My Little Pony: The Element of Time

by Thunderwing250


Chapter 9: Back to the Past

The damage to Canterlot made Timaeus feel a sting of regret. He turned to The Archivist, who had moved up to stand at his side.

“Archivist, summon the ponies back so they may seek shelter, including the princesses. I will open a time portal for Twilight Sparkle and her friends,” he said.

“Master… I know this isn’t the appropriate time, but don’t you think she’s gone through enough? Pressuring her increases her rage, as I’ve observed,” The Archivist asked.

“Twilight Sparkle is much more powerful than she realizes. She must learn how to control her emotions and remain focused on her task. Have faith in her and she and her friends shall succeed,” Timaeus answered.

“I see,” The Archivist replied. “What should we do about Xenxus? He’s caused a lot of destruction here and I fear he may continue his rage elsewhere.”

“Leave Xenxus to me. Your task is to keep the inhabitants safe and calm them until the demon is defeated. Do you understand?” Timaeus said, taking flight.

“Yes, Master” she replied.

“Until then, remain safe,” Timaeus said.

At the hilltop, Twilight’s friends met her and Rainbow as they landed, piling onto the alicorn to give her a hug.

“Twilight, darling? Are you alright?” Rarity asked.

“I’m fine,” Twilight said, but she sounded exhausted.

“We were worried about you, sugarcube. What happened?” Applejack asked.

“I... I tried to fight Xenxus, but I...! But he... Celestia...”

“What about me?”

Twilight's head jerked up and her jaw dropped as she saw Celestia approach her, smiling gently. Before she could stop herself, she jumped at the tall alicorn, hugging her tightly.

“He said he...! Oh, never mind! I'm so glad you're okay!” she said, holding back tears. “Is Luna okay?”

“Luna is unconscious, but I'm sure she'll be fine,” Celestia assured her, hugging her gently. “I'm glad you're safe.”

Twilight pulled back and rubbed her eyes on her hoof.

“Awesome, everypony's back together,” Rainbow Dash said, “but Twilight, c'mon, you gotta tell us what's going on. After that mess, no way this is over, right?”

Twilight nodded and waved her friends in close.

“We need to go back in time to retrieve the Element before the ancient princess does. Once we do that, we need to go to the lower levels of the tower to a mirror.”

“But who in the hay was that monster?” Applejack asked.

“And what about that big black alicorn?” Rainbow Dash added.

“And, um... Sorry to butt in, but what about all these poor ponies out here?” Fluttershy said.

Doctor Hooves walked over.

“The Archivist and I will handle that,” he replied.

“Thanks,” Twilight said gratefully; she looked at her friends. “I'll explain everything later. Come on, girls, we should get going.”

Sensing Twilight and her friends ready to go, Timaeus from afar, opened the time portal before them. One by one, they went into the portal. Inside, they flew through a vortex and dropped down what felt like a roller coaster ride. Fluttershy screamed for her life as Pinkie Pie laughed the entire time. A bright light appeared in the distance, spitting the ponies out of the portal. As they flew out, the light dimmed.

In Canterlot, Doctor Hooves joined The Archivist, who repeated Timaeus's words to fill him in. With their guidance and the comforting words of Princess Celestia, the citizens began their descent from the hillside, back to the city. Doctor Hooves assisted injured ponies, while Princess Celestia carried her unconscious sister on her back. The Archivist observed the citizens around her, similar to a dream she had had. Fear continued to strike the hearts of these innocent ponies young and old and yet, she never felt such sympathy towards them as she did now.

Entering the city, some of the buildings had burnt markings, but luckily, most except those directly below the castle remained untouched. As The Archivist gathered foals and the injured, Doctor Hooves took many of the able-bodied mares and stallions to look for food and water.

Princess Celestia walked tall, trying to seem strong for her subjects, but up close, it was clear that she was deeply affected. The Archivist joined her as she took a moment to pause inside a what was once an inn, intact except for the shattered entrance-way.

“I can’t believe that this is happening... A beast that not only attacked us physically, but mentally, and emotionally. I… failed my subjects… I failed my sister.”

Celestia couldn't help her eyes from watering.

“Don’t blame yourself, Princess. Believe me, I know exactly how you feel,” The Archivist said. “Strange that I usually don’t feel sympathy, but just observing their faces tells me how they feel. We’ve all been caught off guard from Xenxus’ attack. I know you were upset at us before for keeping secrets, but this here is the reason. We never wanted these Bronco-Titans to reawaken, and we never wanted ponies to challenge them if they showed up. We thought if you didn't know, they wouldn't feel provoked and less ponies would be harmed in fights like this. I suppose we were wrong in that regard.”

Princess Celestia now understood what she meant. However, she felt doubt and sorry at the same time. Throughout the entire time, she knew that this may have been the most unexpected attacked by another alicorn in Equestrian history and the result was devastating.

Laying her sister in a bed inside one of the rooms, Celestia stood and watcher her silently. Hoping her sister would wake up, she walked to the window and stared at the half destroyed castle. All she could feel is failure, losing her own castle to an unknown ancient alicorn. She remembered Doctor Hooves’ advice on having faith-- faith in her most loyal student, Twilight Sparkle, completing her mission and defeating this devilry.

Twilight Sparkle. I have taught you many things. Now, you must do your duty and defeat this demon. If you can hear my words, know that I, Princess Celestia, always have faith in you. She thought.

While ponies of Canterlot slowly recovered, Twilight awoke from a sudden daze. She looked around for her friends.

“Is everypony okay?” Applejack asked.

The ponies moaned as they slowly got up. Each of them looked around, observing their whereabouts.

“Where… are we?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I think the better question is, when are we?” Twilight said.

Twilight and her friends looked around the area, puzzled. She stood up.

“We are approximately two thousand, three hundred years before Xenxus attacked Canterlot,” she realized.

Her friends looked at her.

“And how the heck do you know that?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

Twilight turned, eyes wide.

“To be honest, I have no idea. It just came to my mind,” she replied.

Twilight’s friends just stared at her. Applejack shrugged.

“Eh. Weirder stuff's happened,” she said.

The ponies took a short while to regain themselves and catch their breath before heading out again. They journeyed back up the mountain, however they noticed a long flight of stairs leading to the tower. Going higher and higher, the temperature began to drop. Finally, after a long hour up the mountain, they arrived at the Tower of Kronos, only to witness a pony in a cloak walking in.

“That must be the Princess,” Twilight whispered.

“Princess?! Where?!” Pinkie yelled out in excitement.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack covered Pinkie Pie’s mouth to keep her silent and the whole group ducked behind some snow and rocks. The Princess in the cloak, turned and observed the area. She didn't see them, and she walked into the dark tower. Twilight got up and slowly went from rock to rock, avoiding detection.

“Come on. We gotta follow her.”

“Oh but, it looks dark… and cold… and scary…” Fluttershy whispered.

“Oh come on, Fluttershy. If we’re gonna save Equestria, we're gonna have to go to dark, scary places,” Rainbow Dash said, and she gently elbowed her. “It's not like a mysterious, dangerous ancient artifact is gonna have its lair in a bright, warm bakery full of flowers and bunnies.”

“Ooh, but that sounds lovely, though,” Fluttershy said.

Rainbow smacked her brow with her hoof and Pinkie Pie snickered. Rarity held Flutttershy's hoof.

“Darling, like we did before. As long as we’re together, nothing will happen to us, right?” Rarity responded nervously.

Twilight turned to Rarity and raised her eyebrows. She gulped. Feeling uneasy, she had to agree with Rainbow Dash. They journeyed into the tower.