Against Time

by GoldenChozo

2: The Road to Whinniesburg

The mountain provided excellent shade to the group as they traveled westward. For a while, at least. Once they had gone far enough, the sun peeked over the mountain, casting it's light over the travelers. To help pass time, they all held their own conversations.

"Isn't that your katana that pegasus has on his back?" Chrys asked Nighthawk.

"It definitely looks like it, but I've still got both of mine," Nighthawk replied, lifting his wings to reveal two more swords.

"I thought yours were the only two in existence, though."

He folded his wings again. "They were hoof-made by my grandfather. He gave them both to me before he passed."

"Maybe he made another, and you just never knew about it," Blaze said.

"If that were the case, it would have a white hilt, unless we're currently walking to our death."

"What do you mean?" Blaze asked.

"These swords are special, imbued with a magic spell that makes them change color depending on the wielder's choices. White represents purity, while black represents corruption."

"But yours are black. What does that mean about you?" Chrys asked.

"That's not something I'm willing to talk about," Nighthawk answered, looking down. He ignored further inquiries about his swords as they continued onward. He felt a hoof push his wing up as Blaze attempted to get a look at his cutie mark.

"Wait... A yin-yang?" he said, releasing the wing. "There's another, darker side to you, isn't there?"

"I've had troubles with it in the past..." Nighthawk said quietly, still looking at the ground. Tears began to form in his eyes as he closed them. "I really don't want to talk about it." He opened his eyes when he felt a pair of hooves on his back. Both Chrys and Blaze had a hoof on his back.

"If it pains you this much, then you don't have to talk about it," Blaze said, hoping to comfort Nighthawk.

"Just don't go dark on us while we're doing this," Chrys added.

Nighthawk smiled. "Don't worry, I only go dark now if my best friends are about to be killed." The three shared a laugh.

***

"So what do you think happened, Thunder?" Zephyr asked.

"What do you mean?" Thunder returned.

"Ace said it was his fault that the Princess was taken."

Thunder thought for a moment. "I have no idea," he finally responded. "He said the truth is what got us into this mess when we reached Canterlot. What do you suppose he meant by that?"

"I don't know, but he said the same thing to me last night." Zephyr brought up something else on her mind. "You don't suppose Ace is bad, do you?"

"I never actually thought of that. But if he was, then why would he be trying to rescue the Princess?"

"It could be a trap. He might be trying to get the ones he knows could resist him out of the way."

"But the Princess has been captured. He could just use her as a bargaining chip if he wanted, so why go to the trouble to get rid of us?" Zephyr ran out of ideas. "We've known Ace for years, and he's never led us wrong. Why shouldn't we trust him now?"

"You're probably right," Zephyr said after a moment in thought. "But still, what do you think happened?"

"I have no idea. What about you, any ideas?"

"Ace told me the Princess sacrificed herself to save him."

"But if she's dead, then where are we going?" Thunder asked.

"She's immortal. Since she can't die, she's being held somewhere."

"That makes sense, but that doesn't answer the question of what happened. I'm sure we'll figure it out by the time we go home. If not, then we can press Ace to try and find out."

"Already tried that, didn't work too well," Zephyr said. "Somehow, it ended up with me going against my better judgement and coming along."

"Then we'll have to work together next time. He may be able to outsmart you, but it'll be near impossible to outsmart both of us at once."

They continued on in relative silence, unsure of what else to talk about until Thunder spoke up.

"Any idea who the unicorn is?" he said.

"No, but she looks a lot like the Princess..." Zephyr trailed off. "You don't think that's the Princess, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"The Princess was captured, Ace knows she's being kept somewhere. There's this strange unicorn that looks an awful lot like the Princess, who only turned up after the Princess was taken. Maybe that's her prison."

"I see what you mean. But why wouldn't Ace tell us this?"

"Maybe because he can't," Zephyr said.

"Right..." Thunder thought for a moment. "What if she's just Princess Luna's envoy?"

"Her what?"

"What if she sent the unicorn to tell somepony she was taken?"

"But why Ace? Why wouldn't she go to the Guards?"

"There are Guards behind us," Thunder pointed out.

"Right. I just find it hard to trust Ace after he said it was his fault."

They left it at that. They continued on with little more conversation between them. Hardly anypony spoke when they stepped off the path and under a large tree for lunch. They moved on after fifteen minutes, once they had all eaten their share.

***

"During that conversation with the strange alicorn, was there anything that may have indicated why Luna gave herself up like that?" Ace asked.

"Actually, the alicorn was her father," Stella replied.

"Her father?" Ace asked. "Pepper mentioned that I should try and find out what happened to him at the temple. Why didn't you recognize him?"

"I only have Luna's memories as far back as after she was saved by the Elements of Harmony."

"But you can understand that ancient language, which hasn't been used in millennia."

"Wisdom and memory are two different things," Stella responded. "Luna passed a lot of her wisdom to me when I was born. Unfortunately, most of that wisdom is pretty much useless in the modern day."

"Such as that language?"

"Exactly," Stella said, smiling.

"What other useless knowledge do you have?" Ace asked.

"Mostly regarding royal duties and expectations from a millennium ago. Apparently, they've changed quite a bit since then."

"Do you think Luna wanted you to take her place?"

Stella didn't know how to respond. "Certainly not," she said hesitantly. "She was prepared to fight to keep us alive. Besides, I'm just a unicorn. I would only be able to rule for a short time before I die."

"Princess Celestia might be able to do something about that."

"I've seen their royal duties, and they're not very interesting," Stella joked. "I'd much rather live a normal life. As close to one as I can, that is."

"I can understand that," Ace responded. "I don't know too much about that kind of stuff, but I don't think I would want to get into it."

"I could teach you about it sometime if you want. My understanding of it is very outdated, though."

"I just said I don't want to get into it, whether it's modern or ancient."

"Alright, suit yourself," Stella mused.

The sun was starting to go down. This brought Ace to realize something. "Isn't Celestia out of the country?" he asked.

"Yes," Stella answered. "Why?"

"Who's controlling the sun, moon, and stars, then?"

"Celestia's niece, Cadance. She's in charge while both Celestia and Luna are out of the country. That includes the skies." Stella looked up. "Now that you mention it, she's got the stars completely wrong..." She trailed off, both her and Ace silently laughing at the comment.

***

"Welcome to Whinniesburg!" was written on a sign beside the road. The sun and moon were equally along the horizon when they reached it. Instinctively, Ace and Stella led the rest to the Whinniesburg Inn, where they were greeted by two enthusiastic ponies.

"Hello and welcome to Whinniesburg Inn! My name's Summer, and this is my brother, Silver," one of the attendants said.

"Would you like to stay a night?" The stallion named Silver asked.

"Yes, please," Stella said.

"Okay, if you two would follow me," Summer motioned to Stella and Zephyr to follow her as she went down the hall and into a room on the left.

"And if the rest of you would follow me," Silver said. He came out of the counter before adding, "I'm sorry, sir, but we do not allow weapons beyond the desk. Could you place it on the counter?" Ace did as instructed, and Silver led them to a room across the hall from the mares.

***

"So what's your name?" Zephyr asked after immediately jumping to one of the seven beds laid against the wall.

"Stella," she replied, taking the same bed she was in the last time she was here. "And you?"

"Zephyr Lane."

"Nice to formally meet you, Zephyr Lane."

"Where are you from?" Zephyr asked.

"I was born here, in this very inn, but I've spent most of my life in Canterlot."

"Do you know what's up with Ace?"

"I do, actually. In a way, it's my own fault we're even doing this."

"His fault, your fault, whose fault is it really?" Zephyr pressed angrily.

"Really, it was both of ours. But I try not to blame him, as he wouldn't have done anything without my influence."

"Then you're really to blame for Princess Luna's abduction?"

"That directly is both of ours, but Ace blames himself more since it was his idea."

"What was his idea?" Zephyr sat up in her bed, anger replaced by intrigue.

"Remember back at Canterlot how Ace said the truth is what got us into this mess?" Zephyr nodded. "Well, Ace and I have a secret. We told the rest of the ponies who went to Canterlot with Ace. We knew the price was our lives, but we didn't expect the others to be dragged into that equation. Luna stepped in to try and defend us, and that's when she was taken."

"What kind of secret is it?" Zephyr asked eagerly.

"You ask a lot of questions, you know that?" Stella joked. "I'm not sure I can answer that one. Last time I tried to clue somepony in to figure it out on their own, it literally killed them. I don't want you to meet that same fate."

"Can't you give me a hint?"

"You'll be told soon, just give it some time," Stella laid down on the bed, prepared to ignore any further questions. The emphasis on time was overlooked by Zephyr. She seemed to know she wouldn't get anything more out of Stella, so she laid back down as well. They each made themselves comfortable and fell asleep.