//------------------------------//
// Torn Apart 
// Story: Angels and Demons 2: Timelock 
// by lunabrony 
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Six months. Had it really been six short months, since he was plunged into a colorful world of talkng horses, dragons and magic? A world which several short months ago, he would have chosen his own insanity instead of admitting it was real? On Earth, Norman Bach had become a reclusive hermit, rarely ever seen. Here, Silver Key was thriving, with a lovely wife-to-be, an apartment, a horn. Everything was perfect. At least... it had been. He was running towards Angel, who was trapped in the fiery flow of a volcano, magma closing in on her from all directions. If only she'd fly away, she'd be safe, but she refused to fly. He called her name, over and over again, but she never seemed to hear him. The ground in front of him exploded as a rocky cage lifted up from the terrain, leaving him helpless as she was consumed by the magma, screaming his name. He woke up. That's always where he woke up, drenched in sweat. The other half of the bed he shared with Angel was empty, although it was barely sunrise. She had not been her charming, innocent self as of late. In fact, she'd been rather distant with him.

His headache sang in her absence. Perhaps it was the headache that called up these terrible nightmares. She couldn't be around him twenty four seven, however close they might strive to be. Gathering up his legs he brushed off some of his sweat, looking over to the spot where she usually slept. Testing, he brushed an arm across it, seeing if there was any warmth in it. How long had she been gone? His ears twitched to see if she was still in their apartment. Sighing a little, he buried his nostrils in her pillow and breathed deeply to remind himself of her scent. He'd tried getting her to talk about what was bothering her, his only idea was her insecurity about her wings and his clumsy attempts at making her comfortable with them.

Her scent came from the balcony. Winter Wrap Up had been a few days before, a glorious Equestria-wide event that he had not had a chance to participate in this time around, but had been very curious to see. Almost overnight, the snow had been swept away and replaced with fields of green. The temperature was cold, but just warm enough for her to be outside. The bed was cold as well, had she ever even slept at all last night?

Cold, either she had gotten out of bed very early, or she had never gotten into bed. The sheets were smooth enough that he suspected the latter. This had gone along far enough, she was his fiancee, they were going to get married in a not too distant future and if something was bothering her then he wanted to be there to support her. He rolled out of the bed onto his hooves and shook himself. He didn't feel odd not putting on clothes, he felt odd that it wasn't bothering him and on the whole he counted it as a plus. He walked out to the balcony. "Angel?"  He yawned. "You're up early."

She didn't turn as he approached her. He sensed her sadness, her anger, in just her body language. Her wings drooped,  her ears were laid back, her shoulders sunken. When she did at last turn, he could see the tears glimmering in her eyes. She spoke to him, and her words stabbed him just as effectively as if she'd been holding a blade. "I want you to leave." She said quietly, then hesitated a moment. "Not forever... I just want time alone first. Until I can decide if I want you back." Part of him suspected Novaria was involved with this, part of him suspected something worse.

He was surprised, shocked. His heart wasn't even processing the emotions he ought to feel, he felt a little stunned, his mind switching into gears trying to figure out what had happened. "Angel... what... why?" What had he done? Had he been too insensitive to her regarding her insecurities, perhaps he shouldn't have pushed her. "I don't understand Angel, what happened?" He wanted to step closer, come over, nuzzle her, but the way she carried herself made him hold back. She really wanted to be alone. Novaria? She liked him for his talents, but she had never liked that he was her daughters fiancee. However he suspected that it wasn't Novaria all the same, she wouldn't have gone behind his back. Unless he had misjudged her.

If looks could kill, he'd have been dead by now. Tears spilled over her eyes, her emotions conflicted, as if she didn't believe the words coming out of her mouth, but at the same time just couldn't bear to look at him anymore. Her tone was dry and hardened, a little spark of innocence had been lost. "You know why, Silver." She said calmly. "I've been reading."

He didn't have to ask what she had read. But he had wished it would never be. They'd stopped going to the library for a long time. Had she gone anyway? Of course she had... she had always asked him about it, and he had always kept her from knowing it. His ears folded and his tail hung, and he lowered his head in shame.  "Angel…" He didn't know what she had seen, or whether she thought he had been in any of the wars or things she'd read. How much had she understood. Too much, he decided, but the damage was done. "Angel, we can talk about it, I'll answer any question… I'm sorry you had to see all that." Had Novaria penned down what he had told her, and what had she penned down?

"No." She said, shaking her head. "You lied to me, and I don't understand why." Ponies still lied in Equestria, but not to the extent they did on Earth. "I don't know how to believe you anymore. You put me in danger, all those times I went to Earth by myself, I could've been... could've been..." Could've been what? Attacked? Raped? Kidnapped? Killed? She backed away from him. "Just go, please. I'll find you when I'm ready."

He wanted to reassure her that she had been safe when she had been with him, but he remembered the incident in the library. If it hadn't been for Alicia he wouldn't have known what had been about to happen. "I'm sorry." Silver said, his heart was breaking. "I really am Angel, I'll go…" He said and… he teleported. Didn't even bother to specify a direction except that it was ground level, somewhere a few hundred feet away. Probably over a pond by his luck, thankfully not inside a wall, the new teleport spells were good at preventing that mishap from happening. He poofed out at some random spot, always feeling drained from the exertion required.

Just his luck, he landed in a fountain. Angel had always been so kind to him, and she looked absolutely destroyed. It was impossible to know exactly what she'd read or how much,  but it had been enough. The dull throbbing began in the back of his head, he may very well have to call upon Alicia at some point. The sun was barely risen, just after sunrise. He was considering going back to Earth, when a bright light appeared before him. At first it was just a glowing sphere, but slowly began to take a shape. The shape of a pony. As if that wasn't enough, it spoke to him. "Silver Key!"

Climbing out of the fountain, drenched, shaking himself off, probably taken either for a cider-laden unicorn who had tried for a quick trip home, or for a teleportation beginner still out of practice. A nice big jug of cider would be just the right thing right about now. The sight of a pony materializing out of nowhere blinded him a little and he shielded his eyes with a hoof. Interesting, he'd sent himself to a random spot and someone showed up. Coincidence was unlikely. Someone was watching him. It wasn't Novaria though. "Yes... I'm Silver, who are you?"

The large sphere seemed to be made of light and fire itself, and his brain slowly processed this. It wasn't just a random appearance, it was an ethereal projection. And only a couple ponies were powerful enough to do that. As the form took shape, within the glittering fires he could make out not just the shape of a horn, but large majestic wings as well. "I need your help, Silver Key. You must get to Canterlot Castle, as quickly as you can!"

There was only one pony this could possibly be. "Yes Princess Celestia, I'll get right there!" He smiled weakly,though there was always the off chance that this was Luna. The voice commanded respect and dignity, ergo it wasn't the new princess Twilight who from the few friendship speeches he'd seen her give, though confident was young. This was the voice of a majesty. Luna was unlikely, she was rarely seen in the morning. Also her magic tended to be shadowy and dark. He genuflected. Something to get his mind off things. How had Angel come to read... and what had she read? Who had given her something to read? Puzzle solving. No answers presented themselves at the moment, the pieces weren't all there. He wondered whether the trainyard left for Canterlot this early, although the Castle was merely on the other side of the city. Teleport? His headache mingled with a throbbing sensation in his horn, better not. But his only alternative was to run. He'd have to suck it up. Teleporting would be faster.

The Princess sounded urgent. Scared, almost. "Luna has spoken of your abilities most highly. I have a conundrum for you to solve, Silver Key. The fate of Equestria may depend on it. Please hurry! I will do what I can here to hold it back." The pony of light burst into fragments, and sizzed into smoke as the fragments hit the ground. Something was wrong.

He looked up through the spires of Canterlot, to where castle straddled the mountain. A unicorn, he'd break wind soon enough and it wasn't good for his headache. Deciding that there would be medical assistance up on the castle, but that there was an even faster way to get up there he rushed up to nearest royal guards with wings patrolling the city streets. "Silver Key, Princess Celestia contacted me urgently I need a quick trip to the castle pronto." He held a shard of the ethereal projecting that had been left, hoping it was proof enough. If not, he had a gem that might be good bribe. Then again the royal Canterlot guards were moral to a fault, a bribe might send him to a jail cell... but since that was in the castle, that would still work to his advantage.

If it was or was not enough, he was not told. If the guards did or did not believe him, he was not told. However, between something he did and something Princess Celestia had told was enough. The guard nodded, and touched his horn to Silvers own. There was a brief flash and a moment of disorientation, and he found himself outside the Castle gates. He was ushered inside, the gates swinging open to accommodate him. "Princess Celestia is expecting you in her throne room immediately." One of the guards said politely.

Silver's headache was singing an aria about how much agony was in his skull. He rushed through the gaudy corridors and up the wide stairs, bursting into the throne room. Being friends with Angel, he had been through here without it being a tour, though he'd never had an audience with the regal princesses, except his short brush with Luna where he had asked her for her blessings.

Something was wrong. The throne room was empty. But he'd been told to come here, where was Princess Celestia? Or at the very least, Princess Luna, if Celestia was going to be late? His head hurt and his eyes needed a moment to adjust. Something was moving at the far back of the expensive room, something large and bright purple. But it wasn't an organic being, what WAS that?

Alarm clocks started ringing. He was a unicorn but he didn't know any form of defensive or offensive, firstly because magic like that was deemed dangerous enough that it was taught to very few unicorns, and secondly he doubted his meager horn could punch a hole into anything if he wanted. He decided against giving away his position just yet by announcing himself. The princesses would know he was there, and if they weren't here when he arrived… the Celestial figure had said something about holding something back. Keeping close to the door he tried studying the purple spectacle.

It was a light, no, that wasn't right. A bubble. It started at the back of the room, encapsulating everything it touched. Wall to wall, ceiling to floor. And it was moving towards him at an alarming speed. From a side hallway barreled a brown earth stallion, with an hourglass on his flank. He took only one look at Silver, an expression of urgency and fear on his face. "Run!"
Something had definitely gone wrong. He didn't know the earth pony next to him, but he judged his assessment of the situation was as good as any and ran back out of the large set of doors, holding them open for that pony, in case he wanted to follow. The castle doors were fairly sturdy. He had no idea whether they resisted magic, but seeing as Luna and Celestia were magical users, them not reinforcing the doors with magic would seem odd. Then again ponies weren't always known for the strategic forethought.

The bubble was fast, too fast. In the moment he stopped to hold open the door, they caught up with him. The earth pony was gone, which was absolutely strange seeing as he hadn't come through the doors, he'd only been there a moment ago, and there was no other way out. But either way, he was overtaken by whatever it was that had consumed the throne room. It hurt for only a moment, and then he found himself completely blind.

No, not blind. Everything was still in its place. The door in front of him, the throne room behind him. It took him several minutes to regain his bearings, and finally become able to see the chaos behind him as his eyes adjusted to the overwhelming darkness. The beautiful, decorated throne room he had been in only moments before was completely destroyed. The thrones for both Princesses had been torn apart and broken, and lay useless, overturned. Rats scurried among the debris. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling had long since fallen to the ground, their crystals deformed and irreplaceable. But perhaps the most heart wrenching sight was the stained glass lining the windows. Somepony had once spent hundreds of hours on the half dozen or so works of art, and every window was now smashed, thousands of pieces of multicolored glass lined the hallway. Not even a puzzle solver could put them back together.

An explosion? He checked himself, except for a headache that was its constant irritating self, he was fine. Magics could do strange things, but if it had been any of the energetic explosions he would have been affected. Something was off about the surroundings. Not just broken apart by an explosion, it seemed... old, decrepit. Not a teleport spell. Time travel? He looked out of the door he had come through, was it as bad out there as in here?

The door was still there, everything was still there, yet different. The pedestals which had moments ago held pots of dirt with sprouts just beginning to peek out were now empty and covered in dust. Windows were cracked, only a few remained completely intact.

Seemed time travel was the explanation. He'd seen a pony with the cutie mark in the shape of an hourglass. Though he was training to be an advisor to Novaria in time, he had never come across anything resembling time travel like this. The little he had heard about it was something fairly unstable spells. This world kept throwing him for a loop. Everything was possible. A pang of pain in his head made him shut his eyes for a little while, waiting for it to go away. Okay think logically Silver… he had been sent into the future how far. Could he get back? A stab in the heart.. if he had gone very far into the future, Angel would only have known that he had suddenly vanished. The castle was in shambles… the princesses weren't around. Things were off. Time to investigate. He crept through the castle, going out to one of the balconies to take a look at the city, was it any different?

Was it any different. Was anything the same? The ponies, so rich and fabulous and uppity in their Canterlot lifestyles, had been reduced to wearing burlap sacks. Some did, some didn't, but that seemed to the only fashion that existed now. The sky was dark, he'd apparently been hurtled several hours off, but there was at least the courtesy of streetlamps lining what had once been roads. Where there had once been houses there now appeared to be large fortresses of mud and clay instead. 

This wasn't the Canterlot he knew by a long shot. He'd be able to recognize it. Had he been sent into the past or the future. There were streetlamps.. this was the future, he remembered those being there in his own time. Things had decayed, something had gone very wrong, but where? The princess had been fighting something, holding it off… then he'd arrived in time to see a sphere engulf the throne room, had it taken the princesses? Then why had they arrived here. Far out possibilities existed if time travel was involved, though he ruled out the idea that someone had gone back in time and removed the princesses before they became princesses, because if that was the case then he couldn't have known about it either. His head swam with agony. He hoped they had the equivalent of aspirin where he was. The situation looked rather bleak. With a deep breath he steeled himself, time to get out of the castle and figure out what had happened.

If the Princesses were still around, though he could remember them, he couldn't sense them. Then again, they'd always been very private, and only communicated when they wanted to. He couldn't sense Angel or Alicia, efforts to reach them went unanswered. His best hope laid with the Canterlot ponies trotting about their daily lives.

Hi I'm from the past, what year is this? First order of business a disguise of anykind, he had a particularly recognizable cutie mark, but burlap sacks was what most of these ponies wore. Get a similar one and dress for the occasion, he looked for newspapers, signs, anything that would tell him indirectly when he was and what had happened.

The streets, as they always were, were busy with ponies going about their day to day activities. A food stand here, a clothing stand there. The streets were dirty, and finding a disguise was not particularly difficult. He could go to the clothing stand, or he could just as easily go to one of the food carts and request one of the bags that were piled up behind the table from the days earlier deliveries.

Opting for the latter he chose and opportune time to ask one of the grocers if he could have one of their large spare bags. A little modification and he'd have himself a hooded cloak that would cover his cutie mark and make if not invisible, then at least not as easily recognizable. It would not hide him from someone really determined to spot him, but it would make it harder.

The grocers were kind, and a bag was handed over to him, free of charge. They were most likely just going to get thrown out anyway. A young voice called to him, and a colt manning the nearby fruit stand waved to him. "Oi, mistah!" He called, most likely looking to strike a deal. Most vendors were.

Fruit, no thanks kid. If you happen to have industrial strength painkillers I'd take it by the pound. That's what I really want, thought Silver to himself. It was Angel he wanted more than that, suddenly she had been seen something he'd wanted her to remain innocently ignorant of. In his own selfishness. Wanting her to be innocent and perfect, yet still able to have a relationship with her. "I'm not particularly hungry kid." He excused himself, trying to find out what had happened would be difficult. Were the princesses still here in this world? If they were, how was the castle in such a ruined state? Either something had changed in the past... and Silver had gone unaffected, or this was the future after which the princesses had been removed from power somehow. The headlines of a newspaper would tell him the answer.

The town square was bustling, a typical weekend. If the ponies were distraught at living in mud huts. they didn't seem to be complaining. And at the very least, if a newspaper didn't give him answers, surely a carefully worded question would. The newspaper vendor, a shivering green unicorn, locked eyes with him as he approached. "Y-yes? C-can I help you?" She turned her head to sneeze, before giving him her attention again.

The headlines of the newspaper. "Considering purchasing a paper, but I'm a little short on bits." He decided against creative questions right at that moment.. and then of course he got an idea worth using. "Any scandals worth reading about?" Scandals always involved the rulers, whether the regal sisters or any others in the hierarchy down to town mayors and the movers and shakers. However the question would avoid showing his ignorance.

The unicorn, who presumably had a cold, shook her head. "Oh, you poor thing. Here, take a paper for yourself, no charge." She said kindly. "There really isn't anything worth mentioning. And if there was, I doubt the Princess would do anything about it. You know how she is, I don't think she's ever made a single public appearance."

The princess, not the princesses, not plural. This was different. Which princess was it? Well he had established himself now as someone interested in scandals. "I don't think they'll catch her with her... wings down" He had almost slipped into a human expression. "Er... exposed, doing something embarrassing. Town mayor on the other hoof, now that's different." He had a strange suspicion. First figure out whether the date had changed. Had he time travelled at all? Then see if he could find out the name of the princess.

The unicorn smiled. "I'm sure she's just very private, there's nothing wrong with that. She runs the town alright, anyway. Since we don't have houses anymore, we don't have to pay taxes anymore, and everypony is thrilled about that." She seemed oddly charismatic about not having a home, but perhaps it was just his imagination.

Same point in time… it made absolutely no sense. He folded the newspaper and handed it back. A reclusive princess who mismanaged the town. It didn't explain why ponies seemed as happy as they did. A new level of asceticism, no, in that case the castle would have been torn down. "Do you know if anyone has ever taken a picture of her? Ever?" This was pushing it a little, but he was in the curious cat role. Someone interested in scandals in secrets exposed.

It was not an entirely unheard of question, many wondered who she was. The unicorn shook her head, sneezing again. "I'm afraid not, nobody knows her name, what she looks like, or where she comes from." She shrugged.  "But we shouldn't be talking about her. Can I get you anything else?"

"No thank you." The newspaper was handed back. A stab of worry in his heart. He tried to think. Assume time travel, someone had gone back and done... something. Celestia and Luna had found out and summoned him, but when he had gotten there they were gone. And that sphere… and some pony with an hour glass cutie mark. Time had been altered and he had been caught in its wake and somehow escaped its effects? However he didn't want to wonder anymore, he wanted to know, he rushed back to where his and Angel's apartment had been.

For some reason, although the houses were reduced to mud, the apartments were still there. They were worn down and looked as if they hadn't been used in months, but still there. His apartment, the one he had spent so many nights cuddled against his love, was empty, save for a desk and a table and a bed. Angel was gone.