched through by his escort. It was a large, brightly lit hall. A long red carpet led to a stage and more banners hung from the ceiling.
“Spacious,” Whooves looked around, noting the balconies on the wall. This was clearly a meeting hall of some sorts.
“Now what have you brought me?” a soft voice spoke up. Whooves eyes went forward. In front of the stage stood a tall, dark gray unicorn mare with a black mane. She wore a red cape and on her head rested a silver tiara.
Wait a minute. The Time Pony frowned. That mare looks very familiar, plus she had not been standing there a second ago.
“Your Majesty, we found this pony trespassing near the fortress,” one of the guards addressed the mare and bowed deeply. So did the other guard.
“I wasn’t trespassing,” Whooves protested, then reconsidered. From their point of view, he was. “Well, I didn’t mean to trespass.”
“Oh? Then why are you here?” the mare asked and smiled kindly as she approached.
“Well, I was investigating energies I detected. I thought it was the same energies I was looking into, but I can see now that I was mistaken,” the Time Pony explained and frowned a little. There was something familiar about this, he just couldn’t put his hoof on it.
“What kind of energies? And how have you detected them. I see no devices with you.” The mare was now right in front of him, still smiling that kind smile, her red eyes seemed to shine nothing but love and understanding.
“He had nothing on him. His vest is empty,” the guards told her and showed her the vest Whooves had been wearing but had been removed when he was captured.
“Um,” Whooves realized it would look kind of strange to them that someone who looked like an Earth Pony was investigating anything without any equipment. Even if he was unconventional for his kind, the Time Pony still understood the reason why they generally didn't advertise who they were.
“I’m not quite from around here,” he started to look around, racking his brain how he could talk his way out of this one.
“Oh, I’m sure of that. We are fairly remote,” the mare chuckled and placed a hoof gently on Whooves cheek. “Who are you?”
It suddenly hit Whooves why the mare was so familiar. His eyes widened in shock. Then he heard hoofsteps from the stage. Slowly his eyes drifted towards it. His jaw dropped.
Appearing on the stage, having come from a door behind it, was a unicorn stallion. His mane and tail were dirty blonde, his coat was dark gray and the horn was red and curved. He wore black armor with golden accents. On the chest plate was a purple glowing thunderbolt. On his back was a black cape with white trims.
“Who is that, Ira?” the newly arrived pony growled.
“I am still waiting for him to answer that, nephew,” the mare chuckled and dropped her hoof from Whooves cheek.
Oh no. Whooves couldn’t look away from the unicorn stallion. The blue eyes staring back at him showed nothing but contempt. Oh, I have made a big mistake.
“Well?” The nephew asked sharply. “Queen Ira asked you a question. Are you going to answer?”
Whooves froze when hearing the clang of metal clad hooves approaching from behind him. Ira looked forward and just kept smiling. The unicorn stallion, however, bowed his head in deference.
“You must forgive him, Temor,” a dark voice spoke up and then chuckled cruelly. “His kind are not known for loose lips.”
The Time Pony slowly dared himself to glance back. Standing behind him was an even bigger dark gray unicorn stallion. This one had a black mane, spiky crown and steel armor along with a red cape.
“His kind? What do you mean, Sombra?” Ira tilted her head, a little unsure now.
“Time Ponies,” King Sombra’s smile turned into a wicked grin as he stared at the terrified prisoner.
The End