Chapter 4
Time slowly makes her way back to what she has decided to call 'The Cave of Harmony' The snow is melting from the windagoes banishment and she takes the time to enjoy the scenery. Celestia's sun is dipping below the horizon, and Luna's moon soon takes its sister's place in the sky above.
With the tome of ice magic in tow Time happens upon a clearing as a very familiar voice reaches her ears.
"Just think about it, do you really think one little light show will magically make everyone stop fighting?"
Chaos! What is he doing here? Picking up her pace Time's eyes lock on a very familiar dragonequus speaking to a robed mare.
"That book just feels...wrong to me, why should I trust you? What do you gain from giving me something like this?"
Well, she is called clover the clever for a reason. not that it stops Chaos from changing his approach.
"That may be, but you're a strong mare. Why not learn the magic of strife and channel it into good ends? With Starswirl the bearded missing you're the only one who can lead this little fledgling alliance. With a head like that on your shoulders, you could benefit everyone." Discord moves closer, caressing Clover's cheek with a claw. "Aren't you tired of everyone ignoring you? Like that pompous unicorn ruler..."
Normally Time is a passive mare by nature. If her current experiment isn't affected by your actions, you can generally rely on the fact that in most cases, she will do nothing to you.
There are exceptions to this, one of them being Chaos tampering with one of the key individuals that lead to Equestria's founding. The moment Time see's that not only is Clover's mane and tail becoming grey, but the young unicorn's magic is reaching for the Grimoire too...
Neither of them saw it coming. Time's blast of magic incinerates Chaos' and a good portion of the surrounding forest. After all snow can only protect so much. All that remains is Time's grimoire, floating in Clover's magic and a swirling mass of ash that was formerly the deity of Chaos and Discord.
As with all things, the satisfaction was fleeting. Chaos' voice echoes from around them "Drat, I was hoping Celestia would keep you for longer. Sorry dear, but I steer clear from her when she's angry." A disembodied claw snatches the tome from Colver's magic and they both vanish into Chaos' domain.
Time's breathing is haggard, her eyes full of rage as she glares with intensity where her book just was.
It was right there! She could have taken it back and this whole mess would be over. Of course, Chaos would simply take it before she can retrieve it from the mortal.
Speaking of said mortal, Clover is looking at Time with an expression of fear, taking a tentative step backward her eyes instinctively looking left and right for an escape route.
Oh, right.
Looking down at herself Time notices that she is glowing a bright coppery orange, flooding the clearing with her distinctive magical aura. With a conscious effort, she returns her wings to her side. A few more deep breaths later and her glow vanishes. leaving her looking like nothing other than a tall purple alicorn.
The mortal is looking less afraid now, instead, she is simply staring at Time curiously, her horn glowing with a faint aura.
A detection spell, good choice. "Apologies, me and Chaos are currently at odds."
For her part, Clover simply glances at the section of the forest I vaporized along with Chaos' body. "A bit much for 'being at odds'." At Time's sheepish expression Clover continues. "My spell is having a very difficult time identifying you. Logic says that you would be an alicorn...but any unicorn can give herself wings with a polymorph spell." Staring intently at my form she channels more magic into her spell, a slight tingle passing over Time's body.
"But that's impossible, alicorns are but a myth. An old belief by ancient ponies about how the world came to be. There has been no proof...or sightings of alicorns in millennia."
Time winces at that. Celestia and Luna were supposed to be done resting by now. "My apologies, being the first to see one in awhile must be...surprising." Time rubs the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
"Perhaps we can start over. My name is Time, the thing I just incinerated is Chaos. but, he usually prefers to be called 'Discord' by mortals." Time offers her hoof to clover who looks at it oddly, her horn still alight with the detection spell she's casting.
Not taking the hoof clover asks. "Why were you hiding among us earlier? I admit it took a lot for me to finally see you, but the signs were there. An absent step to the left, the eyes seeming to want to avoid looking in a particular location....and your name. Surely you don't expect me to believe your name is 'Time', implying you are time itself. which I know is impossible. time is just a concept ponies came up with to measure the passage of days."
Was I this bad when I was mortal? thinking back on it...no, I wasn't.
I was much worse.
"Deities...pardon, alicorns refer to each other by our domain. My domain is time."
Clover simply increases the intensity of her spell in reply, focusing on my wings.
Understandable, polymorph spells leave noticeable traces if you knew how to look.
Feeling my wings begin to tingle I simply smile. "I'm impressed, magic has a hard time affecting me, because of my domain my interaction with the world is...odd."
"'Odd' is an understatement." Clover frowns in concentration. "I have to focus very hard to even get any feeling. its like you're...not even here."
Smiling I absently adopt a lecturing tone. "Tell me, Cover the Clever. Can you feel each minute as it passes? can you feel time as a physical thing? I'm roughly the same way, I exist differently than you, I can force myself to manifest fully, to become one with the world, but that is not my natural state. It takes...focus." Time decides the best way to demonstrate this is to walk over to a tree. She lessens her grip on the world slightly and reaches out to touch it.
Her hoof passes right through it as if it was merely an illusion. The tree seems to flow over her leg like water as she moves. eventually, she removes it and the tree goes back to normal a few moments later.
"That's impossible." Clover is simply staring at me, her magic has stopped its scan of me as she looks at the tree with a dumbfounded expression. Walking up she confirms that the tree is unchanged, poking it a few times with a hoof.
"You'll figure this out when the other alicorns arrive, but alicorns are...weird." Time is gazing at clover intently. Seems she's shaken some of the ponies doubt. Good.
"Clover the clever, I'm about to do for you, what I've not done for any pony since I became the guardian of the timestream." Time lets the severity of her words sink in before she raises her hoof again, this time she begins slowly drawing a circle in the air, a distortion appearing where her foreleg travels until she completes the circle. With a small snap a portal appears. On the other side is a comfy looking room, a pair of high backed chairs in front of a crackling fireplace. The walls are surrounded by books which instantly gets clover's attention. Even with the small view through the portal, she can see there are a lot of tomes lining the walls.
"I invite you to my domain, for now, you can reside in my tower. But I shall allow you to observe the Timestream for a brief moment. This should prove who I say I am." Time gestures toward the portal she just summoned.
"After you, Clover the clever."
The pony looks hesitant, looking back at the cave for a moment.
"Don't worry about being gone for long, I'll bring us back around this time. no matter how long we remain, it will be but a moment to your new friends."
It only just occurs to Time that she's asking a pony to take a lot on faith.
There's probably some irony in there somewhere.
Clover is going through some kind of debate, but her curiosity eventually wins out, moving forward and poking the portal with a hoof. She almost falls into it, expecting there to be resistance when there was none. Standing back up Clover looks at me one final time before fully stepping into my study.
I close the portal behind her and follow her a moment later, using my own means to travel to my tower. When I arrive She is looking at the bookshelves around her, absently trying to remove them from the shelves.
Needless to say, they aren't moving. They seem no more than immovable objects to her, and its obviously frustrating her.
"Care, those are my precious artifacts." My voice causes her to jump, looking at me sheepishly. and muttering an apology. "I only allow specific beings to access any one of them at a time. But I made a promise, I shall allow you to observe the timestream. But only for an instant, staring too long at it is the gateway to madness and depression to most.
Clover visibly swallows at that but nods. Seems many of her doubts are slowly being shaken. This is good, but Time is a mare of her word, she promises something, she keeps that promise.
Motioning to Clover with a 'follow me' gesture Time walks toward the door on the far side of the room. Stopping before opening it. "To the left, is the past, to the right the future. I will shield you from what I can, but don't stare too long into the future." Opening the door the white void outside her tower is revealed.
Time focuses and creates a metal platform for them to step on, pulling the matter from one of her many pockets of space and forging the metal into a small disc. She waits for clover to follow her before she moves the disc from the tower, bringing the timestream into view above them.
The rainbow ribbon of the timestream flows through the void. Flashes of things that happened in the past coloring the flow in a near constant hue of vibrant colors. There are duplicates of Time entering and leaving the timestream at various points, seeming to congregate near specific areas. Clover's gaze moves to them for a moment but it is taken in by the vibrant beauty of the timestream.
As before, the right side forks into a mind-numbing number of branches, the vibrant rainbow colors grey and diseased with chaos as he alters the timeline in ways Time never thought possible. When Time notices Clover's gaze going toward the right She steps forward, blocking the ponies view with a wing. "I warn you, staring into the many potential futures of the world is not something you wish to do, madness lies beyond that path without proper mental training.
Clover flattens her ears against her head, looking down at the white void sheepishly. "Apologies. It...appears my assumptions were wrong. I would have noticed an illusion, though part of me wishes this was." she looks above, looking into the past and seeing a small scene of herself studying with Starswirl the Bearded. "I have so many questions I want to ask." Remembering Starswirl she once again feels like a student, taking her first steps to understanding magic. Getting a big giddy she absently prances in place. "I can see the true history of the world. possibly even see history in the making in pony!" Realizing she's doing a little dance she clears her throat and stops.
"Ignore that. it never happened." The perfectly straight face that clover gives to that statement sets Time to chuckling softly. Moving them back toward the tower Time waits for Clover to enter before collapsing the metal into a small sphere and sending it back to the pocket it came from. Inside the tower once again Time takes a seat in one of the high backed chairs.
Time's mirth disappears immediately when she remembers why she came in the first place. "For bucks sake, I completely forgot about the Grimoire." Face hoofing Time summons her ice tome to her side again. Having left it floating back at the cave of harmony.
Seeing Chaos about to prevent Equestria from being founded could do that to the best of us.
Floating the blue tome closer to the unicorn Time looks at Clover severely, making the pony fidget in place, glancing at the book curiously.
"This is what I call a Grimoire. They are artifacts that I have created as I studied magic in its entirety. I'm sure you see the similarities to the one that Chaos tried to give you." Clover is looking at the book, her eyes reading its title and stopping at the authors initial at the bottom. -T
Before clover can speak Time continues. "That tome would have destroyed you, it would take those values you hold dear, and corrupt them to be a mockery of what they once were." Time waves a hoof in front of her, a glowing set of scales appearing in front of both of them, shimmering with bronze light before them.
"This scale represents Harmony." Time gestures to the floating scales before them. "In a broad sense, there are two types of magic. Keep in mind, this is oversimplified for easy understanding. First, we have Light magic, which includes all magic that flows with harmony." One the left side of the scale a glowing white orb appears.
"Second, we have Dark magic." A black flame surrounded by purple mist appears on the right side of the scale. "This encompasses all magic that goes against harmony, this includes the tome that Cha-" Ahem. "Discord was trying to give you." time points a hoof at Clover. "You are a being of Harmony, your natural alignment is that of the light. Were you to delve into Dark magic the results would be...dire."
Clover nods at this, giving time her full attention. It was similar to what Starswirl theorized but coming from an alicorn it carries greater weight.
"Light and dark are constantly at odds, one cannot exist without the other, but each seeks to overtake its opposite all the same. For every Light being, there is a Dark one. when these forces are even Harmony reigns in the world. A good example of this is the windigoes. The three tribes weren't cooperating in harmony, so to reset the scales the Harmony gave a good reason to get along."
Time looks at clover, a hint of anger in her eyes. "Had you fallen to Darkness I shudder to think what Harmony would have done to reset the scales, it would be a war like no other."
Clover looks puzzled. "Are you trying to tell me Harmony is sentient?"
"Not in any way that you would understand. It has a purpose that drives it forward. would you consider a river to be sentient if you observed it eroding a stone that obstructed its path?"
From high above a black tome flies from its shelf and descends toward them, the room getting colder and colder as the Grimoire moves closer. Soon a sound fills the air, discordant whispers of insane babble can be heard coming from the book. Just being close to it makes Clover shiver. The title Madness. The magic of insanity and instability. graces its front page in jagged, uneven lettering.
Clover shivers this close to the black Grimoire. "That book feels....wrong." She can clearly see the madness contained within, a deep sense of dread filling her.
"As a being of Light, using something against your alignment is not to be done lightly. With Dark magic, any power you think you gain from it only serves to corrupt you further. you may think you control your power, but really, your power controls you."
Clover seems to take this to heart, Shying away from the black tome until Time floats it back to its proper shelf at the top of the tower. This leaves the blue tome floating before Clover. "You probably saw that me and chaos are at odds at the moment, so I decided to do some changing of my own. I've deemed you worthy to hold the Grimoire of Ice." time floats Ice, the magic of cold and freezing to clover who opens it and is instantly dumbstruck by the complexity of the runes on the first page, her eyes eagerly scanning the lines of runes and growing more impressed by the second.
"I must warn you though." Clover pauses in her reading and looks up at Time sitting across from her. "A grimoire contains a complete understanding of ice, if you finish the tome you will be changed. A Frost Mage has certain...traits that come with it. Your magic will begin to change you as you progress, and the tome will take a lifetime to understand."
Clover Looks around her, the rows upon rows of tomes lining the shelves, each one pertaining to an aspect of magic. The amount of accumulated knowledge was staggering.
Being surrounded by such knowledge, and the Alicorn who created it all brings back memories of Clover's teacher Starswirl the bearded, she looks down at the tome she's been given, absently rubbing her hoof over the smooth surface.
she doesn't have the time to fully understand this tome, but maybe.
"Time." Clover looks up at the alicorn expectantly.
"Make me your apprentice."
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
741 users online
920,641 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Welp non the less good read so far, wont say anything but i´d say that first they should complete what was important and then do that wish they want to do.
8705351
mind clarifying what you mean by that? I don't understand the second part of the comment.
8705377
well that the whole point of being vague ;b but in any case im speaking of clover
Another great chapter, I has me wondering what effects will occur with time interfering? Heh
It would be nice if I could get some art for this story. I may have to look through some images to find how I depict Twilight in this story.
Interesting... I would recommend a program like 'Grammarly' or something similar. Even with the free version, it will help a lot.
I shall await the continuation of this, for you have peaked my interest.
Why is this M rated?
BUt good story so far
8726969
There will eventually be mature themes. no sex, but possible death.
dark magic isn't to be trifled with. there are reasons it's not been explored as much as Light magic.
I've decided to Move the rating of the story over to teen. I'll simply watch how I word things that invoke pain. There are many reasons for this, but I don't think this story qualifies as 'Mature' at this point. and since I won't be referencing anything horrible It should be fine.
You have a major problem with capitalization. I find copying and pasting chapters into a word processing program helps to find errors like these. The frequency with which they occur hurts your story.
This chapter is broken. Inconsistencies, missing referred objects and jumping between 1st and 3rd person is just the most notable.
10308510
Thank you for the feedback, these chapters are not very well edited in the middle, I didn't have an editor at the time, and was new to writing.
fixing these early chapters has been on my 'todo' list for quite some time. just finding the drive to fix them is difficult, I got better (and got an editor) later on, so if it's not too much for you, they do get better as I improve over time
I’m a little late to this story, but I honestly was thinking about Clover maybe being Time’s apprentice. I simply thought Time would be the one to offer it
Yes
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 