It was just an ordinary day in Equestria when slumber happened.
A powerful dream demon named Mara had escaped her prison, and has trapped Princess Luna in that very same prison. She's making the ponies play a widespread game in the dreamscape, where teams of siblings have to clear the crazy wonderland of the dreamscape if they want to wake up from the slumber, dodging every sort of nightmare made to feel all too real to them.
And the catch is that should you die in this game, you do not wake up.
And the ponies have a week until their bodies die, rendering their souls unable to return.
It's a race against time for the citizens of Equestria, as they brave the dangers of the dreamscape, forging bonds with friends, family, and strangers, and finding themselves in places they never thought they'd be in. But with the line blurred between fantasy and reality, the threat of being truly harmed by their own nightmares, and the fear of losing their loved ones being all too real, there's no telling what'll happen in this game Mara created.
Contains some CheesePie and SugarFavor. Any other ships are up in the air.
I am unfortunately unable to tag more than five characters on this thing, even though there are some separate stories focusing on a few different groups in this mind game. Oh, well.
Rated T just to be safe.
And, of course, there's the issue of lucid dreaming. Every citizen of Ponyville is a veteran of at least one dream battle.
Still, this definitely promises to be an interesting read. I look forward to it. (Though I will note that "etch" is only a verb. You want "etching.")
Sorry for my earlier comment. I got you mixed up with Monochromatic, for some reason.
Looks a fascinating premise based on this first chapter. I look forward to more 
If Mara was voiced, what would she sound like?
A question. About how long after Luna's first encounter with Mara do you think she becaame Nightmare Moon? Are we talking months, years, decades and centuries?
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Um, probably a perkier Azula. I thought it fit her personality and design best.
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(I apologize to those who see this without any context).
Depends on when you think the Tommyverse's Minotaur War started and when the whole werewolf incident happened, because the Mara thing is between those two events (with the war before and the werewolf thing after). Which might have been a century or two before NMM (plenty of time for Luna to recover from the ordeal, though bits and pieces of toxic magic still in her prevented her from dreamwalking, which may have added to her insecurities).
But that's just my crazy headcanon.
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Hmm ... so in terms of my chronology, Mara's attack would have been in the mid 4th century YOH (~YOH 350), the minotaur war could have been sometime in the 3rd century (YOH 200's) and the werewolf plague one of the Disasters of the Century of Disasters, maybe around YOH 425 (for reference in the same system, the first defeat of the Windigo Queen, leading to her imprisonment in crystal, is YOH 483, the fall of the Crystal Empire YOH 489 and Luna's final madness and change into Nightmare Moon YOH 500, leading to the destruction of the City Foreverfree and her banishment that same year, Friendship Is Magic happens 1000 years later in YOH 1500).
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I think I may have worded it a little wrong.
A factor to consider is Wayer Rune, since he was a major player in both the Minotaur War and the Werewolf Plague (which began shortly before the war ended). The war had been going on a couple years before Luna realized that somepony else was inhabiting Celestia's body and figured out how to switch her back. And then, before both Princesses could go and clear up the mess, Mara attacked, leaving them both sick (Cellie for a few months and Luna for several years). The war went on for a few more years after that, and then once that was over, the next few years had the werewolves popping up.
At most, I think the war and werewolf plague together lasted a decade and a half, starting with one of Mara's siblings switching Celestia with some racist scumbag and ending with Wayer Rune's banishment to Tartarus.
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Oh, I got you. Yes, with both framing events being tied to Wayer that way, all three must have been spaced closely together.
Rahter exposition-heavy, but you've definitely done a good job of establishing the state of the world. And by extension, what our heroes will be fighting for. Psychological thrills lie ahead. I look forward to them.
Also, nice save with Party Favor.
Before I read it, what is the Dark tag for ?
Set-up chapter is in your story, setting things up.
I look forward to chapter 3.