Wings for Him

by Laughing Jack

Questions & Ruins

Isaac looked around the spacious ruins one more time before he let the truth set in. “What the hell? Since when do old men disappear like that?” he asked himself. He looked around, this time taking note of his surroundings. He was in what appeared at first sight to be an enclosed courtyard, once-tall pillars standing tall by the broken remains of the wall surrounding the moss-covered cobblestones. On the far side of the enclosure, there was a large stone pedestal that had five small platforms jutting out from the sides, each only just big enough to maybe hold a large lantern.

It was the pedestal which intrigued him the most, if only because it looked as though it should be presenting something, yet wasn’t. Closing the door behind him, he wandered to the other end and, finding an ornate, albeit dusty door, he pushed past it and into a spacious hallway. Looking around, he felt spoiled for his choice in doors; three doors stood on both sides, the farthest on the right only barely still attached to the stone around it. There was also a set of doors at the far end of the hallway, the double doors engraved with a pair of unicorns, their horns pointed inward toward the upper corners of each door.

An errant thought crossed Isaac's mind as he looked around: how was it that he could see all this despite the enclosed room? Checking how well he could see, he waved his hand in front of him, intercepting a stream of pale light coming from the ceiling. Looking up, he found his answer: the mortar holding the bricks together had crumpled in some places, likely because it hadn't been made just right. Thus, the mortar deteriorated, allowing the evening's moonlight to filter through.

An interesting thought to be sure, but it didn't tell Isaac where to go. After a moment’s thought however, he chose to go through the second door on the left, on account that there was noticeably less dust on the handle.

‘After all, something had to have opened that door, and whatever went through must have picked it with a purpose,’ he reasoned to himself. ‘Unless that purpose was to screw with me… Nah, that’d mean that destiny is trying to fuck me over.’

Opening the door, he walked through a corridor just wide enough to fit him and maybe another person side by side. After muttering a few choice words about how noisy the doors were, Isaac started walking, taking notice of the layer of dust that clung to every surface. ‘It’d take a hurricane just to blow all of the dust away,’ he mused.

Looking around as he walked, he was startled to notice what looked like hoof prints in the dust. Though there were too many sets travelling down the corridor, he was at least confident he knew what had made them: horses. 'Since when do people let horses into castles?' Isaac asked himself. Groaning, he remembered his predicament. ‘That’s right, I’m not in Kansas anymore, am I Toto?’

Shaking his head at the attempt of humor, he barely stopped himself from tripping over the first stair of a spiral staircase that he somehow missed in his musings. Looking up what he could see of the staircase, he was relieved to see that is was apparently intact, if still as dusty as the rest of the ruins. ‘Small miracles for small people I suppose,’ Isaac thought wryly. About 5 steps up, he started jogging, eager to find out more about where the hoof prints led.

After almost half a minute more of climbing, the stairs ended, leading into a room not unlike the courtyard, if somewhat smaller and lacking the decorative stonework. At the far end were a few stairs leading up to a stone dais, a broken throne framed by the night sky as Isaac looked from where he stood. Looking around, he saw more windows, all of them as large as the doors he had come through. Sadly, they were all in a state of disrepair; the glass broken and the frames either gone or rusted beyond repair.

Gazing around, Isaac tried to picture what the room had been like long ago, in all its glory. ‘I guess this was a pretty nice castle back in its day,’ he thought, his mood lightening a bit. ‘I wonder how it feels, to sit on a throne like that.’ Smiling, he made his way to the throne. Before he had even taken ten steps however, he felt as though everything, from the dusty air to his very clothes, were prickling him.

Then the pain hit him.

Just like when he had been standing before the courtyard, the pain spiked through his midsection. Collapsing to the ground, Isaac tried to ride out the pain, clutching his arms against himself in a futile effort to ward off the pain. Instead of disappearing, the pain radiated from his center, burning its way throughout his entire body, leaving him writhing in agony. After the pain spread, it seemed to leave his center, moving instead to his back, where it intensified, as though his spine itself were being rearranged.

Luna stood out on her balcony, her attention turned to the distant Everfree Forest. She was tense, her wings half furled, indecisive as whether or not to fly. Her sister Celestia stood beside her, wings folded and resting at her sides. She too looked toward the forest, though she sported a look of apprehension in contrast to Luna’s look of alarm. It was the sun princess who broke the silence. “I do not like this. In all my 1505 years, I haven’t felt magic behave like this.”

“Perhaps one of us should check the source of such an anomaly,” Luna commented. “T’would be a good thing to know, should it turn out to be something malicious.

Celestia looked askance at her sister for a moment before asking, “Luna, be honest. Do you want to look?”

“W-what art thou implying, dear sister?” Luna replied, slightly mortified.

Celestia allowed herself a small smile. “Oh? Does that mean you don’t want to talk to your friends again?” she teased. “Wasn’t the last time you met with them this last Nightmare Night?”

Luna looked away from Celestia, trying to hide her excitement at the thought of meeting with Twilight and everypony else. “We certainly don’t know what you mean by that sister! We would simply be checking the source of the abnormal magic, nothing more.”

"Oh?” Celestia replied, actively working to keep a knowing grin off her face. “I suppose you’re right. However, it is a long flight to the forest,” she mused.

Luna’s ears perked toward Celestia. “Y-yes, it is at that.”

“It’s long enough that even I might get tired flying all that way,” her sister continued, turning her eyes back toward the distant forest. “But I suppose it must be done. It’s a good thing that there’s a town nearby. It's also quite fortunate that my student lives there. I'm sure she would be glad to let me rest at her house for a bit."

At that, Luna's head shot around to look at Celestia, her face the picture of betrayed surprise upon hearing that her sister intended to make the trip she herself had planned to make. Her ears flicked forward in surprise before falling back, her eyes and mouth forming into a pout. "P-perhaps we had best go.” she said making an effort to sound indifferent. “Your presence would excite the locals, causing nothing but trouble for Tw- your student, Miss Sparkle.”

"Oh?" She was fighting a losing battle, but she'd be darned if her sister found out she was playing her, trying to get her to be more social.

Luna nodded. "We - that is, I - however, do not get such reactions." She continued a hint of desperation showing in her voice. "Indeed, I should be the one to make the trip. I still have much to see of our kingdom, especially after my imprisonment."

Celestia appeared to mull over the decision a bit. "Hmm... very well then: I suppose you can make the trip as well as I can." She smiled at her sister. "Be careful. I don't want to lose you again."

Luna bounded to her sister, nuzzling her affectionately before leaping into the night sky. "I will, sister dear. Thank you!" She called back as she sped into the night, angling herself toward the Everfree Forest.

Celestia chuckled as her sister flew out of sight. As fun as it had been teasing Luna, she knew she had to get some rest before she raised the sun. Teleporting back to her room, she stepped out of the slippers she had worn when the abnormal magic had awoken her. Moving them to her bedside, she crawled back under the covers, resolving to stay there until she had to raise the sun. 'I can still salvage a couple more hours of sleep...'

After about fifteen minutes of the pain, it finally receded enough for Isaac to catch his breath and get up from the floor. As he got to his feet, he noticed that his backpack had slipped off. Dusting it off and gripping it by one of its straps, he cast a wary glance back at the throne. ‘The fuck was that?’ he thought. ‘It couldn’t have been… Magic? Nah, that’s not possible. Then again, I think common sense left a long time ago.’

Moving slowly, Isaac made his way to the throne. Encouraged by the lack of pain thus far, he finally made it to the broken throne. Tracing his hand along the arms, he made up his mind. With a single minded determination, he set out to rid the throne of the dust and the broken pieces of itself, trying to clear it so he could get a better idea of what it might have looked like. A minute later, he stood before a regal - if faded and slightly broken - throne. He was struck with the sudden urge to sit in the throne and, seeing no one else to stop him, sat on the throne, leaving his backpack to rest against the throne’s side.

Just as he was getting settled, glowing text flowed around him from the throne, wrapping around him and effectively pinning him to the throne. Almost immediately after, his mind was assaulted by numerous images, impressions, and sensations, all staying in his mind only long enough for him to realize one thing: he was seeing and feeling the forest, almost as though he were the forest itself.

Touching down on the balcony, Luna folded her wings by her sides and knocked at the multi-paned window which stood in place of a door to the library. A moment later she saw a dark shape move through the dimly lit library toward her, and Owlowiscious unlatched the window for her, letting it open outwards as she moved aside and walked inside the library.

“You are Twilight’s night assistant, are you not?” Luna asked the owl hovering near the window. Receiving an affirmative hoot, she continued, “Is she available? I have some business nearby, and I need to talk to her.”

Hooting once more, Owlowiscious led her down the ladder into the library and up the steps that went to Twilight’s room. Luna recalled how Twilight had spoken to Celestia during one of the few lessons the sisters had collaborated to give her on the basics of leadership soon after her ascension, asking permission to add a wall and door to the room, explaining a desire for privacy as she learned how to properly groom her new wings. Shaking the memories from her mind, she knocked at the door, hoping that she was in time to catch Twilight before her obviously late start on sleep.

As Owlowiscious went back to putting the books that Twilight had used away, the mare herself made herself known, opening the door to show an irritated look which quickly turned into shock as she processed the Princess of the Night standing before her. “Princess Luna,” she said, dipping into an impromptu bow even as Luna moved to stop her.

“There is no need to bow to me,” she admonished. “Thou- that is, you are a princess as well.”

“Sorry,” Twilight said, sheepishly straightening out her bedhead. “So… What brings you to Ponyville Luna? Are you here to give me more lessons?”

Shaking her head, Luna answered her question. “Nay Twilight, I fear it is not as pleasant as lessons. First though, I would like to get something to drink, as I have flown with all haste from Canterlot, I feel somewhat tired.”

“Oh, of course. Would you like some tea, or maybe some milk? Water?” Twilight’s mane started becoming frazzled as the stress from the sudden visit combined with the night’s earlier events to drive her a bit crazy. “Oh, but what about-”

“Enough,” Luna interrupted, continuing in a gentle tone, “I would like some tea, if that is quite alright.”

“Oh, right. Sorry about that.” Slightly embarrassed about her outburst, Twilight led her to the kitchen, where she set about making tea for the two of them. Minutes passed in companionable silence as they both waited for the tea to brew. Hearing the kettle sound its telltale whistle, she lifted if from its place on the stove, levitating two cups from the pantry as she brought the kettle to the table where Luna waited patiently. Pouring the two of them tea, she finally brought forth the question which had been bugging her the whole time.

“So what brings you out here, if you don’t mind me asking?” Twilight asked, blowing gently on her tea and sipping it before looking expectantly at the night princess.

Sipping cautiously at her own tea, Luna grimaced as she burned her tongue. “I do not mind, Twilight,” she said. “Perhaps you can shed some light on the situation.” She proceeded to explain how an unknown magical surge had manifested, drawing not only her own attention, but had also awoken her sister, as well as its likely location. “That said I would appreciate it if you would let me use your guest bedroom after I return.”

“Hmm? Oh, of course you can sleep here,” Twilight replied, snapping out of her thoughts. After a moment of silence, she cautiously asked, “Luna, do you think the magic has anything to do with apes?” Receiving a bewildered expression, she went on to describe the events that had transpired outside her door earlier that night, including a description of the two apes.

Thinking for a moment as she finished her tea, Luna came to a decision. "I will watch for these apes, but the disturbance comes first," she said, getting up.

"Oh, of course princess. I hope you find out what's causing the magical anomaly," Twilight said, taking the empty cup over to the sink. "The guest room's ready for when you get back." Luna got to her hooves and, exchanging a respectful nod, made her way outside the library, flying off to the Everfree Forest, where the anomaly originated.

“Looks like it’s all happening as I thought it would,” the old man muttered to himself. “Good thing too, I can only imagine how horrible it would feel for him otherwise.”

He continued watching for a bit then, as if on some invisible signal, turned to look at a distant speck in the sky. Watching the speck he muttered to himself, “Sorry, but it isn’t time yet for that. Not for him, nor for you or your sister.” Turning to fully face the incoming pony, now identifiable distantly as Princess Luna, the old man leapt into the air, his body changing to that of an ashen alicorn, three black highlights running through his mane and tail. As his body finished changing, his cutie mark appeared: a black hourglass, its top portion filled with ivory sand which slowly trickled into the bottom portion. Opening his golden eyes, he took flight, shifting his path to make sure he intercepted the younger alicorn before she came in view of the window he had been looking through.

By the time Luna reached the forest, the surge of magic she was tracking had disappeared. By that time however, she had a good guess of where it was. About a mile from her destination, a dark figure sped toward her. Backwinging furiously, she forced her tiring body to hover as the figure approached. As the figure approached, she was able to identify it as a dark coated alicorn. ‘That cannot be right. My sister and I were the last of our kind until Miss Cadenza and Twilight,' she thought. 'Miss Cadenza would have told us if she were going to visit us, so she must still be in the Crystal Empire. Twilight on the other hoof is still learning to fly, so I doubt that's her. Who then could it be?'

Moments later the alicorn slowed, hovering close enough for easy conversation and seeming to interpose himself between her and the ruins. “Princess Luna. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” he asked, bowing his head slightly in acknowledgement, his face set to pleasant neutrality.

Luna eyed the stallion cautiously. He had been careful in positioning himself lower than her, only a few feet above the top of the forest below them both. It was possible, she privately thought, that he was just being deferential to her status. There was however, a part of her that told her he was preparing for a quick escape, using the forest to help him get away. After a moment she answered him, “That depends, strange stallion, on you. Who are you, and what business do you have here?”

“I’m sorry to say, but my business is not yet yours, though I think it will eventually concern both you and your sister,” the stallion replied, his smile taking on a regretful twinge as he primed a spell on his horn. Luna quickly reacted, erecting an azure barrier around herself. “As for my identity, well…” He fired off a spell which slipped through the barrier, popping harmlessly when it came into contact with her chest. “Perhaps it would be better if you asked your sister about me,” he said sounding a bit regretful.

“What have you done with us?!” the princess demanded, agitated that the spell hadn’t had a noticeable effect. The stranger’s words sunk in, and she cried out, “What would our sister know about you that she hasn’t thought to tell us?” Her wings seemed to feel heavier with each flap, her barrier dissolved as she struggled to keep her quickly-tiring body aloft.

“I’m sorry, but it’s necessary that you don’t get involved yet,” the stallion said, catching her in a golden-hued aura as she dipped closer to the forest below. “The spell itself, how to say... It rolls back your internal clock about 12 hours or so, to put it simply. This causes anypony's body that is affected to revert to the state of awareness they had half a day ago.” By now, Luna was having trouble keeping her eyes open, his voice was becoming distant and hard to focus on. “One last thing before you fall asleep; regarding my name…” she felt him bring her closer, heard him whisper in her ear just before she passed out.

“Ask Celestia about Tempus Fluit.”

Isaac slumped in the broken throne, his mind overwhelmed by everything that had flowed through his mind as the glowing text that had bound his body fading, leaving his body free to fall forward. Unsupported, he fell to the dusty floor, his limbs unable to catch him as his overburdened mind struggled to come to terms with what just happened, leaving his body sprawled gracelessly on the dusty floor. Blinking, he barely noticed his eyes responding sluggishly. ‘What… just… happened… to me?’ he asked himself, his mind struggling to form coherent thoughts. ‘Ugh, so tired. Whatever, it’ll… still be… there… tomorrow,’ he decided, his conscious fading as his eyes shut and stayed closed.

A figure flew through the air, his ashen wings carrying him through one of the broken windows of the throne room Isaac now slept in. Touching down softly at the foot of the dais, Tempus changed his body back to that of an old man. Examining the prone young man with a critical eye, he reached out with his mind and felt Isaac’s energy. Finding what he was looking for, he withdrew his mental touch, pondering what had to be done next. ‘Too much help now and he might become overconfident in himself,’ he silently mused, pacing before the unconscious man. ‘Not enough help, however, may end up getting him killed. What to do…?’

Coming to a decision, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a worn notepad. Reaching around to the back of his shirt collar, he unclipped an old fountain pen. Uncapping the pen, he scribbled out a note on the notepad, the ink drying the instant it came into contact with the paper. Signing the note, he ripped the page out and folded it as he walked to Isaac’s pack, putting it in a side pocket.

“Here’s hoping everything works out well,” Tempus whispered, turning toward the stairway. As he began to walk forward, his body progressively faded from view, disappearing altogether as he walked through the archway set at the beginning of the stairs.