If Chaos prevails...

by The Marshmallow

2 - Dreams

One small tear fell on the ground below her. Then another one. Then it became a steady flow, descending from her cheeks. Through her still foggy eyes, the Alicorn was looking at the moon. At the newly imprinted image of her sister. She had won. Equestria was safe. But even if she could give the land a new era of peace, every night she would still see it. It would remind her of her own mistakes for the next 1000 years.

It was for the best, probably. A reminder was what she needed. What she deserved, even. Besides, now it wasn't time to cry: it was time to be strong. Equestria needed her, especially after the strife the long night brought, and she had to start planning for her sister return. Maybe she could still save her. The Elements of harmony could still save her. The small stones were now still at the ground after the use, completely inert, and she took surrounded them with her magic, making them levitate toward her. She had to secure them again, and possibly check if she could use them again.

She started walking toward their... Toward her castle. A sight almost difficult to bear, as it reminded her of all the time spent with her sister. And, just for a moment, she thought that it was time to build a new one, as it suffered some quite serious damages during the battle. On a nearby Mountain, some unicorns managed to establish a quite nice town, recently. Canterlot, if she did recall the name correctly. It was becoming quite prominent... It might have been, possibly, the new capital...?

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted. The elements fell to the ground, while her tears suddenly started flowing again. It was impossible, but she still wanted to hope. With a large smile, she started desperately running toward the pony she saw in front of her. That blueish figure, that mane that reminded of the night sky and those large wings now resting at her sides. "Luna!"

She should have been sealed far away, trapped in the body of Nightmare Moon, but there she was. Giving her back to Celestia, and apparently only then noticing the presence of her sister. And as Celestia came closer and closer, she started to turn her head towards her.

The sun princess stopped dead in her track. Speechless. That was not her sister's face. The short white beard, the two completely different horns, the red and yellow eyes. And, especially, the devilish grin of discord. "Surprise!"

---

"AAAH!" she woke up suddenly, breathing heavily, her eyes filled with tears. The right foreleg moved towards her horn. Soft, limp and unusable. A pathetic excuse for the horn that once ruled over the sun, that protected Equestria against many dangers. It was just a dream. The dream that would always affect her when this time of the year came. A reminder of the day she lost everything. Her sister, her kingdom, her power.

"Are you okay, Princess Celestia?" A moment later, two ponies rushed into the room, opening the door with their magic. The first one was purple with a dark blue mane, in which there were two lines, one dark purple and one magenta. Her eyes reflected clearly how worried she was for her princess.

The second, orange with a red and yellow mane, spoke next "Sorry we barged in, but we heard you scream!" She glanced quickly around her, almost ready to attack whatever was troubling Celestia. Sadly, it was nothing that simple to solve.

"Do not worry, my most faithful students" A gentle smile appeared in her face, as she wiped away her tears "It was just a bad dream."

the two students exchanged a look, quickly, and it was clear to them they both did agree. She was lying. "Are you sure you are okay, princess?" Twilight Sparkle was not convinced, not at all. The tears could have stopped, and a timid smile could well be there... but she knew the Alicorn well enough to see the deep underlying sadness

"I... I am okay" She tried to avoid their inquisitive gaze. Which certainly didn't help to convince them.

"No, you are not! I know how this time of the year affects you..." As much as it was a very delicate topic, she had to bring it up. It was the whole point, wasn't it? The anniversary of Discord seizure of power was just 13 days away now, and every year she was reminded of that "But this time you look worse than usual. And we just want to help you"

"..." Celestia's mouth opened for a moment, but she found difficult to speak. Her eyes pointed downwards, toward the ground (or better, the bed on which she still was).

"Princess..." It was Sunset Shimmer this time, and she could very well see that her fellow student soft approach wasn't going to work now. "For all of us, you are everything good Equestria could be." A prevailing idea among the so-called Resistance they were part of "We are ready to die for you. We trust you more than anything!" Celestia raised her eyes, looking at the two of them. She didn't want anyone to die. The only life she would comfortably to sacrifice for Equestria was her own "Why can't you trust us, too?"

"Come closer, please" New, warm tears filled the alicorn eyes. And the two students got quickly closer to her bed, just to be taken in a warm hug by the huge figure of Celestia "You are right. You deserve to know..." And after a long, deep breathe she whispered said a few more words "My sister is coming back soon"

Everyone was speechless for a good ten seconds. The two students couldn't believe the news, which was huge for them. Most did barely know the legend of Nightmare Moon, and few the truth behind it. According to official historiography, it was but a demon wishing to bring eternal night over all the lend, which was vanquished by Discord itself. The citizens of Equestria, thankful for being saved, decided to make Discord their ruler. Being subject to a hellish, chaotic landscape once a week was a fair trade for the safety the omnipotent king could guarantee. The whole resistance knew who really defeated her, and the two students actually knew about who Nightmare Moon previously was.

"Are you sure? Completely sure?" Twilight could barely believe it and quickly started to consider all different options in her mind. If Equestria was a game of chess, the appearance of an Alicorn was quite like putting a new queen on the table. The problem was... on what side would she be? Her own? Would she still want to bring an eternal night? And did it even matter, when one player could have the pieces simply vanish with a snap of his paws? "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I wasn't sure. When I sealed her, I wanted her to come back... And the elements of Harmony set the time to one thousand years." So exactly 13 days from then "But after I lost my link to them, I wasn't sure she could be brought back. I still have a link to my sister, though, and what I've been sensing these past few days leaves me with no doubt..."

Twilight wondered if it was an interpretation biased by Celestia feelings, but Sunset Shimmer didn't leave her time to explore this option. Her trust of Celestia was absolute "And it will be as... Nightmare moon, right? What do you think will happen?"

"She will try to fight Discord, I imagine, to take the kingdom back and instate an eternal night. And she will fail." That was especially excruciating "My punishment will seem light, compared to what he could do to her..." She shivered at the idea "After all she suffered, she doesn't deserve this."

"We can find a way to help her, I'm sure!" Sunset spoke with full confidence. She was going to try anything she could. It was for Celestia's sake, after all. Twilight would have, too, but the violet pony knew very well that if Nightmare Moon were by chance to become a danger to Equestria, they might have had to fight her too. Even against her Teacher wishes, as her thoughts were clouded by her love and her regrets.

"Why didn't you want to tell us?" She was somehow... Disappointed? Why Celestia couldn't tell them immediately such relevant news? Sure, the Nightmare moon appearance could have lasted for just a few minutes before she was stopped by Discord, but it might also be a game-changing event.

Celestia, too, was somehow disappointed. With herself. Again, she lowered her eyes, sighing "I failed her. Twice." her regrets did show clearly in her expression and her tone of voice " I couldn't save her, so I banished her on the Moon. And instead of protecting the kingdom and find a way to prepare for her return... I was defeated by Discord and lost the only artefact capable of stopping him!" One thousand years of research couldn't give her a single one with the same extraordinary property "How can I face her when she is coming back in two weeks and I am still as clueless as I was then?"

He appeared publicly only once a year, for its big celebration, and once a week he was seen around Equestria bringing havoc. He only agreed to relatively short meetings with the different cities' representatives, and it was impossible to even approach the few positions that actually could meet discord on a daily basis. It was the palace staff ( few and mostly put there by the nobles, to give the resemblance of a proper court) and the Royal advisors. That would be the perfect position to collect information on Discord, but he chose them himself in totally unpredictable ways. Besides, few lasted more than a few years. Let's just sat Discord wasn't the most agreeable fellow, especially with those that started to bore him.

"Actually, about that..." The previous night they received very interesting news, but it was after the princess retired to her room, and no one wanted to interrupt her sleep. It was the perfect chance to bring it up, Twilight thought. And she would have, wasn't she cut off by Sunset Shimmer, which had stars in her eyes and whose muzzle sported a large smile.

"Princess, we might just have a plan!"

Author's Note:

I meant for another scene to be in this chapter, but it was getting long and I was thinking of more and more details for that... So it will be the next chapter instead.

This time, I tried to show what happened a thousand years prior without giving away everything at once (let's keep some suspense, right?) and show the relation between Celestia and her two students. The relation became the main focus of the chapter (reason for which I didn't want to introduce other characters yet). I think it will be a nice building block for later. On the other hand, there wasn't much moving the plot forward this time...

There will more soon, though!

With love,
The Marshmallow

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The Marshmallow

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