The Woe of Aftermath

by Twisted and Warped

Chapter 1

Midnight was drawing near and the full moon dominated the night sky. It's beauty has inspired countless dreamers for years. However, this moon is different. This moon held an eerie resemblance to a mare, starring down on the earth, and into the dreams of all the sleeping ponies.

It was a little less than a month since the war has ended, and the reconstruction of the cities and towns in Equestria had only just begun. The tired princess was finally able to sleep after hours of planning for the future. On this day alone she had to travel and meet with the mayors of two cities to discuss the plan to rebuild. Then, she had to return to her castle and review the plans for Canterlot. After a long day such as that, everypony should have a good night's rest. However, Princess Celestia had a night far from that.

As she dragged herself onto her bed, she was glad to finally be able to sleep. She tucked herself in and took a few seconds to find a comfortable spot on her bed. Then, she blew out the candle on the stand next to her bed and the only light was from the full moon. That was the first time she heard it.

Just as Celestia closed her eyes, she heard something. It was almost a silent mumbling whisper. She ignored it, and it went away. Only seconds later she heard it again, but this time it was longer and louder. She convinced herself it was only somepony talking outside her room; She ignored it again. The third time she heard it, she was able to make out what the noise was. Somepony was crying. However, this was an unnatural cry. It echoed in her head sending fear through her body.

It felt like there was somepony in the room, but she was the only pony who entered. She wanted to scream, but she could not find her voice. She wanted to run but she could not find her energy. She was paralyzed with fear.

This mysterious crying lasted three minutes. It faded away and the night was silent again. Celestia kept her eyes closed the entire time she heard this cry. When it did stop, she was afraid to open them. She feared that if she did, she would be looking into the eyes of a ghostly figure. It took her ten minutes to open her eyes, and the princess was relieved nothing was there.

Scanning her room, she saw nothing was out of place. The moonlight was bright enough to let her see everything in her room. She saw the paintings on the walls, books on shelves, the dressers, her closet doors, and the patterns on the rug. Despite how much could already be seen, she still used her magic to see better.

She got out of her bed, walked towards the door, and opened it. The two guards standing on either side of the door were surprised to see her awake this late. The guard on her left was a white stallion with a blue mane, the one to her right was a grey stallion with a darker grey mane, they were both wearing their uniforms, the two of them were both earth ponies.

"Is there something wrong princess? You look like you saw something you shouldn't have." said the guard to her left.

"Everything is fine," she said gracefully. "Has anypony walked down this hall tonight?"

"Only the maintenance ponies, but they were quiet."

"Have either of you heard somepony crying?"

"No. Everything has been normal tonight."

Celestia looked down at the floor and closed her eyes.

A few moments later the guard to her right said, "Princess, you should go back to bed. You must be tired."

"Okay," she said, "can you two make sure nopony walks down this hall tonight?"

"Yes, princess. Sleep well."

She walked back into her room and closed the door using magic. After what happened the last time she tried to sleep, she wanted to wait a few minutes before getting back in bed. Sitting in a chair by the window, she looked out to the sleeping city. The empty streets and the quiet homes were at rest. In the sky, she saw the sad eyes of the
moon.

Suddenly, she heard another noise. It was not the cry she heard before. This noise sounded almost like a word. She nervously looked around her room, trying to find the source of the noise. As the noise became louder, she could hear the voice of a mare who had been crying.

"Why? Why? Why?"

The word echoed in her head, the same way the crying did.

Celestia began to feel weak. With her hoof to her chest, she began to breathe heavily. A few moments later she fell over. Lying on the ground, the world faded away, but the echoing word raged on.

Hearing her fall, the two guards outside quickly ran into the room. Seeing her on the ground, they looked at one another in disbelief.

"Princess, can you hear me?" said the guard with the grey mane.

There was no answer. The two of them picked her up and placed her on the bed.

"You go find a doctor, I'll stay here with the princess." said the guard with the blue mane.

"Okay." He said while running out of the room.

Not a minute later, the princess woke up. She looked around the room confused.

"Are you okay princess? What happened?" said the guard.

"I can't remember." she whispered.

Without moving her head, she looked at the window. She tried to use her magic to close the drapes, but she was too weak.

"Please, allow me." said the guard.

"Thank you." she replied.

As she said that, the guard with the grey mane walked in with a doctor and two nurses. The two nurses looked like they could have been sisters. They had the same purple colored mane, both a lighter purple. However, the doctor was an older yellow stallion who had a few wrinkles, with white hair that mached the apron he was wearing.

"Good evening princess, I am Doctor Steth. Can you tell me what happened?" said the doctor.

"I am sorry, but I cannot remember." She replied.

"That is okay. I am going to perform some tests to see what is wrong, if that is okay with you."

"Of course."

After an hour of the doctor and the nurses using strange tools to try to see what was wrong with Celestia, the doctor said, "I am sorry but I cannot find anything wrong. I think you are just tired. Please try to get some sleep tonight."

"Okay." she said.

The doctor smiled with the nurses, who then left the room. Celestia quickly fell asleep and the guards went back out into the hall.

The next morning, Celestia cancelled everything she had planned for the day.

Comments

[Eclipsestorm4]

I like your story, update soon please.