Blitz And Balance

by Ennelly Von Swortts

15 The True Enemy Is Fear

Author: Ennelly Von Swortts

Co-Author: ElectroPHX228

Chapter Fifteen: The True Enemy Is Fear

I didn't know what was going on. First, Celestia had continued to have nightmares every single night. She was tired and jumpy. Luna and I agreed it was for the best to withhold day court, while Celestia reluctantly accepted it. Second, a letter from Twilight had thrown her into a bit of panic. After reading it myself, I calmly called upon a guard to wake Luna. It was only an hour or so before the three of us were in Celestia's carriage on our way to Ponyville.

We went directly to Twilight's throne room, where a group of ponies were gathered. Including Silver. I raised my eyebrow, he shrugged in response. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she realized the state Celestia was in. Celestia jumped at a sudden exclamation from Pinky as she won what looked to have been an intense chess game with a light gray Pegasus with a blonde mane. I gently put my hoof on Celestia's shoulder to help her calm herself, as I had been doing the last few days.

Twilight stepped over. "Are you ok Princess?" Celestia smiled at her former student.

"Just a little tired, nothing I can't handle."

I couldn't help myself, remembering how Celestia had told me they were the same rank, but Twilight still called her 'Princess'. "Aren't you the same rank, Princess Sparkle?" I asked. Celestia chuckled as Twilight blushed.

"Sorry, life-long habit." She muttered.

Everypony gathered around the table in the middle of the room. "Thank you, Princesses, for coming all this way. Now, let me explain who you're dealing with. I'll start at the beginning. About forty-thousand years ago, an Earth Pony became power hungry. Nopony is sure how it happened, but he found a way to use fear to gain power. He started to spread fear just a little bit at a time. Then, he found he could make shadows of fear. He began to use his shadows to put more fear in the world. Balance was on the verge of being tipped, so another pony of immense power and skill used the power from Balance to give ponies bravery.

"Bravery to stand up to their fears, or accept it as part of themselves. This created balance as ponies stopped fearing shadows. But this pony of fear was only just starting. He used his shadows to create nightmares. Everypony touch by one of his shadows would be able to dream. To have nightmares, as they were the only kind of dream back then. And as more fear spread through the world, he became stronger. His shadows became stronger. They slowly gained the ability to physically affect the real world. This pony began to drive others insane with nightmares, and got even more power from them. He slowly became something... Not pony. He became fear itself. Even as the pony of balance spread Good dreams, fear was spreading faster.

"Over many years, the two-struggled back and forth. But fear was winning. Until balance himself came to the world. His mere presence put hope into the hearts of all on Equis. After some time, fear was locked into a world of his own, with the promise he could not come back to our world while balance lasted. Balance then turned to nine ponies. Upon six, he gifted the elements of Harmony. The other three, the elements of Chaos. These nine ponies created what is commonly known as the Order of Balance among its members. And over the years, we have stopped a number of attempts of his return. But this time... This time, we had no chance to repeat what we've done for the past forty thousand years. Legends of Balance holds record of our many struggles over the years. And it is all true." Silver sat back.

I processed all this perhaps faster than everypony else. "That is quite the tale. If I may be so bold, what was this pony's name?" I asked.

Silver glanced around the table. "You mustn't repeat his name, for names hold power. His original name was lost those many years ago, but he is known as Slendermane." The room's temperature dropped noticeably. "You can see why anypony in the Order of Balance is hesitant to say that name. Every time he surfaces, he picks three ponies to do his dirty work in this level of reality. We simply call them Nightmares. There are always three Nightmares. Nightmare Earth, Nightmare Horn, and Nightmare Wing. Each deal best against one type of pony. You can guess which. And it is them who killed my companions. Them and the shadows under their control."

I closed my eyes for a moment. Suddenly, I made a realization. Glancing at Luna showed she had connected the same dots. We both glanced at Celestia before I turned back to Silver. "Anything else we should know about our enemy? And how do we stop him?"

Silver smiled as he opened a book in front of him. "There is one more thing the Nightmares can do. They can twist a pony's mind, and turn them into what is known as a fear. Each one is unique. As unique as the pony they are. And unlike the Nightmares, they can be returned to their original body and mind. But with mental instability. As for stopping him... I'll start with the Prophecy of Balance.

'Guided by heralds of both Future and Past,
The mantle of Fear that spreads shall be vast

Come Storms and Shadows from realms afar,
Stand true to protect the Elements at Heart

From opposing sides of Harmony and Chaos,
Unite to wake the Balance within us

Upon the fall of both Sun and Moon,
The New Queen must lead with a rule that sings true'

Everypony looked at Celestia Luna and I with some amount of worry.

"Let it come." Celestia and I said at the same time. We glanced at each other smirking.

I scooted just a little closer to her. Twilight picked up the book in front of Silver, quickly turning to a page before putting it back. "Can you explain this?"

Silver looked down. "I'm going to take it you felt something the other day. All things considered, it was probably fear followed by the feeling of missing something." Five elements of Harmony's jaws dropped. Silver smiled sadly. "As I said, the elements were gifted years before recorded history. Even before what is currently known as the Alicorn Age. Every time the bearer of an element would die, it would find a new bearer. There would always be one. One bearer per element. Discord threw the balance off nearly enough for fear to come into this reality. But Harmony got a lending hand from balance, creating what you have known as the Stones of Harmony. Though Celestia and Luna used then, they didn't truly become bearers, only made a connection with them.

"And it was like that for a few decades, till Nightmare Moon. It was like when they were gifted. Till Twilight received her cutie mark. Having the talent of magic itself, the element could not ignore her. It connected to her, and magic had two bearers. Then the elements were found and used six years ago, creating a connection with both ponies of each element. Pinky already held laughter, so it didn't really affect her that much. But when the other bearers met their fate, the connection between the bearers was lost. Which is why you would feel fear as fear itself took them. And why you would feel that connection missing." My head was swimming slightly at the information.

I shook my head. "I'm going to go out for some fresh air." I walked to one of the many balconies, and just stared out over Ponyville for several moments. I slowly became aware of somepony watching me. I could feel a deep sorrow. It was similar to mine, and yet... Different. I turned and looked up. Near the top of the castle sat a bird. It was hard to see from where I stood, but I knew it was looking at me. The dark blue blob made no move as we stared at each other for several minutes.

"There you are, Chrysalis." I glanced down as Celestia walked onto the balcony. "Luna and I decided to stay in Ponyville for a few hours while we plan a defense." The feeling of being watched disappeared, as well as that deep sorrow. Glancing up only confirmed the bird was gone.

I turned to Celestia fully. "That's a good idea. I'll be sure to join you in..." I trailed off as I noticed an odd emotion coming off her as her expression changed slightly. She moved before I could ID the emotion, leaning forward and planting her lips against mine.

Author's Note:

This relationship was planned from the beginning. And please, comment on what you like/don't like so I can make this story better. One chapter to go...