Us and Them

Chapter 14

Forward in Time

Given all the possible ways I could've woken up after sleeping outside in the Everfree Forest, I guess having Rainbow Dash thrown onto me was one of the more desirable ways. Mind you, it wasn't comfortable, but comparing a full-on body check to, say, being eaten by an Ursa Major kinda puts things into perspective.

"Of all the places you had to fall," I coughed while shaking off the last remnants of a good night's sleep, "it had to be right where I was. I get no respect I tells ya." Rainbow simply responded by taking off towards, you guessed it, Tycho. Another one of their trademark fights. "Hold it, hold it, hold it!" I shouted, holding back Rainbow by the tail.

"What in Celestia's name are you fighting over?" I asked them. I was more than a little aggravated to have been woken up by Rainbow tackling me, and it was a question I had been wondering for a long time.

"Well, uh..." Tycho struggled to find an answer. Like a kid looking for an excuse, Tycho wanted something to pin the fight on. I saw through the trick, simply because I'd been in his horseshoes a few too many times.

"So you're fighting about nothing then?"

"Well, not nothing!" Tycho insisted.

"Nothing important." I corrected. Again, I knew the game. Tycho have anything to say to that. I was right.

"Okay. Next question: ARE YOU TWO IN LOVE OR NOT?" Under normal circumstances, I'd never push the issue, but if you're going into some big castle with a huge evil alicorn at the top, you don't want two not-lovers "not-loving" each other the entire way up. And they seemed rather fond of "not-loving" each other.

Their response consisted with a lot of stammering, muttering, and pausing.

“Okay. Let me say how I see this...” I waved a hoof while I searched for a good word to use. “Thing you two are doing. Each of you love the other, but you’re both afraid to admit it. Rainbow’s pride is keeping her from asking in case Tycho were to say no. Tycho’s just doesn’t like to say the hard things, so he doesn’t want to admit it. Am I right?”

They glanced at each other for a few moments, then flew into each others arms (legs? These sayings make less and less sense, I swear) in a full embrace. I read them like an open book. At least there should be a lot less bickering now.

Leaving the two lovebirds behind, I went into the hut in the hopes that breakfast would be on. Luckily, Zecora was in the midst of pouring some brown soup into a bowl for Luna. Whatever it was, it smelled good. A blend of spicy and sweet.

“Eh, what’s cookin’ doc?” I asked, taking a seat at the table next to Lyrica. Zecora, obviously the master chef here, was happy to answer.

“Ah, Historia, the pony of blue. For you I’m making ochrebloom stew.”

“Ochrebloom? I take it that’s some native plant out this way.”

Twilight spoke up, “Ochrebloom is a plant native to the Everfree Forest. It gets its name from the brown flowers that can grow to the size of a pony at full bloom. Those petals are very poisonous unless they are boiled down in a stew.”

“Twilight, stop reading books all night and get some sleep. It’s bad for your health.” Last thing we needed was Twilight falling asleep from reading too much. She blushed when I said this, clearly a little embarrassed I had realized what she did after the fire last night.

I grabbed the bowl by the horns (some puns just have to be made) and took a sip. Yes, in Equestria, the proper etiquette for eating soup is to levitate the bowl to your mouth and drink. Or, at least, that was what the other unicorns were doing. Pinkie and Lyrica seemed content to drop their heads in the bowl and drink it like that. Applejack, Dusty, and Fluttershy were all grabbing the bowl in their mouths and drinking like that. Man, if only they knew how great hands were (magic’s just as good, probably better).

The soup was fantastic for something that looked like brown water. At first all I could taste was pure sugar: the kind of sweetness that actually hurts your mouth for a little while. When that pain subsided, I began to feel an entirely new pain rise in my mouth: the pain of a mouthful of chili peppers. Before my mind could even register that my mouth was on fire, the pain subsided, leaving me with a soft, salty flavor that faded off.

“Wow.” I said with a quick jerk of my head. “That soup’s really somethin’! Is that really just from the one flower?”

“The wonders of one petal are undeniable, but also know that of risks, you may be liable.”

“Right, right. Know what it can do, both good and bad.” I dismissed, eager to get back to the soup. Painful though it may have been, it was strangely delicious, and unbelievably fun to eat, to say the least.

Once the meal was finished, there was nothing left to do but leave for the Bastion of Eons. The Forest was silent as we made our way to the tower, as though even the beasts of the Everfree were terrified of Epoch's power. It wasn't long before the Bastion lay before our eyes.

Composed entirely of solid obsidian- jet black with a glossy finish, it was a single tower, shaped like an hourglass, with spikes jutting out, forming a crown of stone at the top.  Near the top of the tower, a single glass pane was visible. Clearly this was the throne room where Epoch could be found. Mother, did it need to be so high? We'll have to climb all the way up there.

Though we were at first afraid that Epoch had his tower impossible to crack, not to mention the lake of boiling lava surrounding it, a quick look around revealed that in actuality, he left a gate open on the other side, as though he wanted us to enter. Not wanting to waste time, we hurried inside before Epoch noticed his front door was open and decided to make our job harder.

Once inside, we were surprised to see a strangely familiar sight. The room we had entered looked like a copy of the grand staircase that was in the Canterlot castle, even featuring crimson carpeting and lavish tapestries. At the top of the grand staircase was a jet black alicorn with a red mane. Could Epoch really have been waiting for us here?

"Greetings and salutations, my esteemed guests." Epoch happily announced. "Welcome to the Bastion of Eons. I am your host-"

"Quiet brother, we know who you are," Luna spat back, not eager to put up with anything that Epoch wanted to try.

"Brother? Ah, you must be Luna. I do understand you and some other plebeians were supposedly approaching. Nonetheless, you are welcome to visit, explore the castle, and enjoy the amenities Lord Epoch is providing here."

I was stunned that this alicorn, who even Luna had believed to be Epoch, was not who we had thought him to be. "Wait, are you telling me that you're not actually Epoch?"

"Me? Oh, I'm not the same being as Lord Epoch. Well, that is to say, I am not the Great Lord of Time. I am Epoch in all but the title. I am what you call a "shade" of a being."

I began piecing things together based off my limited knowledge of magic and a lot of guessing. "So you're telling me that you're a sort of 'ghost' that's using Epoch's form, but you probably don't have all of his power, knowledge, et cetera. However, he probably knows all of what you're seeing as you see it." Everypony looked at me like I had PhD's in several types of magic theory and hadn't told them about it before. "What? It's pretty standard stuff for high-level magic."

Epoch's Shade simply laughed heartily at my remark, and happily responded. "You are a bright one, for someone your age. I imagine you've got a bright future at the Canterlot University."

I shot him a strange look, and simply responded "Thanks, I've always enjoyed learning more about magic. Would you care to show us around? We'd especially like to meet..." I paused to swallow back the bile that I nearly spat out saying the name "The Great Lord of Time, Epoch." Saying that name felt wrong in too many ways.

Shade twitched a little when we mentioned "The Great Lord's" name, as though he wasn't prepared with a response to such a question. After a moment, he replied "Those that wish to meet with the Great Lord in private council must first pass a series of trials to prove their worth. Though you may complete the trials as a group, each will be a test of an individual's skill. Please, though, I implore you to relax for a while, enjoy what the Bastion has to offer. I'd be happy to prepare you food, offer you lodging, whatever it might be, I'm certain we could provide it."

"As kind of an offer as that may be, I think we'd just like to get on with these trials." The rest of us silently nodded our agreement, no doubt nervous about what exactly the trials would end up being.

"Very well then. If that is all you desire, then that is what I'll provide. Step through the doors behind me, and we shall begin. The massive pair of doors behind Shade began to glow red and opened with the assistance of the being's magic. Behind them lay a long hallway lit with torches. Quietly, we stepped in and began the trials.