Keepers

Cael had gotten used to the wind. At first it annoyed her as they changed locations, it made it difficult to breath. She ignored it now though as the black void turned into a mix of white and grey.

Cael let out an annoyed sigh when the wind turned cold. The warmth around her hooves faded and the cold temperature stung as icy snow began to blow into her face. It only lasted a moment though, as the wind quickly died down.

It was snowing hard, and the ground around them was white. It was quite a contrast to the suffocating darkness the other place included, but Cael would still rather be there than this frozen wasteland.

Taking a look at the landscape, she saw it was snow and hills as far as the eye could see. There were occasionally some hills that could be counted as mountains, but still not ridiculously large. The area around them had no trees and provided next to no cover due to the emptiness of the world. It reminded Cael of Alaria's place, only there was a little more variety and temperature difference.

The location was certainly large, but it was hard to tell with the heavy snow falling around them. Cael never liked the cold. It got on her nerves far more than heat ever did. Cold was something that could make you feel alone. That was one thing Cael hated. Being alone.

That was why she was so terrified, when she realized her friends were nowhere in sight.

Aevum, Madia and Flain were gone. She couldn't find them anywhere. She began looking around again much more frantically now. "Madia? Aevum? Flain? Where are you guys?" She called out. Her voice echoed from towards the higher hills, showing it carried far.

There was no response however. She cautiously took a couple steps towards one of the nearby mountains, being careful as to her surroundings. One reason she didn't like being alone was because she could only rely on her own vision. There wasn't anyone else who could warn her about something.

She sighed as she accepted the fact they had either been split up, or weren't with her at all. Either way she had to carry on the trial. They had come to far to fail now.

It was fortunate the wind wasn't blowing too hard. It would have made it a lot colder. She made her way through the thick snow towards one of the mountains, hoping to find something of value or help there. Especially shelter.

Unfortunately the trial had other plans. The mountains seemed to shift as she got closer. She strained to see carefully and realized the mountain was a lot farther away than it looked. The heavy snow that was falling had made it appear closer.

Cael considered try to teleport over there, but it would be difficult to pinpoint a location and go that distance with all the snow falling. The trial was working against her in everyway. She now knew how Madia and Flain felt during their trials.

Suddenly there was a low rumbling sound, and everything seemed to shake. Cael looked around nervously, then there was another sound that sounded like something had crashed into the ground, but it echoed and sounded watery and hollow.

The snow began to get thicker and everything was warming up a little. It was still freezing cold though. She was thankful for the slightly better temperature, but it made the snow heavier and more wet.

Once again the echoing banging sound came from all around her. Including beneath her.

Cael thought of something that made her heart skip a beat. She quickly began brushing the snow on the ground around her away. The snow was about a foot deep, but when she got through she didn't like what she saw.

She was standing on ice, and it was cracked. It was fairly thick, but water was seeping through some of the cracks.

Cael took a step and the ice shuddered. It was clearly weak and ready to break if she moved too much. She stood there trying to think of what to do next. She could teleport away but she had no idea how far the ice extended.

She was in a bad spot and had no idea how to get out of it safely.

Then she thought about her powers. If space had power over matter, could she make the water freeze without a lower temperature? She decided it was worth a shot.

Her horn glowed as she tried using her magic to make the ice stronger. It seemed to be working until her energy started depleting. She stopped and decided she would have to work with what she had.

Carefully taking a step forward, the ice cracked and threatened to give out. Suddenly a voice spoke in her head. "Cael, it's Madia. The ice towards your left is strong and thick. You need to walk in that direction towards the small hill." Madia suddenly spoke to her.

"Madia? Where are you?" Cael asked. "I'm out towards the hill I mentioned. Hurry the ice is melting!" She said urgently. Cael took and deep breath and stepped towards the hill, which she assumed now must be the bank of the river or frozen lake.

Madia was right. The ice held firm as she slowly made way across.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and the sound of water spraying up. The ice beneath Cael cracked and shook. Cael looked behind her. A splash of icy water had come up out of the snow covered ice.

Cael watched for a moment. There was a massive hole in the ice. "Oh no..." Cael said as she guessed what had happened. Something had fallen through the ice, but what?

She regretted asking the question, as a moment later there was a crack beneath her hooves. She looked down and brushed the snow away. There was something under the ice. It was her sister. She was banging on the ice trying to get out.

"Variel!" Cael yelled in shock. She immediately slammed her hoof onto the ice. "Cael, no!" Madia's voice echoed in her mind. She didn't care. She smashed the ice again this time with both hooves and the ice broke.

It set off a chain react and the ice broke all around her. She fell in and felt the freezing cold water chill her to the bone. She forced her eyes open to look in the water. She swam to her sister and wrapped her arms and hooves around her in a protective grip.

She imagined the hill she had seen earlier and on a single spot on top of the hill. A green light surrounded her and her little sister as they suddenly teleported to the top of the hill, taking a large portion of water with them.

They landed on the ground with a thud and lay there a moment shivering, cold and wet. "V-v-variel... a-are you alright?" Cael asked, trying to keep her voice steady. Variel just whimpered and clung to her sister desperately.

Cael held took one hoof off to see if they were on solid ground. She brushed the snow aside and found what looked like dead, flattened grass. She sighed with relief and tried to relax and gain her energy back. The teleporting had taken a lot out of her, especially with two ponies.

"C-C-Cael... w-w-why are w-we here?" Variel finally spoke. "W-where are w-w-we?" Her sister asked shaking. "I'm n-not s-sure..." Cael responded. She looked around for a moment looking for Madia, but she was nowhere to be found.

After a little while, Cael and her sister stood up. Still frozen by the cold water clinging to her, Cael looked around again. She saw faint hoof prints leading one direction, but they were long, like someone was in a hurry.

Cael was getting worried now. Why would Madia just suddenly run off like that? She was about to follow the tracks, when a voice stopped her. "Cael? Is that you?" She turned around and saw Aevum approaching, just as soaked through as they were.

"Aevum, there you are. Have you seen the others? Madia was here a moment ago but she disappeared." Cael wasn't stuttering any more as she asked Aevum a question. "I'm afraid not. When I first arrived I was alone. Who's that?" He asked gesturing towards the young orange filly beside Cael.

"This is my sister Variel. I found her in the water just moments ago and saved her." She explained. Aevum looked surprised. "What? How did she end up in the trials?" He wondered aloud. "I'm not sure. Either way she's safe now." Cael said.

"Alright. We need to find the others now." Aevum said. "I was just about to follow what I think are Madia's hoof prints." Cael said walking over to the imprints in the snow.

Variel spoke again, her voice quivering. "C-Cael, I want t-to go home..." She said. "I know, I do too." Cael responded. She hated taking her sister through the dangerous trial like this, but she had no choice. They had to hurry and finish this trial. The sooner the better.

They began to follow the hoof prints through the thick snow, making sure to check every once in a while whether or not they were standing on ice, or solid ground.

After a while though, they stopped when they heard a struggling voice crying for help. Aevum turned to it first, and he suddenly grew tense. "Aevum? What's wrong?" Cael asked. She felt foolish asking the question shortly after, because when she saw what he was looking at she understood instantly.

Laying there on the ground covered in snow, was Aevum's father. "Father! Are you alright?" Aevum asked rushing forwards. Cael chased after him, with Variel trailing behind.

Cael and Aevum helped the old pony up onto his hooves. Cael looked at him a little confused with how much different he looked from before. His hair was now gray, almost white and almost all the colour had drained from him.

"Father what happened to you?" Aevum asked. "I just remember sitting in my home, and suddenly I'm sent here..." He responded weakly. "No, I mean why are you so colourless?" Aevum questioned. "I don't know... I hardly noticed." His father answered.

The pony all in all looked older than he did before at the settlement. Something was going seriously wrong.

"Either way we need to get you out of here!" Aevum said concerned. "Let's keep following the hoof prints. Maybe they will lead to our friends, or better, the crystal." Cael didn't like taking Variel and now Aevum's father through this. But she knew it was the only way to get them out.

Cael wished Flain were there. He could have easily made them feel warmer with his powers. "Aevum, what happened to you anyways? How did you find me?" Cael asked. "After I fell through some ice into the water, I came up on the shore and saw you in the distance." Aevum told her.

So Aevum had fallen through the ice as well, that meant there was a lot of ice around. That made things complicated. It would be hard to avoid it if it was scattered around everywhere.

Suddenly they heard a splash, and the familiar sound of ice cracking. Cael immediately checked the ground beneath them. Sure enough it was ice, but thicker than before.

Cael and Aevum looked out towards where the sound came from. Cael couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it. Shooting into the sky was a massive splash of water, however it was frozen. At least, that was what Cael thought until they got closer.

The water was definitely frozen, but not in ice. It was frozen in time. Droplets and large splashes of water hung in mid air. There was a hole in the ice around it, and cracks went out from the hole in all directions.

Something must have struck the ice with a lot of force to cause such a large splash and hole. It was larger than a pony by far.

"What happened here?" Aevum asked. "I certainly didn't do this." He said bewildered. Cael circled the unusual splash of water, eyeing it suspiciously. "I don't understand... Only you can control time in any way other than Discortunal." Cael said a moment later.

Aevum shook his head. "Not true. King Nocturne has some control over time, but I doubt he would mess with the trial this directly." He reasoned.

Another explosive splash came from past the first one. As Cael expected there was another plume of water up in the air, only there was something more around the area. Cael could see two ponies facing off with each other. One was green.

Cael quickly guessed it was Madia, but she couldn't make out the other colour. There seemed to be more than one colour mixed in.

"Aevum look, there's Madia! Let's go help her!" Cael said to her companion. "Right. Father, you stay here with Cael's sister. It's dangerous over there." He said turning to his father. His now feeble looking father nodded and Cael took off ahead, barely waiting for Aevum.

The other pony was moving fast, and seemed to bounce off of thin air as it tried to hit Madia. Cael was thankful that Madia was so good at predicting movements.

When they finally got close enough, Madia barely even took notice of them. The other pony did. It almost seemed to teleport it was in front of them so fast. Aevum however, was just as fast. He came from the side and struck the pony that had tried to attack Cael.

It went skidding across the ice and snow. When it stopped it glared at them with pure bright green eyes.

All of a sudden Cael recognized the strange pony.

The pony wore a deep red cloak and look around her age. It was clearly a colt based on its eyes and mane. His facial expression was clearly angry, but only moderately annoyed. He was calm and frowned slightly. His main was a brownish red colour, and was smooth hung down past the pony's ears slightly. It wasn't too long, but long enough to be considered longer than most colts manes.

His ears seemed to turn black the closer you got to the tips of them. A dark pattern circled around the middle of his body and his neck. It was abstract and was only slightly darker than his central colour. The pony had a unicorn horn that was glowing red with magic.

However what shocked Cael the most was this ponies colour. The pony was a bright, vivid yellow that seemed to glow slightly. Cael began to see terrifying similarities. The head shape, the mane style, the cloak and now the central colour.

Cael was sure of it. The unusual pony standing before them, was Aevum.

"What the buck?" Aevum said in complete confusion. Apparently that moment of confusion was what the pony wanted. The pony was behind Aevum in a flash and reared up on his back legs to smash on top of Aevum with his front.

Aevum noticed this quickly though, and got out of the way right before the hooves came smashing down. The false Aevum's hooves struck the ice, and Cael expected him to smash through and fall into the water.

It didn't though. Instead an indent lay there in the ice and the ice didn't even crack. Cael could honestly care less by this time though.

Cael teleported to Madia's side as the dark Aevum went launching towards the keeper of dream. Cael stood her ground and smiled mischievously and she raised her hoof to stop the oncoming pony. The other pony suddenly disappeared in a blur and was suddenly over top of Cael.

Cael didn't have enough time to react as the pony came down to strike her. Suddenly the real Aevum came running in out of nowhere and jumped over Cael as if to tackled the pony away. The false Aevum noticed this and looked at Aevum smirking.

Aevum had other plans than to let the fake one mess with him. He suddenly appeared on the opposite side, the side fake Aevum wasn't looking and crashed into him at an equal force as before. They both went tumbling and sliding across the ice and snow as both tried to fight against the other.

Cael went to help, but a voice stopped her. "Cael, please don't do this." It was Variel's voice. Cael turned to find her sister facing her. "What are you doing here Variel?" Cael asked, a little annoyed. "Sister, stop this. Please don't hurt yourself." She said quivering.

Cael sighed and was about to say something but her sister cut her off. "Don't hurt yourself, let us do it for you." The voice was no longer quivering. Cael was about to ask what she meant, but she didn't bother when the dark orange pattern appeared around her sister's body and neck.

Her ears suddenly changed into the same colour pattern as the false Aevum and her eyes turned bright green. Suddenly grew, but not just in size. Her mane became longer and she almost seemed to age. When she stopped she looked about the exact same age as Cael.

"Hello sister, would you like to feel real cold?" She said in a much more mature voice than before. Her sister whirled around and kicked Cael in the jaw. She kicked with alarming force, and Cael fell backwards as the force sent her off her front hooves.

She quickly pushed up and faced her grown up sister. "What are you? You're not a normal pony!" Cael said. "It has no importance, since you're about to die." Variel responded gesturing to the ice Cael was standing on.

Cael looked down and saw the two indents false Aevum had left. At first she didn't understand, but then the ice cracked and Cael watched as the ice around her burst open in slow motion. She looked towards Variel a moment before the freezing water suddenly shot up at full speed around her.

Ice cold water once again soaked and chilled her to the bone as the water came up with so much force she was lifted up. It struck hard and stung as she felt the pain of cold water smashing into her. A moment later she fell down towards the hole left by the water explosion.

She spun uncontrollably as she fell about six feet down. The back of her head smashed onto the edge of the ice and everything went blurry as pain shot through her head. She landed in the water and sank slowly.

She could barely see anything and her senses were failing. She barely felt the freezing water around her as she fell through the water. She couldn't even focus and process what had just happened. Her eyes flickered as she tried to hold them open.

She just let herself slowly float down through the water as her consciousness faded.

Something stopped her though. Energy was still flowing through her as she tried to stay awake. She couldn't tell where the energy was coming from, but she felt it gathering inside her. Her eyes slowly came back into focus, her body felt the freezing cold water again and she heard the sound of water and ice echoing through her ears.

Cael came to her senses and looked around frantically as she began to get filled with warmth. The cold water around her started bubbling slightly. After a short time she didn't even feel the cold water. She began to run out of breath and looked down to see how close she was to the bottom.

She saw something she didn't expect. At the very bottom of the lake was the green crystal, glowing just enough to be noticeable. Cael thought quickly for a short time, then thought of something. I can control airflow with my powers! She realized.

She looked towards the open hole in the ice and focused her magic. Her horn glowed green, and suddenly a large bubble of air came down from the hole and towards her. When she was inside it, Cael gasped for breath.

She almost laughed as she began to realize just how extensive her powers could be. She could manipulate matter, meaning she could move, destroy and even change things if she had the strength, will and power to do it.

Now she turned and looked at the crystal determined to get there. She focused her magic and swam with the air bubble around her towards the crystal. She reached it and placed her hoof on it.

"Keeper of Space, what is it you have discovered about yourself?" A male voice spoke this time, unlike the others. Cael suddenly remembered the crystal wasn't the only goal. She was supposed to learn something about herself first, and she had no idea what she had learned, or if she had learned anything at all.

Cael paused and thought desperately. The crystal shone brightly and Cael suddenly appeared above the ice.

The ice beneath her immediately started to melt when she appeared. She realized now it was her own body heat that was warming her. She changed that as fast as she could before melting all the ice. It cracked and Cael teleported to a spot right beside it to avoid falling in.

Cael stood there a moment panting and heaving as she noticed her new found energy had already been drained. She swore under her breath at how everything had just gone.

"Cael! Are you alright?" She heard Flains voice calling from ahead. She looked up and saw him looking over his shoulder standing with Aevum and Madia, facing false Aevum and what appeared to be a changed version of Aevum's father. There was also a cyan blue pony there, whom Cael didn't know. She looked for Variel but she was nowhere to be found.

"Yeah... I-i'm fine..." Cael puffed out. Flain turned back to their opponents and left Cael to recover. None of them could afford to sacrifice energy at this moment considering the circumstances.

Cael watched as her friends fought against ones they cared about. Aevum against his father, Madia against false Aevum, and Flain against the mare Cael didn't recognize.

Madia was struggling as she fought against the dark timekeeper. The false Aevum was controlling time to give himself an advantage against them. He seemed to be helping out Aevum's father and Flain's friend as well, because they were all wickedly fast.

Aevum was holding well, considering he had the same abilities. His father was surprisingly powerful though. For such an old looking pony the unicorn's magic was exceptional. He was clever and used well devised strategies to battle effectively.

Flain seemed to be having difficulty coping with who he was fighting. She was a pegasus, so she could fly, ultimately putting Flain at the disadvantage especially with her added speed. Although it looked like her kind of attacks were emotional.

"Do you know why I left you? I was afraid of you! Your power made me fear for me and my families safety! I lied to you when I left! I was escaping!" She was yelling at him. "That's not true! You left because you needed to find your parents!" Flain responded.

"I already told you, I lied! I never loved you truly, I was using you as a way to be popular. You were considered so cool because of what you could do with your voice, I just wanted the fame!" She said to him.

Cael could tell that this mare was obviously somepony that Flain had loved at some point.

She wanted to help them so bad, but the pain in her head was throbbing and she had no energy. She brought her hoof to the back of her head and felt it. When she brought it back there was blood on her hoof. She had hit the ice harder than she thought.

She was still determined to think of a way to help. She wanted to charge in and attack, but that clearly wouldn't work. Maybe I can do something from a distance... What kind of things does space include... She thought.

She knew she could move air, so she decided to try suffocating one of them. Then after thinking it through a little more she realized it wouldn't work. They were moving too fast.

She thought of melting the ice with heat, but that may be ineffective. What would that do to them, get the wet and cold and more angry.

She watched on helplessly as they battled. Then she thought of something. Wait a second... This is exactly what's making things better! She thought as she realized that her problem was she never bothered to think things through.

Right then there was a yell of pain. Cael looked at Madia and saw her laying on the ground half dead. She was bleeding from the side of her head, and appeared to be barely conscious. "Madia...!" Cael gasped.

Madia slowly began standing up, but the false Aevum was already charging, head down and horn aimed. Cael looked desperately at the others but they were too busy dealing with the others. No one was coming to help Madia, and she wasn't prepared to defend herself!

Cael quickly figure out the only feasible solution to the problem. Teleporting her away would use too much energy. False Aevum ignored breaking ice. The only remaining possibility was clear.

Cael summed up her remaining energy and teleported directly in front of Madia. "Cae-!" Madia began to say, but Cael didn't hear the rest. She suddenly felt excruciating pain in her neck as the false Aevum's horn pierced her.

He was moving so fast, dark Aevum slammed into her at a speed that would normally send her flying, however Cael had thought this one through. She enforced her stance with her special magic, because she knew she would be knocked back otherwise.

"Cael!" Madia screamed. "Heh.... you... missed..." Cael managed to say to the false Aevum through the blood welling up in her throat. She felt the pain on the left side of her neck. The false Aevum had missed her throat just barely, but Cael already knew she would bleed to death.

Cael got her usual mischievous smile as she began to feel warm again. She recognized the feeling, as a little energy returned.

False Aevum backed off, and Cael felt pain shoot through her neck again as his horn came out. She stumbled, but remained standing. False Aevum stared in shock and confusion at what just happened. "You should be dead!" He said.

Cael just smiled as she fought against the pain and bloodloss. "I'm... not... done... yet!" Cael said. The relatively small amount of energy she had gathered built up and coursed through her body. She focused it into her horn, and let loose a fiery beam of heat.

"No-!" False Aevum's yell was cut off as the beam of pure energy completely engulfed him. All the nearby ice melted in an instant.

When the beam dissipated, false Aevum was gone. There was nothing left of him.

Cael coughed and collapsed to the icy ground breathing quickly. False Aevum hadn't hit her directly, but he scratched her throat on the way.

"Cael what were you thinking?" Madia yelled desperately as she came to her side. Cael smirked slightly at her comrade. "Heh... oops..." Cael said sarcastically.

Suddenly there was another yell, but it was from a much older pony. Cael looked towards Aevum and his father. Aevum's father had frozen on spot shaking. His eyes were wide but his pupils were small. All and any remaining colour disappeared from the pony's body. His eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the ground, dead.

Aevum watched in horror and confusion. He didn't waste much time though. He turned towards Flain to go help him, then Cael's vision began to blur. She felt her consciousness slipping once again, but returned a moment later.

Madia, Aevum and Flain were all standing in front of her with looks of worry and concern on their faces. "Cael... why did you do that?" Aevum asked, looking afraid. "It was... the only... thing left I... could do for Madia..." Cael said. "She... would have... died otherwise..."

Madia shook her head. "Your life is more important than mine! Space is much bigger than dream!" Madia reasoned. "Doesn't matter... I'd rather do... something..." Cael coughed.

"Hah... I can't believe... I never noticed... before..." Cael said. "What? What didn't you notice?" Flain asked her. "I don't... think things through... I make decisions... without thinking... about the consequences..." Cael explained. "I discovered that... right before... I saved you Madia..." Cael said.

Cael's vision started to fade again. "Aevum... protect... my... sister..." Cael said. The world turned black, and her senses faded away. "Cael...! Cael don't die...!" She could faintly hear Madia screaming at her. Her head began spinning and she closed her eyes, completely expecting never to open them again.

She was wrong. Cael gasped as all her senses returned. She felt no pain in her neck or her head, she felt filled with energy and fully alive. Her eyes shot open and she saw her friends again, still in front of her, only there was a fourth pony there, a larger one.

It took a moment for her eyes to focus, but when they did, she saw that the fourth pony, was none other then Nocturne himself. They were back at the starting point for the trials.

Cael looked at Madia. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her expression was half filled with shock, half sorrow. Only a few seconds later she wrapped her arms around Cael. "Cael! You're alive!" She cried.

Aevum smiled happily. Cael had never seen him so happy before, even though they hadn't know each other long it looked like a big deal. Flain let out a big sigh and also smiled.

"Welcome back Keepers. That was an awfully close one. Congratulations Cael." Nocturne said. Madia let go of Cael and stepped back. Cael pulled herself to her hooves. "But, I don't understand. I failed the trial. When I found the crystal, I hadn't learned anything yet. How did I pass? I was dead." Cael said.

Nocturne just smiled. "Once you touched the crystal, all you had to do from there was explain what you discovered. You did that only seconds before you died. You were brought back here, and were saved because you were still alive when you passed." Nocturne explained everything.

Cael couldn't believe it. She had done it and hardly even realized it. She thought she had to be touching the crystal while she said it. She was overjoyed to still be alive, pass the trial and remain with her friends.

Madia's eyes were still filled with tears as she smiled gleefully.

"You aren't done yet. There is one final trial. The trial of time." Nocturne pointed out. "Would you like to wait a moment to discuss?" He offered them some time before entering the final trial. Aevum shook his head. "I think we can all wait until this is over, then we'll ask questions." He told the old king.

Nocturne nodded. "Fair enough. Prepare yourself then, the fourth and final trial is about to begin."