Celestia Trigger

by Thadius0

Chapter 6 - Take a deep breath, Time goes on...

The first thing I noticed was the complete lack of anything. I looked around to notice a few floating platforms in this emptiness, and an idea of where and when we were came to me. Justice and Copper looked around, perturbed, and I kept my eyes focused on one platform in particular. Slowly, a lonely lamppost came into being, and beneath it...

Beneath it was a crystal unicorn. Colored sky blue in its body, and deep emerald green in its mane and tail, it appeared to be sitting on its haunches under the lamppost, snoozing. I motioned to the unicorn, and Justice and Copper nodded. We made our way over, and I gently nudged the crystalline pony. It woke up and looked at us before speaking.

"Oh! Visitors!" Thus identified as a male, he then looked at me. "And a repeat visitor as well."

"I'm...sorry?" I was confused. "Have we...met?"

"Mm, yes," he replied almost absently. "I do remember you. You just popped in one day, passed out in pain. I fixed you up as well as I could, but healing was never my specialty. You might notice a few things wrong here or there, but I did the best I could."

I blinked a few more times at that. "Like?"

"Well," he said, "If you had come in like you were going to, you'd have been unable to speak, without any decent gear, and who knows when or where you'd have shown up. I did what I could to circumvent some of those issues, but there's likely to be new ones. However, coming to me to fix them isn't the best idea."

"Yeah," I dryly replied. "I'm getting that sense."

"Sooo," Copper pitched in. "I'm guessing this isn't an earlier version of Aerie Dome."

The unicorn actually chuckled at that. "Indeed not! Welcome to the End! The End of Time, that is. Although that's not, strictly speaking, accurate."

Justice beeped a few times as he looked around. "I am detecting a vast amount of nothing at all here."

The unicorn nodded a few times at that. "True, true. The most accurate way to describe this place is to say that it's a pocket dimension attached to Equus as a whole. Those 'Gates' you were using on your lonesome, they zipped you right past here before you could stop. However, that was just you. Now that you've taken on companions..."

"Oh please don't tell me there's an arbitrary party limit," I groaned.

The unicorn chuckled at that and waved a hoof at me. "Nonsense! But when it's more than just you using a Gate, it'll only have the energy to bring you and whoever else you're bringing with you here. A blessing, if you think about it, because all Gates lead here, and from here, you can access all Gates that you know of."

I nodded while looking back at the original platform we'd come from. "Okay...so that over there?"

The stallion pointed at the Key on my belt. "Just hold up that fantastic device of yours and imagine where and when you'd like to show up! It'll tug you in the right direction, if there's a Gate to those particular space-time co-ordinates, of course. Oh! I nearly forgot!"

A spark jumped from his horn, split, and impacted both Justice and Copper. They yelped for a moment, and I looked over at him. "What...was that?"

"Standard package as a time-traveler. Now you should be immune to casual paradoxes and be able to remember both the before and after of your meddlings. I did it to you when you arrived here before shoving you as close as I could to what you could identify as 'present day' Equestria. You learn to do these things when you've been stuck at the End of Time for as long as I have. Assuming that such an interval could be measured, that is."

"What without Time and all," I quipped. The unicorn laughed, and we both smiled at each other.

"So do you have a name?" I prompted.

"Hmm..." The crystalline unicorn rubbed his chin with a hoof before nodding once. "Yes, I have a name you can use. Call me Hora. Short and sweet."

I nodded and motioned to my two companions, who stepped a bit closer to me. "Copper and Justice. From the year 2299, or thereabouts. I assume you know what happens?"

Hora nodded once, grimly, and a bucket materialized behind the lamppost. "Yes, I do. When you're stuck here, you either find a way to look in on the world, or go mad. That bucket back there? It's a product of my work here. I made a Gate that would always link to the day when Lavos broke free. The day when the world, essentially, kicked the bucket, as it were. And while it pains me to think of it, you are the ones best suited to taking him down...eventually. You're going to need to work at it."

"Against something that can end the world," Justice observed, "What hope do we have?"

Hora smiled. "Yes, it killed the world. True, it ended the Alicorns. But there is something you have that they didn't. The ability to zip back and forth across the timeline like it isn't anyone's business."

Here he made vast, sweeping motions with his hooves as he explained the plan. "Lavos is straddling the timeline from when it first entered to 1999, when it ended the world. All you have to do is find every instance of it being fed any more energy, and deal with that situation. Every creature that claimed to serve it or want to help it, you must defeat. And in so doing, it won't be you getting stronger, it'll be Lavos being forced into being weaker. Just a touch, but every bit helps. It'll be a long, hard road, but I have every faith you'll be able to stop the end from happening."

"Ah," I said. "And what about stopping the beginning from happening?"

Hora blinked a few times before shaking his head. "No...some things can be changed and must be, whereas other things...other things are always going to happen, one way or another."

I sighed, but nodded at him. "Still. Knowing would be helpful."

Hora shook his head. "If you truly wish to find Lavos' entry point, then you must search for it yourself."

He then straightened and pointed in a direction that was not towards the platform we'd come from. "Ah, but listen to me ramble! Just over there, beyond that door," and indeed, a door slowly faded into view now, "lies someone who would very much like to meet you! She wanted to meet you earlier, but I told her no, that you had things to learn and do before you'd be ready for her, and look at you! Now you are!"

The three of us looked at one another before we turned to the door and slowly opened it. A path appeared, leading to another platform. And sitting on the platform was a cute little alicorn filly. Though it wasn't of any alicorn I recognized. It was blood red in coat, and rust-red in mane and tail, which behaved normally enough. She looked up at us with big, green eyes, and smiled. Once we walked over, the path behind us vanished. She spoke to us next, and her voice was of something far too innocent to be real.

"Oh hi! You must be the time-travelers! I'm Bellum, mistress of war!"

She then trotted over and looked at both me and Copper with her eyes that seemed to see far more than any child her age should be capable of seeing. "Oooh, yes. You have potential..."

Justice chose to speak up then. "Potential for what?"

The little alicorn filly turned to look at the robot and smiled. "Why, the potential for magic! Raw, unfettered magic! The unicorns claim that magic is their domain, but beyond light and telekinesis and their 'talents,' they rarely utilize it! What I'm talking about is real, elemental power! A force of nature! The sort of thing you can feel thrumming in your veins as you use it!"

She then walked in front of me and poked me in the leg with one of her hooves. "You're the act-first, think-later type. You make commitments without really realizing what all goes into filling them, but that's okay. You get a lot done anyways! A guy like you deserves Lightning."

The filly walked over to Copper and hummed. "Mmm, difficult. Until this one lit a fire under you, you had no ambitions. But now that you do, you can see the wheels turning, what it takes to build or unmake something, hope burns in your heart again. Even though you came from an era more advanced than most, you want to improve things, and improve them constantly! The Fire of progress is your call sign, and Fire is what you're most attuned to."

Bellum then walked over to Justice and frowned. "Eeesh, even more bothersome. I mean, technically, you have a personality, which means you have hopes, dreams, desires...but even in 2299, souls couldn't be manufactured. And without a soul, I can't gauge your inner strength, so I can't give you any powers..."

Justice nodded once. "I understand."

The alicorn of war raised a hoof up and waved it at the robot. "Not so fast! I can't give you any powers, true. But there's a workaround! The reason dark magics are a thing ponies don't meddle in is because it eats away at their soul, a little every time, until they fall completely into shadow. Something like you that doesn't have a soul? Perfect for dark magics! All I have to do is a small binding to your weapons...like, say, your currently inactive lasers, and you'll be capable of using Shadow magic."

I looked at Copper, who was looking away from me and whistling. "He has inactive weapons?"

She sat on her rump and raised her front hooves as though she were attempting to defend herself from me. "Hey, in my defense, we knew nothing about him before we turned him on. I wanted every chance against him if he went rogue against us, and disabling his long-range weapons was the surest thing I could think of."

"Understood, Copper, although, for reference, tampering with department of justice property, which I am, and modifying it to the degree you did typically carries a three-day imprisonment, followed by fifty hours of community service. Along with either the guilty party either repairing or paying for the repairs of the damaged or modified property."

Silence reigned for a minute, and then Justice spoke again. "That was a joke."

We both sighed. "Justice," I said, "Your definition of a joke needs work."

"Acknowledged. Also, long-range weapons are now in the process of being reactivated. It may take time for the bug-checking to return a positive answer."

"And now!" Bellum said while sitting in the middle of the 'room' and raising her front hooves to the 'sky', "We begin the show! Meeny miney, ipso facto...MAGICO!"

A bolt of fire rushed from the space above the tiny alicorn's hooves and slammed into Copper, who gained a fearsome, flaming aura. A sphere of what could only be described as darkness incarnate appeared next, and it...I think the most accurate phrase would be oozed its way over to Justice, who seemed to suck it into his inner systems. And then the alicorn pointed a hoof at me, and a bolt of electricity bridged the gap between us.

Power seemed to flood my very being. It was like having the pins-and-needles sensation from a sleeping arm that just woke up, only all over myself. A word imprinted itself in my mind, and I knew that if I focused, I could now use Lightning.

Copper, Justice, and I shared a look, and we all nodded. The powers Bellum had granted us were mighty indeed. That was when the little warmistress spoke up.

"So...wanna give it a try?"

I drew myself up to my full height and shook my head at her. "Not...at this time. Maybe later."

She pouted at that. "Aww...well, if you're sure, then you're sure. Make sure to bring anyone you pick up here! I might be able to help 'em unlock their potential as well!"

The three of us left the little alicorn via the suddenly reappearing path and door, and found ourselves confronted by the crystal unicorn under the lamppost again. "So, question," I began. "If we left Aerie Dome in 2299, where was the other end of that particular Gate connected to?"

Hora nodded once. "High Aerie, the Griffon capitol, circa 999, I believe. And it would also be a good place to begin your search."

I stiffened once at that before turning to my friends and motioning them to the first platform. Once they were far enough away, I crouched and stared the crystal unicorn in the eyes. He stared right back.

"All the friends I pick up on this travel. They're going to wind up coming back here without me one day, aren't they?"

Hora shook his head. "I can't tell. It's likely. But things around certain points are unclear. However, if you try. Really try. Then they won't need my greatest work. But if they're your friends, they'll end up coming here for it anyways."

I nodded once before standing up and turning around. The crystal unicorn had a question for me, though. "Will you tell them?"

I pondered for a moment before shaking my head. "I won't need to. I have every faith that someone will figure it out."

I then walked over to Justice and Copper before pulling out the Gate Key and thinking of two things. High Aerie and 999. I felt a tugging, followed it, and with the sound of roaring wind, the three of us were off again.

Author's Note:

Slight break while I write present-day griffons and try to avoid messing with causality because of a certain 'dweeb'...

Comments

[butterfield pancake]

So Gilda will join?

[Purple Lightning]

Well saw that coming. I shall go ahead and hazzard a guess that Aerie will be the equivalent of the monster village, the name of which eludes me atm.

[ArtichokeLust]

So, Crono's gonna teach Gilda compassion? Or maybe robo-- I mean, Justice, will arrest everyone? Or they'll get in a fight and try not to accidentally kill Gilda with their new powers? Or lucca--I mean, copper--will teach Gilda that smart ponies should be respected...

I'm looking forward to watching you dance around that one.

[Celestial Petrichor]

Silence reigned for a minute, and then Justice spoke again. "That was a joke."

That has to be a reference to EDI, right?

[Trent Roogna]

5129894
Medina

[Trent Roogna]

There was something missing the whole time Crono was talking to the Guru:
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=45C81eidtek]

[Flammy]

I do wonder, who will be the Fiendlord in this story? You Chrono Trigger fans know what I'm talking about.

[Purple Lightning]

5131682 That's the one! So now I'd guess they are off to Medina, and from the looks of it, it's a gryphon city so that would mean that gryphons take the place of the monsters in this game. So maybe the story equivalent of Magus is gonna be a gryphon? It'd be very interesting if it was, but I personally thought it would be Sombra. The basis for my theory by the way, is that they'r going to another location in the year 999 ANM which falls under the "present time" category. In the game the only 2 gates connected to present time where the one in the fair that sends you to the present, which in this story is the one at the castle ruins. The only other one linked to the present is the one that takes you to Medina, so I'd say it's a pretty good guess. Also if I end up being right I'm gonna stop putting up guesses for what might happen next. Wouldn't wanna take some of the fun out of the story for others.

[Trent Roogna]

5133724
Don't think the Magus equivalent will be a griffon. In game Magus was a human from Zeal, while the Mystics (non-humans) followed him because he could do magic. I think Sombra is still the best bet as The Guru at the end of time was a crystal pony; thus linking the Crystal Empire to the floating Kingdom of Zeal.

Also, we'll prolly meet another crystal pony in the equivalent of Melchior.

[Purple Lightning]

5133797 Yeah I know Magus was actually human so his equivalent might not be a gryphon, it would just be interesting to see a gryphon who had magic and learn how he got it. The hole thing with Sombra being the unicorn at the end of time though sounds like a very interesting theory.

[Trent Roogna]

5133817
No, Sombra's not the one at the end of time. I'm saying Sombra is Magus. In game, the three gurus (who made Masamune, made the Epoch and look after the end of time) were originally from Zeal. Since end of time guy is a crystal pony, then Melchior, the guy who made the time machine (forgot his name) and Magus would be also.

[Purple Lightning]

5133874 Oh ok, slightly misunderstood.

[Mr Good Guy]

What about Gustav?

[Emperor]

I half-expected the Cutie Mark Crusaders to be the three Gurus equivalent.

[Blaze Song]

You'd think our main protagonist would remember the events of the game, since he went to the Con as Crono