//------------------------------// // Chapter 26 - Actions and Consequences // Story: Fear Within // by VirtualCipher //------------------------------// "Tyrant..." The wind whispered... She gained no pleasure from waking up to the sudden sound of shrieking, her senses felt contorted; twisted and out of shape, the unexpecting sounds almost gave her a heart attack. Celestia's surroundings were made blurry by the fog, the power the mist possessed cruised through the roots of her brain, sailing through until it would eventually burst into madness. Within seconds of realising that she had blacked out, the alicorn quickly rose from the ground and observed her surroundings, her eyes piercing through the fog. The removal of Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had troubled her greatly, the fact that they were scattered could bring chaos. Concerned for the safety of her subjects, the princess called out to them, hoping that her voice would at least guide someone towards her, but it was hopeless, no one responded. Oddly enough, Princess Celestia had always found silence comforting, but now, it was frightening. It felt like a constant reminder, telling her she was alone. With each step taken, the Princess of the Sun wandered through the fog. There was no path she was following, where she was walking was unknown, however, there had to be something more than just fog. The more she travelled, the more time dissolved; passing away like life itself. Thinking felt like her head was being bashed by an anvil, it was as if something was trying to prevent her from remembering the past, although the suffering continued to mangle with her mind, she remembered her objective; her mission. Finally, after mindlessly roving through the disorienting fog, Princess Celestia stumbled upon something that flummoxed her. Blocking her unknown destination was a statue. A statue of her. It was white and the positioning of it made her look rather valiant and graceful, however, this image was ruined as it was vandalised with chains wrapping around the statue's wings as well as her hooves. In bright red, a word was sprayed over the statue's chest, insulting and demonizing her. Tyrant... Bothering her, she had to question what was going on. "What is this..." Celestia spoke, baffled. "Isn't it obvious?" Celestia heard the diabolical, but reticent voice scrabble towards her. Not another thought was needed. Immediately, the alicorn twisted away from the defaced statue and quickly emitted a beam that would send her foe immobilized. Everything was so quick, the moment her spell had made contact with Fright shocked her. It didn't disable his movement, it took off his head. There he was standing, a headless Fright not moving, lifeless, but somehow still standing. Crammed with shock and ailment with the headless monster in front of her, she was mainly hacked with dread. It wasn't her intention to behead him, nor was it to kill him in any way, it just happened by accident. She was only trying to apprehend him; to stun him. "I... I..." Celestia stammered, her eyes glued to the headless enemy. Bizarrely, he began to move, hobbling towards her in a disturbing way. Almost robotically, his left hand elevated to where his head formerly was. Crawly, his fingers began to shift, trying to grasp his removed head. The image was sickening, the fact that something lifeless was still moving like a puppet. However, once his hand dropped down to his side and stopped moving, black liquid began to connect like webs where his head was, then it was wrapped back up in rags and stitches. When the transformation was complete, Celestia recognised Fright's face but wasn't quite complete. Although his facial structure was recognisable and had been concluded, it was upside down. Once again, his hand gripped the top of his head to where his jaw would be, then he broke it back into place, screwing and tightening the whole of his head back to the way it was before he was 'immobilized'. Shrilling cracks of his reformation wiped the silence, all while Celestia watched in revulsion. In the end, the structure of his head finally restored and he gave a rather haunting look towards the princess, despite his facial expression being emotionless. After the reconstruction of the damage inflicted upon him, he continued, "Do I scare you..." Shaking out of her paralyzed state, Celestia snapped, "Enough of this frivolous ordeal. Where are the others?!" "They're going through the same trials as you are... However, I'm simply breaking down this terror to offer a better perspective on your fears." He informed. "A better perspective on my fears," Celestia repeated with confusion. "Your fog is nothing but a tainted spell, I've been through worse." Erupting from the ground, chains and barbwire shot at her horn, legs and wings, restricting her movement; limiting her freedom. Producing a scream of pain and discomfort, Celestia struggled to break free from the biting, metal bonds that gnawed at her. It was odd to see a princess; a powerful alicorn squirm, trying to break free from her mental prison. "Of course you have," Fright tormented, his withered, disfigured fingers grazing her face. "Which is why you're going to relive those moments of terror." For a moment, Celestia's heart skipped a beat, it felt like her stomach gnarled. "What?!" She exclaimed. "Since the moment you became a princess, you've feared of making mistakes, failures that would define you as an unacceptable ruler. You've made plenty of horrifying errors, some that you don't even recollect. But do not fret, fear will show you." Within a second, Fright faded from Celestia's sight the moment she felt a breath of wind glide by. Her eyesight blurred, her current location ripped apart. Alone, the princess floated through a dark void, an ocean of darkness is all that she could see, nothing but blackness filled her vision. That was until she noticed the ground being painted. Finally, her surroundings grew colour, presenting detail that would tell her where she was now. The firm chains remained strong, continuing holding her to the point where she couldn't move. "I know this place..." Celestia whispered to herself. It was her castle, her first castle. Before the Everfree Forest enthralled her home, she forgot how fine and intimate it really was. Her inspection was brought to a sudden stop when she heard a yell located from behind a throne, her sister's throne. "Not another step." "Luna?" The moment she said her sister's name, she thought an echo had travelled across the room, but to her right was... Herself; A younger version of Celestia. Finally, she pieced it all together. She was reliving her moments of terror just like Fright said and this was one she couldn't stand to be in. The way she had been positioned into this event made it look she was watching a play, whenever she tried to break free from the chains they would only tighten. "Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light!" Looking back at her memories, she could hear the pain within her sister's shouting. Luna's anger was like a field full of landmines, her fury detonating what was left of her former self before the nightmares took her down into a descent of madness. Simply put, Celestia couldn't stand to witness this failure of her's, forever changing who she was. "There can only be one princess in Equestria," Luna apprised her elder sister, marching to the centre of both thrones. "And that princess... Will be me!" Heavily, both her hooves crashed down onto the ground, the path towards both thrones crumbled and broke down. Dying into nothingness, the Princess of the Night's eyes were engulfed in a luminous light; endlessly gleaming. Behind the angered princess, the wall fractured, the extreme cracking of her darkness ascended upwards to a window, shattering which allowed the sun to shine through but not for long. Upwards, Luna drifted just in front of the broken gap behind her, her magic taking over the moon, shifting its position in front of the sun, blocking the gleaming and wondrous light until darkness took over. The shadows crept onto Princess Luna as she welcomed the heinous thoughts that took over, being enthralled by dark smoke that consumed her. Unsettling, the darkness moulded into a sphere, cloaking any evidence of Luna being in there. Vibrant and frightening, the pulsating orb stained red and orange, quickly being washed over by the colours black and blue. Finally, the orb burst and took the form of an alicorn, an alicorn that her sister feared to see again. With the scene darkened and smoke coasting the castle, an abrupt, menacing laugh flared up the room. Luna took form into the dreaded Nightmare Moon, her teeth sharpening along with her size growing to the same as Celestia. The younger version of Celestia was stunned as well as angered to her sister betray like this, however, the Celestia that was witnessing her fears was horrified, knowing what was to come next. She tried desperately to break free from her chains, but once again, they all tightened and continued to restrict her. Nightmare Moon fired a beam upwards, causing parts of the ceiling to collapse down onto the throne room's ground. Focusing on Celestia, she fired at her. Swiftly, the princess evaded and landed back onto the floor, trying to reason with her corrupt sister. "Luna, I will not fight you," Celestia spoke. "You must lower the moon, it is your duty!" She reminded. Nightmare Moon snarled, "Luna... I am Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now... To destroy you!" Once again, Nightmare Moon fired upon her sister, causing Celestia to fly from the castle. "And where do you think you're going?" Nightmare Moon growled, taking flight. Both younger versions of the sisters fled from the castle, leaving the trapped, frightened Celestia who was hallucinating all of this alone. Beaten with terror and filled with annoyance, she focused her power to break free. Despite the chains' stubbornness, they eventually broke, clicking apart, her freedom no longer barred. The moment she tried to evade from the scene to escape the failure that changed her, the world around her blurred and she was brought to another part of the castle. "What?!" Celestia said, baffled. Suddenly, a scream of distress rattled her ears when she saw her younger self, crashing down onto the ground. This was it, the path that she would ignorantly choose. Vines consumed her hooves, enthralling them and once again, trapping her. Once the past version of Celestia recovered, she spoke. "Oh dear sister, I am sorry. But you have given me no choice, but to use these." Quaking, the floor before her opened up, revealing the resting places for the items that were known as the Elements of Harmony. They all floated towards her, aiding Celestia in a final attempt to put an end to Nightmare Moon's tyranny. After gathering the elements, Celestia shot up into the air where she would put an end to Nightmare Moon's protest. The Princess of the Sun was glowing bright, objecting Nightmare Moon's path to eternal night. The corrupted night that tainted the day surrounded them as both past versions of them continued to fire at each other. With the elements' assistance, Nightmare Moon was easily overcome by the power of Harmony. "No!" Nightmare Moon screamed. The corrupted alicorn was blasted back towards the moon where she would lie dormant for a thousand years. Watching her past self perform such an extreme act disgusted her, she was disgusted with herself. For a thousand years Luna was confined into the moon, alone and isolated from Equestria. At this point, both Celestia's were silently crying. "I... I thought it was for the best at the time..." Celestia uttered through her own tears. "I was only trying to defend Equestria from eternal night." "Your reasoning didn't last long..." The other Celestia spoke, slowly decaying into Fright. "You sent her to the moon to rot for a thousand years. You could have handled the situation in many ways, but you were afraid and resorted into the only exception that would keep you safe. Equestria sees you as a hero for this act, but deep down, you know you were a coward. Your sister's temper and motives gave you a reason to be afraid and this is what forced you into a new world; a world of fear." "SILENCE!" Celestia roared, angered with the constant mocking and taunting Fright presented. All of a sudden, the castle along with Fright faded and Celestia had been pictured into a new past mistake. She was once again in a throne room but in Canterlot. Before her, she could see Twilight, along with her friends and herself again. Everypony looked shocked as well as disappointed. "Twili-" Celestia was cut off. "Come on y'all, let's go check on the princess," Applejack said. This was it, another act that deemed her as an unfit ruler, but also a horrible teacher. This was Canterlot's wedding, the day of the changeling invasion, the day everypony turned their back on Twilight. The five ponies didn't bother to acknowledge Twilight's presence, they merely walked by her as if she didn't exist. Their faces each told a story of betrayal and disappointment, however, Spike simply looked worried as he grouped other with the girls. The fact that they turned their back on her friend so quick was rather damaging to watch for Celestia, but it became worse. "I was-" "You have a lot to think about," Celestia shunned, not bothering to even look at her. Twilight's facial expressions presented many things relating to sadness. Her mouth hung open in dismay, hurt by the fact that her own teacher and princess had turned away from her in this time of need, even her eyes told a story of sorrow. Not only did she feel betrayed by her friends, she felt like she had betrayed herself and as did Celestia, watching in melancholy for leaving her pupil to wallow in depression. Simply, Fright walked beside the depressed alicorn, his words beginning to twinge her ears. "Her friends were quick to abandon her for a princess they barely knew, and as for you... You couldn't make time to believe your own protégé; the one that foretold Nightmare Moon's return and you still chose to neglect the information she withheld to protect Canterlot. She warned you of the imposter, the queen that manipulated her own brother. In the end, she was right, and you as a ruler failed to listen to your prized pupil." "I've had enough!" Celestia couldn't find the courage to even look at him. "No... You haven't," Fright told. Quickly, the scene changed and presented both Celestia and Chrysalis in a standoff, bright beams illuminated the room. There onwards, in an act of terror, Celestia had fallen, Chrysalis was triumphant against the Princess of Equestria. The worried gasps filled the room as Chrysalis stood victorious over the conquered princess. Quickly, the six ponies assembled over Celestia's damaged, body. She murmured, "The Elements of Harmony..." Celestia's exhausted voice transformed into a commanding tone. "You must get to them, and use their power to defeat the queen!" From there onwards, the six ponies grew confident, taking off to retrieve the Elements of Harmony just as Celestia commanded. "And just like that, you fell... You failed to protect your subjects from Chrysalis and then you placed all that responsibility on Twilight. It was up to her to save you and Canterlot from fear, you succumbed to the terror that awaited instead of aiding your student," Fright drawled. "Chrysalis... She was powerful," Celestia whispered in defeat. "Or you're just weak." He insulted. Growing agitated and irked, Celestia glowered face to face with Fright, "Enough of this petty analysis. I have made many sacrifices to keep Equestria safe, some have been deemed acceptable and some have been considered the worst mistakes of my life, but I have done everything in my power to keep Equestria safe and I don't need to be reminded of the mistakes and failures I've made by a fiend who experimented on his own friends just to yield better results for his fear spells." "And who pushed me to that edge?" Fright asked rhetorically. The sudden guilt that lingered seeped into her blood, numbing her brain as her mouth became sealed. Drained, the princess felt consumed by a void; her emotions becoming empty every second she lived this psychotic ordeal. It wasn't right for her to feel the beating of his words peel back the layers of her mind. She knew what was to come next, the next horror awaited her vision. Outside Equestria, in a world she had no control over, in all her life, Princess Celestia had never felt so powerless. Her voice lowered, whispering as her eyes sealed shut. "Please... Don't..." As if her pleading would change the outcome, their location shifted as expected. No longer were they in the Canterlot castle, instead, they went back to the remnants of both their pasts, her fears boiling down to the opening of what drove her once resilient, sane student into a corrupt, insane monster. Every remnant of the past was beginning to wither away Celestia's confidence as ruler. Around them were shattered glass, destroyed books, equipment that would benefit the safety of Equestria if had not all been destroyed by the Princess of the Sun. Dark and wretched, the lab was defined gloomy with the destruction of his research being scattered into pieces around the room. Lifeless, a unicorn was placed in the middle of the littered room, absorbing the disaster and destruction that set his mind into a broken state, a taste for vengeance. "How perceptive of you to put a stop to my work," Fright mocked, his low and creepy voice beginning to echo around the tormented alicorn. "You see me as a monster, but you forced me into madness... You and I are no strangers to terror, but yet, there is a difference... You are a monster, but no one is afraid of you. You're a coward." Frustration and anger now consuming her, Celestia clamped her teeth against each other, shouting, "I am no coward, nor am I an addict to terror like you!" Despite her shouting, his satisfaction grew knowing that she was on verge of breaking. "Is that so?" He questioned. Once again, their location changed. As their surroundings developed, screens appeared from left to right, showing every bit of horror Celestia had committed. From Luna's banishment, Discord's imprisonment, Sombra's expulsion and Tirek's capture, Celestia would consider these more to be good deeds considering she kept Equestria safe, although her sister's imprisonment on the moon would be the only thing she would consider a mistake. "What is this?" Celestia said, sounding surprised and looking aghast. Forming and mixing, the dim clouds above revealed Fright's nauseating, fake face, the unknown, black liquid dripping from the seams that kept his terrifying mask of a face together. "You say you're not an addict to terror, yet you have always resulted in making your enemies endure a miserable fate." He reported. Celestia's attention turned back to witness the screens that absorbed her into the harshness of reality. Watching Luna/Nightmare Moon being blasted into the moon and confined there for a thousand years was something she never had the pleasure of watching. Although he was hard to reason with, seeing Discord turn into stone was sad, a creature's life put on a halt just by playing with his powers instead of reforming him, to begin with... Even then, he was set up in her garden. Just because he became a statue, it felt like she treated him more of a trophy towards her victory instead of realising that he was a prisoner in his own body. Corrupted by darkness and hate, she couldn't remember trying to reason with King Sombra all that well, but she remembered clearly of turning him into a shadow and banishing him to the ice of the Arctic North. "I tried reasoning with my enemies and they were the first to resort to violence, harming my subjects!" Celestia argued with the fear-inducing version of Fright. "And in return, you harmed them. Physically, mentally and emotionally. You're not the gracious princess you think you are, you're a tyrant." "I did everything I could to keep Equestria safe!" Celestia roared. "And thus begins the endless cycle; an infinite loop that will always keep your precious land threatened by some outcast; a mentally ill sinner, all because you didn't know how to help them." The more he talked, the more his whispering repeated around Celestia's drained body. "Sinners like Chrysalis and Tirek are beyond help, they take pleasure in seeing others hurt, that powers them! You expect me to sit by and watch them continue to cause havoc?!" Celestia quarrel, narrowing her eyes in frustration. "As a princess, I expect you to assist the sick minded. The reason why Chrysalis and Tirek are beyond your help is that you're afraid to deal with them, they scare you and you think they deserve to be locked in a cage much like the nightmares that kept you up at night when you were a scared filly." "But... But they've harmed-" Not giving her a chance to speak, Fright continued: "Both of them thrive through supremacy. One was born to feed off others and the other was betrayed by his brother. Your sympathy doesn't leak towards them because you consider them as monsters like you do with me." Chrysalis and Tirek were something else, as far as she could remember, they were born evil. But seeing how the changelings needed love to survive and how she never bothered with helping a vicious species in need was considered ignorant. As for Tirek, he deserved to be locked up in Tartarus for his crimes, but he has been there for so long that she had forgotten about his existence. "But your heinous victories aren't the only act of terror you've managed demonstrate throughout your delicate life," Fright spoke. Abruptly, the screens that surrounded the ailing alicorn altered, switching to show multiple acts of manipulation and mistreatment towards Twilight Sparkle. It was at this moment, Princess Celestia was losing her edge; becoming irritated by the second. They showed Twilight doing countless tasks, saving the Crystal Empire, stopping Discord and Nightmare Moon... "What is this?!" "You already know..." Fright paused. Failing to understand him, the princess remained silent, not giving in towards his views on terror. He continued, "From the very beginning, you have used Twilight Sparkle as a pet; a guard dog. She has kept you safe, she has done your bidding like the servant she is. The Princess of Friendship has been your soldier rather than your student, and despite her victories, you have always bested her when it comes to recognition." "I don't use her..."She growled. Once again, Celestia's heart began to pump with hatred whenever someone told her she manipulative towards her student. "You're right... You don't use her... You control her," Fright told. "You control everypony in Equestria, they are willing to die for you while you sit in your beloved throne and cower. You have the power to fight back, but there is one thing that prevents you... Fear. That is why you resort to your way of 'justice' because it keeps you safe. We both know it's terror. You can convince yourself that you reformed Discord, but in the end, it was that paranoid pegasus who dealt with him. Dealing with anxiety and paranoia, who would have thought you'd place all that pressure and stress onto Fluttershy to change the ways of a chaotic God..." He resumed his mockery, "When the day comes, Twilight Sparkle will become exactly like you. You maddened your sister just like Twilight maddened Spike, she's following in your steps... Wait until the world despises her, wait until she is a target by your enemies. Once the breakout is complete, you will know true fear and you will know where it all went wrong. Those who follow you, worship you, protect you... They will suffer just to keep you safe. You say friendship is the way to solve complications, yet you've made more enemies than friends. They're waiting to be released and I will gladly set them free." "ENOUGH!" Celestia shouted, but soon her frustration and anger were overcome by worriment. "No!" Within a heartbeat, the monitors that presented Celestia's memories of manipulation and treachery shattered and Fright's mouth broke loose, his jaw stretching as an eerie, whispered scream breathed down her. Blurring, her vision went dark as if a blackout had occurred. With her mind supplying her thoughts with uneasiness, Celestia tried to look around the void that blocked her sight, the only thing she could hear was her own erratic breathing and her heart banging against her chest. As darkness accompanied her, Celestia felt like she was drifting through space, alone with her thoughts until a spotlight bled into the darkness, turning on like a lamp. With the radiant light shining before her, there lied an alicorn on the ground, her back facing towards the princess. Upon examing the alicorn, she recognised it to be Luna. "Luna?" Celestia spoke, anxious and muddled. As Celestia reached her sister, the spotlight freeing her from the darkness around them. It appeared Luna was unconscious; out cold. However, for some reason, her eyes snapped open, her pupils shrinking down to size while her mouth unlocked with a painful, gut-wrenching scream. Abnormal, Luna's body began to tremble; twitching as she continued to scream in agony. "Luna?!" Nearly scaring Celestia to death, she began to panic, trying to restrain her sister but all that did was hurt her as Luna's frustrated kicking pushed her away. Suddenly, Luna's skin began to stretch, her fur falling off. Rapidly, the feathers on her wings began to disintegrate, burning off alone with her tail and horn. Cracking, breaking and exploding with pain, Luna's hooves began to mould into old, tainted hands, fingers cracking into place as her screams went on until they became coughs of distress and gasps for air. Black liquid began to slither from her broken jaw as Celestia watched. Celestia knew what this was... A fear that she could never remove from her mind. That moment when Fright gruesomely turned into the humanoid creature, she despised every second of it, it was a memory she couldn't shake nor obliterate from her subconscious. Now she was watching Luna become the monster Fright became, it only made it worse that it was her doing that made Fright into the creature he is now. Whatever was left of Luna was gone, no remnants remained of her, only Fright as he pulled up his hood, cracking his bones into place. Rising from the floor, he turned towards Celestia as his mouth sewn together. His face began to mould into the mask that he hid behind. The Princess of the Sun wanted to end this nightmare, she wanted to end this madness once and for all, but in a world that was run by fear, she couldn't do anything. Decaying, her stomach began to crawl with sickness. Waiting for his mocking to resume, he remained silent. Much to her shock, the fear continued. Behind Fright, multiple spotlights began to bloom through the darkness, showing more ponies on the ground. To her left, to her right, even behind her, she saw her ponies; the subjects she swore to protect within their own light. Twilight, Spike, Shining Armour, Cadence, everypony she knew... She was going to witness a transformation that was loathsome and disgusting especially when it came to her loved ones. Around her, the screams of misery and anguish crowded her hearing as did the sound of cracking bones and fractured minds, she wanted close her eyes but the fears wouldn't let her. With regret and suffering, she watched everypony she loved turn into the demon she constructed. Disgust, hate, sickness, misery. These were all the things Celestia was feeling. Her eyes blurred through the tears that produced within her eyes, watching as the ponies around her dreadfully turned into Fright until Twilight was the last. What made her's worse is that she tried to call to her. "H-Help!" She vomited the black liquid that lingered through the fear realm. "Help me!" She cried. "Help..." Silently crying, Celestia wanted it to end, but to her horror, it only lasted longer than expected. Twilight's form finally burned into her enemy. What used to be the civilians of Equestria, Celestia witnessed them all turn into the enemy she despised. Concurrent, all Frights spoke, "What you did to me that day... Would you call it justice? Fairness? Sane? The socially challenged, the mentally ill, the sick minded, the caged monsters that have forgotten what light is, they are all at your throat for the punishment you appointed them." "I'm sorry... But please, I can't go back to the past to change the mistakes I've made... I've suffered enough... Please! Make this nightmare end and we can-" Even when she tried reasoning, it was too late for Fright to change his mind. As all the versions of Fright disintegrated into nothingness, the remains built up a large version of himself, peering down at the now, insignificant princess. His voice sounding distorted, echoing through the void. "You don't know what suffering is, you have only served it, not endured it... But I can acquaint you with what it feels like..." Forthwith, the colossal version of Fright began to fade in and out of reality, white noise filling the void. Hastily, his hand raised, breaking the void; shattering like a window, causing the distressed princess to fall into madness and insanity. Through the terror she had explored, it wasn't over... What awaited next, there was more to come, but she wouldn't have to face it alone. "You have no idea what lies beyond this world of fear... What you endured here was just a taste..."