Oponi

Foresight is 20/20

Ammy was confused. She was certain she had destroyed Goldnail in the Ark of Yamato, and yet, Blight was clearly here. Worse, she had completely forgotten about the twin demons. They had vanished after she had vanquished them the first time and she had no idea where they might have gone. Looking back on it, where else would they go but the Plain if they didn't flee to the ark? She blazed through the forest, pouring immense amounts of energy into her legs. In her wake, golden grass and blossoms briefly erupted from the ground behind her, sparkling in the light with divine energy for a few seconds before disappearing again.

It may have been faster to just wait for Waka to teleport her but at the same time, Blight had warned them, and if they teleported into an ambush, that was it. This way, they could arrive separately.

Waka wished he had remembered to have Amaterasu regenerate his sword before she left, he was still stuck with a little nub of a blade on a guard. He may have no problems harming Blight and the twins with Pillowtalk, but the fact remained that he was trained for using two swords. He eyed the sword clipped on the second guard he was carrying. He quickly pocketed it. No harm done, so long as I give it back.

After finally getting the second guard down to the infirmary, Waka sat down for a moment. He couldn't show-up to a likely battle completely worn-out. He felt thankful that he hadn't run into anybody that might complicate this matter, the last thing it needed was more confusion.

"Is that you Waka?"

Darn it, the gods have just stopped caring about Waka, haven't they? "Oh, Celestia, I thought you would be with your sister."

"I am, I just dropped her off at the infirmary."

A solid thunk was heard from Waka slapping his palm to his helmet, this probably wasn't the best place to rest after all. "Right, I forgot."

"What happened in the tower?"

"That fog was from Blight, he appeared in an image and threatened us, a bit same-old same-old."

"Do you know where he is?"

Waka didn't like where this was going. "Yes, Amaterasu has left already to stop him, I plan on going soon."

"Good, I'll come along."

"That wouldn't be good, it's a kind of danger you aren't familiar with."

"Waka, you and your friend may be guests at the moment but you will not talk-down to me. I'm capable of far more than you think."

That is entirely not what I meant. "I just mean that these situations can get out-of-control if they aren't taken care of very specifically."

Celestia narrowed her eye that wasn't covered in her mane. "What are you hiding, Waka?"

"You can't follow us, princess."

"Give me a reason and I won't."

He knew that he was in a corner, if he elaborated, he spilled-the-beans. If he was silent, she would track him. "Fine, but I will be the one to conduct the teleportation." He didn't want her trying to teleport into the center of town during a battle, even experience wouldn't help if she appeared under one of Nechku or Lechku's weapons.

Amaterasu finally broke from the forest. She looked-around for signs of a city. It didn't take long to find exactly what she was looking for.

And also exactly what she was hoping she wouldn't find.

Waka and Celestia materialized in an nondescript patch of forest near town. "So where is your partner?"

"She should tell us-"

"Arooooooooooooo!" A loud howl was heard from across the trees.

"She should tell us if it is safe." He finished.

"Is it safe?" Questioned Celestia.

"Yes, but you have to promise me that you will stay by me, for your own good."

"That is fine." Waka draped an arm over Celestia, placing a noticeable grip near her wing.

"Just remember, by me, all the time."

She nodded and they exited the forest.

Celestia was surprised that it was dark outside, she didn't expect them to be this far from the capital. Hold on a moment, the sun is definitely out. She could feel the presence of the sun in the sky but no matter where she looked, it was dark as far as the eye could see. It couldn't even be described as night, since there weren't even stars in the sky. No matter where you looked, there was just darkness.

"This feels... unnatural... no that's the wrong word... it feels wrong here."

Waka tightened his grip. "Remember, by me, no matter what."

They slowly arrived at the gates to the town.

"Wait, we're in Ponyville right now? Where are the citizens?" Asked Celestia, looking around them completely but finding nothing in the deserted streets.

"I'm not sure, but look ahead for a minute, at the road specifically."

She turned her eyes toward the gravel road they were walking on. The road itself was tan but further on, she could see the ground completely gray. Not just a sudden change either, the coloration of the ground was swirling, the gray extending and retracting like ripples.

"What is it?" She asked as she watched the rhythm of the monochrome.

"It is cursed land, from the demons. No matter what, no matter what may be just on the other side of it, do not enter it. I have no idea how it might effect somebody like you."

"What do you mean?"

"Amaterasu is safest in the cursed-zone, since she is a complete deity, but even she has some risks in it. I can enter it, just not for long, or else I would be cursed like anyone else. I have no idea how it would effect someone like you. It would be best if we did not find out."

They continued examining the town, not hearing so much as a bird the entire time. They altered their path each time they came upon more cursed land. They still hadn't found a single pony in the town.

"What happened to the demons?" Whispered Celestia, not sure if it was wise to make too much noise.

"No idea." Whispered Waka. "They could be hiding, they could have left. Amaterasu hasn't howled, so I'm guessing she hasn't found anything yet either."

"Is there anything we should be looking for specifically?" Asked Celestia. She wanted to do whatever was possible to fix this town, the entire place just felt like someplace nopony should ever go.

"Any buildings that are not cursed, someone may have tried to hide."

"What about this one?" Asked Celestia, gesturing toward a small shop they were near. It was the store owned by Dr. Whooves, nobody was sure why he was referred to as doctor, the stallion was a clock-maker.

They crept inside, the only noise was that of the various clocks tick-ticking away. "I'll look upstairs, watch-out for any signs of the curse getting in."

Celestia continued searching around the ground-floor. There wasn't much to see, besides clocks, of course, those were in healthy abundance. The clocks themselves were odd, some were old-style, while others were surprisingly futuristic. It was like the stallion had figured-out exactly which clocks were going to become popular. One clock in particular had caught her eye. It was a huge, golden clock with deep blue hands. It ticked in an odd rhythm, switching between going fast and going slow, while still managing to regain it's correct tempo by the end. As Celestia stared at it, the hands began to switch, not switch as in go forwards or backwards, the hands themselves seemed to warp further along the cycle.

"-stia." She heard Waka from behind her, she turned to look, but didn't find him. She turned back to the clock, and found the hands in different positions again.

"away no-" She heard him again, it sounded more urgent this time, she looked behind her and was surprised to find a large portion of the shop was destroyed, tables sizzling and most of the windows blown-out. She turned-around and found the clock, still ticking.

"-u doing?!"

She whipped-around, the shop was a complete mess, it looked as if an ursa minor had come through.

*Cliick-cli-cli-cli-click whiiiiirrrr*

She heard odd noises from behind her, she turned toward the clock again and nearly jumped out of her skin.