Chapter 2
It was taking hours for Celestia to find the scroll located within a massive vault. Besides her, tossing and reading levitated rolls of paper was Luna, assisting the long search. Where they were located at was the Canterlot history record vault. They made sure the six of her special subjects were sent to the forest that resided in-between the hills in the north while she and her sister started their search. Sadly, none found any scroll that spoke of the alicorn of time and it was too dangerous to assume that six ponies were enough to stop their brother’s vengeance.
When they stopped, only a look of worry covered their faces when they shared glances. But suddenly, as if their hope sparked, their ears perked up and their glances change direction towards the role of scrolls. A symbol branded in their insignias was embedded in the wall of stone. They reminisce the time they marked that wall that had hidden away records of many tragic hours that struck personally to them physically and mentally. Both trotted to the wall, dropping whatever scroll they had in their magical grips to the ground and headed to the wall. Once they stopped in front of it, their horns flared up and the symbol on the door glowed brightly, before the wall it was carved into slid up, revealing a hidden chamber of dusty ancient scrolls.
The two felt history before them wash over their bodies in lavishing knowledge. In acute to this discovery of ancient history, they spotted the scroll involving their brother encased in glass screwed into the wall. Next to it, were other scrolls recorded back in their history from their predecessors. Once they stopped in front of the ancient paper written in their old handwriting, they started scanning each line carefully. Each word had to be understood clearly and carefully and once they finished reading, they re-reread it over and over again until they finally understood the history behind the tragic event that led them to believe their brother was dead.
Sand started to shift around the alicorn of time that sat on his throne chair, staring up at the ceiling aimlessly. But soon, the sand settled down for the gloomy alicorn as he heard the door opened. Looking down to see who had entered in his circled throne room, he spotted two young colts dressed in silver armor with gray coats and green eyes, standing side by side next to a filly that glared at him angrily. The filly was red and a unicorn with a black mane that matched the color of her eyes. She, however, had no cutie mark similar to the guards and the siblings she had sung alongside in the massive room that contained the organ.
"Ten, what brings you here in such a disappointed mood?"
“The sands within the hour glass had suddenly become heavy. Six and Four nearly broke their backs when the morons were trying to smooth it down. Did you use your time spell again?” She asked, her tone sounded mature, but her physique was young.
Déjà Vu simply brushed back his mane before nodding his head at the filly before him. The alicorn had no time to avoid a book from hitting the center of his chest, causing him to cough and fall to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain. The filly growled and stomped her right hoof on the ground frustrated.
“You damn old fool! You know what can happen if the hour glass breaks due to the excessive use of your time spells. What are we going to do if we lose you, huh, dad?” She asked in a worried tone mixed with anger.
Déjà Vu rose from the ground taking in deep breaths before settling down and looking at his filly with an emotionless expression. “I am aware of my limit with the time spells, Ten, but do not worry about me. I know when and when not to use them.” He said. The filly growled as her eyes flared angrily at the alicorn. She conjured a book by her side and chucked it at him, but this time he had time to avoid it by catching it with his sand. “Would it make you feel better that I promise not to use it again in four days?”
Ten thought for a few seconds before calming down. She stared at him and gave a conforming nod. “I am not going to handle all these fools for long, dad. If you die, I am going to be very angry.”
“I understand, Ten, I understand.” He said as his sand settled down, dropping the book to the ground. The filly sighed and left the room accompany by the guards who were her brothers. Once she was gone and the door was shut close, the alicorn’s eyes widen as he coughed violently, before blood came out, dripping slowly from his lips. He frowned and stared up at the blood being absorbed into the sand.
“I am getting very old.” He muttered before staring up at the ceiling. His eyes lowered before his sand started to shift around him. It soon took the form of a large sand dragon that hovered over him, staring out through the closed window. The sun was at the peak of its dawn, but seeing through the eyes of his sand dragon, whose perception surpassed his, he could spot royal pegasi guards flying chariots with the six wielders of the Elements of Harmony. He sighed once his dragon opened its wings and turned into a stream of sand, sinking into his body.
“But I am not getting too old to not prepare myself for greeting visitors,” He muttered, “but…I should be wary of that one. She carries far more energy than the others.”
The mane six were separate three from three from one another on two chariots that were carrying them off towards the towering mountains. Twilight sat by Rarity and Pinkie Pie in the chariot from the right, while the other three sat in the chariot to the left. Twilight was busy looking over a map that scanned over the mountains and areas beyond them, but found no spot involving Déjà vu’s castle.
“Twilight, any luck finding his castle on the map?!” Pinkie Pie asked, staring down at the clouds the chariot flew over.
“No, it is nowhere in sight. Maybe it was put in another map, maybe, but there is nothing here that does not seem out of the ordinary. I remember scanning this map over and over again for my Geography test and memorized mostly everything, but finding a castle that’s not in this map shocks me still today. There is a forest in-between the mountains on the map, but no landmarks or special places marked.”
“Perhaps it’s really ancient that no pony discovered it yet.” Rarity suggested, but Twilight shrugged it off, focusing her attention on the map again.
“I would like to challenge him to a sand castle building match! I will make the biggest and coolest sand castle out of all that sand the next time we see him!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully, causing Twilight to groan while Rarity stared at her in amusement.
“How did he manipulate all that sand and stop me in the air?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying onto the chariot, sitting next to Twilight.
“It was a certain type of Terra magic, or Psammo-magic. It is a type of magic used mostly by few unicorns and mostly zebracorns in the desert plains, southwest of Equestria.” Twilight stated.
“There is a place in the desert full of sand castle builders?!” Pinkie Pie cried out in shock, causing Rainbow Dash to chuckle alongside Rarity.
“Well, I’m not sure, but there are ponies that live there as traders and roam around the world in caravans. The desert plains is full of salt which is a high mineral located there.” She said.
“So, what about him pausing me in time?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“That was clearly a time spell, but, he did not freeze you in time. Instead, he slowed you down. You can’t freeze time; instead, you can only speed it up and slow it down. Time spells are very rare and kind of difficult to use. Depending on which level of magic you are using involving that type of spell.” Twilight explained.
“So, he slowed me down?” Dash said.
“He can use sand magic?” Applejack asked from afar.
“Yes.” Twilight answered.
“He summoned that giant sand dragon…it was too terrifying.” Fluttershy said in a frightened tone.
“I noticed that, it seems he is well skill in Psammo-magic. I am sure he is a master with time spells since he is the alicorn of time.” She said, rubbing her chin. Twilight then peeked over the chariot, staring straight ahead pass the stallions carrying them. “Assuming that he knows we are close, he probably is preparing something big for us. So, you girls need to be careful. If he could easily freeze Rainbow Dash in time, and the fact he is an alicorn that knew Celestia and Luna, due to the fact he is their brother, he can very dangerous.”
“Don’ worried Twi, we can handle ourselves!” Applejack said with a confident smile.
“Yeah, we can make sure this guy knows his place!” Rainbow Dash said smirking.
“And maybe figure out why he is planning on harming the world.” Rarity said, brushing back her mane before smiling lightly.
“And maybe challenge him into seeing who can build the largest castle of sand!” Pinkie shouted.
“Maybe, yeah, maybe,” she softly smiled, “I just hope…” She frowned, “this mission does not end in a terrible conclusion.”
“I’m sure we can have a good ending, for…what can go wrong? We’re the bearers of the Elements of Harmony!” Dash said proudly.
“An’ there ain’t nothing going to stop us from succeeding.” Applejack added.
-To Be Continue-