Unforeseen Consequences - Losing hope

>”And with that, my dear, we shall put our story on hold for tonight” Your mom Celestia closed her big green book and placed it on top of your tea table.
>There was nothing you enjoyed more than moments like this. You and your mom, having a nice and relaxing time together. The ambience she put was top notch too, a couple candles warmly illuminating your room.
>You couldn’t help but to frown and bring the book back to her by using your magic
“But moooom! I want to hear the ending!”
>Your mom Celestia giggled and with a warm smile, she tucked you in your bed and have you a kiss in your forehead “Trust me, if it was on me, I would tell you a thousand stories, each one better than the last… but sleep is important, especially for somepony your age”
“I knoooow! But can’t you make an exception? C’mon, it will be just for tonight”
>Your mom let out a sigh and after lighting another candle… the fifth one actually, she playfully raised an eyebrow at you “Really? So, are you telling me that if I finish the story tonight, then you won’t complain in the future?”
“Uhhh…”
>”Gotcha” Your mom Celestia rolled her eyes and giggled “But seriously, I’m only doing this because this is a very important story… and because you are very cute when you get flustered… but mostly because the story of how our Queen Chrysalis took Equestria may very well be the biggest event history”
“Yeah! I mean, wasn’t awesome when she… wait…”
>What was that? Did your mom just say… oh no, you were inside that stupid cocoon again! You had to wake up, you had to…

>You had to what, exactly? Wake up just to be tormented by Chrysalis? Just to see how your failure cost you some of your loved ones? To see how Chrysalis hurts Cherrywood? Why were you still resisting? Just… What was the point anymore?
>Wouldn’t be so much better if you just… gave up?
>You lowered your head and with a heavy sigh, you asked.
“Chrysalis, can we stop with this game? Just, tell me please… if I give you what you want… will you please let me be?”
>When you looked up, that illusion that looked like your mom wasn’t there anymore. You were still in that bed, and completely alone except for the pale full moon.
>Then, from the darkness, Chrysalis appeared, you could only see her face illuminated by the moonlight, and her expression was… of absolute serenity “I’m afraid that won’t be possible, little Anon”
“But why not?! I just… I just wanna go home”
>”Oh Anon, little naïve Anon.” Chrysalis gently shook her head and chuckled “Do you really believe that my motivations to conquer Equestria can be reduced to simple food gathering?”
>You lowered your head and saw the book already in front of you. It was opened, the pages were blank.
“I… don’t know… I don’t know anything at this point”
>Chrysalis gently caressed your mane as she giggled “And that’s because you have lived inside your perfect little bubble for far too long. There are other things outside of Equestria, little Anon. Things that are far more dangerous than anything you have ever imagined. The only way for the hive… our hive to fight back, is to take over Equestria and the Crystal Empire and use their power in our favor”
“But… why do you need me then? I’m just a colt… I can’t really fight… I’m terrible at it”

>”I’m not going to argue against that. You are pathetic when it comes to combat, but that mind of yours is something that I’ve never seen before. True, that brilliant mind has been corrupted by an inferior way of thinking for far too long, but…” Chrysalis opened the book and placed her hoof on it. Then, whispered into your ear “We can change that. Little Anon, be mine and only mine and I promise you that I will teach you how to use that mind to its full potential.”
“I… I…”
>You looked at the window and the moon… it was bigger than ever before, in fact, it now covered most of the nocturnal sky. This… this felt oddly familiar.
>In fact… where did Chrysalis and the book go? Where were you? What... was going on?
>Ever since Chrysalis started to put you inside that horrible cocoon. Every dream culminates on you finally noticing the moon, and more curiously, the moon gets bigger and bigger with each dream.
>You also realized something else… something that made you snap out of that miserable state of mind that you were in: You have never been alone.
>For the first time in what felt like years you had some semblance of hope. Hope that gave you the strength to get up from that fake bed, open the window and call with all your strength
“Mom? Mom are you there?”
>But there was no answer… You were alone, the giant moon illuminating your failure.
“Please… I can’t do this alone… I-I am weak… I… have failed you”

>Your heart and head were hurting more than ever before, your hope had left you as quick as it came back. You lowered your head and started sobbing.
>That is… until you felt a warm hoof on your shoulder “My child, it pains me to hear you utter those words, especially when all of the blame should be placed on us.”
“But… it was my fault… I should’ve seen this coming… I should have protected my friends… I should have… wait…”
>You turned around and it was your mom Luna!
“MOM!”
>You immediately ran to her embrace but quickly stopped dead on your tracks. You took a step back and looked at your mom with caution.
“How can I know that you’re my real mom and not another trick of Chrysalis? Or worse… how can I know that I didn’t go completely insane and this ain’t a show of my craziness?!”
>The Luna that was in front of you sighed “The abstract nature of dreams would make it impossible for anypony to answer your questions. Luckily for you, I am far from being simply anypony”.
>Using her magic, that Luna pulled you to her. Then, she embraced you in a warm hug as she nuzzled her muzzle into your mane “Will this be enough to lift any suspicions from me?”
>At first you were completely frozen, but it didn’t take long for you to melt like butter. Yes, this was your mother alright… you felt warm, safe… and you also started crying even harder
>Your mom gently put her head on top of your mane as she hugged you tighter and pat your back ”Shhh, shhh. Let it all out, my child. Everything is fine. We are here now”

>You buried your face into her chest that was now soaked with your tears.
“No, everything is not fine! Chrysalis… She brainwashed Twilight, Starlight and Eris and now… she want to do the same to Cherrywood and I… I don’t know what to do… Mom… I am so scared.”
>Somepony else responded you, a familiar voice that made your heart sing with joy ”I know that you have a hundred reasons to be scared right now, but trust me” It was your mom Celestia, she was standing right behind your mom Luna and looking down at you with one of those smiles that could melt an iceberg “Cherrywood is not one of them”.
>Wait… only your mom Luna has the ability to enter others dreams at will. Not only that, but considering everything you’ve seen, the fact that your mom Celestia is here could only mean one thing.
“AAAAAAH! MOM, LOOK OUT! IS CHRYSALIS DISGUISED AS MY MOM CELESTIA!”
>”Seriously?” Celestia rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance “A simple hug worked for Luna but my patented sunny smile didn’t? That’s so unfair, especially when Chrysalis’ bootleg version of me is nowhere near as cool as I am”.

>”My child…” Your mom Luna gently caressed your mane to calm you down “I guarantee you that the Celestia you see in front of you is the
real one.”
“I think that the smugness gave it away, still… I-I’m sorry for calling you Chrysalis, really didn’t mean to offend you, it’s just that everything related to dreams can be so confusing”.
>”I know. This whole dream wandering business is completely new for me too” Your mom Celestia standing in front of you tapped her chin and shrugged “So maybe I should copy what my dear sister did… but with an added sunny spice, of course.”
>The Celestia leaned down and gently rubbed her cheek against your face… this warm… yeah… this all you needed to make the depression and misery to go away.
>”I missed so much, my sunshine, so, so much.” Your mom Celestia said as she continued to caress you with her face “There are not enough words to express how sorry I am. All of this is MY fault, not Luna, not yours. I shouldn’t have let my guard down like I did. I shouldn’t have underestimated Chrysalis. I’m more than a thousand year old for crying out loud! I should have known better!”
>Your mom Luna let out a sigh as she broke the hug and thus, the nice family moment “I’m sorry Celie, but you know very well that there is no time to play the blaming game. Keeping Chrysalis from discovering we are here is proving to be quite the task, and I’m not sure how long I will be able to keep it.”

>”Right” Your mom Celestia nodded as she let go of you. Then, with a heavy sigh, her warm smile transformed into a serious look “My dear, it seems like we managed to reach you before you fell for Chrysalis’ lies. She can’t touch Cherrywood because she is safe and sound inside the castle and out of the reach of…” Your mom Celestia sighed heavily “Chrysalis’ pawns”
>Those news… it felt like a massive weight just disappeared.
“Oh thank the heavens, if that monster had reached Cherrywood then I honestly have no idea what would I’ve… wait!”
>Just so a heavier one came to replace it
“How could you know that Chrysalis did her evil brainwashing on Twilight, Glimmer and Eris in the first place?! Not even Thorax or the captured changelings knew about that”
>Your mom Celestia looked away and rubbed her right leg “I want to say that my brilliant deductive skills saved the day once more, or that our changeling friends managed to uncover the secret, but the reality is…” She took a deep breath and looked at you right in the eye “My dear, I know that this will be very difficult, but it’s very important that you don’t freak by what I’m about to tell you…”
>”We don’t have time for this, Celie!” Your mom Luna said with impatience before turning to you with a stern look on her face ”Ever since she discovered that you had been captured. Cherrywood quickly made use of her own skills and became the most important element in uncovering Chrysalis’ master plan”
“Oh no… she got involved a-and that means that she has seen… oh no, oh no, no, no, no!”

>Your mom Celestia slapped her face and gently shook her head. ”Okay, Luna, I love you but you are being terrible at this”
>”What do you mean?!” Your mom Luna tilted her head back and frowned “I was simply stating the truth!”
>”Yeah, but you are doing it in the worst way possible! There’s this little thing called tact and you, my sister, are terrible at it”
>Your mom Luna raised her hooves in protest ”Do not tell me how I should speak to my child!”
>”Just… leave the talk to me, alright?” Your mom Celestia rolled her eyes and then looked at you with a calmer expression “Yes, my dear. What Luna said is true. We have no time to go for the long version, so what basically happened is that Cherrywood came up with the actually brilliant idea of using that… flying mechanism with the little camera thingy attached to it.”
 “The drone?”
>”Yes, that… thing. We have been using “the drone” and it’s fantastic and advanced capabilities to spy on Chrysalis”
“Mom? Why are you talking about our little fun project as if it was some state of the art machine?”
>”Don’t laugh at your mother’s lack of technological adaptability, little colt!” Your mom Luna quickly shut down your now regained smugness “And once this all over, you and Cherrywood are going to explain how the missing Guard’s Gear did magically appear in the mess that you call laboratory!”
“Oh, c’mon! Now that’s so not true! Our lab is always kept in top notch condition!”

>”I didn’t know that having a pile of garbage the size of a yak passed as top notch condition these days.” Your mom Celestia chuckled “I honestly haven’t seen this level of disorder since my days as Starswirl’s student”
>Your mom Celestia took a deep breath as her expression became serious again “Yes, it was thanks to Cherrywood that we learned Chrysalis had been using our loved ones… and Starlight Glimmer, against us…”
>Your mom Luna closed her eyes and sighed heavily “As well as the nightmare you have been going through.”
>Your mom Celestia grimaced before regaining a calmer composure “We have made absolutely to spare Cherrywood from watching the worse parts but since she is the only one who can efficiently use “The Drone” working… needless to say, she is doing her very best to bring you home in one piece.”
“Hmmm, our drone supposedly uses magically charged crystals as its power source, but if it has been used to spy on Chrysalis then Cherrywood somehow found a way to bypass the anti-magic throne… clever girl”
>”She is far more than that.” Your mom Luna nodded “Cherrywood thought on charging those crystals with changeling magic. I don’t have to say that her plan worked out marvelously”
“Wonder what will happen if we use chaos magic on those crystals? Or like a very specific spell, maybe we could try with… uh… sorry, got derailed for a bit… what is important is that you, Cherrywood and Thorax are safe from Chrysalis and… our friends”
>Your moms looked at each other, their faces filled with worry. Then, your mom Celestia spoke “My dear, there’s something else we need to tell you…”

>”Discord and Thorax have disappeared without any trace.” Your mom Luna abruptly interrupted “Nopony knows where they went”
“WHAT?!”
>Your mom Celestia shot her a glare ”LUNA!”
>”Sorry” Your mom Luna smiled awkwardly as she rubbed her left leg “I can be a little blunt when I get nervous”
>Your mom Celestia rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning to you “Once again, what Luna said is true, those two just banished a couple days ago. I suppose we have nothing to be afraid of, considering that Chrysalis is still looking for Thorax”
>”I’m so sorry, my sunshine” Your mom Celestia pulled you in and hugged you tightly “I wish there were better news, but at least try to soothe your feelings  with the little time we have”
“Uh… Mom? I’m feeling better now… kinda… it’s kinda complicated if I have to be honest, but I do want to make a question. Have you tried to undo whatever Chrysalis did to Eris, Twilight and Glimmer?”

>Your mom Celestia let out a heavy sigh “Yes, but nothing we have tried has managed to bring Princess Twilight and that pink friend of hers back to reality. My suspicion is that the two of them have casted a powerful spell that prevents Luna from getting into their dreams.”
“Dang! Seems like Chrysalis thought of that. Hold on… you said you have tried your luck with Twilight and Glimmer, but what about Eris?”
>Your mom Luna shook her head “I’m afraid we have focused our attention on Twilight and that pink unicorn. Just like her father, Eris’ mind is the very definition of chaos, far too dangerous for me to try to get inside. We haven’t given up on the Princess and her friend, we just need to redouble our efforts and…”
“Mom… I know this will sound kinda cruel and stupidly dangerous but … I kind of need that you drop Twilight and Glimmer and focus completely on Eris.”

>”What?!” Your mom Luna asked with utter confusion “But why?!”
“It’s the only way we can strike Chrysalis where it hurts her the most”
>Your mom Celestia raised an eyebrow as she gave you a little smug grin “I like where this is going”
>”I don’t!” Your mom Luna frowned as she crossed her front legs “That look in our son’s face brings me bad memories… especially about you, Celie”
 >”Oh, please! It wasn’t me who burned down Starswirl’s workshop” Your mom Celestia waved her hoof dismissively before turning to you “Ignore that last part, my sunshine, just tell us what your plan is”
“Okay, we don’t have much time so I’ll try to be as brief as possible, my plan is…”