Sins of Equestria

by Corneredbadger

Dread and the Fugitive Mind

Author's Note:

Woo new chapter! This one is in first person because its the only way I could make it flow together. Next one will be back to 3rd person limited omniscience.

Fire blazed around my broken body as I sat propped up against the wreckage of a Mesier class tank. I felt the comforting weight of a combat knife in my right hand while my left tried to keep my life blood from escaping through the jagged wound across my torso. All around explosions and screams echoed through the forest. Torvin. Two hundred and seventy years and it still haunted me. I sat there, knowing I was dreaming but unable to wake as I watched the scene unfold again. As I sat there a Sselk patrol passed by the blasted wreckage that had been my tank. One of them paused, its forked tongue flicking out from a saurian mouth full of fangs. It slowly turned to look at me and raised its shard rifle. Hideous weapons that launched jagged slivers of specialized crystal that would sink deep into the flesh of a target before fracturing within the wound. I watched as it drew a bead on me but then hissed out a laugh and aimed low before squeezing off a single round. Remembered pain lanced through my leg as the round impacted, shredding armor and the muscle underneath. I heard myself scream in pain while the Sselk watched and laughed. It turned away and loped off into the dense forest, its clawed feet leaving gouges in the damp soil. I watched the blue scaled tail disappear into the underbrush and knew what came next. I would slowly lose consciousness from blood loss. Once I blacked out I would wake up or the dream would repeat, different battle maybe but always a dream of my past failures. Slowly my eyes shut while I hoped desperately to wake.

I opened my eyes again and the world around me was still inky darkness. This was not the partial blackness of nighttime but true darkness; yet I could see myself perfectly as if I were standing in a well lit room.I stood there, still fully armored despite having removed it before I laid down, and looked about trying to find some feature in the surroundings. I saw nothing but empty void. I'll admit I was starting to panic a little as my imagination ran rampant. A voice from behind me startled me from my musings.

“So you are Twilight’s new guest. I hadn't expected you to be so large.”

“I get that a lot." I turned to face the voice and found myself before a dark blue alicorn mare with a flowing mane that seemed to house the stars and a crescent moon on her flank. She was taller than the other ponies I had met, the tip of her horn reaching just below my chin. "So now I’m dreaming about ponies, not sure what that says about my mental health.”

“You are not dreaming about us but we are still in your dreams. I am Princess Luna, Guardian of the Night, and one of the diarchs of Equestria."

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you, your highness." Twilight had told me a bit about the two princesses ruling her country. This was the younger sister so either they didn't see me as a big threat or I wasn't worth big sis' time. Still, little sister or not she was royalty. I gave her a respectful bow, bending at the waist but keeping eye contact. "What did you mean about us still being in my dreams? I didn't realize you were in Ponyville too.”

“I possess an ability commonly called Dreamwalking. It allows me to enter another beings dreams as well as affording me a measure of control over the reality within. I'm currently sitting in my bed in Canterlot, only my consciousness is here.”

“Huh. Neat trick.” Actually the ability scared the crap out of me. I don't want people in my head. I had enough of that crap with the Lorkeer and they needed to be in the same room to mess with any other race. Seriously, fuck telepaths. Their idea of a practical joke is messed up.

“Indeed. I usually aid our little ponies with their nightmares but I find that dreams are a better window to someones soul than the eyes could ever be.” Luna says pulling up images from the dream that had just finished. Its strange seeing the bloody wounds and knowing that it was my leg but experiencing none of the pain that normally came with it. “ Twilight mentioned you were a soldier? I have never seen weapons nor creatures such as these. But its cruelty is unmistakable. Your kind stood against them?”

“Yeah, the United Terran Alliance answered a protection treaty we had with the Echobi. Those bastards,” I gestured at the screen showing the two and a half meter tall anthropomorphic lizard, “are the Sselk; sadistic, dogmatic, supremacists hellbent on wiping out anyone who offends their warped ideology. They decided that the Echos offended their gods so they started a war with the sole purpose of annihilating them. Five long years of fighting before we finally broke their military power. They still want to kill most of the galaxy but now they don't have the weapons to do it. Still think we should have razed their planets.” I rubbed my leg feeling the deep scars even through my pants. When I glanced away from the images and back at Luna she was looking at me with an odd expression. “Credit for your thoughts?”

“You speak casually of committing the same genocide you fought to stop yet there's no anger in your heart when you say it. I can not decide if you're joking or if I should be worried for my ponies.”

“Mostly joking. I do think its foolish to leave an enemy behind you but if we destroy them what makes us any better? Bit of a catch twenty-two.” I shrug, I was never one to spend a lot of time philosophizing, I preferred practical problems. Those could be solved with sufficient application of violence. “So what do you think of what you've seen so far? I'm not going to end up knifed in my sleep am I?” Maybe a bit casual when talking to a princess of the land I had just crashed in but we were in my head at the moment. My sovereign territory.

“No, I would wait for you to wake up at least.” Luna smirked, “As one warrior to another it is the least we could do.”

“Warrior? I thought you were a princess?” At least she has a sense of humor. I've dealt with nobles of dozens of species and almost all of them act like the galaxy owes them everything. At least I hope that's humor.

“I can't be both?” She started to sit down in the nothing we had been floating in and suddenly there was a plush cushion beneath her. “My sister it the better diplomat but I have my talents as well. I am the highest ranking military officer, above even my sister, and in times of war I have final say in all things directly related to the conflict. It is a system that has served us well in the past and I hope we can avoid needing in the future.”

“Seems like it would.” I sat down cross legged wondering if I could copy Lunas cushion trick but deciding against it. She had experience with dreams, I might wake up Cthulhu. “So how much did Miss Sparkle tell you about me?”

“Enough to peak my curiosity but it feels like there is much she didn't tell me or doesn't know. Perhaps you could fill in the blanks? What exactly was it you did back home? You were a soldier, then a bodyguard, then a bounty hunter. What I want to know is why those jobs in particular.” The tea cup in front of her was wrapped in a dark blue glow and lifted to her lips as she waited for my answer. I hadn't even noticed the tea set appear in front of us. There was even a setting for me.

“What do you mean?” I asked, picking up the cup and swirling its contents.

“ All of your career choices involve some degree of violence. I want to know why. Be warned, if I don't like your answer I can be in Ponyville with that knife in seconds.” She said it all with the same calm facial expression. The scariest part was she was serious. After several years of bodyguard work you learn to pick out who is and isn't an actual threat. The way Princess Luna had told me she would kill me with the same bored certainty you tell someone that humans are crazy just screams threat.

“I enlisted because of my family. My dad and his dad were both Marines, great-granddad was one of the first airmen out of the Veil.” I took a sip of the tea and tried to read Lunas expression over the rim of the cup. Nothing. Note to self; If I survive this, never play poker with this princess. “After my third tour I wanted to settle down and a buddy of mine put me in touch with a company he knew. Worked there for a couple decades before I decided I needed to do something more and I took the test for my bounty hunting license.”

“What changed?” Not a question I really wanted to answer.

“Someone I cared about was taken from me.”

“Your reason for settling down in the first place?” Gods damn her.

“Yes.” I said through clenched teeth as I forced down all the unpleasant memories that were getting stirred up. I couldn't face them again.

“So was it revenge or justice you wanted?” She had set her cup down and I realized this was a very important question and I doubted she would like the answer.

“Bit of both. I think it was more revenge. Probably not what you want to hear but it would have felt hollow to watch someone else take them down. It had to be me.”

“Actually,” she smiled, finally some emotion! “I like that answer over some false platitude about justice for a loved one or some tripe. Your honesty was all the answer I wanted. Besides, I know what you felt and I cannot fault you for following the same path I've walked.” She leaned forward and rested a hoof on my shoulder, “You've my condolences and I hope you found some peace in their deaths.”

“Did you?”

“No.”

“Yeah, me either.”

We sat there in silence, sipping tea and ,at least in my case, repressing memories. Finally Luna broke the silence.

“Would you like to dream of her? I can guide your subconscious towards thoughts of her. It will take over from there and your night will be filled with memories of happier times.”

I set my teacup down and frowned at it while I debated just how open I wanted to be with my new companion. “I tried that. Visited a psychiatrist who taught me how to 'guide my mind'. It was supposed to help me with the dreams you saw. Help stop them. Which it did, nothing but happy dreams of mom, dad, Lisa, and then you wake up and all of that is gone. I prefer the nightmares, princess; at least these ones end when I wake up.”

Luna wore a small frown “That is a rather bleak out look.”

I shrugged “I've gotten used to them. Besides I already know how they end so its not as bad.” Honestly it was still horrible but the alternative was worse so I had to settle for the lesser of two evils. “Speaking of dreams those ones usually last me all night, how long have we been here?”

“It is nearly midday. You have been asleep for several hours. We have been talking for perhaps half of one. I don't know how long your kind usually sleeps so I am unsure if this is unusual or not.”

“Average humans usually run an eight hour sleep cycle. I can make due with maybe four hours in as many days, but I'm pretty far from normal.” Her timeline tracked with what I had assumed. I usually only remember the last few dreams before they wake me up. “I'll probably be waking up soon. Twilight probably wants to study me some more.”

Luna chuckles, “Yes that does sound like my sisters pupil. Even after her coronation she has a thirst for knowledge. Well If you are due to wake soon then I believe I will take my leave.” The tea set disappeared as did her cushion as she stood up. “I believe my sister will be coming to Ponyville tomorrow to meet you and welcome you to Equestria, but allow me to extend my welcome to you now. It was a pleasure being able to sit down and talk casually, it is a rare treat.” She began to fade out, like reducing the opacity of a HUD. It was more than a little weird to watch. Suddenly a thought occurred to me.
“Princess!” Luna snapped back to her solid state instantly, “Could I ask you to keep what you've seen and I've shared secret? Or at least not give the details just yet.”

Luna gave me a slight nod “I will respect your privacy but know that I must share some of what I've learned with my sister. She is the one who asked that I look in on you and determine if you're a threat. While you have my trust you must understand that your skills mean you could pose a threat to our subjects.”

“I understand. Just don't tell her why I prefer my nightmares? Please?”

Luna stepped forward and rest her head over my shoulder in the pony equivalent of a hug. At least that's what I'm assuming it is since Twilight's friends exchanged them before leaving. Either that or the princess was coming on to me and Twilight was polyamorous. “Sister would understand, she has lost as we have; but I will keep this secret. Enjoy your time in Equestria, Marcus. Hopefully we can find a way to send you home.”

She once again began to fade from view and when she finally fully disappeared I too woke up to brilliant noonday sun pouring through the window. Only here for a few hours and things were looking up. Half the rulers already liked me and teaching Twilight couldn't be too much trouble. Maybe being here for a while wouldn't be so bad.

Comments

[Corneredbadger]

5756990 bienvenue