//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Nights into Dreams // Story: Absence of Friendship // by MangaKamen //------------------------------// Chapter 6 Nights into Dreams TTT – TTT Dreams. Whenever a stallion or mare slept, they experience different levels of consciousness and can even receive input from different dimensions that exist on astral, spiritual and mental planes. Dreams are a means to enter into those planes, even if they were not able to recall doing such a thing since it’s done on a subconscious level. Many philosophers believe that all subconscious minds are in constant contact with one another, and this is proven by how often enough most ponies break out into song without any practice or rehearsal before the fact (and yet sound pristine and like they practiced several times). These two facts are often paired together, as many pony philosophers believed that if a unicorn had enough magic and the knowhow, a pony could actually crossover into the dreams of others. It was quite an interesting theory. But for Princess Luna, this was no mere theory. She learned long ago that she could venture into the realm of other ponies’ dreams. Luna developed this power so she could learn more about the world she had been away from for the last thousand years, not only would she be able to see a pony’s dreams, but she was also able to dive even further into their memories and even into their consciousness. Luna had performed his magic on a number of the royal guards and even some civilian ponies, taking care to not fully venture into personal matters. However, there seemed to be some sort of aftereffect to using this power, there seemed to be a growing number of ponies who had set up a fan club dedicated to her – Children of the night she believed is what they called themselves. It wouldn’t have been so bad, even flattering, if some of the fans hadn’t been caught sneaking into the castle or her private quarters. What does this have to do with anything you might be asking? Well, the first night that Mao had appeared in Equestria and promptly had his flank handed to him, Luna decided to use this ability to learn about this so called ‘demon’. But, when she did, all she managed to see were a few glimpses of Mao’s memory, nothing visible, just a bunch of shadowed figures that spoke randomly. ‘I shall not fail tonight…’ That was the Princess’s mindset, in hopes of finding more truth about the Demon Overlord. What she didn’t take into account was that Mao stayed up several hours of the night doing what only Faust knows. And it wasn’t until more than half the night was done with that she was actually able to enter his dreams – She couldn’t enter a dream of a pony who was awake, that was commons sense. But when the princess of the night was actually able to enter the dream world of Mao… She didn’t expect anything like what she was seeing when she entered Mao’s dreamscape. TTT – TTT It was beautiful. A cold beauty, a world that looked to be made entirely out of ice or crystal – and whatever light there was, was enough to reflect off of the crystals. As Luna had learned in her travels into other ponies’ dreams, every dream world was different. Some would be colorful, others would be dreary, and some of them would be just weird (like this one mare who seemed to have a dream world that was made up of nothing but muffins). But this… This was… “Odd, not what I was expecting,” Luna admitted as she tapped her hoof against the crystal floor a few times. “I was expecting something a bit darker, bleaker and… Hmm?” Something out of Luna’s eyes caught her attention, a small white card that had a picture on it. Using her magic, Luna lifted up the card up to her eyes, “A blood donor’s card? And what is with this picture?” Luna had never seen a being like this – but she certainly recognized that wild, white hair and those huge glasses. “Is this… Is this what Mao looked like before? I never saw what he looked like in my first time getting in here… Then again, I never saw this world…” Luna lifted up a hoof and placed it against the blood donor card, and then the world began to turn to light… “Mornin’ Mao. Still busy with the comics and games? You do know that superheroes are role models for us badasses.” “What are you doing here, Beryl?” Mao’s voice sounded out. “Are you trying to interrupt my research again? I’m about to conduct a physics experiment on skirt lifting, heehe… Get out of here.” “Geez, doing all this serious studies on being a prankster? You sure are an honor student through and through. Why not forget this evil stuff for now and do a little something good with me?” “… Something good, you say?” “YEAH! Let’s volunteer!” “D-Don’t be stupid! I would never do such a delinquent act!!” “If you do it secretly, no one will know. Besides, what’s cooler than an honor student who’s not always so honorable?” “Uh, no. Way! I’m gonna become the number one honor student in the Netherworld!” “Oh come on, don’t say that. Let’s go donate blood together.” “S-St-STOP IT!!! Unhand me, you delinquent!” “Give it a rest. So, what color’s your blood, huh?” Luna shook her head as her magic dropped the card to the crystal ground, “W-Was that one of Mao’s memories?” Looking back down at the card and then up into the clear blue sky, Luna sighed under her breath. ‘It looks like when he’s in a better mood, a demon’s dream is easier to access… I could almost make out what those two looked like.’ Luna brought her hoof up to stifle a little bit of laughter, ‘Still, I have to give credit to this Beryl, she certainly seems to know how to keep Mao in line. I wonder, is she a demon as well? Would a demon ever want to donate blood?’ “Possible enemy detected!” “Is she a follower of ze great hot sauce?” “Noh non! She has to be of ze dreaded salt and pepper! DEATH TO ZE SALT AND PEPPER LUVERS!” Luna craned her head back and immediately reeled away from what she saw – Normally in a dream conscious, it was highly possible that Luna would meet a dream version of the pony who’s dream she had entered… But she didn’t expect to see three Maos standing behind her – only their jackets were an ugly orange-brown color and their white manes and tail had a tint of orange to it. Luna tilted her head a little bit, “Excuse me?” “Ah hah!” The leader of the trio of Saucy Mao laughed as he pointed a hoof at Luna. “You prefer salt and pepper on your sunny side up eggs, don’t you?! ADMIT IT! ADMIT IT AND WE WILL MAKE YOUR DEATH QUICK AND PAINLESS!!” “No no!” another Saucy Mao interrupted. “What we should do is hold her down and shove salt and pepper into her mouth! Zat is ze ultimate punishment!” The third Saucy Mao narrowed his eyes, “Now wait a minute! Wouldn’t using ze salt and pepper as torture be a blasphemy to our cause? You traitor!” The Traitor Saucy Mao barked back, “NO! We are not going to eat her! Our cause is for ze sunny side up eggs! Is zat not our duty!?” “To use Salt and Pepper on anyzing is a sin against hot sauce!” “DEATH TO THE TRAITOR!” The three Saucy Maos leapt towards each other, with dust and dirt being flung up into the air as the three fought it out. Luna slowly backed away from the scene, a little grimace on her face. “What in Equestria was that…” Luna would’ve continued backing up, but she bumped into something. Or rather somepony. When she turned around, Luna spied another Mao! Only this one seemed to be a bit skinnier with a yellow jacket and blonde tint to his mane and tail. What was really odd was that this version of Mao had a ton of gym socks all around his body, and he had one right at his nose that he took a huge whiff off. When he exhaled, a rather creepy laugh followed, “Oh, what a lovely aroma… I can only imagine what gym socks will smell like with hooves!” She knew she would regret this, but Luna cleared her throat. “Excuse me, may I trouble you for a moment?” The Mao who loved to smell gym socks stopped moving and slowly craned his head around. He sized up Luna a few times before a large smile grew on his muzzle, growing creepier with every passing second, “Hmm, sure! But you gotta do something for me first…” “And what, pray tell, would that be?” Luna asked, already regretting her decision. The Mao who loved to smell gym socks lifted up a pair striped socks and his breathing became heavy, “P-PLEASE PUT THESE ON AND THEN GIVE THEM BACK!” If Rainbow Dash was able to see how fast Luna was able to fly away from this particular Mao, she would’ve been jealous at that perfect take off. A few minutes later, Luna landed in a more remote location of Mao’s subconscious, her wings folded down with head lowered. “Just when I think I found something to learn about this demon lord, he just turns even crazier!” “Yeesh, don’t you know anything about personalities?” Luna was afraid of lifting her head up, but slowly she lifted her head up to the side. A few feet away was another Mao, but unlike the other Maos, this one wasn’t wearing his usual ensemble, or any clothes for that matter. He was just chilling in a rather luxurious hot tub with his forehooves behind his head. “Personalities have multiple facets to them,” Exhibitionist Mao explained as he slid further into the hot tub. “As much as we don’t like to admit, everyone’s got parts to them that they don’t wanna show. Everyone’s got an inner pervert, everyone’s got their kinks, what they like, and how they like to show it. “How strong those traits is often represented in different forms – a simple way is to see how strong a trait is to see how many Maos are for said particular trait. That’s kind of the reason why I’m all alone in this Jacuzzi.” “Well, thank thou,” Luna replied with rather quizzical look on her face. “Thou seem to be the most forward of Mao I’ve seen, even the real Mao wasn’t so truthful.” “Real Mao? Sure,” Exhibitionist Mao cackled with a shake of his head. “Try going a bit further in, when you see a large safe in the shape of a heart, you’ll be sure to find some answers. As for me, I’m the part of Mao’s personality who doesn’t have anything to hide – Well, at least before all this fur covered up all the good parts. “Speaking of, care for a dip? Plenty of room for another free spirit unchained by the confines of clothes!” “Uh, perhaps another time,” Luna replied as she slowly trotted past the hot tub. “Your loss,” Exhibitionist Mao chuckled as he dove a hoof into the water and produced an eye from the water. “At least the hard boiled egg’s ready, now, where did I put that salt and pepper?” “ANNIHILATE ALL SALT AND PEPPER LUVERS!” “ZOSE WHO DO NOT SUPPORT HOT SAUCE SHALL BE DESTROYED!” Two of the Saucy Maos leapt into hot tub and began to attack the Exhibitionist Mao. Luna stood there as she watched the three stallions tussle about in the water, their clothes and fur clinging to their rather well defined body. Luna coughed slightly and trotted away, ‘This dream world is insane, then again, so is Mao.’ And Luna trotted through the crystal landscape, taking note that as she did, she saw several other kinds of Mao – A pink colored Mao who seemed to love taking photos of anything, a Mao dressed in a black uniform who danced to some odd pop music, a blue colored Mao who was a bit hefty and was seated at a large ramen stand where he slurped up noodles, and then… She came across it. It was oddly beautiful – A large structure that was in the shape of a heart, with gold trim and gold chains wrapped around it. The front of it had a large pair of doors that had a large skull-like lock on the front of it, oddly enough, even the lock despite its gruesome design also looked beautiful as it was crafted well. “Welcome, Princess.” Luna lifted her head up to the top of the heart-shaped structure, and as she guessed, it was another Mao. Unlike the other Maos, there was something different about this one, and not just the fact that his coat was green and he had a green tint to the rest of him. It was just… Luna couldn’t put her hoof on it. The green Mao leapt from the top of the heart structure and landed in front of Luna. The stallion smiled before he lowered his head down towards her, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” “May I ask what thine gimmick is?” Luna questioned with her eyes narrowed at the green Mao. “I beg your pardon?” the green Mao stated as he lifted his head up. “The moment that I stepped in here,” Luna replied, making sure that she was keeping her distance away from this Mao. “I’ve seen quite a bit of different...” That’s when Luna stopped, which made the green Mao blink a few times in confusion. “Go on.” “Sorry, but I was expecting thou to interrupt me,” Luna explained. “Mao did state that in those silly rules of his.” “The cardinal rules of a demon,” the green Mao chuckled. “While it is true that those rules are held deep within this vault, they are merely guidelines – As are the cardinal rules of a hero. But that is neither here nor there, I assume you have questions for me.” The green Mao glowed for a few seconds, and almost immediately, a table materialized between both Mao and Luna, a pair of mugs and a plate of cookies in the center. The green Mao sat down and used his hooves to bring on of the tea mugs close to him, “Please, feel free to help yourself to some tea and cookies.” Luna watched as the green Mao sipped on the mug and sighed loudly. This Mao… Well, he was actually nice and courteous. The other Maos were loud and exuberant, even the original Mao wasn’t like this at all. In fact, this was the polar opposite of Mao. ‘Could possibly be only ‘good’ portion of Mao…’ “So, what part of Mao do thou represent?” Luna asked as she used her magic to lift up one of the cookies in front of her. “I’ve seen quite a few…” “I am Mao’s True Heart,” the Green Mao answered bluntly before he took another sip of his tea. The cookie that floated in mid-air fell to the table and Luna shook her head, “I’m sorry, but did thou say that thou are Mao’s true heart?” “You could say I am his real self,” Mao’s True Heart offered with a smile. “What Mao will age into, the guardian of his real persona, or even his conscious. You’re more than welcomed to take your pick.” “If thou are Mao’s true self, then why does Mao not act like thou?” Luna asked recalling her magic to lift the cookie up again and then took a bite out of it. ‘Hmm, a lot tastier than I expected.’ “I believe the Exhibitionist Mao explained it earlier to you,” Mao’s True Heart explained as he turned back to the large heart shaped safe. “Someone’s entire being is made up of several existing traits – Whether good or bad, they all form into a single personality that is shown to the outside world. Over time, some traits lose strength or fade away completely. They say that no one really changes, but that’s not true – events, conditions, and especially interaction with others are all factors that play in a role as to how we change. “And Mao himself is a prime example of that.” “Oh? And how so?” Luna inquired, having a hard time believing this Mao. “From what I’ve seen in the real world and this one, Mao has tried to experiment on soldiers and has been one of the rudest stallions I have ever seen.” “Heh, you should’ve seen him two years ago,” Mao’s True Heart chuckled. “At least back then, he wouldn’t have saved those three little kids or even your town… Well, he probably would’ve battled that Wood Golem, but there’d probably be a lot more collateral damage.” Luna turned away slightly and smiled slightly, “I was wondering if he did save those three fillies. Perhaps thou has more pull here than I thought.” “While it is true that Mao’s ‘evil’ side does have dominance,” Mao’s True Heart continued. “It’s more of him being what you would refer to as a truant. I suspect if he ever went on an evil tirade, he’d probably just do some ding-dong ditches, steal some shoes, and maybe put some hot sauce in some baked goods.” “He sounds more like a prankster than a demon,” Luna stated flatly. “I still wouldn’t underestimate him,” Mao’s True Heart countered as he reached for the plate of cookies. “Mao has a potential – A potential for either great good, or great evil. Deep within his soul lies a powerful darkness…” Luna’s eyes widened. “Heh, perhaps you’re familiar with such a concept?” Mao’s True Heart questioned as a smirk slowly coiled on his face. Luna narrowed her eyes at the green Mao’s words while he chuckled. “Then again, who doesn’t have skeletons in their closet?” “That’s a rather depraved outlook,” Luna retorted. “I merely speak the truth,” Mao’s True Heart replied with a shrug. “But it is none of my concern, your secrets belong to your own heart while Mao’s are my responsibility. Now, I’m sure you have some more questions, and we don’t have long.” Luna wanted to ask why, but shook her head, “Then why are thou being so cooperative with me? Would that not go against thy responsibilities?” “Normally, that’d be true,” Mao’s True Heart answered with a smile. “But sometimes one needs to have their heart shown to others for the greater good – This isn’t the first time I had to do this to Mao. Since you’re the only one who has the ability to enter into Mao’s dreams and then his consciousness, I knew it would only be a matter of time since you’d try to return here. “And it’d be best that you know exactly what you’re getting into concerning Mao. So, it is my turn – I need to make a request of you.” “And would that be?” Luna asked. “Do not betray Mao’s trust,” Mao’s True Heart continued. “His trust?” Luna questioned with a raised brow. Then the princess snickered slightly, “Well, that’s even more of a surprise. I doubt that Sir Mao has any trust in I or anyone else.” “And your doubts would be wrong,” Mao’s True Heart replied, taking note of Luna’s confused look. “Tell me something, have you ever thought that you didn’t belong – That you’re in a world that doesn’t fit you? Everything you know has changed, and even you yourself have changed into something that you didn’t recognize?” Luna closed her eyes while Mao’s True Heart spoke out, memories flood back into the front of her mind – How she was saved by Twilight and her friends, how she was scared by the world that changed within a thousand years, and even the memories she had when she was forced to face against the very same darkness that had gotten her. “You need not answer,” Mao’s True Heart spoke up once more as he stood up from the table. “It is not my place, but from the look on your face, you have at least some inkling how Mao might be feeling. While he does put on a strong front, deep within his heart, he has a bit of fear that lingers – Everyone he knows, everything he has acquire, all that he worked hard for, and the tittles he’s acclaimed, they are nothing to this world. “And I can attest to you that he was indeed ripped out from his world by a force in yours.” “Why should I believe thou?” Luna countered with a deep breath. “Thou are after all part of a demon, why should I believe a word thou speaks?” “Because my word is all I have,” Mao’s True Heart answered. “Besides, though his intentions may not be the most noble, has he lied even once to you about them?” Luna opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it when Mao’s True Heart’s words actually rang true. ‘And after what Mao has done so far, I should suppose that he should receive a little trust.’ “Hmm, I believe it’s time for you to leave,” Mao’s True Heart spoke as he trotted towards the heart-shaped safe. “A pity.” “What does thou speak of?” Luna questioned as the table faded away. “I still have questions!” “That may be, but you can only exist in here as long as your doorway is opened,” Mao’s True Heart explained before he sat down before the heart safe. “However, if that door is closed, then your link to this world will be cut off. “Mao is waking up…” Luna’s eyes widened when she realized that she was slowly fading away from the crystal area, but then she narrowed her eyes at Mao’s True Heart. “I shall just appear the next time Sir Mao sleeps…” “True, but there’s no guarantee,” Mao’s True Heart answered back with his head lowered. “After all, the heart rarely opens up twice for an intruder.” Before Luna could say another word, the Alicorn Princess vanished from sight. Mao’s True Heart sighed as he lifted his head up. “Heh… I can sense it, she’s got quite the nice darkness to her…” Mao’s True Heart trotted around the heart-shaped safe and leered at the shadowed figure who sat behind it, his body covered with chains and a small purple flame flickered from his right eye. The figure smirked wildly, “It’s nothing compared to mine of course, but still, what a tasty little darkness. I never would’ve thought that such a darkness would be in a world as cutesy as this one.” “As long as you’re chained up, it doesn’t matter,” Mao’s True Heart scoffed. “Yeah, but how long do you expect to keep me chained up? Just face it – You, the Saucy Maos, even Mao himself – everything that makes up Mao is nothing more than cowards that culminate into a single big coward! Chains made by cowards will never… “HEY! I’M NOT DONE THREATENING YOU YET! DON’T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!!!” “I’m not walking,” Mao’s True Heart chuckled as he lifted his hooves up. “I’m trotting.” “YOU BASTARD!!!!” TTT – TTT Luna’s eyes fluttered open and she shook her head. It wasn’t the first time she got caught up in searching a pony’s dream and conscious to get kicked out when the pony woke up, but this time just made her a little bit annoyed. ‘I may have gotten a few answers, but now I have acquired even more questions.’ Looking out the nearby window, Luna saw that the sun was slowly beginning to rise over the horizon, ‘Sister is awake, and I should finish my own work here in Ponyville and…’ KA-BOOM! The floor shook as several cracks webbed through the wooden floor and smoke seeped through the cracks. Luna’s eyes widened when the ground shook again with another explosion, “What in Faust’s name?!” “Princess Luna!” Nearly stumbling over her hooves, Twilight galloped into the room, dodging some of the smoke, “What’s going on?! Are you alright?” “MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!” Both Twilight and Luna looked down at the floor where the laughter originated and it didn’t take a genius who was behind the mysterious explosions. TBC