Sands of Time

by Amaranthine Thought

Chapter 18

I spent some time in the past after we returned. Once I woke, I dug us all free and reburied the den. Before they left, I also gave them all a final warning:

I should be left out of any history and story they might spread or find spreading. My present might be in danger should that happen, and each promised me that they would ensure that nothing like that will make it to the future they saw.

It wasn't much of a look, but they did see the bearers all cooperating without regard for tribe. Enough for their hope, and far from too much for any danger.

I went and made a new den deep within the mountains for my use otherwise. I admit I did get carried away with it, creating a spacious arrangement of six total caverns, any one of which can happily contain my bulk several times over. It’s well hidden, placed right in the side of a chasm; nopony should even care to come by, and none would ever come low enough to spot the entrance.

This doesn’t hold true for the six I have befriended in this time, but they are special, and make excuses when they come to visit me. I often watch over them, watching them build.

Watching them build right on the central peak. A city they have already called Canterlot.

Apparently, this was wholly coincidence, and had nothing to do with me, Mirage, or the girls. Or so I couldn’t get anypony to admit it.

Soon after our trip, they all sent ponies back, to call for all those they had left behind. And many had waited for news of hope it seems. I’ve never seen so many ponies all in one place before. The news of unification was met with uncertainty and hesitation, but it seems to be going quite well. Save for that a number of the pegasi apparently will not live anywhere except atop a cloud. Which is a touch incorrect to say, considering.

Pegasi can manipulate clouds, to make them permanent and able to be stood upon. Once the pegasi group came, they made a cloudy city from the fluffy stuff, and it’s quite the sight to see as it floats around. It’s still more than a bit ridiculous, since they tried to make it look like a floating citadel.

Citadels shouldn’t be so lumpy. They keep working on it, but it still looks like a giant joke to me.

I also got to meet the leaders of the ponies; each of those I knew had their own superiors.

Commander has his own Commander, Commander Thunderbolt, who is older and far gruffer than Commander Hurricane is. I did get to learn that Commander apparently really appreciates my size and strength, but Thunderbolt is bored with ‘giant things’ these days.

Chancellor is one of four, and they are all kept in check by an elderly arbiter, Blueberry Drop, who seems… well, he didn’t even see me at first, actually sitting on my paw as everypony tried to overcome his hearing problem. He still thinks I’m an overgrown house cat.

But if anypony thinks him too old, he’s got his hoof right on the pulse of what’s currently going on, somehow, and none of the chancellors are willing to dare fight with the old stallion. He’s got a nasty way of making ponies feel terribly guilty over just about anything.

And Princess lives up to her name. I do not like King Platinum, and he does not much like me. But Princess makes a big point out of liking me, so that helps.

Soon enough, an official history was penned, one that kept any mention of me or the girls out of it. Nopony but the six knows about the girls anyway, and everypony else doesn’t write tales down. Oral tradition is nice, but it won’t survive the ages enough to worry me.

I did have to remind Clover to destroy her notes, but she did so, so all’s well.

This life is pretty calm otherwise. Occasionally, I’m visited by one of them, most commonly Commander, who comes by sometimes with news of some monster he’d like me to go deal with. I personal think he just likes seeing me attacking things, but I generally get a good meal out of it, and I don’t comment on him being a little too happy about my mauling something.

Smart’s ‘training’ me has finally enabled me to recapture my ability on my own. Once more, I can stop time, and I feel I can travel without her command as well. She still comes every time Chancellor does, and she generally brushes me during the visit.

Chancellor dropped by a few times, just to visit and try to teach me hobbies. Most of which were ridiculous and impossible for me, such as knitting. However, she did, somehow, manage to create a giant version of her own outfit for me. I didn’t want to, but wearing it made her happy. I felt stupid, Mirage laughed, but Chancellor was happier than I’ve seen her before and I got to see Smart panic when Chancellor asked her opinion.

I still have it in one of the caverns.

Oddly enough, Private has taken a great liking to me as well, often coming by herself to just hold onto me and fuss over me. Apparently, I am just the right sort of big and soft, and she adores hearing me purr as well.

And Princess… she can only come rarely, as she is the least able to take the journey without being noticed, but each visit is a true treasure. She and I… we have an understanding.

Her father doesn’t know, but I sometimes think he suspects.

The collar is still on me too. Apparently, there are twelve of the stupid things, great artifacts created by some magical prodigy so as to be able to tame even the greatest of creatures: dragons. That supposedly worked, and created something known as the ‘Draconic Magisterium’, a pony kingdom of myth and legend alike, when the twelve oldest dragons of Equestria had been collared by the collars’ creator. Clover was more than happy to tell me all about it, but that myth is perhaps even older than this age is to the girls’ own.

There are only two collars left in known existence, at least in this time, and by some wild chance, Smart found a third, which now lies on my neck. They are not meant to come off; they are actually spelled so as to resist an ancient dragon’s attempt to remove them, and King Platinum had the arrogance to chuckle when he suggested that they might only be broken by a god.

But perhaps the greatest event to happen so far? Princess secretly asked Mirage, who then talked to Clover, who used some method as to divine a date.

And then they threw me a birthday party. With a big cake that Chancellor somehow snuck inside of without anypony noticing so she could pop out of it and surprise everypony.

So now, my birthday lies in the latter days of fall, when the weather starts to change.

It was technically my first as well. Four days before my time in stone, and around a year’s worth of days after. I still smile as I recall it.

Yet, the time must come, and I have once more returned to my first den, to be met by the six.

“Make sure you come back often!” Chancellor says.

“You’re going to miss out on the fun, Big Guy.” Commander says, having long since adopted the name Smart had given me; he doesn’t like calling me, or anything, kitty. “I have a whole bunch of new targets, and one of them was a dragon. I’ll save that one for last, so you make sure you come back soon.”

“It is time, Commander.” I tell him, chuckling. “Years now, days then, I can move between the ages without trouble.”

“But you’ll be gone for some time anyway.” Princess tells me. “Kitty, if anything goes wrong then, you will always have a place here and now.”

“Thank you, Princess.” I tell her.

“Alright.” Clover says, nodding. “Smart, if you will.”

Smart nods, and takes a breath, and begins the preparations she and Clover have worked out to make the collar safe. “Ordo. Kitty, if anypony else says that word an says something, ya have ta listen to what they said, but only if they start an end the command with Ordo.”

I feel the magic in the collar change, and Smart sighs, uncertain. With that, Clover is sure, the collar shouldn’t fail, as there is always a possibility for somepony to order me. Along with the security that they had to do so specifically, thus ensuring that nothing would happen, since nopony should be able to guess they had to use the command word twice.

“Are we set?” Mirage asks from atop my back. She has been planning herself. She has asked Commander how she might go about stopping a unicorn from casting, and then Clover, to ask how she might prevent somepony from using a magical object.

She plans for the worst to happen; that I have been rejected, and that they might try to stone me. I spoke with Mirage about it already, and she is absolutely certain:

If anypony tries to harm me, she will do her very best to prevent it.

I worry, but to keep her from the same, I take hope that the worst will not come to pass.

May my words and Twilight’s vouch be enough.

“Everything we can predict.” Clover says, and I nod, readying myself, the gathered ponies backing away.

“Good luck Kitty!”

“You’ll be fine!”

I then roar, and feel the power moving as I focus my mind on the age. I feel Mirage clinging to me as we go, and I feel nervous. Almost as much as when I first told Princess of my feelings for her.

And that went better than I could have hoped, so I feel this shall as well.

---

We arrive, and I lower my head to see Celestia and Luna turning to see me. Seeing them, I drop, lowering myself; I’d sooner not intimidate or worry them in any possible way.

“Kitty, weren’t you supposed to be within your den?” Twilight asks me, and I only notice her then, but I remain focused on Celestia, who merely watches me, her own expression impossible to decipher.

“There were some complications.” I tell her, a little worried. “Have my words been heard? Has my plea been accepted?”

“You truly do speak.” Luna says. “And quite well as well.”

“It was her that taught you, wasn't it?” Celestia asks. “Mirage, and then each of the first-born daughters in their turn.”

She says the name perfectly, even without magic, which is how Clover and Princess have been managing to.

“They did.” I tell her. “They taught me much.”

“And one is yet with you, even in the current day.” she says, smiling up at Mirage. “The 39^th, wasn't it?” she asks. “You have much to be proud of, Mirage.”

I feel Mirage shift atop me, but she says nothing as Celestia looks back to me.

“Twilight told me what you told her, and more besides.” Celestia tells me. “She was quite determined to make sure I know you well, and she reminded me of something I’ve forgotten for a long, long time.”

“The archives of Canterlot hold precious things from years long, long past.” she tells me, thoughtful. “And one of those things is a strange tome. It is written oddly, for it speaks as though the author themselves is unsure if they are writing about the past, the present, or the future. It never names anypony, and hides its meaning quite well, but knowing you, the book’s secrets seem to unravel. For though it hides its truths, so often does it speak of a winged cat; a great winged cat that the book is never certain how to refer to.”

“And I think you match that description quite well, Kitty.” She tells me. “With your ability to walk in time, the book’s oddities make far more sense, for they attempt to write of you, walking through time itself; helping ponies in need of your aid.”

I am unsure what to think of that, but Celestia smiles, and continues, “If only I recalled that old tome those thousand years past. I would have realized that I had misunderstood the situation, and I would never have brought the elements with us.”

…I think I might have just had my heart stop for a moment there. I shall have to head to the past and… but then again…

“I would be more than happy to welcome you properly into the herd.” I hear her say as I think and focus.

Yes, that was bad. However, it didn’t cause anything, so it wasn’t that bad, and my meddling might make it worse. It’s for the best to just leave it alone.

“Twilight, if you will?” Celestia asks, and Twilight nods, focusing, her horn lighting. Then she gives off a large spark, and things materialize around me. More ponies than I could easily count, the bearers and the girls amongst them, along with tables and food and more, and as they appear, and I startle, they all shout:

“Welcome to Equestria!”, which is punctuated by a loud bang sound, confetti, and Pinkie, flying through the air.

“You’re one hundred percent officially welcome Kitty!” Twilight says, moving to my side as I slowly relax again. “We spread the word, and now, nopony should think you’re a monster ever again!”

“An we’re right sorry fer th trouble we caused ya th first time.” Applejack adds, walking over along with the other bearers.

“No hard feelings, right?” Rainbow asks me, and I smile at her, nodding.

“Let the past be finished!” Luna then bellows, her voice carrying over the crowd. “Let old mistakes be forgotten, and our old pains left behind us! Let us learn from our pasts, but let it not haunt us! Let us all once more carry the flame of hope with us, and into the days to come, we march, born anew!”

Celestia comes to my side, and smiles up at me. “Welcome to Equestria, Kitty.” she tells me. “Welcome home, my great winged lion.”

---

The land outside my den is covered in confetti. Pinkie has assured me that it will go away on its own by dawn, somehow. The party went on all day, and it is still a little mind boggling, to have all those ponies around me, cheering and happy and calm.

A little clearing, and my den is as good as new. Mirage sleeps next to me, her stomach distended from eating her body weight in cake and sweets. And though I am overjoyed, and loved the party, finally at peace in this age, I remain awake, thinking.

The more I think about it, the less the book Celestia told me about makes sense. I don’t wander time like she described, and I don’t do so to come to the aid of ponies. For that matter, I could not even do so; my travel is difficult, and I am restricted from such activities, lest I cross my own path, and become time-lost. It is strange, but it matters more than its oddity right now.

Her words then still haunt me.

What if Celestia did remember the book then? What would have happened if she and Luna had come to me in peace and happiness, instead of worry and tension? If they came imagining that I was something I was not?

I do not know, but I am terrified. It feels like I am but a hair’s breadth away from changing my past, and becoming time-lost.

By chance, Celestia didn’t think of the book, and by chance, the sight of me didn’t make her recall it. By chance, Mirage the first got stuck in a thorny bush, and by chance, they found me at the same moment I’d pulled her free.

If they found me sleeping, would she have recalled? If they found me without me holding a foal in my jaws that had just shrieked in pain, would they have thought me something I wasn’t?

Who wrote that book, when did they, and why did they? I do not know, and for so long as I do not, there is a danger I might change the book, and in so doing, change Celestia’s knowledge. Edge closer and closer to her recalling the book, and changing my past, and rendering myself time-lost.

I cannot go to sleep as these thoughts continue to plague me.

Then Mirage pushes at my head, and I snap free of them, and turn to see her. She seems exhausted, but she yet stands on unsteady hooves.

“Kitty, what’s th matter? You keep on mumblin…” she mumbles, leaning against me.

“I… I am afraid of what might have been.”

“W, what?” Mirage asks, seeming a bit more awake as she shakes her head.

“That book Celestia mentioned.” I tell her. “What if she remembered it, and never stoned me all those years past? What would I have done? What would have become of Mirage? I do not know, but I know a few things.”

“I know that you would not be. I know I would never have learned to master my instincts. I would never have seen Princess, never went to the past, never realized my failings to rectify them. It terrifies me, Mirage.”

“Just one tiny change is between me and a wholly different life. It was the greatest of chances that led me to where I find myself today, but what if,”

Mirage softly kicks me, making me stop. “Kitty. Kitty, listen to me.” she says.

“Everything that happens to us is chance, and a whole lot of it seems like it might never happen again.” she tells me. “Anything can make our lives different, and anything can change that. But our pasts won’t change, not unless you tried to do so on purpose, which you won’t.”

“Nothing’s going to change now.” Mirage tells me. “And no tiny change is about to become super important; if I thought like that, I’d never sleep again. Stop worrying over what’ll never be, and help me.”

I calm with her words, only to be puzzled by the last. “What is the matter, Mirage?” I ask, wondering.

“I feel really sick right now.” She groans, to then burp, her cheeks abruptly bulging out.

---

Mirage calmed my fears with her words. She is right. Tiny things won’t matter, and I shouldn’t worry myself sick fearing that book. What happened will remain such unless I attempt to make it different, and with a clearer mind, I think I would have to try hard to change it anyway.

I’m not at peace yet, but that’s no longer the reason why.

I had needed to go to the lake to wash myself. In the middle of the night, holding Mirage while she threw up over the landscape below. While it was colorful, I have never been subjected to such a disgusting thing on me before. I hate water, but plunging my head into the lake was preferable to trying to groom myself clean of it. I’ve licked many things off myself and the girls, but I’m never going to clean that with my tongue.

Mirage was still feeling terrible afterwards, so, having no other recourse, I took her to Ponyville, where I know Twilight lives. She lives in a library in a living tree in the middle of Ponyville, but that oddity matters little right now. There, in the dead of night, I woke her up and passed Mirage through her window so she can be checked on.

I am greatly concerned over this. Why is she so sick? Is she very sick? Should I worry more than I am right now?

“She just overate.” Twilight says, shaking her head tiredly. As Mirage gives a weak groan, she tells me, “She’ll feel better in a few hours.”

“Thank goodness.” I breathe, and Twilight levitates Mirage out so I can take her back. A I do so, I noticed Twilight’s tiredness, and I wince a little. “I’m sorry for waking you so late for this, Twilight.”

“It’s fine,” she tells me, yawning as she walks over to rest her head on the window frame. “She’s important, you worry, I get it. When Spike first got sick, I went and destroyed a carpet with my fretting.”

She looks down, and adds, “You seem to be prone to nervous clawing yourself.” I look, to discover I have ripped gashes in the cobbles. “And I think I’d like it if you were calmer.” She says, looking back at me. “Is there anything else bothering you, Kitty?” she asks, yawning once more, her eyes turning a little unfocused for a moment.

“…No.” I say, smiling. Mirage’s words have done enough, and Twilight helping like this is more than enough to make me feel happy. “There is nothing.” I glance at the cobbles, and wonder. “…And maybe I can fix that.” I try, manipulating the stone under my paw to try and mend the gashes, and wind up flattening the spot instead of the lumpy surface the cobbles are meant to be.

Twilight looks at it, by lying her head sideways on her windowsill. “Neat.” She says. “You can manipulate rock. Can you do the same to gems?”

“I’ve never tried to smooth them, but I can cut through them.” I tell her, wondering if the flat spot is truly alright. I doubt it is; not that I have any method to repair it with.

“That’s a little like Spike.” she tells me. “Not the rock bit, but the gem bit. Maybe you have some kind of natural magic that lets you do that, like dragons do with gems. You should try to see if you can eat a gem.”

I blink as she smiles and giggles a little.

“Spike says the rubies taste like strawberries, or like peppermint, or even raspberries and cherries. He’s got all kinds of flavors in all sorts of gems, and you should try and see if you could eat them too, and I’m babbling.” she says, sighing and pushing herself up slightly, though she stumbles merely by trying to stand. “You eat meat, not gems, and I’m recommending you gems based on Spike’s ideas of what they taste like, and sorry, sorry, I get like this when I stay up, it’s just my way of keeping myself awake, just talk, talk, talk…”

She wobbles on her hooves back to her bed, and I worry for her until she manages to more or less collapse into it, badly attempting to draw the blanket over herself. I suppose it was a little rash to go and wake her in the dead of night over this, but I was afraid for Mirage, who is already asleep in one paw.

I gently hold her close, and then pad away, heading outside town where I can once again spread my wings and take flight. The moon shines bright over the land, and the stars sparkle above. A gentle breeze blows over the land, and I smile.

It is peaceful. And I might be happier than I’ve ever been.

I visited Twilight in sudden need, and she was wholly willing to not only wake for me, but to examine Mirage despite her exhaustion. And then to try and see if I needed any more help before she finally went back to bed. That alone reinforces that I am welcome here. I am known and accepted here.

Nothing to threaten me. Nopony who hates or fears me, and many who look at me with admiration, even awe. And I think I might find some friends here as well, as I do in the past.

Speaking of, I’d like to go back and visit Princess again. Sometime soon, her soon to be exact, as I will spend a time longer here, to spend some time now, before I go back to then. But for her, it will be soon.

Oh yes. I’d almost forgot. The collar is finally off of my neck, and I live free without it binding me any longer. Enough training with it has given me my ability back to me, and after the trip here, I am certain I can manage to return without trouble.

And King Platinum was right. It did take a god. Two gods, one named Celestia, and the other Luna, to finally overcome its enchantments and snap it off my neck.

I fly towards my den, and see Canterlot sparkling on the mountain’s side like a star fallen to the earth, shining like a beacon in the night. Behind me, the Everfree glitters with its strange lights, and the stars twinkle in the dark sky above.

I land at my den, and carry Mirage inside, to curl up with her, smiling. Mirage is alright, sleeping peacefully, and I’ve nothing to fear in this age. My power is my own once more, and I am finally free of the collar. I have a home here. I have two: one now, and one then.

I even have a… a marefreind in the past. I want to see her again, and I know she too wishes the same.

It feels perfect. Everything has become good. I am eager to see what tomorrow holds for me, and I feel not the slightest touch of worry.

I have found my place, and it is perfect.

And Mirage is by my side.

There.

Together.

Forever.

Comments

[Velvet-Fresh]

Would have thought he'd go with Sphinx. Also is this why all libraries have winged lion statues?