Elements Of Chaos
By RC88
Chapter 1 - Nightmare
The moon was bright, and Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia, could not sleep. Of course she couldn't sleep. The moon was shining right in her face! Who could sleep with that!? She really needed to tell Princess Luna to make it more ambient. Its was like trying to sleep witha spotlight trained on you. Twilight wondered if Luna knew that Equestria wasn't nocturnal like she was. Spike, naturally, sleeping like a rock, snored as Twilight eyed him. She silently wished she had put a baby dragon proof spell on her window curtains, because when Pinkie scared him with a popup face at the window, the resulting flame destroyed them completely. And with all her new books and inventory at the library, she simply didn't have time to order new ones. Such was the life of ponyvilles star librarian. A librarian who couldn't sleep.
A book. Yes, that was exactly what she needed. What any good literature crazy pony needed. She stepped into her slippers, and attempted to put on her robe. Oh right, wings. Standing straight on end, with no provocation at all, her wings stood at quite a contrast to her back. What had Rainbow Dash so brazenly called this? Ah yes.
Wingboners.
Twilight knew one thing, and that was the fact that these "wingboners" were a pain. And that was reading was the cure for anything. Well, that wasn't exactly true, but it still helped to be knowledgeable on almost every subject known to ponykind. But tonight, she might continue one of her more, saucy romance novels, Although She was dying to get back to Eponies adventure with the mighty Lynk, warrior stallion of Hayrule. The last chapter she had read was the usual. A cliffhanger. Twilight hated cliffhangers. The suspense was killing her.
Her magic flared on her horn, lifting a candle. Lighting it, she watched as it cast its shadows across her bedroom. Things were creepy in the dark. She stepped carefully down her bedroom stairs, resisting the temptation to scream as her wings tried to escape from the fuzzy robe prison in which they were bound. Stupid things. Why couldn't she be a princess without them? She could avoid all this, and the hassle of learning to fly!
Twilight shook her head in frustration, and moved towards one of her shelves. Pulling out a hardcover, and settling herself nicely on a pillow, she opened the cover to stare at the wondrous illustration of Lynk saving the beautiful Princess Selda, all with the aid of Eponie. She sighed dreamily. Oh if only to be there, adventuring with him.....
~'~'~'~
"PRINCESS..."
Twilight stifled a scream, the image of Sombra far too realistic for her liking. She sat on the step in front of his throne, as he stepped down towards her. Each hoofstep caused the ground to darken, as his appearance grew more menacing the closer he got. She scrambled backwards a ways, trying not to let him get too close
"Dear Princess Celestia, I'm so glad your little student decided to join me in my castle..."
"I'll never give in to you, you ungrateful scum! My friends will be here soon, and we will defe-"
Sombra put a hoof to her lips, silencing her, and chuckling, motioned around the room. On each wall of the room, was a plaque, with a small golden inscription adorning each one.
Twilight shrank back in pure terror, for there, fastened to each plaque, was a cutiemark.
Sombra slowly walked around the room, staring at twilight as he named each one he passed under.
"Kindness...."
Twilight shuddered at the grotesque patch of flesh, bearing fluttershys cutiemark, the blood from its removal caked around its edges.
"Generosity..."
"No...don't do this...stop...please..."
"Honesty..."
"Stop im begging you!"
"Loyalty..."
Tears streamed down Twilights face, as she whimpered in horror.
"Laughter..."
"You monster! You're not even worthy of life!"
Sombra laughed, stopping under an empty plaque.
"And my new personal favorite..."
The room went dark, and Twilight lit her horn as she tried to see. The light barely penetrated the blackness. Sombra spoke into her ear from behind.
"MAGIC..."
Twilight writhed in sheer terror, screaming as the black tendrils of Sombras magic lifted her into the air, encasing her and moving up her body, pouring into her mouth and nostrils, as they-
"TWILIGHT!!!"
Twilight screamed with the effeciency of a well oiled steam train whistle, causing her purple scaly alarm clock to fall over backwards, struggling to get his pudgy body to gain its footing. Her candle had melted to its stub, and her book was in front of her.
She was back in the.....library?
Twilight shook on her pillow, her eyes red with stress.
"Spike....tea....now..."
Spike, sensing the drama of the situation, saluted and ran of as fast as his baby dragon legs could carry him. Twilight glanced at her book, seeing that it was still at page 1. She hadn't even started reading until she fell asleep. Then she had....that....that was too real....
Spike returned, carrying a hot cup of herbal tea.
"Wh-what happened? Bad nightmare?"
Twilight could only nod as she sipped her tea gratefully, the warmth spreading through her.
"Worse."
"Worse?"
Twilight deadpanned, her bloodshot eyes increasing the effect of her serious face.
"MUCH WORSE."
Spike readied a piece of paper and a pen, nervously preparing for the story. "Heheh, uh, Take a letter?"
"Take a letter."
~'~'~'~
"Darling, that sounds so....Inequine...."
Twilight and her friends had gathered at the local restaurant that day as they did every week. Since Twilight had decided to continue her Princesstral duties in ponyville, things had been much busier, so they had all decided to meet once a week to catch up, no matter what was scheduled.
"Its not just inequine Rarity. That's something any of us Princesses would deem worthy of death! I know he's technically dead now, but i just want to go and-"
Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her shoulder.
"Listen Twi, if he shows up again, we will hold him down for you ok? But the more you focus on this, the more you will scare yourself, and fluttershy."
Fluttershy was litterally huddled on her seat, gripping it for dear life.
"And trust me, ive had dreams about having my wings cutoff. For me, not flying, and losing my friends are pretty much equal. And we're your friends. We know how you feel. But imagine if we killed Discord. Even though we hate him for what he did, that doesn't mean that his death is justice."
Applejack piped up, nodding her head in agreement with Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbows right sugarcube, an' ah don't think that he is alive as it is. Ah'm pretty sure that the magic of the crystal heart destroyed him nice and clean. So right now, ya'll gotta forgive a crazy pony who had obviously lost his mind and gone nuts, 'cause he wasn't in control. It was just a nightmare, and no matter how realistic it may seem, it doesn't mean it will happen."
Twilight nodded, almost shaking as much as fluttershy.
"Y-your right....It was just a bad dream....its not going to happen."
Twilight exhaled, and relaxed.
"I just wish it hadn't been so realistic. If spike hadn't woken me, well, i would have hated to see the ending."
Rarity put a hoof on twilights shoulder.
"My dear, you should probably write a letter to Princess Celestia about this don't you think?"
Twilight smiled.
"I did. I think im gonna write about it in the journal too. It might get it out of my head."
The others agreed, pinkie pie somehow playing a victory theme on a miniature orchestra she pulled from nowwhere.
"So what has everypony been up to lately?"
An hour passed, as the elements of harmony chatted and laughed gaily, and Twilight relaxed more than she thought she would. Even Fluttershy came out of her cocoon of fright, and was chatting happily. Ponies passing by would see the six of them sharing their comradery, and continue on with a smile on their face.
Such was the power of friendship.
And as Princess Twilight Sparkle waved goodbye to her friends that day, she felt at peace, happiness and courage in her heart.
But the memory of the dream still haunted her.
~'~'~'~