//------------------------------// // Ignoring Chronos // Story: Hour of Twilight // by Animegx43 //------------------------------// Hour of Twilight: Chapter 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you can understand, the Arcane Tower truly is quite an important structure. It's the reason there's as much magic as there is in Equestria. When it was created, it spread a massive amount of magic throughout the land. However, creating it was a double-edged sword. Should something happen to the tower, such as being unstablized, it will react with the magic in Equestria. My belief is that if something happens to it, the magic will forever be lost. Clearly, Chronos knew that as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I can't allow it!" I said in a firm voice. "Allowing the tower to crumble is too risky." "Your highness, allowing it to destroy the world is even riskier." Chronos said "To protect the rest of the world, I'm afraid your ponies will have to live without magic." "But Equestrians can't live without magic." Twilight said. "Even I know that much. It's not even just unicorns like me who uses it. Pegasus ponies are born with the magic they need to control the weather, and even earth ponies have a bit of magic in them." "That is true, Miss Sparkle. Earth ponies have magic that gives them their connections to the earth, which is particularly important for farmers. I won't lie. Even I depend on magic to give me my visions. But my priority is to keep the time stream safe, and I will give up my magic if it does that. Surely you would give up your magic to protect your friends and family?" He gave us a good argument. We Equestrians have a strong value on magic and we would never give it up to easily. So when someone comes in out of nowhere and demands for there to be no more, well, you can understand that I wouldn't make a hasty decision. I thought about everything Chronos told me, everything I knew, and considered every other little factors. Once I did, I came up with my final decision. "Chronos, you have brought me interesting information many times in the past, and you've done so again Today. I understand your concerns, but ultimately, I've decided that I'm going to send Twilight Sparkle in to stabilize the tower as I planned." "But...but Celestia! Why would you after I distinctly told you that it will ultimately destroy the world? Are you that desperate to keep your magic?" "No, Chronos. I've made this decision because I know that Twilight Sparkle will not only restore the tower, but because I am more then confident that whatever comes to Equestria's way in the future, she will not let me down. I trust her enough to become my heir, so it only makes sense for me to trust her enough protect the future for us all." "Thanks, Princess." Twilight said. "I won't let you down, and I'll never let the tower fall into the wrong hooves." I think Twilight understood just how much I truly trusted her that moment. She knew that if I trusted her more then the guardian of time himself, then she probably was the right one to be my heir. While she doesn't always have self-confidence, it's my own that made her feel like she could succeed in restoring and protecting the tower. "So be it." Chronos said. "I know that you won't be changing your mind, so I won't waste either of our time any longer. But before I leave, I have something to say to Miss Sparkle." Upon hearing that, Twilight threw on her listening ears to hear Chronos's words carefully. "Twilight Sparkle, the fall of the world is no longer on your Princess's shoulders, but yours now. Should you succeed on your journey, you shall be held responsible for everything that will happen. You now have a choice that will completely change everything. You'd best make the right one." As he had nothing left to say, he gave us a final bow, had his pony escorts follow him, and quietly left my throne room. I found it quite odd on how calm he was. When he warned me of Nightmare Moon and Discord, he put in a lot more effort to try and convince me to side with him. At first I figured he simply just got to know me, although I had other suspicions too. "Umm...Princess?" Twilight said with a worried tone. "Are you...completely sure that we made the right choice? Am I really going to be-" "Relax, Twilight. Whatever will happen, I know you'll do a great job. Try not to put to much thought into what Chronos said." I said to comfort. "But he did remind me of something. Guards! Delay the next guest. I have important royal business to attend to which shouldn't take any more than 10 minutes. Twilight, you take a break. We'll talk more about the tower later." I absolutely HATE to wreck my own schedule like that. It depresses me when I have to push one commitment for another, but I had suspicions that I just couldn't ignore. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After leaving my throne room, Chronos and his group didn't leave my castle immediately. While Chronos would normally allow me to do what I wish and see what would happen next, he was quite persistent to have things go his way. He and his three escorts went on to go to a different room, the one and only room in my castle where I had more guards be stationed. "Excuse me, sir? This is a restricted area." A guard unicorn said. "Jolly good, sir." Whooves said, walking past the guard. "We'll only be a moment." "HEY! I said you're not allowed here!" As the group continued to walk through the room, two more guards, both pegasus, flew in and blocked off the next door. Then, ten more guards from nearby came running in to assist the other three. In mere seconds, Chronos and his group were surrounded by my royal guards. "Uhh, guys? I don't think we're allowed to be here." Nostalgia said. "The master wouldn't of brought us here if we couldn't take them." Clockwork said. "Ready yourselves. This may get bloody." "Clockwork, calm yourself!" Chronos ordered, blocking Clockwork with his staff. "We're here to fetch something. NOT to fight." As he wanted to end the situation as quickly as possible without putting himself or his allies in danger, he raised his staff in the air, and slammed into onto the ground, which activated his magic. In an instant, he placed himself, his group, and the guards inside a a large, golden force field. He and his group then stepped out of it, but my guards were completely immobilized. He had used one of time zones on my guards. While he and anyone who works with him are unaffected by the time zone, anyone else will feel the effects of it. In this particular case, he actually stopped time within that area. The guards had no idea who they were actually up against. "We're here, my little ponies." Chronos said. "YAY! Our mission is completed!" Nostalgia said in joy. They had arrived at the one that, again, had more guards then in any other room, until Chronos literally stopped them in their tracks. The room had one purpose, and one purpose only. To hold a magical vault that could only be opened. The vault only contained one box, but the importance of the box required the security. I'm of course referring to the Elements of Harmony, the magical objects that we needed. "Master Chronos, dare I ask how we plan on opening the door?" Whooves asked. "I believe you were the one who said that only the Princess could open the door." "That is still true, Time Turn-- I mean, Doctor Whooves." Chronos replied. "However, this door didn't always existed." Opening the door his way, Chronos once again rose his staff up, and thrust it towards the vault door, creating a stream of time magic that covers up the entire door, as well as part of the wall. Shortly afterwards, the door disappeared, allowing excess to inside the vault. However, after removing the door, the group discovered something they didn't expect to see, especially Chronos. The vault was empty. "WHAT!? Where are the Elements?" Chronos asked. "Did you maybe erased them from existence?" Nostalgia asked. "No, the Elements of Harmony are over a thousand years old. It would've taken the time zone MUCH longer to erase them, assuming if it could at all." He explained, yet still being immensely confused. "Ugh...but where could they be?" "I have them right here." Catching them by surprise, I emerged from behind Chronos, hold the Elements in the air with my magic. This was a series of events I'm sure Chronos himself expected to see coming. "You know, if you would've just snuck into my castle from the start, you would've gotten these for sure." I said to him. "But instead, you wanted to give me the chance to change the future the way you wanted to for you." "I'm not suppose to alter the time stream directly. It's protocol for me to instead influence others to change time themselves. Stealing the Elements personally was a last resort. I'm as responsible for maintaining time as you yourself should be for maintaining magic. So at least ONE of us is doing our job right." Naturally, I was quite offended by his insult. What he was to stubborn to realize is that my top priority wasn't to keep magic and the Arcane Tower safe, but to keep the inhabitants of Equestria safe. I was, however, putting the tower into safe hooves, so I knew I wasn't as irresponsible as Chronos claimed. "I'm sorry Chronos, but I'm not letting you do this. If you want the Elements of Harmony, you'll have to take them from my cold, dead carcass!" "So be it." Removing the bottom piece from his staff, revealing a sharp blade, it seemed as though Chronos actually was going to fight me for the Elements of Harmony. Clockwork looked as though he was ready to join in, but Nostalgia was afraid of a fight starting. Things didn't cool off until Doctor Whooves spoke up. "Sir, you know things won't end well if we actually fight her. Plan A and B have obviously failed, so let's just move on to Plan C." As much as Chronos hated to admit it, he knew the Doctor was right. He didn't have as much combat experience as I do, and while he had power over time, I was still more powerful then him. Knowing this, he once again hid his blade, and made his way out of my sight. This time, he actually did plan to leave my castle. But before he did... "Oh! Before I leave, I have a message I want you to pass for me." Chronos said. "Just tell your niece, Cadence, congratulations." "Hmm?" "She'll know what I'm talking about." And with that, he and his group left my castle. After he left, I freed my time frozen guards and began to make preparations to send Twilight Sparkle to Arcane Tower. I wasn't sure what he meant about Cadence, but I didn't have much time to worry about it. All I knew was that I had to keep my home safe and hope my student would succeed. The Plan C that Doctor Whooves mention though, I will admit, got me quite worried.