Blitz And Balance

by Ennelly Von Swortts

9 The Asylum

 
I Woke to Celestia rolling about the bed.  She was still asleep, but clearly having a nightmare.  It had been four days now, four days with the Princess.  And here, on the morning of the fifth day, she was trapped in some nightmare.  I could feel fear coming off of her in waves.  Gently, I worked to wake her up.

  She suddenly sat up in a cold sweat to my touch.  She was breathing heavily as I put my hoof on her shoulder.  "Everything ok there, Sunbutt?"  I asked her.  When her eyes landed on my face, she gripped me in a tight hug.

  Then she began crying.  Both in relief, and fear.  I hugged her back, not sure what else to do as she started to mummer softly to herself.  "Don't leave, don't leave, don't ever leave," Over and over.  And there we sat for several minutes.  After what felt like forever, she finally calmed down.

  "Do you want to talk about it?"  I asked her.

  She took a deep breath.  "I can't remember..."  She muttered.  I gently pushed her down.  "But I felt helplessly alone."

  I slowly rubbed her back, getting her to relax.  "Sounds like a nightmare.  Go back to sleep, you'll feel better in the morning."  I stayed like that till I was sure she was asleep before laying down myself.  "Bucking nightmares, it's like their trying to ruin Good moments."  I muttered to myself.  Rolling over, I let the call to sleep claim me.

?'s POV
I woke up abruptly with sweat dripping off my brow. Fear still clung to me from my previous nightmare. My breathing was erratic much like my racing heart as my mind raced to figure out the flurry of random thoughts and ideas.

I was quickly distracted by the white fluorescent lights that stung my eyes as they cracked open from the night's previous sleep. When my eyes adjusted, I began to notice a few things off with the room I was currently in. Rather than the familiar relaxing walls that encompassed my chambers. It was a dull mint green with a baby blue trim. There was a lonely table and chair and a dirty window. On the wall just in front of me was a large metal door with a small window.

I decided to get up only to get held back by the tight sheets that held me I place. 'Where am I? And why am I tied up?' I thought as I began to fight the sheets for freedom. Once I began to notice how fruitless it was to try to get the covers off without magic, I began to charge up my horn. I began to feel the flow of solar magic slowly rise from the base of my horn. But before it could reach the top, a splitting headache broke my concentration. The second my magic ceased, the headache began to settle. 'Why can't I use my magic?' I thought as fear began to nip at the back of my mind.

I shook my head as I tried to shake off all the negative thoughts that were forming in the back of my mind. As I calmed down and relaxed, I notice something pink in my field of vision. After close inspection, I found out that it was my mane. 'Why is it pink?' I thought but before I could make any assumptions, my ears swiveled towards the door. Only to pick up sounds of conversation. My hopes began to rise at the thought of one my little ponies finally coming to my rescue. A soft click resounded around the small room as the handle began to move.

The door swung inward, revealing a familiar unicorn. As the pony and I locked gazes, her eyes widened much like her smile.

"Ah, it seems you're awake. That's good. I thought we'd have to wait a few hours before the initial checkup." The unicorn said. Her coat was a brilliant shade of lavender much like her eyes, her mane and tail were a dark navy blue with two streaks of purple and pink.

"Anyway, I'm Doctor Sparkle. I'm going to be taking care of you while you on the new treatment." Dr. Sparkle said as she looked at her clipboard. But one thing still confused me about her that didn't settle with me.

"Doctor? Since when did you become a doctor Twilight?" I asked her curiously.

"Um... six years ago last time I checked and how do you know my name?" Twilight asked.

"You're my student don't you remember?" I asked in a joking manner. Though when I looked at her, I saw how her face scrunched up in denial.

"No, I'm not. I'm pretty sure I would know if I was your student Miss Solena." Twilight said defensively. Though, the name she said threw me off.

"Solena? I haven't been called that name since my sister was banished to the moon. My name's Celestia." I said confused.

"Right..." Twilight said looking at the clipboard.

"It does say that you have an identity issue regarding your name." Twilight said observing the sheet of paper.

"The sister part is also on here..." She muttered as she read through the document. 'Wait, what about my sister?' I thought.

"Excuse me, what about my sister?" I asked with a worried tone. My question had shocked her, though she composed herself with a sad look.

"I'm sorry to say miss but...Your sister hasn't been alive for years. She died in the fire..." Twilight said in a sad tone. I couldn't believe her as tears welled up in my eyes. As I began to weep away my sorrows. A new thought arose as I began to fill with rage.

"How did she die?" I asked in a cold tone. Twilight shuffled on her hooves before replying.

"It was her birthday and you two were playing in the yard. You two were having fun before you were called in. As you all waited for dinner, you decided to play a trick with your doll... That was when things went south. The doll began to heat up before catching fire. You waved it around before throwing it at your sister... You can guess the rest from there..." Twilight said with a cold straight face.

"You here that Celly, you killed your sister because you were jealous. She had it all. The understanding, the love, the skill, the beauty. But you just had to set it all ablaze didn't you!" Twilight screamed as she began to melt before my very eyes. The room began to catch before erupting in an enormous torrent of fire. My world began to crumble as all the ones I loved screamed and melted before my very eyes. And the worst part was... that I was powerless to stop it. I wept and cried and screamed for all of this to stop. A single pony began to walk through the flames as she melted and burned before me. My sister.

Luna calmly stood before me with a scowl of hatred. She leaned down so that she was eye level with me. But little did I know, there was another pony hiding in the shadows of the nightmare.

"It...Was...All...Your...Fault" Luna whispered angrily. Before beating the living Tartarus out of me. I cried and screamed with pain as I bruised and bled. I looked at Luna's hate filled eyes as she was about to bring the final blow. But before she could, a flash of light blinded me. I blinked the blindness away only to see the entire world calm down. I noticed a silver light, much like that of my sister's moon. As I turned towards the source, I noticed a small fox that shone with a dull silver light. As I looked closer, I noticed that its fur seemed to dance with shadows as the light disappeared around her. The fox approached me only to smile.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice laced with fear.

~Just a friend~ A voice said. Though the fox's mouth didn't move, I knew that she spoke. I tried to move but was held down by a powerful magic.

~Shh... Don't move. I'm here to help~ She said. As I tried to speak, I realized something. The nightmare was slowly beginning to fade away.

"What are you doing?" I asked worried by the action.

~Don't worry, I'm just locking this experience away. I've seen this kind of trauma bring gods to insanity. I just don't want to see this happen to you~ The fox said with a kind and caring voice.

"Th-thank you. But before you go... can I ask for your name?" I asked, knowing that I'd forget this moment. Even if it is for the best.

~Your welcome...and it's Skia~ The fox said with a smile before everything went white.

  I was worried.  Celestia was tired, and jumpy when I got up with her.  I left while she had her face in a bowl of water.  Don't ask, it made no sense to me either.

  Quickly making my way to the throne room, I walked in just as Luna had slumped into her throne to await Celestia.  "Chrysalis, I would have thought you would have been with my sister."

  I nodded.  "Normally, yes.  But after last night, I wanted to talk to you alone."

  Luna raised an eyebrow.  "What reason would you have to speak to us behind our sister's back?"

  I sighed.  I was still getting used to how the lunar Princess spoke, despite speaking that dialect myself just a thousand years ago.  "Honestly, I'm worried.  She's been having nightmares all night, and I would rather not see her like how she was when I woke this morning."

  Luna looked skeptical.  "If thy sister did have nightmares, we would hath known."  She stated.

  I looked at her in surprise.  "You didn't know your sister was having nightmares?"  I asked.  Luna raised an eyebrow.  Just then, the throne room doors opened as Celestia walked in.  Luna's eyes widened in surprise at her sister's appearance.

  "If I had known you were so eager to come down, Chrysalis, I wouldn't have taken so long getting ready." I smiled sheepishly at her.

  "You looked relaxed."  I looked back to Luna.  "Besides, I had something I wanted to talk to your sister about."

  Celestia looked between us for a couple moments.  "Chrysalis, it was just a nightmare.  Although, your concern is appreciated."

  Luna stepped forward.  "What nightmare, sister?"

  Celestia looked her in the face for a moment.  "I honestly can't remember."  She stated.

  Luna's face twisted in worry.  "A nightmare thy can't remember, and we could not see.  Tho dost not have just any nightmare."  Celestia paused, her curiosity building.  "Sounds like a nightmare to target the mind and soul.  And blocks our power from interfering.  Somepony hath targeted thie, thy sister."