The Chaos Comes

by fatewing1

Chapter 3

The throne room was still. Not that this was unusual, as there were only four entities in it, but the reason was. Celestia, Luna, and Discord stood nearly stone still, shocked at the power that Fatewing had just unleashed. Never had they seen such a display, not even from when they had all worked together. Before any questions could be asked, the refugees from Ponyville started to arrive, Twilight and her friends at the head of the group. Twilight came trotting over, exhaustion written on her face, as well as on the face of every other pony.

"Are the thunderbirds gone?" she asked.

"Yes, Twilight, they're gone," Celestia said, her voice betraying none of the shock she had felt earlier. "They won't be bothering anypony ever again."

Discord chuckled. "Sunbutt left out the best part. They won't be bothering anypony ever again is because we- oof!" Luna smacked the Spirit of Chaos in the gut.

"We negotiated an ironclad treaty," Luna said to cover Discord. She didn't want for her sister to have to explain the necessity of battle to Twilight. "They left soon there after. Now, if you wonderful ponies will excuse me, I am going back to bed. It is still many hours until I must raise the moon." She nodded to each of the alicorns present and to Discord each once, and teleported herself upto her room.

Twilight looked at her mentor. "What should we do with everypony from Ponyville, Princess?" she asked. "They won't be able to go home."

Celestia looked down at her protege. She had already given orders to the guard and the staff in Cantorlot Castle. "The refugees were to be given rooms within the castle, family units to be kept together, otherwise one room for each pony. If there were not enough rooms within the castle, the guard had been issued royal decrees to take to the hotels close by. They are to donate rooms under the same provisions as the castle." She smiled, the picture of regality. "Once it is made clear around Ponyville, the royal masons and carpenters will begin to rebuild Ponyville."

Twilight gave a weary smile. Then she started to fall over. Her friends caught her before she could hit the ground, then looked at Celestia. She gave her student a worried scan, then smiled. "She's fine, girls,"she said. "She's just tired. If you would, will you take her upto her room? She can sleep peacefully there."

Rainbow Dash took point. "Of course we can," the tom-boy pony said. "We'll get her up there in ten seconds flat." The girls all groaned and then started taking Twilight upto her room.

Fatewing called out, "Ask her, when she wakes up, to come down to the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the library. You guys come with her." The alicorn stallion, until that point ignored by the girls, turned and trotted off to where he told them to go. He slipped out of the throne room and closed the door behind him. The girls looked at each other, and shrugged. They went back to taking their exhausted friend to her bed for a much needed rest. Little did they realize that the rest was not so peaceful.

Twilight came to in a long, dimly lit, corridor. The material of the floor and walls seemed, well, immaterial. As if walking on solid nothing. Her mind processed this, along with what her eyes showed her. AT the end of the corridor, two beings were conversing. Well at first glance it seemed they were conversing. As Twilight drew closer, she could see the truth of the matter. The two beings were alicorns, and with a sickening glance, one was her. The other was tar black, with mane and tail of an angry flame. His, for it was a stallion, wings were outstretched. They were also flame, only instead of angry reds and yellows, they were blue. The older Twilight was being horridly tortured. The physical wounds weren't that extensive. They didn't need to be. The real torture was something that the younger Twilight knew was purely mental, but she could see it, the malice and evil of the visions rippling across the elder's mind down through the years to the younger's. The black alicorn was showing Twilight her worst fears. She watched as he destroyed everything she had ever loved. A lift of his wing set her library home on fire. A flash of light from his horn reduced her friends to dust, only for them to reform, dark mockeries of their former selves. Each vision was different, often different takes on the same things. But the purpose of each was clear to the younger Twilight. He was destroying her mind, twisting it into a similar nightmare as what his visions showed of her friends. He was turning her into a Nightmare. The younger Twilight saw each vision herself, filtered by the intervening years as they were, and knew that he would succeed. She looked up and gave a start. The evil alicorn was standing in front of her.

"I know who you are my dear," the stallion said. "And I know that you guess who I am. I am here to tell you that you're right. I am the great Darkness, the Void Within the Soul, Alicorn of Nightmares. I am the master of twisting the spirits of my enemies and turning them upon themselves. I am Chaos."

Twilight blanched. His each syllable was an assault on her mind. She knew that if he wanted to, he could turn the visions more totally against HER, turning her will to nothing. So what was stopping him?

"What do you want?" she whimpered, fear coloring her voice.

"Smart, good girl," Chaos said. "What I want is simple. Do not listen to what Fatewing will tell you. Do not seek what he will tell you to." He grinned. "Surrender, and I will not have to reduce everything you love to less than dust." He started to laugh threateningly, but suddenly stopped, his smile becoming a snarl, his laugh a growl.

"You will not get her, creature of Nightmares," a warm female voice said behind her, comforting night light flowing around her.

"Step away, Chaos," a similar but male voice commanded from the other side of her. An aura of pure power flowed around her, shielding her from the dark power that Chaos was exerting. The two sources of these voices stepped forward, putting their whole power between the evil alicorn and Twilight. Fatewing and Princess Luna stood before her, and she felt hope. She had known that Luna was the Mistress of Dreams, her job being to guide ponies through their worst nightmares, and learn what they must from them without succumbing to them. It made sense for Fatewing to be there, she realized, as he was supposedly the Guardian of the Unknown, and what was more unknown then a pony's private dreams? Once that thought passed her mind though, she thought it creepy. She was so absorbed with her celebration that she almost missed what came next. When she did recognize it, she immediately regretted it. Chaos was laughing again.

"The Lost Warrior and the Fallen Princess!" he howled in what was almost delight. He looked at Fatewing. "You couldn't beat me the last time we faced, even with the full might of the Aspects of Greatness at your disposal." He turned to Luna, his mocking grin growing wider, like a kid finding a lost toy. "And you are already so close to turning to my power that I scarcely need to even try." He turned around and walked back to the older Twilight's near corpse. "Besides, I'm done here with you three." He looked back at Twilight Sparkle. "Remember my warning dear." With that word, the dream started to fade. Luna took a quick look around and started to leave. Fatewing looked down on Twilight and helped her lay down.

"I will explain everything when you truly awake, Twilight," the alicorn said. "Til then, rest and know that you are safe here and now. I promise." He turned around, like Luna. Only he didn't leave, he stood sentinel. Twilight closed her eyes, and slept peacefully.