So many...
Too many...
Why so much...
Death? I can't breathe. How could I when hundreds of familiar doors had disappeared? Some of them had lived very wonderful, long lives. Others... were just foals. Newborns, toddlers, teenagers... so many children have died. They hadn't grown up and experienced life in all its glory. Their lives were cut short because of one dragon. I gasped as I saw another door disappear. I didn't want to believe it, but it was none other than Derpy Hooves. She was... such a wonderful, sweet and innocent mare. She was somepony who knew what it was like to not fit in. She made me feel like somepony cared. Why did she have to go...
I looked to see that most of the ponies in Ponyville had survived. His home... No matter how heartless he tries to be, he can't ignore the fact that he does indeed have a heart. He loves his home and everypony in it. Maybe... there is still hope for Equestria. Perhaps he will snap out of it when he realizes that it's not worth it. I saw a few doors disappearing in front of me and cringed. "Or maybe not..." I mumbled. I looked to my left and, with hesitation, walked inside the door. What I saw... I just wanted to run back out of the dream and pretend that I hadn't seen such a thing. But I couldn't. I was stuck in fear and horror at the sight in front of me.
I saw Spike... his eyes were glowing red and fire blew from his mouth and nostrils as he ran through a town that was destroyed. Homes were burnt to a crisp, debris was scattered everywhere, and ponies ran. Some were on fire, others had missing limbs, and others looked like running corpses. This was the dream of a foal. No... not a dream, a memory. A horrible, horrible memory.
I decided that I didn't want to go through another door. I was afraid of what could possibly be there for me to witness. I couldn't bear seeing so many of my innocent subjects dying so tragically. It was too much to take. Too painful to watch...
I was finally able to get out of that nightmare with a sigh. A few tears fell down my face seeing that horrific scene.
"You see them suffering..." A deep, sinister voice echoed everywhere.
"Wh-who?"
"That's how I feel inside..." The voice growled.
"S-spike...?"
"For every life I have crushed under my claws... for all of the blood that is on me... It represents the blood of one that nopony cared about... the life that you have taken so cold-heartedly because you didn't think he had feelings..."
I looked down and saw blood on me. It was freezing cold.
"That is Spike's blood... you killed him. You are responsible."
"No..."
"Along with Twilight...." An image of Twilight appeared in front of me. She was... dead. "And her friends..." I then saw the rest of Twilight's friends huddled together and crying. "And all of Equestria..." I saw a very gruesome image of Equestria. A large portion of Equestria was destroyed. It was empty and dreary as green flames slowly began spreading around the country.
"S-spike... I'm sorry."
"I don't want to hear that nonsense!" Darkness yelled.
"But I really am sorry! I'm sorry I didn't help! I'm sorry I couldn't stop this!" I cried.
"It's too late for sorry. Now all of your subjects shall burn in my fire... you can't save them. You are a monster." He growled.
Monster... no! I-I'm not a monster. Am I?
"A horrible, disgusting, monster!"
No... I am not a monster!
"No matter how much you try to fight the truth..." A mirror appeared in front of me. It showed me... but I looked horrible. I was black, had fanged teeth, and I had dragon eyes. I...
I was a Nightmare.
"You will always be a monster. You never cared about how others felt. Only yourself..."
"NO!" I had nightmare's voice.
"You ignore others. You hurt others. You kill others. Nopony else matters to you. All that exists to you is yourself."
I could see clones of myself surrounding me. They all smiled maliciously. They all focused on me, their evil eyes never looking away.
"No..." I croaked. My voice was weakened as I cried.
"To you.... all that you can see... all you ever care about... is yourself..." Darkness' voice whispered sisterly in my ears.
"No... no... no... it's not true..." I said, crying silently. "I-It's not true, I curled up in a ball as I cried.
"Luna..."
"Leave me alone!"
"Luna!"
"Go away!"
LUNA!
"Luna!"
"H-huh?" I woke up to see the manticore's worried face.
"Are you alright?" He asked me with a look of concern on his face.
"Y-yeah..." I stuttered quietly.
"You're crying..." He said, not believing my lie. "What's wrong?"
"I-I..." I swallowed, trying to stop crying. The manticore frowned and hugged me in his large paws.
"It's alright... you can tell me what's wrong. " He cooed. I blushed in embarrassment, feeling like a little foal.
"I don't want to be a monster..." I cried.
"But you're not a monster." He insisted.
"I am! I let those ponies die... I only thought about myself... I could have stopped this."
"You didn't know this was going to happen, Luna. This was a mistake."
"MY mistake. Look at what that mistake caused."
"I know it's horrible, but you didn't plan this. You didn't want this to happen. No matter how you look at it, you are still a nice, kind, beautiful mare. Not a monster." He hugged me tighter.
"Do you really think so?" I asked.
He looked down at me and nodded. "I know so." He said.
We sat there for a moment looking at each other before I shook my head and looked away with a small blush. "W-we should probably get going." I said hastily.
"Uh... yeah." He said, putting me on his back.
As we rushed through the forest, I wondered what that was all about.
It would fit that of everyone involved Luna would be hit the hardest. Her dream walking ability has, for better or worse, given her a link to every life in Equestria, possibly the world. It almost makes me wonder what kind of hellish landscape would be shown to her if she tried entering Spike's dream realm. She has a bond of some kind with everyone, ties to those who she cares for, and Darkness is hacking away at these strings with reckless abandon. Beyond that, this could be a show of Dark's true power. The voice she heard could be an illusion conjured by her fears and regrets, but it could also be him invading her territory while Hope forcefully takes the wheel.
I also realized something that should have been a no brainer from page one. Dark is very likely to be a Nightmare himself. If so, I imagine Nightmares in this world follow the idea of one's self creating the demon instead of it being some sort of parasite like many others portray. I honestly prefer it this way as it makes a better show of the flaws and suffering of the base character. Having something latch on to one's sorrows? Terrifying to think of, but rather boring on the character end. The sorrows creating the beast? A much better way to explore the character while still being a scary idea.
Beyond that, if you subscribe to the idea that the flaws that create the Nightmares are one of the seven deadly sins, Dark is definitely born of wrath. This is kind of funny to me since one of the characters in my story planning phase is also a Nightmare of Wrath, not to mention it strengthens my comparison of Dark to the Marionette. Speaking of which, what do you think of the teaser redesigns of the animatronics? I'm stuck between thinking they're terrifying and that they get played up too much and ruin the Uncanny Valley effect. Either way, I'm still too much of a chicken to face them in the security booth.
Luna and Cor, eh? I ship it! When Nightmare Night returns after all the destruction, the fun will be doubled! Again! Wait, or would that be quadrupled? I'm good at math, but the middle of Summer isn't a good time to spring a pop quiz on me, brain. Where was I? Oh yeah, shipping. Okay, while we wait for the Godzilla Threshold to be crossed, I guess my team of dragon hunters needs something to do. Dovahkiin, go rob everyone blind so we can buy a big boat. Ornstein, you're our power supply. Monster Hunter...
Doing the hula on top of a Great Jaggi.
Uh, just keep doing that. Another good chapter, not that I was worried of course. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go help Dovahkiin's 'borrowing' spree in the best way I know how. Pulls out giant boxing glove. I look forward to the next update.
6122294 Positively wonderfully awesome analyzing as always my good friend! Now, as for those creepy ass animatronics, I'd say that by now, Scott's main goal is to give people heart attacks. Wait a minute... it makes sense! With every new game that comes out, it gets scarier and scarier, not to mention that he's gonna make a movie with it! He's trying to kill us! Or no... wait! He's trying to control us! We FNAF fans can't get enough of his content! I'm sure most of the fans would bow down to their supreme overlord Scott Cawthon! He even has Warner Bros. doing his dirty work. We're scared but we can't help but run back for more! We literally crave scarier content and he keeps sending it out. It's a crisis! Scott is the illuminati! No, he's even worse than the illuminati! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES EVERYONE! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
Ahem...
Ship 'em like FedEx... SHIP IT!
6122410
No, he will never take me alive! Power of Japan compel you! Power of Japan compel you! Lord Zekrom, guide my hand. Wait, I know! He'll lose strength in the face of even greater indie heroes. Gamers still free of his control, send your praise unto the lords lingering beneath the triple A developers. Praise Dust, Isaac, and, the king of kings, Steve! Stand firm, friends, here comes the fox!
"...does the fox say? Ring, ring, ring..."
By Celestia's beard, not the memes! Ah! It's in my ears! It's in my ears!
6122410 6122484 Well I came down to the comments section to post something about the story that I can no longer remember because I died laughing after reading these comments so all I have left to do is this.img10.deviantart.net/ef8d/i/2014/065/c/1/ship_it_like_fedex____cheesepie_by_captainmcderpachu-d797kn6.png