//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: The Meaning of Time/An Hour of Judgment 
// by TimeRarity64 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 6




Twelve stood in a bright room where light blinded both sides of the area. In front of her resting on a golden carpet was a mare that was a unicorn. Her body remained still as her eyes were shut tightly close. Twelve’s body had begun trembling as she felt tears stream down her face. There, standing behind the mare before her was a large dark alicorn figure that had the form of an alicorn. The piercing white eyes of the pony figure only sent fear down the filly’s back as its wings opened wide and horn glowed brightly purple.

“No,” She muttered, beginning to back away as sand started to gather around her. “NO!” The alicorn was taken back when a massive sand wolf appeared over her, bearing its fangs before launching its body forward.

The filly suddenly woke up in sweat as she found herself sleeping next to the massive hourglass. Looking around, sand had been spiraling around her apparently, which she assumed was because of her strange nightmare. Her horn lighted up, causing the sand to seep into her body so the entire room was completely clean. The filly, however, jumped in fright when she heard an agonizing cry from the floors above. Wires, from the hourglass had burst through the ceiling and began sending off electrical shocks, confusing the filly as she began rushing to her father’s room. 

She took many turns down the long hallways before reaching the stairway and heading down to her father’s door. When she attempted to open it, the guards, her adopted brothers, blocked her path and glared at her with a cold expression sending fear down her spine. Her ears flatten as her tail touched the ground, while she backed away.

“Forgive us, Sister Twelve.” The guard on the right spoke.

“Father wants no pony to enter into his room, he is busy.” The guard on the left said.

“B-but what is going on in there, I heard some mare yell?” She asked, becoming more frightened than she was before.

“We are not allowed to speak of any business being done at all in his room, forgive us. For now, return back to your quarters or watch over the hourglass.” The guard on the right said.

Twelve was not one to object her father’s orders, but always curious and frightened on whatever he was plotting in his room. She frowned and went right, heading off to her room. The filly wanted to speak out, but she knew too well that her father had lost his mind to listen to any reason. The best she could do was pray that her aunt and her subjects made it safely through the security.



“Where did this fog come from?” Rainbow Dash spoke out as the group struggled to find their way through the forest. The guards were behind them, scanning the area for any danger, but they, too, were lost from the fog’s blindness. 

“This is no normal fog,” Twilight began. “It seems to have some strong magic coming off of it.”

“Magic, y’all mean this fog here is some kind of spell?” Applejack asked, glancing at her friend before looking down at her right hoof after stepping into a cold puddle.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Twilight said before stopping in her tracks after hearing a frightening howl up ahead.

“W-w-what was that?” Fluttershy stuttered as she began trembling.

“Seems like it came from up ahead.” Rarity said, walking next to the frightened mare.

“We can see something straight ahead of you, Ms. Sparkle!” The guard yelled as his fellow brethren trotted beside him.

“What is coming our way?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously.

“OOOH, I bet it’s a Timberwolf! You know, they howl and stuff so why not? Maybe it’s pack of them!” Pinkie Pie yelled, bouncing up and down.

“Now why would there be Timberwolves in the forest?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking at her friend confused and hoping her prediction to whatever danger ahead of them was not true.

“It’s approaching quickly, brace yourselves everypony.” Twilight said as her horn began glowing.

The dark figure was coming closer and becoming less obscure than it was before. Soon, when all the ponies were prepare to see whatever the dark figure was; Twilight’s eyes widened recognizing the lining of the figure and form. She quickly lifted her head and turned around to the others. “Wait, I think I know who it is?” She stated.

“What, are you sure, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I am, just remain calm and let it get closer.” She said, her tone being confident.

“Alright, we’ll take yur word for it, stick to each other’s side girls.” Applejack said as Fluttershy carefully backed away to Applejack.

When the dark figure stopped, it slowly began walking forward as if it was cautious on what was ahead of it. When it finally it came into a visible view for the ponies, each one gasp while Twilight sighed in relief.

“Princess Celestia!” She called out happily as the princess of the sun came into view smiling at her subjects. The guards bowed as Twilight trotted to her quickly and gave her a hug.

“Twilight, I am glad that you are all safe. Have you encountered any trouble lately?” Celestia asked.

“We had, it was when we were in the air. Déjà vu sent a sand falcon to attack us.” She informed, but kept away the information of her passing out after using a strange spell.

“I am glad you made it out of there alive, have you seen my sister?” Celestia asked, releasing Twilight from the hug and looking at her worried.

“No, we haven’t, Princess Celestia.” Twilight said, becoming concerned. “What happened to her?”

“She went off on an infiltration mission and I was hoping she passed by all of you before continuing ahead.” She said.

“Sadly, we did not see her, Princess Celestia.” Rarity said.

Suddenly, Celestia and Twilight froze when they felt the terrifying pulse in the air. The ground vibrated a little bit before the fog began swirling around them. Fluttershy began breathing heavily in panic, while Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie looked around confused along with Rarity and Applejack. The guards glanced at each other before sand beneath their hooves swept them off the ground and swallowed them in the form of a Venus flytrap. The group of seven gasped and stared at the sand plant in horror as it slowly submerged into the ground.

“W-what happened to them, what is that?!” Rainbow Dash cried out as Celestia charged forward with her horn blazing bright. The princess of the sun launched a powerful that cut through the sides of the massive mouth before destroying the sand stem that kept it up. The sand dispersed and out came the guards in a state of shock before shaking themselves away and readying themselves for combat.

Sand started to shift around the group of ponies. Soon, in the center of the group was Déjà vu, but his eyes were made of sand along with his body. The ponies quickly scattered back from him, but had no time to avoid his sand that came from beneath their hooves taking them up into the air at once. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy attempted to fly, but were quickly grabbed from both the wings and hooves by sand tendrils. Soon, all the ponies were forced under submission by the sand tendrils making their attempts of escape impossible.

“My line of defense is impregnable. This land is all enchanted with my magic. Anything that enters here will be easily spotted by me, even if you do not use magic, just by stepping on the dirt or flying pass one cloud, I will be able to sense you and take further action.” He said, glaring at Celestia. But he was suddenly taken out by a blast of magic that came from Twilight’s horn.

The tendrils grip tightened on the lavender mare, causing her to cry out in pain. “Twilight!” Celestia called, watching her student suffer from the crushing sand.

“I have no intentions in eliminating you. Stymied, I bet you are all in your attempt to stop me. I assure you all, that your attempt will not go unknown, for when judgment is cast upon the world…all will remember their final moments before time is gone and a new world is made where I control with absolute power.” He said, beginning to reform from the sand. The sand clone was soon restored properly, grinning at the trapped ponies. “Now, let me bring you to your cells, I’m sure you will enjoy them. You won’t be seeing Luna there however; I have some use for her.”

“Luna, what have you done to her, brother?!” Celestia cried out.

“Surely, if she fails, I will show you what I am doing to her.” He said as his horn started glowing. Sand began expanding, slowly concealing their faces until they saw only darkness. “A word of advice, it will hurt.”




-To Be Continued-