//------------------------------// // Dream State // Story: Sjelekval // by Frozenfistt //------------------------------// Dream State By Frozenfistt A/N - Sorry for the long update. School as been kicking my ass this past month and I hope to be able to spend more time working on this story in the near future Armor, check. Helmet, check. Saddlebags, check. Bits for food and souvenirs, check. Partner in crime, check. The guardsman Dust Storm went through his mental checklist one last time before outfitting himself in his gear with help from his best friend and fellow guard Pastel. “So why are we going to Ponyville again? I heard the captain the first time I’m just confused as to why we’re going and not some others higher up.” Pastel asked. “We’re going to Ponyville as escorts for Princess Luna. As to why we’re going to Ponyville I thought I heard somepony say that the Elements of Harmony asked for the presence of the Princesses, and since Celestia is busy with the Griffins Luna is going alone. Aside from that I don’t know. Maybe the captain figures this’ll be a quick trip and we could use the experience.” “Well I guess we won’t figure anything else out until we get there. What some help with that?” “Sure, they just had to make getting your wings through these holes the most difficult thing of the process didn’t they?” Pastel is a beige pegasus with red, green, and blue streaks in his mane and tail. He has a picture of the pony lisa for a cutie mark. Dust Storm is a Pegasus with a deep crimson coat with a brown mane and a cyclone for a cutie mark. As the two friends helped each other into their armor the enchanted armor quickly turned both of their cotes into the typical bleach white of the royal guards and their helmets hid their manes. As the two walked out to the carriage they would be pulling Pastel decided to make some small talk. “So if I remember correctly that little bundle of joy you have at home has a birthday coming up right?” “Yes, my little Dawn will be turning six in a few weeks. I thought I’d pick up a cake in Ponyville as a surprise.” “That sounds like a great idea. “ As they reach the carriage both guards quickly pack their few belongings into a secret compartment made only for storing the guards stuff. They don’t wait long before the Princess shows up so they can get going. After some quick introductions and some directions from the Princess they were off on their way to Ponyville. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You watch Twilight crawl into bed finally after waiting for what seems like hours and wait for the telltale signs for a pony sleeping. It didn’t take long for the mare to fall asleep and as soon as you feel confident enough you reach out with your mind trying to make contact. It’s much easier to access the mind of a pony while looking into their eyes but you feel that if you can do that then you must be able to do so without needing to. You’re rewarded with images of what you assume the mare is dreaming about, something along the lines of lots and lots of books. Huh, never thought somepony would do that with a book, but to each their own. With the mind relaxed and feeling safe you’re able to dig deeper into the mind of the lavender mare. Insecurities, secrets, crushes, traumatic events, forgotten memories, you know this mare better than she does. Oh the possibilities, but where to start? Should you go after her friends? No, that Discord incident left their bond stronger and the experience will let her see through it. That assistant of hers, Spike was it? No, but whom would be the ultimate betrayal? Ah yes her mentor, Celestia was it? With your target in mind you take hold of Twilight’s dreams and shape them to your design. You put Twilight back into her old school dorm, studying away for some future test. Celestia happens to walk by and checks up on her student. “I see you’re studying for that quantum physics test, I’m so very glad to see you putting forth so much effort.” “Oh, yes. I’m still having some issues with understanding when to use some of these equations and I felt the sooner I could figure it out the better.” “Well if you wouldn’t mind I’d like to take a look at your notes.” “Go right ahead.” “Hmm, I see what your problem is some of these equations are off. Here let me fix them for you.” Celestia grabs Twilight’s notebook with her magic and rewrites several of her equasions. After a few minutes Celestia gives Twilight her book back with a smile. “There that should help. Keep up the good work Twilight.” Twilight thanks her mentor and goes back to studying. Time seems to bend around you as the dream moves forward in time. You find Twilight sitting in a lecture hall with her professor handing back the classes tests. As Twilight is handed her test the professor gives her a sideways glance and then continues on his way. As Twilight looks at her test she’s hit with a sensation that she never thought possible, her mind simply could not comprehend what was in front of her. There on her test was a big red D. “But… how is this possible, I’ve never gotten anything less than a B+ on anything. All that time studying, all that time spent in labs, all of it was for nothing. I’m a failure.” “You’re not a failure Ms. Sparkle. You simply used all the wrong mathematics for each problem, which I find rather peculiar, but there’s nothing I can do to help besides find you a tutor.” “But, then that means…” “As long as you fix these mistakes for future tests you’ll do just fine.” Twilight goes to see Celestia as soon as she was done in class. Oh her way there Twilight tried to figure out what was going on. Why would Celestia lie to her like that? She must have been mistaken; she would never betray Twilight’s trust like this. There must be a reasonable explanation for why she gave her the wrong notes for her test. Twilight burst through the doors to Celestia’s throne room panting from having run all the way there. Too deep in thought she failed to realize that she had started to run on her way there. “Twilight, what is the meaning of this? I’m in the middle of court, surly this can wait till later.” “Princess why would you give me the wrong notes for my exam? I just got it back today and I was given a D and told that I was doing the mathematics wrong.” “Poor naïve Twilight. Did you really think I’d help you? What made you think I care about how you do in life? I’m a goddess after all. Your life is but a drop in the ocean that is my own. I care not for the ponies around me, you are but insects to me; play things, projects for my own goals. What, did you think you had a place in my heart? Ha, as time moves on you shall be replaced as so many have before you. How many times do you think I’ve had this conversation? Why would I suddenly betray your trust of me? Simply because it’s much to fun to see the reaction on your face when I tell you what you really are to me.” “B-b-but… I… loved you… like a mother…” Twilight stammers, unable to keep herself upright from shock. “Really? Ha ha ha! That’s a first. You may be a grown mare and one of the most powerful unicorns alive, but you still act and think like a foal. It’s rather sad really.” At this the Celestia finally gives up and laughs at Twilight. The ponies that had been listening in on the conversation soon joined in with the Princess. Everypony was laughing at the foalish little Twilight for thinking that she actually mattered to the Princess. Suddenly Twilight is back in magic kindergarten with all the students laughing at her with Celestia laughing the hardest. Twilight just curls up into a ball and cries as she’s humiliated by everypony around her, but the worst is the betrayal of her trust and love with Celestia. Never has she felt so alone when even her mentor didn’t care about her. All that work, all that time spent bettering herself to make Celestia proud of her, and she never even cared about her from the start. You sit back and bask is the nourishment of your labors. You feel that emptiness quickly fill up and overflow, empowering you. The anguish, pain, confusion, fear, it just feels so good. Nothing before has compared to the sensation you feel as Twilight’s trust with Celestia is shattered before you. This, this is what drives you, this is what you live for, this is what you are meant to do. You continue to watch Twilight writhe in pain from her betrayal, lost in thought and enjoying the pain Twilight is feeling. You leave Twilight’s mind after getting your fill and jump down from her balcony with a loud thump. You make your way across town enjoying the cool night air and the waning crescent of the moon in the sky. You continue to reach out to the other ponies dreams and sate your burning hunger from time to time. Some are easy to disrupt but only offer little in the ecstasy of the resulting pain while others would rival the euphoria you felt from Twilight. As the moon nears the horizon a force like anything you’ve felt up till now enters the dreams of the ponies you are invading. It’s a calming force, almost benevolent. With its presence the ponies dreams are silenced and protected from your influence and you are forced out from your feeding grounds. As you try to force yourself back into one of the pony’s dreams you’re stopped suddenly and you hear a voice through the ether of pony dreams. “What are you doing here, and what are you doing to my little ponies stranger? Why do you plague their dreams?” Unsure of this new threat you keep silent and retreat from your assault. At this point the moon has almost dipped behind the horizon and the sun is peaking out bathing the sky in a pinkish glow. You stand there staring at the sun, mesmerized by its light yet unable to feel anything. Why is it you feel no guilt for what you’ve done? Why is it you don’t feel the same things these ponies do? Why don’t you need sleep or feel any strain on your being when demonstrating your power? What are you? Brought back by the sound of ponies moving their carts to the center of town you decide to go back to the forest to try and get some answers. On your way out of town you pass by that tree with the lavender mare that lives inside of it. She hasn’t woken up from her dream it seems like. As you pass by you drink in the despair and pain the mare is living inside of her mind uncaring of how the mare will react after waking up. You make your way to the forest fairly quickly and continue in toward the direction of the clearing you first woke up in. after your first encounter with the wild life of the forest you trot along without fear of your safety. Every so often you can hear the scurrying of various animals through the forests foliage. You finally enter a clearing with a decomposing manticore and several destroyed trees lying around. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight wakes with a start, body shivering, lying in a pool of cold sweat. She just lies in her bed trying to figure out what had just happened to make her wake up in such a condition. Soon after she’s flooded with the memories of her dream, every moment, every detail, all of it replaying in her head over and over and over… “Twilight…? Twilight…?! TWILIGHT!” “Huh, what? Oh… morning Spike.” “What’s wrong Twilight? You look like you had the worst nightmare ever; I’ve never seen a pony look so bad after just waking up.” “It’s… nothing. I just had a bad dream. I’m going to take a quick shower, can you start breakfast please? I’m not that hungry right now but I should really eat something.” “If you say so Twi’.” Twilight makes her way to the shower and promptly turns on the hot water hoping that a good long shower will help her clear her mind. As the soothing water runs over her the nightmare returns with vigor. She tries to block it out but to no avail, as she relives her own personal hell Twilight finally breaks down into a sobbing mess on the shower floor unaware of her surroundings. Never in her life has she cried like this. Why would she have this dream? What does it mean? Why does she keep reliving what happened in that nightmare? Is it some sort of revelation that she refuses to acknowledge? Is this how the princess really feels about her ponies, about Twilight? Why does it feel so real…? After a while Twilight was able to at least gain control of her chocked sobs. For the second time this morning Spike interrupts Twilight’s breakdown with a loud knock on the bathroom door. “Breakfast is ready Twi’. Are you sure you’re ok?” “Ya… I’m fine.” “Well hurry on downstairs before your pancakes get cold.” After cleaning up and making herself presentable Twilight slowly makes her way to the kitchen to the small breakfast Spike prepared for her. Picking away at her half eaten pancakes there was a loud knock on the front door. “Can you get that Spike?” “Ya no problem.” Twilight turns back to her breakfast still deep in thought. Twilight failed to hear Spikes calls for her attention at the front door. “Twi’! *sigh* Sorry, she’s been really out of it this morning, please come in I’m sure you want to talk to her about this right away.” “No problem at all, and yes the sooner we figure out what to do with the stranger the better.” “Twi’ snap out of it you have a guest.” “Huh what? Oh sorry.” “It’s quite alright Ms. Sparkle, but I do hope you’re feeling up to dealing with this new pony in town still.” “P-Princess Luna! I thought Celestia would have come for this, not that I don’t appreciate your help.” “Celestia is busy at the moment with negotiations with the gryphons and their attacks, and asked me to come in her stead.” “Well that makes sense I guess.” “Now that that is taken care of, please tell me of what you know of this Sjelekval pony.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You quickly figure out that there is no evidence of how you were brought to this clearing before waking up. Making a quick sweep of the surrounding area produces the same results. Unsure of what to do now you decide to wander around the forest in the hopes that you’ll stumble upon something useful. You’ve been walking for what seems like several hours with no change in the scenery or leads to your existence. You notice the ambiance of the forest slowly changes to a low groaning. You also hear the lapping of water and croaks of wild life. Breaking through the tree line to find yourself on the edge of a bog spanning miles around with no visible signs of pony life. Taking a quick scan for any potential threats you start to make your way through the new obstacle presented to you. You spot what appears to be a cliff and make your way toward it to get a better look at your surroundings and possibly find your way back to that Ponyville town. As you approach the cliff you get this strange feeling that something is watching you, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself. You’re mere feet from the cliff as the muck from the bog continues to slow your advance. The first thing you notice is the sudden silence of the bog, nothing, no gurgling, no croaks, dead silence. You then feel as if there is some giant force looming over you just out of sight. Then… you hear breathing… deep heavy breathing… the type of breathing you’d expect to hear from a predator that’s just about to attack its prey. Turing around you first stare at the creature’s short legs with giant feet attached to them. You slowly scan up the large body up to the four heads attached to extremely long necks. At once the four heads below at you with their largest roar with the goal to shock you with fear, of course you’re having none of that. The first head strikes at you with blinding speed trying to catch you off guard, Blodsørger collides with the first head with enough force to shatter the right side of the first head completely. Crying out in pain the first head rears back in agony, thrashing about spraying blood everywhere. The other heads seeing the pain their partner is going through promptly choose to take their quarry with more caution. The second head strikes quickly at you forcing you to focus your attention on it as to not be taken easily. Seeing the distraction working wonderfully the fourth head quickly grabs you and swallows you whole. On your way down your armor starts making great gashes along the inside of the monsters throat resulting in a throaty cry of pain. You’re quickly deposited into the creature’s stomach, a loud sizzling assaulting your senses as you splash into an unknown substance. Standing up you reach out with your hoof and stumble around looking for the edge of the stomach. After your hoof touches something solid yet rubbery you prod it a few times to get a feel of the possible resistance. A moment later you shoot your hoof out through the stomach and luckily the creature’s abdomen, forcing your hoof down you tear a large opening to the world through the creature. Stepping out you notice that your armor has yet to change from the beast’s stomach acids. Believing that no creature could possibly survive having their intestines torn apart and exposed to the outside you start to make your way back to the cliff. One of the remaining heads not being down with you yet picks you up and throws you against a large tree many yards away. You collide with the large tree and snap off the top half from the force you were thrown. Picking yourself up you’re renewed vigor of annoyance with the creature you turn to face it. First you see that the first head is almost completely healed from your first attack and the hole you tore in its abdomen has already started to close up. Determined to deal with your attacker you back yourself up against the tree you just flew into putting your back hoofs against the base of the tree. Crouching down you aim yourself at the beast and with a mighty push you propel yourself at the beast with more velocity than you were thrown, uprooting the tree and pushing it back several yards. Gripping Blodsørger you swing at the chest cavity of the creature. The center mass of the beast erupts with the resulting explosion from your attack, exposing the entire inside of the beast. With bits of bone and flesh strewn about you stand up to check fi the beast has finally meet its end, to your surprise the beast is still crying out in pain as the fresh wound starts closing up. Casually you jump up onto the beast and jump into the wound. You quickly find the morphed and corrupt heart this creature possesses still beating, supplying the body with the sustenance required to regenerate this quickly. You tear the heart out and revel in the pain the beast exhibits as you end its life. Leaping out of the open cavity of the beast you continue your match up the cliff to make your next move, and here you thought a hydra was supposed to be a challenge.