Brethren

Chapter 2: Trapped in a Nightmare

The Grand Palace of Canterlot was quite impressive. It was built up on the side of a mountain and was coated in marble and gold, with over 500 rooms, 20 bedrooms, and 50 bathrooms. Behind the palace were the gardens, containing over 3,000 different types of plants, including trees and flowers. In the center of the gardens was a magnificent fountain with a statue of Master Lauren in the Center, while several other statues decorated the place. One of the statues was of a Draconequus in an informal and inappropriate pose, while another one was of the long lost Crystal Heart.

Relaxing on one of the benches in the Royal Gardens was the white Equine Goddess herself, Princess Celestia of Equestria, daughter of Master Lauren. For she had just gone through a tiring day a the “Senate”, a system that Celestia introduced in which a group of ponies were forced to agree with her on new laws, and if they didn’t, they would either be fired or sent to the moon, which Celestia was looking up at now. She saw the Mare in the Moon, the image of her sister Luna who had been banished to the moon following an attempt to overthrow Celestia. However, Celestia missed her dearly.

“It’s been far too long” she said in the still of the night. “699 years and you still haven’t come back, not ready to return. Though sometime I know you will, my sister.” a tear came from her eye. She was tired of having to rule Equestria without her, tired of having to raise both the sun AND the moon, which her sister was assigned to raise and ultimately was imprisoned on. Now the only sibling she had to accompany her was Starswirl, keeper of Elemental Magic. For both their siblings had turned against them and became evil.

Starswirl, brother of King Sombra, walked into the garden, noticing Celestia laying down on a marble bench so depressingly. He came up to her and stroked her flowing mane. “Why art thou so depressed, thy sister?” he asked her in wonder.

“I just can’t cope with being so lonely.” she told him in tears.

“Come on Celestia, you’ve been doing this almost every night for the past 700 years!” Starswirl used his magic to lift his sister off the bench and onto the stone path. “Now stand up and come to bed, it’s getting very late.”

Celestia, now laid on the ground, still looked worried. “I don’t want to go to bed now!”

“Why?”

“Because I keep having bad dreams.”

Starswirl was curious. “What do you mean, bad dreams?”

Celestia stood up. “You know about your dark brother Sombra?”

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I? I keep thinking about him every day, worried on what he’ll do next. What does my brother have to do with your dreams?”

“Well, I keep dreaming that I’m in love with Sombra.”

“What? How could you?” Starswirl was worried that his sister was turning evil too, and that he might have to rule Equestria on his own.

“It’s just a dream” she said, “but in this dream Sombra is handsome, looking like he did before he turned on us. I dreamed we were in love, and that there was more than one side of everything.”

“More than one side? What does that mean?” he asked.

“Well, there was a good version of Chrysalis and a good version of Discord as well. But the strangest thing about it was that there were evil versions of me and Luna.”

Starswirl tried to figure out what this dream meant. “Celestia, my sister” he told her, “I believe that this dream is a warning of a potential turning to Dark Magic.”

“Dark Magic?” Celestia’s eyes widened. “I don’t practice Dark Magic! I am on the side of the Elements! Why would you assume that?”

“Because I think that in that dream, Sombra is seducing you to become the evil side of you in the dream. It is a process of conversion, one that you appear to be fighting, but on the inside you are slowly giving into him. I believe your dreams are a warning.”

“A warning?” Celestia’s tone was becoming very worried. “So these dreams are telling me that I will eventually turn to darkness?”

“Well, you can stop it.” Starswirl tried to make her relieved by giving reason. “Celestia, it’s your dream. But sometimes our fears become so great that we think we are trapped in a nightmare. Your fear is of joining Sombra, and your fear has invaded your dreams. However, dreams don’t always come true, but your fear is so great you will think that it will come true.”

“How can I make it stop?” Celestia asked. Starswirl could tell she was beginning to tear up. “How will it stop?” she sniffled a little.

“You want me to make you feel comfortable?” he asked her.

“Of course, my brother.” Celestia felt a little safer, so she asked Starswirl to do a favor for her. “Starswirl?”

“Yes?”

“Will you sleep with me tonight?”

Starswirl’s eyes got really big. He was shocked for a second before he realized that his poor sister really did need the help, so he nervously and unsurely answered “Yes. Follow me.” he walked inside the palace, and Celestia followed, knowing he was there to protect her were she to have a nightmare.

As they walked back through the gardens, Celestia kept looking at the Mare in the Moon.

“Luna” she said in loneliness, “If only you were to come back... Then I could get a better explanation. It’s been too long now. Goodnight, my dear sister.” Celestia would always look up at the moon and tell her goodnight, every night.

Luna had spent nearly 700 years trapped in the moon, and it was clear that not only her sister, but all of her sister’s kingdom wanted her to be freed, turned back, and restore order. However, this would not happen for another 300 years, Meaning no mortal pony living now would see her return, even though they knew it could happen at any time.

Equestria was in for three more centuries of darkness, and as it was told that one pony would be able to bring everypony out of the darkness at revive the Elements of Harmony, no such pony had existed yet. But Celestia knew that someday there would be. That there would eventually be a single pony that would save all of Equestria. Like a chosen one, or a savior. She wondered if she could predict this in her dreams, rather than have another nightmare about "Good Sombra".

That night, while sleeping with Starswirl's arms around her body, she suddenly woke up with a loud gasp. This woke Starswirl up as well. "Don't worry" he said, "It's alright, it's alright. It's just a dream, it's not really gonna happen."

Celestia was sweating. "But, but in this dream, there were six ponies that caught my eye." she said, shaking in fright.

"Anypony you know?"

"No. But they just caught my eye. Must have been extras of my dream. They probably have nothing to do with what's going on."

Starswirl gave Celestia a hug. "I'm right here for you. Try and fall back asleep." and with that, he lay down and closed his eyes. However, Celestia did not sleep in fear she would have another nightmare. She quickly forgot about the six ponies, and they would not ring a bell for her when the time came and her dream became a reality.