//------------------------------// // To The Tower // Story: Hour of Twilight // by Animegx43 //------------------------------// Hour of Twilight: Chapter 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the combined efforts of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, she was finally able to break through the barrier surrounding Arcane Tower. With her inside, all she had to do was reach the tower, stabilize the core, and then return home. As the barrier repels, all she would have to do to leave is simply walk through it, which meant that she could just focus on her mission without worries. However, she had to deal with two major problems. First, Chronos and his group had gotten a head start and were also heading to the tower. The second...was Pinkie Pie. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After breaking through the barrier, Twilight and Pinkie both found themselves in what they thought was somewhere completely different. Outside the barrier, they thought they were in the middle of nowhere, but after breaking through, they discovered that the barrier was hiding a beautiful green forest that stretched out for miles. But before they can do any sight seeing, Twilight had to deal with a little pink problem. "Oooh! So THIS is the inside of the barrier!" Pinkie said with joy. "Mmm...I've seen prettier places though. "PINKIE! How did you get in here?" Twilight asked. "Only I should've been able to penetrate the barrier!" "Well, no one told ME that." Not being amused by Pinkie's attitude, Twilight felt that she would've just been a burden for her, so she decided to try and bring Pinkie Pie back outside the barrier, trying her best to push Pinkie back through the barrier. Unfortunately for Twilight, Pinkie put up to much of a fight. "Come on, Pinkie. Go home and wait for me there! I can't risk you getting in my way." Twilight said as she began to use her magic to force her friend out of the barrier. "WAIT WAIT WAIT! At least let me try and talk you into letting me stay!" Pinkie pleaded. Deciding to give her a chance, Twilight levitated Pinkie towards her to see what she has to say. "Right now, it's four against one, and the Princess would've sent you help if she could. So you should take advantage of the fact that I broke the laws of physics and let me help you." With a cute, innocent smile, the young earth pony floated in the air until Twilight finally decided to release her from her magic. She decided to let her friend stay as a traveling companion. "Alright. Chronos is already ahead of us, so we have no time to lose. We have to get to the tower before he does." "But where is it?" Pinkie asked. "We just need to follow the trail until we can see it. Now come on!" No longer willing to be patient, Twilight began her journey to the Arcane Tower with Pinkie Pie following. She was annoyed at the time, but before long, she became happy that her friend managed to come along. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elsewhere at the time, Chronos was a a little further ahead from Twilight, as well as his group. While most of them were acting serious and staying focused on their job at hand, the lone female of the kept things a little more lighthearted. "This reminds me back when I traveled through the Everfree Forest near Ponyville. I met this very nice zebra there, and we-" "NOSTALGIA!" Clockwork shouted. "Pay attention! We're suppose to looking out for if Twilight Sparkle ambushes us." "Wait a second. If you can see into the future Clockwork, then wouldn't you know when Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie will reach us?" "Wha-geh-bu..THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" "Hold on a second." Chronos interupts. "Nostalgia, what do you mean about Pinkie Pie?" "Oh, you didn't notice? Twilight's and her friend both broke through the barrier about five minutes ago." "That...that can't be. I was only expecting Twilight to break through the barrier. My predictions told me nothing about an accomplice." While Nostalgia, Doctor Whooves, and Clockwork all had the ability to see the past, present, and future respectively, Chronos was the only one that can see all three fluently. Because he had grown to trust his visions more then anything, the fact that something he didn't predict would happen easily through him off. A small change in outcome caused him to lose his cool and began to worry about a new future. "Is something wrong, master?" Whooves asked. "No. No, it's okay. Things are just not going to be as easy as I expected." Chronos said. Despite the unexpected turn of events, he was prepared. He had then took the top end of his staff and started dragging it across the ground as he walked. "It is time for us to stop taking chances. "I'll need all three of you to enter seer mode and stay that way until further notice." "All three of us? Constantly?" Whooves asked. "We'd be draining alot of your power." "So be it. That's my order, and you three are to follow it. I also want to know exactly what's happening right now." Although the three ponies weren't exactly sure with Chronos's orders, they nonetheless chose to obey. They each stopped in there place, sat down on the ground, closed there eyes, and meditated for a moment. After they each took a deep breath, their cutie marks began to glow. After they opened up their eyes, they started glowing too. "Everyone else left after the two ponies entered the barrier, boss." Nostalgia said. "They are currently making our way to where are. We best move." Whooves said. "It seems that they will eventually reach their destination, sir. Sorry." Clockwork said. "All very important for me to know. Of course, I don't intend to simply let Twilight reach the tower. If this works, we should have plenty of time." Chronos explained, all while dragging his staff behind him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elsewhere... "OH, BOY! THIS IS EXCITING! You and I on a great adventure to save Equestria's magic! Oh, this will be so much more exciting then when I went" -gasp- "And that's really something because I was VERY excited!" Never in quite awhile had Twilight looked so annoyed. She may have spent some time with Pinkie Pie before, this was the first time she had to go through a mission this important with Pinkie Pie on her side. On the other hand, I'm happy to of given her a real test of patience. "OH! Twilight, by the way? What are we suppose to do again?" "Pinkie..." Twilight said. "Will you PLEASE calm down?" "Oh, come on! This fanfic has been boring lately, so how about we finally add some excitement? And what's more exciting then your pal, Pinkamena Diane-" Something then had happened that Twilight very rarely ever sees. Her friend Pinkie not moving. While moving around excitedly, Pinkie had suddenly stopped doing anything. She just suddenly stopped talking and completely stopped moving. "Ugh...Pinkie? Are you alright?" Worried about her friend, she used her magic to pull Pinkie towards her. When she did... "-Pie!" Pinkie said. "Hey, what are you doing?" "Umm...looking at you?" Twilight said awkwardly. "Oh, well that's okay. I'm always looking at you, so I guess that's fair. BUT THIS IS NO TIME!" Pinkie suddenly said seriously. "LET'S MOVE!" The suddenly focused Pinkie then went to make a mad dash forward. However, this caused her to suddenly stop moving again, only this time, she was floating right in the air. Now growing curious, Twilight pulls her friend back towards her. This time, she kept her in the air to not moving forward again. Coming up with a theory, Twilight fired a beam of magic in front of her. After hitting an invisible force, it became visible, revealing to be a yellow, see-through barrier. Twilight recognized it as one of Chronos's time zones. "OOOH! Pretty!" Pinkie said. "Not really. Chronos is trying to stop us." Twilight explained, who then fired a second beam at the time zone, effectively dispelling it. "Pinkie, I'm now glad you came. I've got an important job for you." "YAY! Let's get going then!" Twilight actually made very smart use of Pinkie Pie. Pinkie would move ahead of Twilight, get stuck in one of Chronos's time zones, Twilight would get rid of it, and they move on. A clever way to deal with a clever bird's trap. Unfortunately, she would soon realize that Chronos couldn't be outsmarted that easily.