It was darkish in the room, a single candlestick set on the deep oak desk in the back, papers spilling out of the drawers, yellowed and cracking with age. The parchment's apparent age seemed to far out-age the mare sitting behind the desk, at least a few decades more. Yet they were written in the same handwriting as the type the unicorn was now scribbling into the book. A further glance about the space revealed piles of books, in the shelves set into the wall and all over the floor, but not scattered. All stacked neatly, carefully, and all a different shade of colour. some of the hues only slightly varied from eachother, not surprising with the thousands, perhaps a million volumes, but different all the same. The one on the mare's desk was a shade of pale blue, and the largest one excluding the glittery white one.
She looked up at the golden clock hanging across the room. It read 11:59. She let out a sigh into the cool air of the room, resigned, and the tome slammed shut.
It's time.
Knock, Knock.
"Minuette! You're under arrest!"
500 years previously...
"What does it mean?" The pearly pink mare's eyes were trained on her daughter's flank, where a newly appeared cutie mark laid. It was an hourglass. Not an uncommon cutie mark, but that wasn't the problem. Minuette did sound similar to minute she supposed, but neither she nor her husband had any time-related talents. And the real issue was that nopony knew how she got it. Only that the filly had winked out of existence for a few seconds, and upon return she had ran around shouting that she'd seen her teacher as a child.
So of course, they had gone to ask the Princess.
"This... I've only ever seen a talent like it once." Celestia sounded bewildered, a strange tone to hear from the supposed all-knowing alicorn. She looked up at Amberlocks.
"This is a time magic cutie mark. Not a talent for being punctual or for creating time pieces, but for bending time itself. It's dangerous. I presume she knows a decent amount of magic for somepony her age?" The other mare nodded. "Well i'll give you a few books on the magical type, and she'll hopefully learn to control it..."
Present.
And oh, how she controlled it. She mastered it so very well that she extended her lifespan a good thousand years, and ever expanding. Each time she cast her way through the vortex she inhaled it. She soaked in the welcoming energy. Through time. Her time. She gave a low chuckle at this thought, prompting the guards surrounding her to glare. She rolled her eyes. They wasted so very much potential, following the every order of their precious princess... Colgate could see the possible ways their lives could be, the million of choices to be made, flowing around them. The years past and the years to come.
She wasn't messing with timelines. She was fixing them.
Past
"Minuette, I-"
"Colgate."
"What?"
"I like to be called Colgate, Princess." The unicorn's sapphire eyes caught the Princess' orchid ones, she was being completely serious.
"Of course. Colgate, I can't allow you to use your magic this way. Can't you see it's corrupting you?" Celestia lowered herself to the height of the pony, hoping to get through to her. Colgate put her hoof to her forehead, closing her eyes for a moment as she let out a long sigh. She looked back to Celestia.
"No, I'm sorry, but I don't. You just don't see things the way I do."
"Tell me, then. I need to understand."
Minue- Colgate, trotted to the window. It was nearing dusk, and the sun was sinking into the far horizon, painting the sky in vivid streaks of red, gold and indigo. The colours reflected off the stained glass, depictions of Celestia's victories. She didn't turn back. "Walk with me, Celestia." The use of her name instead of 'Princess' would have surprised Celestia if it was anypony else, but not Minuette. She respected the princess, but she felt as if the alicorn was still a pony and that the title wasn't her name, so why use it all the time? Colgate was a free spirited mare.
The princess walked up beside her, so she continued. "These are your accomplishments, are they not? Everything you've done for the good of Equestria?" The sun princess nodded. "Tell me, did it always go as planned? Did you ever have to sacrifice something in order to help the rest?" Colgate very well knew the answer.
"Yes. Many times..." She replied, trying to keep her voice level.
"It's not easy. But who you did save went on to something better?"
"Yes."
"The risks of the magic I use are many," She faced the princess, head held high, "But the ponies I help come out greater than they ever would. Don't you want them to have that potential unlocked? To be happy? Successful?" She looked at Celestia expectantly, sure that now she'd see it her way. She didn't.
"I do. But this isn't how. You're manipulating their lives, Colgate, and it doesn't matter if it's better. A pony needs to make their own decision. I can't allow this to go further. Please listen to me!" Celestia was growing frantic. After all this, even her only friend was going down this path, just as her sister. A different way, but all the same.
"Oh really? What are you doing then? You're going to manipulate so many lives in the future, and you've done it in the past. "
"I do not! I guide!"
"We're all just pawns to you, Celestia. I'm not playing into your game." She stomped out of the hall, spidersilk cape flaring behind her.
Present
They'd landed within Canterlot castle's gates and she was being walked down the halls to the throne room. She looked around. It was different than she remembered. Instead of merely the violet sun-adorned banners, there were also ones in a deeper indigo shade, featuring a moon symbol. Luna's return had brought this change. The main décor colour was still the familiar purple and gold, puzzling. 'Still taking control for yourself, huh Celestia?' Colgate heard a clicking sound, and looked down to find tile. The rainbow array of patterns reflected in the shining white told her exactly where she was.
The walls were becoming filled, so many stained glass windows there. Where before they were mostly picturing an alabaster alicorn, many now had a collection of ponies. Gold, cyan, rose, pearl, butter, and most of all there was one lavender. In most she was simply horned, but in the newest she was ascended. Twilight Sparkle.
Of course most ponies knew her, but Colgate knew her better, as the purple coloured book in her library proved. Another victim of Celestia's manipulation. She smiled. Maybe Twilight would become the high princess someday, and she would understand. Yes, she of all ponies should.
They reached the door. 'Here we go again.'
"Minuette, you're charged with the following: Illegal magic use, non consensual time travel, evading capture, documentation without permission. How do you plead?" The judge, a dark grey-magenta mare, set her scowl upon Colgate. She didn't know why they had a judge, they were the princesses after all, but here they were sitting on their thrones across the room. Maybe it was too unprincesslike for them to do themselves.
Her tall stance never changed as she stood there, and she stared right into the sun princess's eyes with a smirk spreading across her face as she replied, "Guilty as charged."
Sitting in the cell that night, the mare didn't seem that worried, though the manacle around her horn surely should have made her so. Celestia should have learned this by now... This was, after all, the third time this same scenario had happened. Perhaps she wasn't really trying anymore. Maybe she was just getting old, and didn't know how to move the pieces anymore.
Time magic, at least of her type, couldn't be hindered by a mere magic canceller. It wasn't a magic to be controlled by anything, not when bending time and space was so very easy for her. She'd simply been waiting. Heck, a normal pony would consider her a time goddess if they knew the full extent of her power.
The metal fell to the stone floor with a metallic click, the thing cracking in two at impact.
Past, recent.
It's time.
A glow filled the room, golden. It grew brighter until it formed a tear, and a figure moved through. It was herself. Her mane was messier, and the fur around her hooves was scruffed up in circular pattern, but it was her. The one at the desk gave a single nod, the corner of her lips twitching upwards.
She winked back. It was a simple exchange, but past Colgate knew it meant 'Seeya later!' There was a wooshing sound, and future Colgate, along with every book, was gone.
Knock, Knock.
Past, 12:03
"Hmm. Princess Celestia said something about books, I thought..."
The other guard shrugged. "She was wrong, then."
"Shh! Who knows who could be listening, someday she might hear you being disrespectful!"
"Yeah, yeah..."
It would be another fifty years until she could show her face undisguised, but it wouldn't be long, not for her. And maybe by then a new princess would reign, and this could all end.
Oh yes, if she made the right moves...