Ponies of Choas' Dawn

"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria..."

“The Wendigoes were a clever move. You very nearly had me.”

I appreciate the flattery, but I think it’s very clear that you were ready for them.

“Nonsense! Clover, Pansy, and Smart Cookie had achieved their positions long before your pets arrived. Are you suggesting that I countered your move more than a decade before you even made it?”

You’re very good at building in contingencies.

“Fie on you and my ‘contingencies’! In order for my ‘plan’ to work, I’d have had to know that all three tribes would migrate to the same place! There’s no way that I could have arranged for that, even if I might have nudged a few pieces into the right places ahead of time…”

I am curious to find out how you knew that they would all eventually meet back up in those caves…

“My dear, you should be aware by now that I never ‘know’ anything about what those little ponies will do! I just have faith…”

…faith? In them?

“Faith that, in the end, Harmony will win the day.”

There is a weakness to Harmony: it requires the cooperation of a group. Groups require order. No order, no group, no Harmony.

“So long as even just two ponies can agree on something, there will always be a ‘group’ where Harmony can flourish.”

And what if there is no such group of ponies? What happens to your precious Harmony then?

“Well…then I guess I’d lose. Why, do you know how to accomplish such a thing?”

…perhaps.

“It’s your turn, I believe.

“Make your move…”

* * *

Her father was nervous.

It was something that was inconceivable to the little cream colored filly sitting next to him. Throughout her life, she had known the steel gray pegasus stallion to always be completely fearless and resolute against anypony who challenged him. Well, unless Mommy was unhappy about something. Her father tended to be quite a bit more flexible when facing off against the silver sovereign of the unicorn race. That was probably why he was out here right now, the little unicorn filly reasoned. Her mother hadn’t been in a very good mood for the last couple of months.

She had overheard some of the castle’s staff mentioning that it had been much the same while the princess had been pregnant with her. The pink-maned filly hadn’t yet mustered up the courage to ask her father if that was the truth. Nor did she believe that right now was a very good time to broach the subject either. The commander of the recently unified pegasus and unicorn armed forces sitting on the floor outside of the bedroom he shared with his wife didn’t look like he would have been very open to answering any questions at the moment.

He was very nervous.

If the filly next to him was going to be perfectly honest, she was feeling a little scared too. The muffled sounds coming from the door made it sound like her mother was in pain, and she could hear other ponies talking loudly to her in very stressed and excited tones. She couldn’t make out any of the words though, and that somehow made it worse.

Still, she knew deep down that everything was going to be just fine. After all, her mother had been through all of this once before and everything had worked out okay. Besides, the filly knew that the best physicians and nurses in the whole princedom were in that room with their princess right this moment. So, even if something did go wrong, the most knowledgeable ponies in the whole world were by right at hoof to set everything right. Including her mother’s most trusted advisor and confidant: Clover the Clever. That meant that everything was going to be just fine.

Nervous though she may still be, the filly was also a princess herself. Her mother had taught her from a very early age that when moments of tension or crisis emerged, that ponies looked to a princess to know whether or not everything was going to be alright. Therefore, it was of the utmost importance that a princess never let anypony see that she too was scared. More than that, it was also her responsibility to calm her anxious subjects.

So it was that the younger pony sitting next to the tense pegasus stallion placed one of her tiny little hooves on his flank. The older gray pony jerked before he realized what the sensation had been. Then he looked down at his daughter with his seafoam eyes, “what is it, sweetie?”

“It’ll be okay, Daddy. Mommy’ll be okay. You’ll see,” she was internally very proud of herself at how self-assured she had sounded when she’d spoken.

It seemed that her father was a little taken aback by the surprisingly composed and mature tone of his young foal as well. His expression melted away from one of worry into a wry smile. One of his massive wings stretched out and folded itself around the little white unicorn, enveloping her almost completely and holding her close to his side. The stallion leaned into his daughter and sighed, “I know, sweetie. Daddies…well, it’s just our job to worry. Even when we don’t really need to.”

The young filly pressed herself firmly up against her father and leaned her head against his chest, listening to the beating of his heart. Her amethyst eyes stared at the door in front of them as the pair of ponies waited patiently. She felt both herself and her father each tense up and hold their breaths when the yelling suddenly grew louder and more fervent. The way the pegasus stallion’s hooves were shifting beneath him, it was clear that he wanted nothing more than to charge in there and do something—anything—to help her. The fact that what was causing his regal wife such distress wasn’t a tangible foe that he could pummel, or strike down with a well-placed thunderbolt, just frustrated him all the more.

Then the yelling crescendoed and suddenly stopped. For a couple of heartbeats, there was no sound at all. The stallion and filly both held their breaths, though it was doubtful that either realized they were doing so.

The piercing wails of a newborn foal’s cries emanated from the door just moments before it opened to reveal a topaz unicorn stallion wearing a blue smock. He pulled the thin facemask down from over his muzzle and revealed a broad grin to the pair of patiently waiting ponies, “Commander, Your Grace,” he greeted each in turn with a respectful nod before returning his attention to his liege’s consort, “would you care to come in and meet your new daughter?”

“A filly?” the stallion mouthed the words nearly breathlessly before repeating more loudly, “it’s a filly?” the physician nodded. The gray pegasus turned his own beaming smile on the alabaster unicorn beside him, “what do you say, sweetie? Shall we greet your new sister?”

The young filly nodded her head excitedly, losing the princess-like composure that she had schooled just a minute prior. The pair trotted through the open door and into the sprawling bedchamber that was shared by the rulers of the unicorn and pegasi ponies. A pair of nurses were busily changing out sheets and towels that had become soiled by the delivery. At the side of the bed, a cloaked mare with bright golden eyes and a viridian coat stood protectively over the occupants.

As they neared the edge of the bed, the stallion picked up speed, leaving his now-eldest daughter slightly behind as he ran up to nuzzle his wife. The pair shared a long, tender, moment of assurances that everything was alright before either of them even seemed to realize that there was anypony else in the room with them. The gray pegasus glanced down at the cream filly who wasn’t yet quite tall enough to see over the edge of the large bed and lowered one of his wings to the ground. The filly stepped lightly upon it and allowed herself to be lifted level with the top of the mattress so that she could easily walk onto it.

It was then that the filly got her first good look at her mother. The silver mare’s features were tired and drawn, and her coat was matted with sweat. It was quite a shocking sight to behold, considering how much care her parent usually took with her appearance. Princess Platinum of the Unicornia-Pegasopolis Alliance didn’t even go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without ensuring that she was wearing makeup and that every strand of hair in her mane and tail were in their properly resplendent places. To see her looking like a haggard commoner was outright unthinkable!

Only the gleaming eyes and tender smile on her mother’s face, despite the appearance of the rest of the regal princess, assured the filly that everything was indeed perfectly fine. Those same sapphire eyes were locked onto the dandling blanket clutched in her hooves. It was several seconds before the mare seemed to realize that anypony else was in the bed with her. When she finally noticed the cream colored filly, the silver unicorn mare beckoned her over and shifted the bundle to give her a better look.

The filly made her way carefully across the quilted comforters and tangled sheets of the bed and craned her head around to peer at what her mother was holding. She noticed the wings first; tiny little tufts of indigo pinions that protruded from the sides of the snoozing newborn foal. Wisps of a damn cerulean mane crowned the little pegasus filly’s head. The sudden shift had been enough to briefly wake her, and eyes of pale blue stared up at the older filly.

“Celestia,” the filly’s mother whispered in a tired voice, “I’d like you to meet your new little sister, Luna…”