//------------------------------// // Stopping Time // Story: Drocsid // by flutterspin //------------------------------// Stopping Time My heart raced. My nerves tightened. My mind consistantly switched between the options to fight or flee. In the darkness of shadow, my petrified body refused to move. Fear fused my legs to the mountain's bedrock. Cursed my alert ears as the silence drove me to insanity. My nimble eyes adjusted to what dim light remained in the room. However, the moon's glow barely shined past the hole in the ceiling. My brown pupils failed to distinguish the highlights of any shapes. Only the color black prevailed. Trapped in the room with Ordain, I awaited in horror to hear his voice once more. "You are exactly where I want you." Sweat poured down my face. I stared into the void. "Wha...What do you want?" "I want you to LISTEN!" Lightning struck within the chamber, but the clash of thunder did not follow. For a split second, I perceived Ordain's eyes directly in front of me. His finger erected mere inches from my pressed face. Ordain forced upon me only one viable option. I heeded his advice and listened attentively to his words. "My plan was simple. All I needed to do was take out the competition. Sure, I didn't want Discord killed. I merely wanted him... out of the way. It was by sheer chance that a couple of princesses had the same idea. If the Elements of Harmony was all they needed to defeat him, then having a little birdy tell them where they were located was all that had to be done. I simply had to wait in the Everfree Forest and drop a letter to the first pony that came along." I stomped the ground. "So you were the one-" "DON'T INTERRUPT!" His voice shouted out like thunder that reverberated against the stone walls. His roaring voice intensified so greatly that I covered my ears and quivered in a tiny wrapped ball on the ground. As the vibrations in the room diminished, so did the shaking of my bones. Before complete silence could settle inside the room, Ordain resumed his story. "It was a success! With Discord encased in stone, it was my turn to rule. Everything was going great... well... except for the fact that now the princesses were the ones ruling! Relinquish one leader, and a successor soon follows. I was the one next in line! It was me! "I had no chance in stopping both of them at the same time. I had to separate them. I had to find their weakness. I had to infiltrate the city and find a way. It was sheer coincidence that about that time, the same pony from before came walking into the forest. "I followed him back to his place hiding in the shadows, but the cautious pony trapped me in his room. He confronted me about the letter, but I denied him answers. He gave out a warning strike, but I ignored it. I tried to escape, but he magically pulled me back. He pinned me to a table and held me there as he made his way out of the room. He momentarily released his grip in order to write an inscription on a seal. That was when I made my move." "You monster! What did you do?" Ordain chuckled. By clicking his tongue, he mimicked four seconds of the moving bowels heard from a grandfather clock. "I didn't kill him if that was what you were implying. I merely sent him to... another time, but that pony was very resilient. He resisted the effects of the spell just long enough to trap me in that stupid book and seal me away. It was years before I could figure out a way to exert my consciousness outside the book, but the seal was a whole 'nother matter. Had to figure out a way to bypass its incantation." "What does all of this have to do with me?" I asked. Ordain replied, "Breaking out of the book was the easy part. All I needed was some magic. Breaking the seal was the hard part. No ordinary magic would do. I found that out when I selected my first subject. Princess Celestia was too cautious. Princess Luna was too loud. That is when I came up with a plan - bring a pony from another world. Breaking the fabrics of time and space is my forte, you know. " "That means..." What originally hindered the moonlight now vanished from sight. The darkness inside the damp cavern receded. Ordain, the book, and the cavern walls appeared in my sight. Ordain tapped his index finger in the air. "But there is one more thing you need to do for me." I watched Ordain's smile grow larger. "What?" Ordain quickly stated in one breath, "I want you to restore my memory." The terror in my face instantly turned into confusion. "What?" Ordain rocked his head around as he twirled his finger counterclockwise in the air. "It must have been how the book was torn." He rubbed underneath his horns with the tips of his fingers. "I am having a hard time remembering things. I noticed it when I was in Ponyville." He popped his eyes wide open and drove his finger into my chest. "Now use your magic and fix me!" The imposing threats Ordain threw upon me were all an evil facade. In truth, he needed my help. The only impending problem with Ordain's request was it required something out of my control. "I... What?" "Just do it!" "I don't know how-" Ordain raised his arms in the air and shouted, "What do you mean you don't know how!" I honestly replied, "I don't know how to use magic." Ordain slapped himself in the face. His rage intensely built in his words as he impatiently asked, "What does that supposed to mean?" Without being able to assist Ordain, I feared I may have unintentionally put my life in jeopardy. Fortunately, an open tunnel rested on the other side of the room. All I needed was a distraction. As I slowly inched my way towards the tunnel, I answered Ordain, "I don't fully understand my powers. The only pony I know that has the power to restore memory is Twilight Sparkle." Ordain groomed his beard. "Twilight Sparkle, eh?" He paced the floor and mumbled words to himself. He turned his back and faced the wall. I quietly stretched my hoofs around the book and snuck past Ordain. As the shadow of the tunnel encroached over me, I bolted as fast as my legs could run. A few seconds later, I heard Ordain's voice echo inside the mountain. "Noooooo!" I glanced over my shoulder as I ran towards the exit. Outside, I instantly gripped my hooves against the ground. Another false step would have led me over the nearby cliff overlooking the Everfree Forest. Black smoke poured out from the pathway behind me. When it luminescended under the moonlight, the fog disspated. Ordain fabricated from among the vapors. Ordain distended his fingers and pulled out his arms. "Where do you think you are going?" I closed my eyes and shivered. Then, a hopeful voice shouted, "Not so fast Ordain!" I opened my eyes. Ordain clenched his paws into fists and lowered his head. He turned around. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Shining Armor, and Cadance readied themselves for battle on the beaten path that followed around the mountain. I brushed past Ordain and lept behind Shining. "I don't have time for this!" Ordain clapped his paws once. Shining Armor reacted by summoning an encased force field completely around us. "Give it up! It isn't going to work!" Rainbow Dash confidently shouted. "You assume too much." Ordain clapped his paws twice. A cosmetic sphere of magic formed in front of Ordain. Then, Ordain clapped his paws through the ball three times. The last one clashed louder than the others. Cadance observed the change in Ordain's attack. "What happens when he claps three times?" The sound of the clap rolled up the mountain side, followed by a rumbling explosion of rocks. Ordain transformed himself back into a puff of smoke and wisped away. Shining's incandescent shield still hovered around us. Cadance remarked, "It's a rockslide. We need to get out of here!" Shining's pink shield moved in conjuction with his horn. As our group descended down the side of the mountain, rocks kept clipping against his shield. Shining bounded one eye shut in response of the pressure from the debris. Fluttershy briefly closed both her eyes when a giant boulder broke loose a section of the road. We passed through the bluff and cleared the rockslide. Shining Armor led us deeper into the confines of the Everfree Forest. Our bodies gave way at the crossroads. Shining Armor dropped his shield. He bent one knee onto the ground and looked at Cadance. "That was too close." Rainbow Dash massaged her ankle. Her mouth cringed. She looked away from her legs as she pressed firmly against the skin. "I think I might have pulled something." Fluttershy glanced around the group. Her mane was completely separated and wriggled. She stretched her body flat out on the ground. "Is... every pony ok?" As the ponies recuperated from the strenuous pursuit down the mountain, the subtle rustling of bushes near the broken tree's bark attracted my attention. I helplessly watched as Ordain peaked out his head and stared at me. Without moving his eyes, he lowered his jaw and touched his upper lip with one finger. His finger slowly moved upward towards the sky. Above our heads were two transparant gloves holding up an enormous boulder. I slid my front legs inwardly. My nostrils flared. I rapidly shook my head. I refused to acknowledge Ordain's next plan of action. Ordain sleekly passed behind the bushes. His magic evaported. Without the support of Ordain's magic, the boulder quickly plummeted. I rapidly turned my neck around. "Shining!" I dared not to observe the next few seconds. My own legs consolidated around me. Fluttershy's scream pierced my ears. The threat of death seemed impervious; the end of my life appeared imminent. Everything relied on stopping that boulder. Then, something unusual happened. Silence. No trees brushing against each other in the wind. No terrifying screams. Only silence. As my ears perked up and my eyes widened, I observed my friends frozen in place. The boulder remained weightless above my head. A distinct sound rose from across the way. As I veered my sight around the thick trees, I beheld a familiar face. "Luna!" Shocked, Luna momentarily released her magic. For a split-second, the boulder came closer to the ground. Princess Luna grinded her teeth and shoved holes into the ground with her hooves. Her eyes teared as she bared resistance in tilting her head. I deciphered her motion and rushed over to the group. One-by-one I pulled the ponies to a safer location. When the last pony cleared the boulder's path, Luna liberated her magic and exhaustively collapsed onto the ground. The boulder slammed in the middle of the crossroads, and Fluttershy's screaming resumed. "Fluttershy!" I shouted. Fluttershy mouth slowly closed, and her eyes staggered open. Rainbow Dash stopped trembling. Her head swung around to access the situation. "What happened?" Cadance walked over to the rock and tapped against its exterior. "What did happen?" I walked away from the group and pushed away a couple tree branches. "It was Luna." "Luna?" Shining Armor excitedly rushed around the trees. As he approached upon her presence, his head drooped low. "Oh Luna. Was this your doing?" Cadance mirrored Shining's sentiment. When Luna didn't respond, Cadance stated, "Luna. Please." She rubbed her head against her stallion's side. "Oh I hope she's ok." Luna regained consciousness and exerted effort in standing upright. The incredible drain on her magic became apparant. She sluggishly tugged on her body's brittleness. Luna lifted her head up and cracked a smile. "Princess?" Shining Armor asked, "Can you speak?" Luna casted her eyes down. She scratched against her right leg. Shining turned towards Rainbow Dash. "What's wrong?" "She can't speak," Rainbow Dash responded. Cadance wrinkled her forehead. "It was Ordain, wasn't it?" Fluttershy meandored over and tilted her head up at Luna. "That's ok. We'll get you back to normal. All of us will." Luna grinned and wrapped Fluttershy around her front legs. Time regulated to normal speed. The rush of conjoining events halted. One question popped in my mind. "Hey Rainbow Dash. Where are the others?" Rainbow Dash replied, "After the rockslide, well, the first one, Applejack got really hurt. The stubborn gal wanted to press on, but Rarity convinced her otherwise. They decided to head back with Zecora to her place. We could hear your voice coming from inside the cave, but we couldn't make out anything. We decided to follow up the other pathway around the mountain. That is when we saw you and Ordain come out." Cadance added, "What happened in there?" Blinded by fear and the darkness, my memory lacked most of the details while traversing through the cold cavern's terrain. I remembered wiping tears away when stooping down by the entrance. I recalled my intuitive mind losing hold of itself while crawling down the morbid tunnel. Ordain's story also converged through my brain. The last segment of the past few hours included my daring escape. Without my friends to guide me, I selfishly searched for my own safety. I realized the terrible mistake I caused to distract Ordain. I wanted to bite my tongue and hold back the truth, but I knew my newfound friends cared too much about each other. "I ran into Ordain. He needed help." Rainbow Dash rocked her head back. "Ordain needed... help?" I added, "He said something about needing to restore his memory. I told him Twilight Sparkle could-" Rainbow Dash slowly crept towards me with her eyelids lowered. "Twilight Sparkle? You told Ordain that Twilight... What were you thin-" Rainbow Dash eased the tension her shoulders. "What I meant to say was why does Ordain think any pony would help him." I replied, "You weren't there Rainbow Dash. Ordain... he has way to play with your emotions." Fluttershy stated what every pony was thinking, "So what now?" Shining Armor adjusted part of his royal garment. "We chase after Ordain, once again." I pointed at Shining. "Yes, but how are we going to make it back to Canterlot?" "Doesn't do us any good just standing around here. We can at least make it back to Ponyville to start with," Shining replied. Rainbow Dash pounded one hoof against the other. "Right! Let's get there as quickly as possible!" The changes in Ponyville remained intact. Blocks of wood inhabited the entire town. Emptiness filled the stagnant streets. Before we ventured too far through the town, one of the hollow buildings collapsed. A couple of familiar voices shouted from around the corner. "I will never help you!" Twilight Sparkle shouted. "And give me back the cake!" Pinkie Pie shouted. We rushed over to observe the chaos. Both ponies stood in aggressive stances. Their colors returned to normal. Out amongst the debris rose Ordain doing his best to maintain balance. "And the rest of Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie Pie added. Shining Armor's eyes widened. "Twily!" "Shining!" Twilight Sparkle rushed over and hugged her older brother. "I was worried about you." "My little sister... worried? That will be the day," Shining Armor sarcastically remarked. Rainbow Dash ran next to Twilight and gazed at her mane. "Hey, you got your colors back!" Pinkie Pie hopped over with a giant grin on her face. "Story time!" Twilight leaned over and gazed at Ordain barely moving from within the wreckage. She turned her attention back to the group. "When you guys left, we looked for anything that could change us back to normal." Pinkie leaned her head to the side. Her eyes shifted around looking for what grabbed Twilight's attention. She quickly glanced at Shining and said, "That's when I told her to check downstairs." Twilight alternated between glancing at Pinkie and the group. "I took Pinkie's advice and went downstairs. None of the abandoned books helped. I searched for clues and noticed small cracks along the wall. I asked Pinkie to check if there was anything behind the wall." Pinkie smiled. "And that's when I bucked a hole in the wall!" I asked, "What did you find?" Twilight responded, "The wall ended up being brittle enough to break loose. We found a small room with an empty bookcase. It turned out to be a dead end but had me wondering if there were similar hidden rooms in the basement." "Arg!" Ordain popped out from the debris and charged Twilight. "You will do what I say!" Twilight politely nodded and raised her hoof up. "Hold on for just a moment." Using magic from her horn, she picked up Ordain and tossed him through another unrecognizable house. "I told you stay down!" She brushed her mane back and asked, "Where was I?" "To the part where I broke the fourth wall!" Pinkie Pie excitedly stated. "Right. We eventually encountered a room containing a small table and a magic book filled with different kinds of counterspells. These were not any ordinary spell that repelled. The writing revealed a unique way to remove magic altogether. However, they only work when targeting live subjects" Pinkie rocked her body side-to-side proudly shouting, "I volunteered to be the first test subject!" Rainbow Dash's face lit up. Her eyes sparkled and teeth shined. She rushed up, gently bumping me to side. "Does this mean I can get my wings back?" she asked with her legs bouncing in place with utmost excitement. Without saying a word, Twilight Sparkle lowered her head and closed her eyes. Light illuminated from Twilight's horn and out from Rainbow Dash's body. In an instant, Rainbow Dash's wings were restored. "Yes!" Rainbow Dash exploded with energy into the air. "Woohoo!" Princess Luna gracefully walked over with dignity and a big smile on her face. With another flash of light from Twilight, her wings and voice returned. "Huzzah! We are so glad to have returned!" "Not again!" Ordain shouted through the wooden rubble. Cadance watched Ordain slide a couple planks off of him. "Hurry Twilight. He's getting up again." Twilight restored Cadance to normal and proceeded to focus her magic on Fluttershy. As Twilight performed her spell, Ordain broke his arms free and began encapsulating a magic sphere. Ordain clapped his paws together but was unable to attack from being blinded by a giant flash of light from above. Fluttershy happily shouted, "Philemena!" From amongst the clouds flew in Philemena and Princess Celestia. "That is far enough!" Twilight quickly inserted, "Oh and we bumped into Princess Celestia too." Ordain's temper blazed. After he regained his sight, he grunted and used his power to draw up lava from underneath the ground. As the lava seeped through the town, Ordain used the opportunity to slither back into the Everfree Forest. Rainbow Dash chased after him to the rim of the forest before noticing a small band of ponies trapped by the boiling lava. She pointed down at the ponies and shouted to the group, "We need to get these ponies to a safer location!" Fluttershy gracefully flew over and helped Rainbow Dash lift up the ponies to a nearby hill. Twilight Sparkle hopped over the lava and gazed into the Everfree Forest. Shining Armor and Cadance directed any ponies to the western boundary of Ponyville. Pinkie Pie stood over the lava and blew at it. As the temperature rose, I grew both curious and impatient in my lack of contribution to the group. I turned to Princess Celestia. "What can I do?" Princess Celestia noticed Twilight's urgency to chase after Ordain. "Twilight!" When Twilight leaned her head back at attention, Celestia added, "Take Moonlight and Pinkie Pie. Find out what he's up to." She turned her attention to Princess Luna. "We'll handle this here." Pinkie Pie bounced over the streams of lava without missing a beat. I cautiously rocked my legs and jumped over the large channel that formed between Twilight Sparkle and I. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna dug a trench that led the river of lava outside the town. Twilight Sparkle hopped over the lava and bolted to the edge of forest. "Quick! I saw him go this way!" Both Pinkie and I trailed closely behind her. We chased Ordain through the thickets and onto the original path Zecora used for my group. I've never knew Twilight to be so determined in pursuing the enemy. She courageously evaded tree branches and glided through bushes without any hesitation. Pinkie and I had trouble keeping up with her pace. As we entrenched closer to the mountain, Twilight's zealous legs tapered to a halt. She sloped against the large boulder in the middle of the crossroads and peered towards where the cavern's entrance originally resided. "There he is." Pinkie and I witnessed Ordain placing both his arms upon the rock exterior. Pinkie remarked, "What is he doing?" Ordain stepped back and generated a large explosion that ripped open the tunnel. He briefly looked behind him and crawled inside. Twilight walked around the boulder. She leaned to the side and waved us on. I whispered, "Wait Twilight. We can't go in there." Twilight abruptly turned around. "Why not?" I said, "He just did this not too long ago. He lured me inside and pinned me down." Twilight responded, "We just can't let him escape." Unbeknownst to us, Pinkie Pie meandored through the chipped rocks on the ground and stepped one hoof into the tunnel. "Oh look! Shiny! Hey Twilight!" I raised my eyebrows and galloped closer to the mountain. "No Pinkie!" "But there is something in here!" Pinkie responded. I predicted Ordain would summon another rockslide like before. I rushed to save Pinkie from the impending disaster. However, the mountain did not budge. No eerie smoke screen or special effects. No dangerous trap or confrontation. The whole situation proved unusual and out of the ordinary. Twilight Sparkle hurried over to Pinkie and I. "What is it Moonlight?" I rubbed the back of my neck and gazed up the side of the mountain. "Ordain. He. I mean." "Moonlight. You. Confused?" Pinkie asked. "I don't understand. Ordain caused a rockslide here last time. I figured..." Twilight placed her hoof on my shoulder. "It's ok, Moonlight. Ordain probably has other tricks in mind for us." She placed her leg on the ground and walked deeper into the tunnel. "Come on. Let's see where Ordain went." As we entered deeper into the murky cavern, Pinkie said, "It sure is dark in here." When light gushed forth out from Twilight's horn, Pinkie happily responded, "That's better." Twilight led us down the hollow tunnel. "What is this place?" "Not anywhere I'd like to stay," Pinkie said. The uneasiness I experienced before completely passed over me. Pinkie found joy in laughing in the face of danger, and Twilight courageous nature drove her to further persist the dangers without any physical signs of hesitation. With both ponies protecting me, I actually felt the powerful expression of friendship overturn my anxiety. The three of us entered inside the main chamber. Only the burning stars of the night sky and the reflective surface of the moon shined through the skylight. Twilight's glow multiplied the visibility of the room a hundred fold. She stumbled upon the tome laying in the middle of the room. "What is this?" She opened the book. "I don't understand. This is..." My curiousity prompted me to lean closer next to Twilight. The precious time to examine the book earlier escaped me. "What is it? What does it say?" Pinkie tilted her head and replied, "Kogocool joekaxno okahun-" "What?" I grabbed hold of the metallic bordering and attempted to read the book myself. "Let me see that." Twilight passed the ancient book to me. "I've never seen anything like it." Within the pages inked together characters and symbols completely foreign to the standard writing I grew up with in Ponyville. The following composition filled only the top portion of the page: .kogokew jokaxno |=| .okahun ni koxke jokajno yivuP .neihunogusok xnu htvijni kew opih jkowwe neep otH .thpkuf xnu owiq thkew jvnikz naj otH .xqkef jith kofem jvnith kaeW .cufu hmofj oz cup aec kuow kew jkiuwwu kioth thif vniqxnop xiegU .|~| we kuoqy cuhj eh vninkuf oth xoot ,uikhjoalO we chowuj oth keW .ojoth kaegox eh xorooj ogut jvniqovnuty oth ,xnuq kioth nema oynuovnog keW Staring upon the mysterious writing, I asked, "Do either of you know what this is?" Pinkie randomly bounced her head around with her eyes closed. "I have no idea." Upon closing the book, Twilight replied while shaking her head side-to-side, "In all my reading, I have never come across anything like this." The abrupt shouting from down the careen surprised us. Ordain's barely-noticeable shadow moved across the top of the stairs. His jumbled words tickled our ears. The only sentences we made out were 'What was it?' and 'Why can't I remember?' Twilight placed the book inbetween her legs and sluggishly moved closer to the staircase. We followed close behind as she quietly stepped into the small chamber down below. The barren room had a small glint of light peeking through a deep crack on the opposing wall. Ordain mumbled to himself as he paced the floor. As we proceeded further in, part of the step crumbled beneath Pinkie's hoof. Ordain froze with his back facing us. "I asked you nicely. I need you to restore order to things." Twilight gripped the book harder. "As I told you before, my magic can't help you. This is more than trying to remember something you forgot. Somewhere along the way, you lost a piece of yourself. I can't restore what isn't there anymore." Ordain pointed behind him. "But you can. That book you have is the secret to my past. Read its contents. Tranfer the knowledge directly into my mind." Pinkie Pie bluntly asked, "Why not just read it?" Ordain turned around and slithered in front of Pinkie with a stretched-out arm. "I can't do that either. I've forgotten how to read it." Twilight pulled the book out and examined the cover. She looked up and glared into Ordain's eyes. "Why are you so determined? What is so important?" Ordain retracted his arm and placed his paw upon his chest. "You might think this is some silly game, but it's not. Something is going to happen. I can feel it." He bore down the ground with his glistening eyes and whispered, "I'm afraid." "Of what?" I asked. "I don't know," Ordain softly replied. The important decision of helping Ordain in his time of need relied entirely upon Twilight. Ordain's trickery extended beyond my mental capacities. I doubted his intentions but sympathized his emotional detachment with the world. The sincerity in his voice persuaded me to rethink the possibility of actually providing assistance in recovering his lost memories. However, Twilight's magic held the key in restoring Ordain's memory. As Twilight comtemplated a resolution, magic engulfed the book and moved it mere inches in front of Ordain. Surprised, Twilight swiftly spun her head at me and exclaimed, "Moonlight, what are you doing?!" "What do you mean?" I soon realized that my magic forced the book out of Twilight's hooves. I concentrated in canceling the affects of my horn, but the glow only intensified. The hard cover flipped open. Air pulled through the crumbling wall. It picked up the dust particles within the chamber and sucked them into the book. The steady current remained strong as it briskly tugged against Ordain's fur. Ordain braced himself against the current. He glanced between the three of us. "So this is your answer?" He leaned forward. "So be it." Ordain tipped forward. His body disappeared into the book. A shred of sentimentary rock harpooned through the wall. The crack broke loose and tore through the sandstone. The tome's pages shut close and fell with the back facing up. The chamber shook relentlessly as bits from the ceiling collapsed around us. I ran up the steps as Pinkie's entire body twitched. Twilight lunged forward but jumped back when a long stretch of slate crashed between her and the book. "Come on Twilight!" I shouted at the top of the stairs. "But the book!" A loud roar emitted from above our foreheads. Small chunks of the staircase crumbled under the pressure of cave-in. Pinkie reached her hoof out to Twilight. "You have plenty of books to read back at the library!" Twilight lept up and grabbed hold of Pinkie's hoof as the steps collapsed underneath. When we dashed to the middle of the main room, we noticed both tunnels were completely blocked. As we looked for a way out, Princess Luna's voice echoed above us. "Don't worry, Twilight Sparkle!" We looked through the skylight and saw the sky-blue glossed hooves of Princess Luna digging around the hole. She rapidly switched to a more abrasive manner of slamming her hooves against the stone's exterior. A second pair of cream-colored hooves beat in unison with Luna's. "Don't you worry Moonlight!" Princess Celestia shouted. Pinkie Pie stomped in place. "Oh pickles! Hurry!" We hugged against the wall as the princesses broke through the ceiling. Along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, they helped lift us out of the mountain. We safely landed on the ground as we watched the bedrock enfold inside the embankment. "Is it over?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight responded, "Let us find out."