//------------------------------// // Ch.5 Nightmares &.....Chibis? // Story: Life's Annoying Paradox: Perception is Reality // by CDR //------------------------------// Entry #5 -Date of entry; December 22th, 2011 -Date of event(s); 1,500-ish years before Nightmare Moon's banishment Celestia lay in her bed, shifting uneasily in her sleep. Nightmares did not plague her often, but when she did happen to have one, they were usually grisly affairs. This one was no different. She sat upon the throne as the four ponies writhed before her in agony. There were tears in her eyes. These were her citizens and it was her responsibility to protect them. But there she sat, powerless to help these four in anyway. It was not that she was unable physically get near them or that her magic was being blocked; it was just that everything she tried had no affect on their condition whatsoever. The sight of them in pain continued until all their life was spent. The same heart-wrenching display repeated itself over and over and over. The alicorn screamed with all her might. "Somepony please help! Anypony! A zebra! A griffin! A dragon even! Anything! Just stop their pain! I don't want them to die!" Her voice was growing hoarse from yelling so much. Her spirit was dropping as nopony answered her. "Please don't let them die!” she begged, “I don't want to be left alone! Why do they always have to die?” A familiar voice answered her plea. "They don't always have to die." "Wha-what?" Celestia slowly sat up in her bed. "Uurrhhggg. . . . .wha-wha, who what now?" the alicorn asked, trying to calm her addled mind. "We said they do not all have to die, sister," repeated Luna. "Oh, it is you," spoke the older of the two royal sisters. Her mind raced for a moment as she sat up in bed. "Thank you for saving me from that nightmare. But I would like to know why you are here." "Are we not to worry about our sister when she is hurting?" asked the night-blue mare, a hint of mirth in her voice. Celestia blinked, her mind racing again at just what that meant. "Where is he Luna?" Celstia asked, quickly getting out of her bed. "They,” Luna corrected, “Are fine. According to the guard Mono teleported into the throne room. You yelled at him. A slightly prolonged flash of light was seen. After which, you were unconscious upon the throne. Mono was curled up at the bottom of the stairs. Fin, Hal, and Tom were in a jumbled pile right behind him. That, and the Griffins were not happy about being interrupted." The worry on the older melted into relief before scrunching up into confusion. "Yes Tia, we are just as surprised as you are." A shudder of rage passed through Celestia as she contemplated the source of the issue, before focusing on her sister once more. "How, how are they Luna?" "They are all fine -- unconscious still -- but fine." The worry on Celestia's face eased a bit while she stretched. "And what of the Griffin diplomats? Ragewing and Mattoclaw never were very understanding of such incidents." "We wish you could have seen it sister.” The younger sister chuckled. “It looked as if they where about to burst with anger." "How, dare I ask, did you deal with them?" The older put a hoof to her forehead, half knowing the answer. "A few of their favorite flavored pies to the face, some hard cider, and they were soon understanding enough to go rest in the guest rooms." Luna stifled a giggle as she spoke. Celestia shook her head, some things never changed. Standing up, the older set her magic to work. Crossing the room, she straightened the bed, removed her regalia, and combed her hair; it worried the subjects to see her disheveled. "Luna, would you be so kind as to do the same as I?" she asked turning towards her sister. "May we inquire as to why,Tia?" the younger asked in return. "I have a feeling we are going to be busy for a while. It would be best to have as few things burdening us as possible." "We see. We will meet you outside their rooms then." The two alicorns exited the room, the younger stepping across the hall to enter her own room while the older went on ahead. The Princess of the Sun stopped in the middle of the hallway outside the rooms of her four friends. She could tell something was different before she even entered one. Where as she normally felt many small interruptions in the plane of magic, here it was calm and deathly quiet. Before she could contemplate what this meant any further though, an interruption burst forth from the third door on her right. Two orbs, each a quarter the size of a full grown pony, careened around the hall in an erratic pattern, smashing into each other repeatedly along the way. One was a seething ball of fire emanating anger. The other was made of lightning. While the electrified one also emanated anger, Celestia felt it radiated more confusion. The two orbs of chaos soared back through the door they had burst forth from, the wind in their wake pulling the door shut behind them. The guards in the hallway stayed at their posts flanking each door, but every one of them turned and stared at Celestia. A few just stared; they had seen worse. Others looked terrified. Some just seemed confused. One, Celestia could barely hear, seemed to be laughing. The regal mare sighed. "Gentlecolts, control yourselves," she said, making sure to be firm but gentle in her tone. "And umm..." she stopped to stifle a giggle, "Fix your manes please." The armored stallions blinked; they had not expected such an answer in the wake of such a potentially dangerous situation. That, however, was before they started looking at each other. Not one of them had been left unscathed. Some manes were smoldering, the colored hair erect in wild spines or frozen into spikes. They all did their best to hide their chuckles as small parts of their brains registered that this should not have been funny, and that they should not have been laughing. But each reasoned to themselves that if the princess was not worring, then neither should they. "Guards," Celestia spoke, regaining their attention, "Go position yourselves at the ends of the hallway. My sister will be here momentarily.” As you command your majesty," replied the sergeant of the group. After a few quick movements of his hooves, the guards split into two groups and moved towards either end of the hall. Celestia looked around the hall. The orbs' brief rampage had left scars of fire, lightning, and ice along the walls, floor, and ceiling. Focusing her magic, she set about reversing the damage that had been done, all the while paying attention how her spells affected the plane of magic. She observed that each burst of magic would cause a ripple to form before it was choked down to silence once again. Harmonous and his friends never had this magnitude of magical presence before, she thought. "Just what did you do, human?" she said aloud, voicing her thoughts. "What's a human, dear sister?" asked Luna as she alighted beside the white alicorn. "We're going to find out just that. But before we do, do you notice it too, Luna?" Celestia asked back. "Yes, we can sense it too. Magic is too quiet here, as if another presence is smothering it. Why do you ask?" "I was merely making sure sister," at this Celestia moved towards Hal's room, with Luna following beside. "Wouldn't it be better to see Hal after one of the others?" the dark blue alicorn inquired. "He seems to be awake already. And agitated. So it would be best to calm him down a bit before he smashes a hole in one of the walls again.” "Oh dear," the younger sister said, "We must see this." There was a hint of glee in her voice. Using her magic, Celestia opened the door to Hailfire's room. Both sisters sat in mute shock at what they found within.