The Meaning of Time/An Hour of Judgment

by TimeRarity64

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

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It only took a few steps for the alicorn of time to stumble up the stairs as he headed towards his room. He was tired and required rest, but with his body’s condition, it became the obstacle in his way to reaching his quarters. His wings ached, his muscles cried out agony, and his vision was blurry. Any further and he would surely collapse in front of his doorstep. Each breath was rough and full of pain. Seconds felt like minutes of unbearable pain as he continued down the red carpet layout hall.

He soon stopped and planted the side of his shoulder against the wall, staring down the corridor with a horrified expression. Sweat rolled down his forehead, soaking up his fur as his breath became visible in the air. His eyes narrowed as his teeth gritted into an angry snarled. He puffed out air through his nose before his wings flared in air. Sand began swirling around him, preparing to launch out an attack at his will. His eyes flared in anger, seeking to grant pain to whatever was ahead to arouse his fury.

Then, taking a few steps forward before breaking into a run, he launched himself forward and gave off a deafening yell that caused the place itself to shake. This was the sign of darkness making its way through whatever path was in front of it, leaving behind a purging black fire that was impossible to extinguish or overpower.

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When the ground shook, fear ran up through Twelve’s back as she began panicking. She stared at the door in terror as she backed towards the confined Luna. She had witnessed this sudden destructive wave of madness from her father before and only grimaced at the thought of remembering the first time it began. She shook her head and quickly looked at her aunt.

“I…I am sorry, but I have to leave you. Whatever he does…whatever it is…forgive him. He’s sick…and has no clue in the pain he is causing to everybody dear to him.” She said, not wishing to stay any longer, she vanished in a gust of sand that slowly sank into the cracks in the floor.

Luna remained confuse, unsure what Twelve meant; however her body froze in terror when she felt dark magic, familiar to the time she was Nightmare Moon, coming close to the door. She did not know how to prepare herself for whatever monstrous doing that was going to be done upon her, so she began struggling, hoping to break free from the torturous cables that had sunk into her fur and skin.

The doors then swung open, flying through their hinges until they collided with a shattering bang against the walls. A sand dragon entered into the room, glaring at Luna with its white eyes. When it began sinking into the ground, Déjà vu stood in its place, absorbing the sand into his body. Luna could see the red lines in his eyes as they drilled holes into her very soul.

“I’ve captured your sister and your friends,” his tone was laced with venom as his glare did not fault, “if you failed, I will replace you with one of them, starting with Celestia.” He said.

Luna became shock at the callousness within her brother’s tone. This Déjà vu was only a monster, seeking to give only pain more than anything else. What made him like this? She had wondered from the start but had no answer. Then, the pain from the cables shot up again right into her spine and limbs. The alicorn of the moon cried out in agony before a sand tendril wrapped around her throat, beginning to choke her.

Déjà vu did not laugh or made a single mocking noise to express his pleasure in choking her, instead he coldly glare at her as she struggled through the pain and for air. Tears came down Luna’s eyes as she moved her lips, begging her brother mutely to stop his torture. The alicorn of time became furious, finding her pleas to being pointless and irritating. He squeezed harder until he saw red in her eyes as more tears came down. Eventually, all that left Luna’s mouth was soft painful huffs. When her body was beginning to grow weak and her eyes started to lower, he released his tendrils from their grip and watched as the cables ended their part of the torment.

Luna took in a deep breath of air, beginning to function properly, but while she panted, she frightening stared at Déjà vu who made no fazing expression. This brother of hers was dead and all that was left of him was the body of a soulless monster.

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“My brother…suffered because of me, so I must take full responsibility.” Celestia stated, staring down at her subjects calmly.

“Princess Celestia, with all due respect, w’at y’all gotta do that for? He’s dangerous as it is.” Applejack stated, staring at her ruler with a worried expression.

“Plus, what if you can’t defeat him and save Luna?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Celestia brushed aside the possibilities of her being defeated by her brother. The thought of such possibilities was better off being ignored. She needed to save her sister and regain the elements of harmony from her mad brother anyway she could. Staring down at her worried subjects, she spoke, keeping calm still.

“Twilight, do you remember those spells I said to you that was forbidden of being use?” She asked.

Twilight nodded her head.

“You can now use them, but only in self-defense. You must help the others escape once I retrieve the elements of harmony.” She said, turning her back to them as she focused on the locked cell door.

“A-are you sure?” Twilight questioned, but she felt a sudden chill stroll down her back causing the fur on her back to stand up.

“Yes,” Celestia began, “be sure to make good use of them.”

Twilight remained quiet, unaware that the only person who noticed her change of mood and fur stance was Applejack.

“I entrust you all with each other’s life. Remember, with your friendship, good will always triumph over evil.” She said as her horn began glowing black.

No pony spoke next. They stood there silent and shock as their ruler struggle casting spell. Shaking her head, Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she went by her mentor’s side, attempting to use her dark magic. Sweat rolled down their foreheads as magic sparked from their horns. They gritted their teeth, increasing their energy, using as much as they could to break through the spell.

“If they continue this any longer, they will surely tire themselves out!” Rarity said, trotting next to Twilight, using whatever magic she had to break through the barrier’s exit. She knew no forbidden magic, but she still assisted anyway she could.

The three were not the only ones trying to break free as the guards and the others began hitting the gates, using their shoulders and strong hooves. Fluttershy assisted, though kept away from hurting herself. She struggle pushing the bars, but no matter how strong the magic from the three unicorns and the strength from the guards and her friends, they were unable to break through.

None gave up though.

Eventually, they all stopped when sand began forming outside of the cell, seeping out from the cracks. They froze and waited for whatever came out from the large puddle of sand. When a pony emerged, slowly absorbing the sand, Pinkie Pie went into a karate stance as the others prepared themselves. Fluttershy hid behind Applejack, afraid of seeing the sand dragon again.

But instead of a sand dragon or Déjà vu himself, there was the young Twelve. Her horn glowed brightly, opening the cage. The ponies stared at her shock, but relieved, but soon suspicious.

“Who are you?” Celestia questioned, opening her wings, granting cover for the others.

Sensing the vice in her aunt’s tone, she answered quickly. “I’m Twelve,” she gulped, “your niece.”

Celestia remained unfazed as her horn started glowing dark.

“I’m not like my little my siblings to begin with. I’m here to help you stop my father.” She said, frightened from her aunt’s killer gaze.

“How should we even believe you?” She asked.

Twelve thought for a moment before nodding her head. “I-I free you, I spoke to Auntie Luna, and…I…I don’t know what else to say from there.” She said. She watched as her aunt’s killer gaze soften and her wings folded slowly.

“Why are you helping us?” Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes, leaning down to Twelve’s eye level.

“I…I’m afraid. My father is a monster. He’s…not himself.” She said in a terrified tone.

Celestia stared at the small pony for a few seconds before backing up, giving her space. She glanced back at the others and motioned them out the cell. Her gazing expression did not spare the words for them to get the message she wanted to speak privately to the filly. Quickly, the ponies escaped, heading right where the exit was located at.

“Twelve is it? May you tell me why he is doing this? What is his real plan?” She asked, looking at him.

“You mean with the elements of harmony?” She asked, looking at her.

“Tell me everything; what does he really want with them.”

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“Where do we go?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around the long hallways.

“I think we go left!” Pinkie yelled.

“Maybe right.” Fluttershy said.

“Ms. Sparkle, what do you suggest?” One guard asked the nervous unicorn that stared down the stone steps.

“I…don’t know,” she muttered, beginning to look around, “I honestly don’t know at all.”

Her eyes soon widened when she felt the pulse again, but it was within her body where it came from. Her tongue became dry as her pupils shrunk into small dots. The others soon froze into ice, causing her to panic as the hallways began freezing. The fire on the torches, too, became frozen. What was ahead that gave off a dark, gut-wrenching laughter that bellow down the hall, caused the mare to panic and back up. But instead of feeling steps behind her, she felt a solid wall of cold ice.

She turned around and was facing her reflection. What was behind her though from the mirror’s perspective was a large dark figure in the form of an alicorn. The figure’s cold eyes stared at her with malice as it began walking towards her. She turned around and stood in her place, trembling in terror as it stopped and leaned down until their eyes faced one another.

She wanted to yell, but the fear had prevented such actions. Her body remained paralyzed as body became colder in fear than hot on the inside. Then it spoke, sounding male and cold.

“The Old Ones seemed to have seen potential in you. How pathetic that they picked me, of all dead stars, to watch over your pathetic soul that should be cast into the grieving depths of Yomi or maybe take a ride on Charon’s boat into the depths of Hades where Menos will judge your wretched fate.”

She had heard him before, but his tone was clear and not loud. It was blunt and deep. It carried its malice and balanced its pride. But something told her, and she tried denying it, that somewhere out there prevented this thing from harming her as she would presume it wanted to.

“Do keep your tongue stray, peasant, speak!!” He ordered.

“W-who…wh-what are you?!” She asked.

“I am the keeper of the stars, the inescapable void born in our hearts, the one leading his kind through a conquest against the heretics; what I am, is the son of the void. Where the Nexus cannot keep up with its source of producing harmony and chaos, I come to swallow what was left behind into the void; into the realm of Nihilheim.”

“Nihilheim…are you…Hollow Void?” Twilight questioned.

“Hollow Void is a name given by the Old Ones but not kept by me. I have no name, for how can I if it, too, had been swallowed up into the void?”

Twilight became confused.

“It is obvious you are confused. I understand why, but I also do not have time to not care. To be honest, you are better off wherever the Old Ones want you at.”

“W-what happened to my friends?” She questioned, forgetting the hallway and the others were frozen in ice.

“I have frozen this section of time. A skill I copied off my brother before he killed me.”

“What do you look like?” She asked, her fear began decreasing, but she remained cautious of the large alicorn before her.

“Form, form you ask of, FORM?!!” he began laughing, finding her question merely a joke, “peasant, I am dead! I have no form! I am only a spirit without body or form. My body’s probably gone anyway.”

Twilight noticed the change of his tone being…disappointed.

“Why are you…here anyway?” She asked.

“To watch over your pathetic soul, the Old Ones ordered me to do so. Plus, I would not mind getting revengeance against the blasted pest that killed me,” he said, soon, white lines formed on his dark lips as his eyes narrowed, “so I had to come and watch as you made it this far to this pathetic castle.”

“That fog…was it you that caused that?” She asked.

“That blasted defense spell my brother learned epochs ago, please, I had no doing towards it.” He answered.

“Can you help me and my friends get the Elements of Harmony and escape this place?” Twilight asked, causing the dead spirit to look at her quietly before scoffing.

“I cannot. I am trap in this realm where only you can see me.” He said, looking down the dark hallway.

“Is there any other way you can help us at least? These Old Ones ordered you to watch over me, so there must be a real good reason why. I’m sure it is to protect me, “Why they ordered such a thing was not to help you…but give you the premonition of this tragic story you play in.”

“Tragic story, the entire world is at stake and we need to retrieve the, “those blasted tools my sister conjured up from planet’s energy is pointless and quite redundant.” He interrupted her, causing her to remain silent.

Walking up to a frozen Fluttershy, the dark being lowered his head to her, grinning as his eyes stared into her stiff frightened ones.

“They are inessential in preventing my brother from completing his goal. Apparently, my other sister, Luna is actually beneficial and will surely die in the next few hours if no one frees her from those draining cables.” He said, looking back at her with a cold grin.

“Princess Luna, you have to deactivate this spell so we can save her!” Twilight yelled as panic sprung up in her, but she received a cruel laughter. He sardonically mocked her with his smile and shook his head.

“Saving her is pointless, do you have any clue how big this place is and where his throne room is located at? Trying to save that worthless mare would be time consuming. You should worry about escaping this place than finding her.” He said.

Twilight saw the cruelty being expressed through his words. She gave him a disgusted look, offended by his attitude towards his own blood. When she opened her mouth, she stopped and shook her head. She was no longer afraid of him, but angry.

“How could you say such a thing to your own sister? Have you ever considered them being more than just your kind, but family?! Celestia and Luna risked their reputation to keep you guys hidden from ignominy! No pony out there knows you, or any other creature outside of Equestria because they did not want their own brothers being scarred and hated for the rest of their lives!”

Hollow did not flinch from her words. He expressed nothing more than his white smile, but it soon vanished when he began thinking about it again. He fought to give his kind freedom and control over the world. If ponies today or even the world was to know the outcome of his conquest, he would have been considered a fool who had it over his head.

“Lies!” he yelled, “they truly would never understand the trouble my kind went through! We were forced to be slaves, serving under countries that despised our guts! What I did saved them all, it brought freedom! This world belongs to the equine species, not some blasted creature that can walk, slither, fly, or talk and call themselves children of the planet.”

Twilight knew she hit a weak spot in the dead pony. His pride.

“I saved millions! My brother, if he was not a greedy fool, we would have finally free and save this world from the darkness those creatures blanket it in. Now, my two sisters foolishly believe peace would protect them from the war those vile creatures in dirty thrones are plotting, she is terribly wrong!”

“What they did…was to end the bloodshed you and your brother had started.” She said, silencing him as his glare grew cold, steering daggers into her skin.

“What…are you trying to get at?” He asked.

“You have two sisters that been through what you and your brother been through, but they did not ended in with lives at stake. They did not dare kill one another. I am sure you know Princess Luna was also considered Nightmare Moon, correct?” She asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, when me and my friends many years ago came into the picture, she captured came back from her prison and imprisoned Celestia, holding her hostage. Me and my friends came and used the Elements of Harmony to vanquish Nightmare Moon from her body, thus saving her and Princess Celestia. My mentor forgave her and began telling her the things that happened since she was gone. It did not take long for them to get use and forget the trouble that was caused in past.”

“What does that have to do with me and Déjà vu?” He asked.

“You two ended it differently. Instead of calling it a truce and returning home to see what happened all those many years, he killed you in his final battle and returned to Equestria to find out peace was made by all the nation leaders. Sadly, he was forgotten for many good reasons and did not see clearly why. It was to protect his return, along with yours if you two were to return together. This was only possible for you two to restart your lives and live happily!”

“Happily? How could I live happily if the world still required alicorns?!”

“It didn’t anymore. I read my history books written by many journalists with personal experience throughout the time. Technology advanced. There was an easy way in maintaining the nation’s vital resources. All that was needed was the moon and sun and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna clearly had that handled. There was no more fighting needed. Everypony became friends with the species outside of Equestria. Peace was settled and still goes on today.”

Hollow Void scoffed, finding it impossible. “Peace can never be maintained forever you know? War has ways in sneaking into that pleasuring cycle and causing chaos to spread across the world.”

“That was handled, too. A draconequus by the name of Discord attempted to plunge the world into chaos. Celestia had us, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony to make him turn into stone! We save the world from chaos.”

“I don’t believe it, how in the world did you use such pitiful tools to stop inevitable events? Has harmony become the omnipotent in this world?” He asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head, “chaos still exists in this world, but good…good will always triumph over it.” She said.

“What pointlessness.” He growled.

“You should be grateful they went through all the trouble to protect you two, if it were I, I would have you two go into Tartarus, but that’s not me. I would see to it that you learn from your mistakes and be forgiven.” She said, causing him to glare at her angrily.

“And who in the blazes do you think you are talking to like that?” He growled, lowering his head towards her.

“I am talking to a coward who believes that he is a savior, but all he is, is a coward that will abandon his two sisters for his own selfish gain.” She said, narrowing her eyes while keeping her stance directly forward. This was a sign of insult which Hollow did not taken so well. Sadly, he did not do anything but remained still, glaring angrily at her.

“What is it that you really want?” He asked.

“To save the world and end this madness.” Twilight answered.

Hollow Void had lost, but did not show its effects on him. He lifted his head to the air and backed away, scoffing. “I will lift the spell and see whatever I could to assist on helping you save my pathetic sister.” Twilight looked at him shocked as his dark horn began glowing.

“Thank you, “Don’t you thank me, peasant. Be glad that the Old Ones have me on a blasted leash or I would have abolished your existence.” He said, turning away and walking down the dark hallway. Twilight watched as the prideful dead spirit begins vanishing into the darkest depths of the hall as the ice soon began melting away.

When everything returned to normal, a bright flash shined before her eyes, blinding her. When the light died down and her vision returned to normal she found herself next to massive door, but resting unconsciously on the ground beside her was her friends and the guards.

“It seems they could not handle my teleportation spell so very well.” Hollow stated, gazing directly at the door.

“Are they okay?” Twilight asked.

“They’re alright, but first, you must worry about now. In this room is where you will find the way to save Luna. Be careful though, what you will see will perhaps change your world.” Hollow said, fading away as Twilight opened the door and cautiously walked into the room.

When she was in, she gasped and stared at the massive hourglass in shock.

“What in Celestia…is that an hourglass?!” She shouted.

“What do you think it is?” Twilight jumped back in fright after being startled by the blond colt’s voice. He emerged from the dark corners, glaring angrily at her as his horn began glowing brightly.

Twilight got up and stood her ground. “Where are the Elements of Harmony and what is this?!” She yelled.

The colt stared at her in disgust before stomping his right hoof on the ground. “This here is what will end father’s suffering once the Elements of Harmony of no use. Where they are exactly is not here, but above us where his throne is a few floors above slowly becoming one with Auntie Luna, slowly killing her.”

“Look, I know what happened back then was too much for him, but you have to understand that if this does not stop, Princess Luna will die and the world will surely be fated to its end.” Twilight said, hoping to strike reasoning into the colt.

The colt gritted his teeth and launched a sand spell. The lavender mare gasped before leaping to the side. The sand morphed into a tendril grabbing her right hind leg, pulling her back. Twilight used a fire spell to free her from the tendril shocking the small colt as he felt his body being wrapped in a rope of magic.

“What is this, why is it black?!” The colt yelled as he was lifted up to the air. Twilight sighed in relief, wiping sweat from her forehead before glancing at hourglass. She started ignoring the colt’s demands to free him and proceeded forward to the hourglass while taking wary attention with the large cables that was through the ceiling above her.

When Twilight reached out to touch the glass, the colt yelled.

“Don’t touch that or she will die!”

She froze in place and looked at him confuse, before glancing back at the hourglass. Within it caused her eyes to widen. She had no words to explain what was inside the hourglass.

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-To Be Continued-