//------------------------------// // 13. A Murderous Betrayal // Story: Time Ticks on // by Golden Script //------------------------------// I continued walking down the road, the six mares following after. “Mr. Faraday, may I say that I’ve never seen an outfit such as yours? Where did you find such clothing?” Asked the one called Rarity. “Well, I was wearing these articles when I arrived at Equestria.” I told her as I kept walking at a brisk pace, but a simple trot for my pony companions. “I haven’t had time to change my clothing, nor have I ever had the want to.” I looked over the pristine cloth covering my body. “They are all I have of my previous world, other than a few trinkets and some memories.” I gave a smile, but the alabaster mare must have seen the pain of remembering my past life behind my facade, for she stopped asking questions, slowly moving back to join her friends as we took a turn. “Enough sadness, my associates, I wish not to dampen the mood with my personal demons. So Rarity, I see that you are much like me, a creature of stature. Please, tell me of your societal adventures.” Her eyes lit up at the opportunity to talk about her contacts with the many ponies of the nobles and others of importance, but she visibly pushed the feeling down. “Oh, there’s nothing that I could say that would come anywhere near what you might be able to tell us.” She said, pushing the same question upon me. ‘well played, Mrs. Rarity. Well played.’ “And you think that I’ve spent much time in the city of Canterlot? I’ve spent the past thousand years trapped in stone. Any story that I could tell would be a history lesson more than entertainment.” I laughed inwardly when I saw that Twilight’s eyes had lit up. We turned again. “That’s right. You were imprisoned with Discord, weren’t you?” Asked the violet mare. “Yes, I was imprisoned when Celestia misunderstood my intentions.” My laughter died instantly, turning to a stoic expression of seriousness. This scared several of the mares, putting more than a couple in defensive postures. “But I hold no grudges; she has shown sorrow for her rash decisions, and that is enough for me.” They relaxed after that. “Well, it’s good you don’t hate the princesses.” Twilight said as she trotted up next to me as we turned once more. “You, Twilight, seem to be well read. You’ve been storing the information that I give you away in your mind neatly. I can tell, just from your neutral visage.” I observed as she looked to surprise. “Well, it’s true that I’m well read, and I may remember what you tell me, but only because I feel that your story is worth remembering.” She said this with a pleasant smile. There was something about it that told me that she wasn’t lying. “You are an interesting creature, Twilight Sparkle. I believe that we will be great friends.” I smiled, too. “That’s good, but I have a question.” Twilight trotted up next to me, looking up at my face as it was still directed at the road before us. “What would that be?” I asked, looking down at her. “Where are we going?” She said. I stopped in my tracks and looked at her, now a few feet in front of me. “I thought you were leading.” ----- CANTERLOT GARDENS My sister had the Elements of Harmony taking care of Discord, but I felt that I should check the gardens once more, in case there was something that the guard had missed. Discord was a master of hiding things from ponies, and even with sufficient power it was extremely difficult to find something that he’d hidden. When I arrived at the gardens I felt something was off. I wasn’t sure exactly what was different right away, but it was unsettling how different the area felt. After some examining Discord’s pedestal, finding nothing, I decided I’d check the surrounding statues. Of course, the few that were in this section were doodled on like paintings in a mutilated museum. Some had mustaches drawn on by a marker, others were dressed up like clowns, and a couple had random word bubbles above them, saying things that didn’t make any sense. Looking through the statues, one by one, to see if the god of chaos had left any clues as to his plans I came upon a pedestal that, much like Discord’s, didn’t have a statue on it. Fear ran through my body as I imagined what villain Discord had released to help him in his chaos. I quickly trotted around the stone slab, looking for the plaque that would inform me who had been released. When I found it I froze. I didn’t blink, in fear that it would change once I did; I didn’t breathe, imagining the stone to fly away, leaving me with nothing but crushed dreams; and I didn’t dare move. Not in the slightest. Moments passed as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing. ‘he’s out’ This was my only thought before I unfurled my wings and burst into the sky as fast as I could. ----- PONYVILLE “I thought you were leading.” We stared at each other, wondering where to go from here. There were several seconds of silence before the most unexpected thing happened. “Um, what’s that?” Asked a voice that boomed in the silence. Actually, it was really quiet, but compared to the dead stillness of the preceding moments, Fluttershy might as well have been screaming at the top of her lungs. I turned to the butter yellow mare, seeing her hoof pointing up. I looked in the indicated direction just before the object she was designating crashed into me with the force of a freight train. When the impact was over and I was finished sliding across the ground I found myself being pinned to the ground by magic as a pony stood over me. I was about to inquire who had tackled me out of the blue when something hard came up and hit me right across the cheek. When I looked to said object I found it to be a navy blue hoof. My eyes then shot forward again, right into the brilliant turquois orbs that were hovering right above mine. They rushed forward, mashing our lips together. Suddenly, the magic restraining me dispersed, along with myself. I slowly fell to the back of my own mind, allowing… other urges to take over. ----- TWILIGHT SPARKLE’S POINT OF VIEW When the dust cleared the sight that greeted me and my friends was less believable than being told that Celestia hated cake. Princess Luna was on top of Michael and they were making out. It seemed to be getting kinda heated, so I turned away, if only in respect for the princess. I decided to check my friends for their reactions instead of gawking at the blatant affection before me. What I saw surprised me. Applejack had her hat over her eyes, but there was a visible blush on her cheeks. Rainbow Dash was staring unashamedly, a mix of surprise and disbelief on her face. Rarity was covering her mouth, but her eyes were wide enough to show her shock. Fluttershy was hiding behind her mane, but her eyes, too, were as wide as Rarity’s; her face resembled a tomato. And, finally, Pinkie was being Pinkie; bouncing and smiling like nothing was happening. I coughed to get everypony’s attention, but only received that of my friends. “Maybe we should leave the Princess for a few minutes. It would seem she has an appointment with our escort.” I said as I walked away, around a corner, to give the couple a bit of privacy. ----- MICHAEL’S POINT OF VIEW The kiss lasted much longer than I thought possible, and when we did part we gasped for air. “You bastard!” She gasped out as she hugged me tightly. “Why didn’t you come to me? Why didn’t you tell her to wait? I visited you every day until Nightmare Moon took over, and I would have continued if the Nightmare hadn’t taken me!” She yelled at me. “I know, I saw.” I told her in a whisper. “What?” She looked into my eyes once more. “I was conscious every second of my imprisonment. I saw every visit, and it caused me so much pain to see you deteriorate so much each day. It nearly killed me seeing you like that, and every second I knew it was my fault.” She looked like she wanted to interrupt, but I didn’t allow her to. “All that matters now is that we’re together. The past is in the past.” I hugged her close, pulling her head to my chest and resting my chin in her ethereal mane. The semi-familiar tingling it left on my face made me smile, the wet spot that was leaking through my vest and shirt tugged on my heartstrings. We were once again together but that wouldn’t be the case for long. I had to work fast. ----- TWILIGHT SPARKLE’S POINT OF VIEW It had been a few minutes since Luna had arrived, and I thought I’d figured it out. Michael had her under some spell. “What could cause the princess to be so… forward?” I asked myself as I paced in the street with my friends watching me. “Maybe it’s a variation of a mind control spell. Or maybe it’s the love potion that the Crusaders used on Big Mac. But what if it’s something we haven’t seen before? How would we combat that?” “Twi.” Applejack put her hoof around my shoulder, stopping my motion. “You need ta calm down. What if’n it’s exactly what it looks like?” She asked. “Then that means that Princess Luna is in love with a being that is not equine. How likely is that?” I asked her. “Well, he did seem dreamy.” Said Rarity with a far-off look in her eye. I ignored her, knowing that it could be Blueblood all over again, I turned back to Applejack. “Anyway, we have to be ready for anything. I’ll prepare a scanning spell to see if he has her under any control spells.” “Ah want yall ta prepare yerself if the Princess really does like Michael.” Applejack retorted. “I will. And if that’s the case, I’ll respect her decision.” I charged the spell as I heard the two walk down the street towards us. When Luna rounded the corner I blasted her with the spell, scanning her for any magic that would augment her personality, and what I came up with surprised me. There was nothing controlling her. She was doing this of her own free will. Luna was in love with Michael. “Twilight, what was that?” She asked once the spell had dissipated completely. “Well, it was a scanning spell, to see if you were under control of Michael. It came up negative.” I told her quickly, not wanting to draw the fury of the night. “We don’t want a repeat of Nightmare Moon, do we?” I asked nervously. She seemed to consider this for a moment, cringing at the all-too-recent memory of the night obsessed entity, nodding in agreement once she’d made her decision. “You’re right. Well done. I will be sure to inform Celestia about your quick thinking and caution.” Her smile showed that she meant it in a good way. “Thank you, Princess.” I bowed. “Now, Twilight, why are you out here? If Discord is free, which I believe he still is, then should you not be fighting him?” Luna asked as we gathered in our group. “Well, right when we were going to turn Discord to stone again he took the Elements from us. He claimed that he didn’t take them and that he didn’t know where they were, but there’s no other explanation.” I told her. “Then Michael came out of nowhere and offered to help us find them. We’ve been wandering aimlessly ever since.” “Well then I think I have something that could help.” Luna lit her horn before explaining. “It’s been much shorter since I was connected to the Elements. I should be able to pinpoint their locations.” ----- MICHAEL’S POINT OF VIEW ‘What?’ My mind raced for what to do. Then I just about facepalmed as I realized I could just stop time and hide the Elements all over town. So that’s what I did. In my time stop I spread the elements all over the town and returned to the group. Luckily, nopony was looking at me. I clicked the watch and resumed the conversation. “It should tell me their locations in a second here.” Luna said as she closed her eyes and focused. A few moments of concentration later Luna opened her eyes. “Well?” Asked the six mares to the princess. “I know where they are. The Elements of Harmony are scattered throughout Ponyville. I’ll give you all your respective elements location, when you’ve found it, meet at the library.” She said as she projected the locations into the six mares’ heads. “Good luck.” The group dispersed, all heading towards the hiding places I’d found. This was not a solution; it would only delay the inevitable. ----- TWILIGHT SPARKLE’S POINT OF VIEW My Element was hidden in a place I wouldn’t expect, but was completely possible. Town Hall. I teleported into the building that was floating upside down above Ponyville. I found myself on the ceiling of the main room. “Oh, come on! This was the hardest one to hide! You can’t just cheat and use magic. Go back and do it again.” Came a voice from behind me. I whipped my head around, looking behind me. There was nopony there. “Don’t even think about it.” He was now right next to me, whispering in my ear. My immediate reaction was to jump away and look at where I thought he was. Again, there wasn’t anything. “Who are you? Where are you?” I called, searching the room for something out of place, or somepony hiding in the shadows. “My name is not important, and as for where I am…” The voice echoed around the room before something covered my eyes. “I’m right here.” He said, once again whispering in my ear. “Don’t be afraid, I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, in a few minutes here I’m going to have to leave.” He said as he uncovered my eyes and backed up. When I whipped around I found something that surprised me. It was Michael. Michael was here, and acting different. “Michael?” I asked to confirm my suspicions. “Do you know any other humans?” His eyebrow rose. “What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be with Luna?” This was confusing, he was no longer acting nice like before, and he wasn’t with Luna, who actually loves him. “Well, Luna is being taken care of, and what I’m doing is attempting to stop you from retrieving the Element of Magic.” He said. “Why?” The simple question that would answer almost everything. “Because I work under the King Discord. He has promised me power, and I want more.” He said with an insane grin now on his face. “Now, this can be settled the easy way or the hard way. Personally I’d prefer the hard way, but either way I can almost guarantee you will lose.” To this, I assumed a defensive stance, lighting my horn. “So we do this the fun way, good choice.” And suddenly he was gone. ----- RARITY’S POINT OF VIEW The Element of Generosity was hidden in the nearby Whitetail Woods. I have nothing against nature, and the wildlife in the Whitetail is quite beautiful and inspirational, but I would have preferred to be back in my boutique, making a dress of some kind. “Rarity!” Came a voice from behind me. When I turned around there was Michael, sprinting to me with his arm stretched out. “Darling, what’s wrong?” I asked when he stopped in front of me, leaning over and breathing hard. “The other… Elements… they’ve been defeated.” He gasped out. “What?!” He caught his breath, taking one last deep breath. “Discord sent one of his lackeys after them, they’re all captured and you’re all that’s left. You’re their only hope.” He looked down at me with sorrow. “Well, how were they captured? What do we know about this lackey?” I asked quickly. “Every time they were just about to get their Elements, he came out of nowhere and just… got them. He had them within moments.” He looked up into a tree. “Rarity, isn’t that your necklace?” He asked, pointing into a tree. There, hanging on a branch, was the Element of Generosity. “Yes, that’s it.” I levitated it down over my neck. “Now we must keep an eye out for this ‘lackey’ you speak of. Do we know what it looks like?” “Let me think… he’s just over six foot, has short brown hair, and is wearing a trench coat.” Michael said, but his voice was different. It sounded more menacing and amused. “Michael?” I turned to look at him, but his face was contorted into the creepiest smile I’d ever seen. “You know, I arrived just before you found your Element. I guess that makes me the lackey, doesn’t it?” He asked, the look never leaving his face. “Michael, what’s going on? I don’t want to hurt you.” I backed up. As I did he walked towards me. I soon bumped into a tree, halting my backpedaling, but not his forward momentum. “Give me the Element, Rarity, and nopony gets hurt.” In his eyes, there was nothing left of the Michael I once admired. He was gone, and all that was left was this monster. “You’re scaring me.” I whimpered as he crept closer. ----- APPLEJACK’S POINT OF VIEW My Element, the Element of Honesty, had been hidden in the apple orchard. When I was in the middle of the field I heard a voice from above. “Hey, Applejack, what’s up?” Asked Michael from a tree branch. He was eating one of the red orbs from the trees as he lounged against the trunk. “Apparently you, Sugarcube.” I said in confusion. “Why ain’t ya with the Princess? Did you want to help me find mah element?” “Well, yes and no. I guess that the truth is I’m here to stop you.” He said, nonchalantly. “What’s that supposed ta mean?” I asked, crouching low, ready for one of Discord’s tricks. “You’re looking for this, right?” He held up the golden necklace with the apple gem in the middle. “Yeah, ah am.” I growled through clenched teeth. “That’s too bad.” He took another bite of his morsel. “That means that I’ll have to defeat you like the others.” “What do ya mean ‘the others’?” I asked, now fearing for my friends. “To cut a long story short, your friends were also looking for their elements, so I stopped them. Now tell me, Applejack, do you want the cold, hard truth or shall I sugarcoat it, Sugarcube?” He said “Sugarcube” like I would, emphasizing the u’s. “Tell me what ya did with mah friends!” I shouted at him, saving my anger for when I can finally buck his face in. “Very well.” He said menacingly as he jumped down, landing with a thud and looking right into my eyes with the insanity of a tortured soul. “They’re dead.” He said simply, he grabbed my head and whispered in my ear “just like you.” ----- RAINBOW DASH’S POINT OF VIEW Cloudsdale is a beautiful flying city made of, you guessed it, clouds. My family—my sister and parents—lives there now. When I learned that my element was hidden there I flew as fast as I could to get there so I might have some time to visit before I went back. About halfway through the flight I heard something over the rush of the wind. “You wanna race?” Someone called over the gale. I flapped hard to stop my forward motion, looking around for the being to challenge me, Rainbow Dash, to a race. What I found seemed unlikely and impossible. “Michael? What are you doing here?” I found the biped clinging to the top of a tree. “Well, I saw how fast you flew off and I thought ‘hey, maybe she’d want to test her speed.’ So I came to find you.” He said, still at the tree’s top. “Don’t like heights?” I asked with a smirk. He shook his head fearfully, trying not to look down, but stealing a glance anyway. “Ok, we can continue this conversation on the ground. You need help getting down?” I asked him, hovering next to him in case he fell. Relieve washed over his face when I said this. “No, I can get down. Thank you, though.” “Ok.” I stopped flapping, falling to the ground and only opening my wings once more when I was a pony-length from the ground. To my surprise he was already on the ground. I assumed he’d just jumped. “So, about that race.” He said. “Do you accept?” “Well, I would, but you wouldn’t stand a chance. You don’t even have wings, and from what I’ve seen, you struggle to keep up with a simple trot.” I trotted around him to emphasize my point. “I think that you’ll eat those words in a moment here.” He smirked as this left his lips. “It’s obvious who’d win! So what’s the point in racing?” I think he took it the wrong way when I said this. “How about this, to make it fair, I won’t use my full power.” He started stretching his muscles, seemingly getting ready for a race that he’d obviously lose. “Um, ok. I guess I won’t go all out either.” This was weird. ‘How could he think that he’d beat a Pegasus in a race? Even Fluttershy could beat him!’ “Where are we racing to?” “Oh, no, I couldn’t ask that of you. Please, go all out. It’ll make this slightly interesting. And I think that there’s a clearing right up ahead, maybe a few hundred feet.” He took a racing stance on all fours. I did the same, eyeing him as he started counting down. He yelled “Three, two, one, go!” And he started sprinting. I hung back a few seconds before shrugging and running just ahead of him, trying to stay only a little ahead of him. Suddenly, there was a rushing sound of wind, like something had rushed past me all of a sudden. I glanced behind me, seeing that he wasn’t there anymore. “What are you looking at? I’m up here!” My head whipped around to find him several pony-lengths ahead of me. He then continued sprinting off. ‘How… it doesn’t matter. I just have to win this race.’ I then unfurled my wings and flapped hard, zooming past him once again. ‘Eat my words, my flank!’ I thought as I burst into the clearing he indicated… … To find him sitting there, legs crossed, eyes closed, and breathing evenly. “You… but that… back there…” I stuttered out, still wondering how he got ahead of me again. “Well, that wasn’t much of a challenge, but you are fast. Good job. Now to take the reward for beating you.” He stood up, wiping anything that might have gotten on his nice pants. “Hey! You cheated! That’s not fair.” I stomped a hoof in defiance. “I said I wouldn’t use my full power. I didn’t.” He said simply. “Well… but… how’d you do that?” He smirked at my question. “A magician never reveals his secrets. But moving on, it’s time I take my prize.” The look in his eye became demented. I unconsciously took a step back. “What would that be?” Fear laced my voice. The next thing I knew he was an inch from my face. “Your life.” ----- MICHAEL’S POINT OF VIEW I looked to the sky, noticing what time it was. I didn’t have time to play with the next one, so I paused time and walked to the last elements hidden location. There was Fluttershy. She was holding the Element of Kindness in my stasis. The smile on her face showed that she was happy that she’d finally found what she was looking for. ----- FLUTTERSHY’S POINT OF VIEW I’m a shy pony. It’s just been a fact of life. I was an introvert, only being able to talk freely to animals, and my friends, sometimes. That’s why I was ecstatic when I learned that my element was at my house. By the time I had arrived home it was getting a little late. I decided I’d fly back, but first I had to find the necklace itself. I searched around the house, finding nothing in my room, the guest room, or the living room. The kitchen was also empty. The only other place I could think of was the garden, which is exactly where I looked next. After a few minutes of searching something caught my eye. It was a tiny glint in the flowers. Something metal. When I pulled it out of the soil I found that it was my necklace. “Here you are!” I smiled. ----- MICHAEL’S POINT OF VIEW It’s too bad I didn’t have time to have any fun, but it doesn’t matter. I’d still be able to do something that I’d been craving ever since I met the butter yellow Pegasus. I punched her in the face, as hard as I could. I then took the Element of Kindness and started back towards town. ----- AT DISCORD’S THRONE Michael had been out all day. I wondered where he’d been all this time. ‘speak of me.’ I thought as he appeared in front of me with the six necklaces in hand. His kneeling posture showed his devotion toward me. “Good, my pet. Now we can begin.” I grinned ominously. “I am no one’s pet. You promised me power. Give it to me!” He yelled at me. “Hmm… I think not.” I said as I took the Elements from him. “What?” The anger in his voice was palpable. “I have what I want, why should I give you anything?” I asked, snapping to summon a cage around him. “Because I did all of your dirty work! Just so that you wouldn’t get your claw dirty!” He yelled at me, gripping two of the bars like the prisoner he was. “Well, I don’t care. Would you really think that an incarnate of Chaos would keep a deal? How preposterous.” The sarcasm was thick in my voice. “I will get my revenge on you and Celestia. All who have wronged me will pay.” The threat was a pointless one. “Yeah, and how’s that gonna work? You’re trapped.” I pointed out. All he did was growl at the fact. We had a short stare down, that was only broken when I smirked with a satisfied “hmph”. “That’s what I thought.” I said as I moved the cage next to my thrown. “Now, come watch some chaos with me.” ----- IN CELESTIA’S BEDROOM It had been way too long since Discord had been released. I had just sent the final Friendship Report and was starting to get worried. I decided to write a new message. Dear Twilight, Have you understood what I’m trying to tell you? If you have and there is something else that is stopping you from imprisoning Discord once again, I will come and help. Please, Twilight, tell me if there is something wrong. If you don’t respond to this message in five minutes then I will come to Ponyville to help anyway. Your fearful Mentor, Celestia As I sent the letter to Spike I sighed and looked towards the small village, hoping that she wasn’t in any danger. ----- SPIKE’S POINT OF VIEW I had been shooting out these letters for the better part of an hour when they stopped. “Finally.” I clutched my stomach in agony when I felt something else coming up. “Oh, Celestia, no!” I felt the fire come out my throat. One more scroll materialized from the flames, rolling across the floor and running into a silver clad hoof. “What’s this?” asked Princess Luna.