Returning to the place between dreams, I felt for Luna and then flashed over to her position where she was standing before one of the mirrors. At least that's what they looked like to me, Luna saw them as doors. Everything in here was subjective.
“Well?” I asked as I stepped out with a flash right next to her.
Luna shook her head with a frown, “I do not know, My Page. I have not encountered something like this in the past.”
“Never?” I asked in surprise as I looked up at her. “Not Discord?”
“Never,” she confirmed. “If it is him, he has never done anything like this before. Have you entered it?”
I nodded. “There is nothing there. Just... it wasn't even blank or white or black or anything. Just... 404, dream not found. Even between dreams, ponies still exist here while asleep. When unconscious or awake or otherwise kept from dreaming they just didn't show up.”
For someone to dream... nothing. Literally nothing... something was really fucked up somewhere.
“Could something be... eating them?” I asked after a moment as I eyed the blank portal. “Some sort of super Night Terror?”
Luna hesitated and then shook her head. “I do not think so, My Page,” she finally answered. “If such a thing was possible, I should have run into it long before now. No, this is something new.”
I nodded and brought up my interface, doing a search for portals like the one before us, making the world shuffle around and bring them into a circle around us, “Close to a hundred. 87... same number as before. Doesn't seem to be spreading quickly at the very least.”
Luna sat down and looked down, her wings spreading as she frowned in thought before her horn lit up like a small star. Lines of light reached out and touched each of the blank portals for a long second before the lines flowed back into her horn and she lowered it. A beam hit the not-floor beneath us and a map of Equestria formed as Luna kept her eyes closed in concentration before the light faded away and she seemed to relax again.
“Wow. Need to learn that trick,” I said and moved to sit down next to her to look down on the map before us. A single spot in the map was shining, far to the south east but still in Equestria. “Seems they are all in the same spot. Maybe a small village that got attacked by something?”
Luna smiled and spared my ear a quick nuzzle. “Getting somepony's physical location from their dream presence is still beyond your abilities for now, My Page,” she said before turning to the map. “I believe you may be right. It all seems to be gathered very close together.”
I nodded, tapping my hoof against the floor in thought, “We need to investigate this. We need to find out what happened to these ponies, if they can be saved or if we have to keep it from spreading.”
Luna pressed her lips together, “I'll send Princess Twilight and the other Element bearers.”
“...Luna, they no longer carry the Elements. They are in the tree, remember?”
“Being an Element bearer has very little to do with some jewelry, My Page,” Luna said with a smile. “They will be fine.”
“Why not send a company of guards?”
Luna shook her head, “Because sometimes more subtlety is needed than what the guard is capable of. We do not yet know what is going on and having a hundred ponies with spears and other weapons charge in may just put more ponies in danger.”
Well, she was not wrong about that.
Hmm. Closest guard station according to this map would be... Las Pegasus. About an hour's hard flight.
Not too far away and the bearers did include two pegasi, one of which was Rainbow Dash. She might be able to make it there in half the time.
Say two hours from the shit hitting the fan until reinforcements arriving? Not good, but not as bad as it could be either.
Nodding, I got up, “I'll tell them and go with them.”
“What!? No, you are not! There is no need for you to...”
I sighed, “Luna, they are capable of handling themselves, they have proved this time and time again against dangerous threats. But none of them have any clue about dream magic, not even Twilight. There is no time to teach her either. You are needed in Canterlot, so it falls to me to go with them.”
“Page, I...” she started to say before her ears flicked to the sides and she sighed. “...I hate the idea of you getting in danger.”
Smiling at her I nuzzled her chin. “I feel the same about you. But I can handle myself, My Sky,” I said as I put my wing around her.
Smiling slightly, Luna rested her head against mine. “I know,” she answered softly before she sighed and nodded, pulling back to look down at me. “Be careful.”
“Always,” I said and winked. “Of course, I would appreciate it if you could put the garrison at Las Pegasus on high alert when we leave the dream realm. That should reduce response time if we need to send for some backup.”
Luna nodded. “I will,” she replied before she glanced at the map, looking back to me again, her eyes worried. “Go, My Page. Find what is hurting our ponies.”
I bowed for her, “At once, your Highness,” before I winked and woke up.
Blinking awake, I rolled off the couch and onto my hooves, seeing everyone watching me in various stages of drowsiness. Spike looked tired, but he got pokes from one of the mares from time to time to keep him awake.
“What did Princess Luna say?” Twilight asked with a worried frown as she got off her chair and approached. “What's happening?”
I shook my head, “I'll tell you later. For now, go to sleep. It should be safe, the effect seems to be limited to a small area in southeast Equestria. Tomorrow we gather the other Elements and go investigate.”
Twilight hesitated before she nodded, “...Okay.”
She likely would have protested more but she looked really tired.
I can already here "our town" playing
it s starlight isn t?
7934183 Same here.
*click-refresh* UPDATE! Sweet.
Also "{Think that is what you meant? Sentence was a bit confusing.}" Left this line from the editor in there.
7934198 Already fixed, sorry. Was tired.
Has anyone started a Hiver group? Or a Blank Page-verse group. It's over due.
"My Page"
"My Sky"
God I love that!!!
So now Starlight Glimmers village will be found out, please tell me that Twilight will get her Crystal Castle and the Cutie Map soon, because I don't think that Page's dream magic will be able to help him find out about the other Cutie Map problems that are going to happen in the future.
7934220 Someone needs to get on this right now.
Hmmmm, Starlight Glimmer will soon become the most wanted unicorn in Equestrian history of recent memory for assaulting royalty and a endangered species since Alicorns technically are with the male version even more so. Also I could see Luna purposely tormenting Glimmer in her dreams.
7934195 Completely forgot about her even existing lol
7934285 Luna nothing I can picture the fight being over and Starlight running off.
It's the end of the day and she finds a place to rest. She closes her eyes...
"There you are."
"-gasp-"
"Trying to wake up? I don't think so Starlight. This is my realm, here I'm God. Or...in your case...the devil!"
Xenomorphs burst from the walls and the terror truly begins.
God I needed this right now, I got dragged into Cynewolf's story archive, god he writes despair and biblical-level horror well. This is perfect for a palate cleanser.
Gotta remember, future-self; no reading Cynewolf stories, they make you semi-psychotically depressed.
7934221
Who need this stupid piece of crystal and Table of Lazy Creation of Plot?
Golden Oak still exist, so Twilight isn't homeless.
7934517 Yeah, but the idea of the box just sitting there is a bit annoying, hope it opens somehow.
Considering the established track record with villains, I hope he doesn't just straight-up decapitate Starlight via chakram or something when she whips out the supposed mark-removal stick.
7934667 No, he would mark Starlight Glimmer for Terror and sic Nightmare Luna on her, She won't be resting even if she managed to escape. She won't be resting to regain strength and cause trouble. She won't be resting to be able to run for long. Mwuhahahahahahaha.
I wander how Starlight Glimmer hides her dreams from Luna, even doe she is probably not even aware that Luna is back? I think it might be a little hard to get the mane six Page, Sunset and Ember moving about the story with so many characters around on Our Town. I wander how long they will be stuck there being Equalized. I also wander what Discord has been up to sense the defeat of Tirek.
Didn't realize you were going there at first. This should be good.
Well, here come the great Dictator.
I can't wait!!orig11.deviantart.net/e3cf/f/2017/040/0/9/sop__our_town_showdown_by_sipioc-dayg4q0.jpg
7934667 well she might be able to survive but the staff may end up split.
It's going to be interesting how equalization is going to effect Page.
Since a lot of his skills are from training and aren't linked to his cutiemark.
I'm curious if Page is going to make comparisons to George Orwell's 1984. That book is potentially a huge advantage to the situation in certain ways, depending on how they approach it. At the very least, he should notice similarities and feel a degree of suspicion and alarm. Not to mention, he is potentially more or less vulnerable to the mark removal spell on account of having learned to live without one for most of his life, and his talent being so genuinely broad. Would he be less affected because it's so ambiguous, or utterly shut down for the same reason?
I eagerly await seeing how it goes.
7934667 Funny, that's exactly what I'm hoping to see happen. Hiver's already smashed plenty of points of stupidity in the show, and she's a serious offender in that category.
Also, the reactions of the rest of the cast to him brutally murdering a pony should be awesome.
7935538 A pony with a "=" mark is much slower and weaker than a pony with any normal mark. Regardless of training. This is kind of equality at the bottom line rather than equality in mediocrity.
Will always love the way Luna and Page interact with each other.
7934221 Yeah especially since some of those are crucial going forward for both Equestria and the Mane 6 and Spkie's developments. Not to mention that without the Cutie Map itself, Twilight would have stood no chance of stopping Starlight at all in Cutie Remark season 5 finale. Since it was key to preventing both permanent changes to the timeline. While also tethering both Twilight and Spkieto it, thus preventing ret gone due to the changes to the timestream.
Here we go. I wonder how Page will react to "our town"?
Excited to find out.
Hmm, totally blank dreaming would definitely help explain the squirrliness the residents of "our Town" display in unguarded moments, beyond the normal paranoia of a
vict.. "citizen" of a totalitarian regime... It seems like some half-arsed measure SG would try when she finds not having any dreams at all is dangerous or lethal. (Sleep deprivation tests on convicts let to a new record on staying awake. 7 days and some odd hours. The con went insane and died, his brain having essentially shorted out...)I take it this story is going with a different map?
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/a/a4/Map_of_Equestria_2015.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151205072352
7936015
I personally believe that the equal mark simply removes cutie mark magic while simultaneously keeping their passive magic needed for survival.
Equal-marked ponies are stronger than Tirek-drained ponies as it's been shown that without cutie marks, they can barely move. As such, I think Starlight would be stupid to completely remove all of their powers. It was shown that they were competent in the building of Our Town. If they were truly bad at everything, their homes would be nothing but rubble and their community wouldn't be so organized.
img04.deviantart.net/da6a/i/2015/098/8/c/hail_glimmer_by_sheandog-d8ozf2d.png
In case it wasn't clear, I absolutely adore villain Starlight.
Uhhhhhhhh Starlight's Village is pretty explicitly in the NORTH East, up by the Crystal Empire. This has been the case since its introduction.
Glim Glam?
Calling someone your sky is really cute and romantic. Like, the cloud that gives you shade when the heat becomes to much, the rain that soothes you, the thing that encompasses your world.
I dunno, I just find it cute.
Oh my god it’s our town.
I find it hilarious in hindsight that he wants to cut down response time for reinforcements by having the Las Pegasus garrison on alert...when official maps have Las Pegasus on the opposite side of the country from Our Town.
"You can't have a nightmare, if you never dream~"
8054307
I don't know why... but that picture makes me thi-
"VIVA EL PRESIDENTE!"
...God dam it, Penultimo! I should have known!
And then Blank Page immediately disregards the letter to contact Luna, in the Dream Realm...
I could understand Celestia mangling the letter since it's the middle of the night, but even then the threat to her little ponies should have enticed her to make said letter understandable. Or to just have Luna write the damn thing.
9957459
The letter that was sent back more than likely said to meet her in the dream realm, since they needed to discuss what he discovered in more detail than a letter can provide. Also she had raised the moon at this point so she wouldn't be patrolling the dream realm for a bit.
Oh god, I hated that town, something about a pseudo marksist cult where no one can be “one” bothered me, to be any worse starlight would have had to be one of those creepy spreading hive minds
This actually would make sense, if Twilight didn't get the Tree or never faced Tirek, the other option to encounter Starlight Glimmer & "Our Town", would be through their dreams - no cutie-marks, means no passion/ambition, meaning no dreaming.
Can't remember what happens now but explaining to Starlight Glimmer that what ever caused this situation might destroy Ponys mind should show Starlight Glimmer's true colors...
oh... intersting.... adding Page here might make so Starlight doesnt run away..... but would really feel like a Dues ex machina, if fix it
At the vary least Page had the bright idea to warn the local guard in the even things goes tits up
If the guards don't manage subtle than Equestria is lacking a vital aspect of any military. This needs to change!
11639337
And how subtle is sending in the National Guard, Army, or Marines to secure an area? they were not talking about sending in something like Celestia's personal guard but a local garrison.
Welp, that can't possibly be Our Town, as anyone who's ever seen a map of Equestria (like the one in an earlier comment) knows it's to the northeast of Canterlot. Then again, I've read a few stories where Ponyville is to the east of C'lot, at least one where the Everfree is between them, and one where Griffinstone is to the west.
And then there's the recurring idea that P'lle & C'lot are many, many miles distant, instead of in sight of each other.