This story is a sequel to Bat's Academy
[Third Person] Alternating Perspectives Equisverse Series 2
Thirty years ago, Princess Luna transported all of Ponyville into the Dream Realm to protect the city from invading daemons. Unfortunately she simply traded one disaster for another as the town became a haven for Nightmares, living dreams seeking but one thing; To find the person who dreamed them into existence, and make themselves real.
As a knight in Luna's service, Lyra fought to protect everypony in town, but at a great cost. Her worst nightmare found her, and Lyra didn't escape its clutches. The strange magic at the Nightmare's disposal warped reality itself, making the impossible conditions of Lyra's nightmare into reality itself.
After decades of exploration, archeology, study, and practice, Lyra has finally had a breakthrough. A specific arcane ritual that can forge a crystal made of the same magic wielded by Nightmares, one which may let her break the curse.
Featured on Wednesday, September 20, 2017 at 02:05 PM 
Book 2 of the Equisverse Season 2.
It's time, for a N-N-N-N... NNNNNNNNew Story!
Interesting though why hasn't Discord noticed that bit of Vi's aura..
NEW STORY YEA
8438010 She's too low power for them to notice without intentionaly scanning her for voidstuff specificly. Also the entity which raised her for her parents knows how to stealth...
8438013 Logical which would scare Discord but till recently he had no reason to look.
Ohhhhh Meep! Thank you for this beutiful eye candy of a story!
Oh near the end she lowers her eats.
This.. so many questions but I don't want spoilers.
8438053 Lowers... her... eats?
>> click on feed, idly hoping there's new Meep buried in there somewhere
>> new Meep story on top of feed
Well, day's off to a good start!
Oh shit, they're discovering voidstuff. That's..really bad. Really, really bad.
Unless they can harness it somehow 🤔
New story time 38.media.tumblr.com/52d3138f3a98bfc9ebbbbb2eb2c66ed7/tumblr_nq86em2toB1ra23i2o1_500.gif
And, as usual, this hype train has no brakes. New magics? Secret-y secrets? Potential for a massive amount of clean, renewable power? What's not to love?
Oh, and a potential solution to Lyra's problem. I guess that's also a thing.
So dreams are sort of like spells. Begin forming in the dream realm until they can be activated and made manifest in reality. Seems we just need a damned good dispel ability, or a disenchanter. The likes of which the world has never known.
OH MY GOD SEQUEL, WE MUST GET IT FEATURED NAOW!!!1
This is kind of an odd thing to write here, considering this bit of exposition from earlier:
You gave focus on the banning of dream magic as being the danger a user could effectively wield to wipe someone from existence, rather than the nightmares themselves. It just seems inconsistent. Now, Lyra may not know or think this, but this seemed to just be a bit of establishing exposition that leaned towards the banning as being the former, yet Lyra comments that it was nightmares that were the reason why dream magic was banned.
Using training twice here is kinda awkward. I know what you're saying here, but it feels like the second training takes emphasis from talent. A different word here might be able to balance it out.
Anyway, interesting start, not much more to say. The dream magic angle is looking to be a journey to unravel, and I'm looking forward to it.
I will recommend more exploration on Lyra's pain. This is her motivation for the devoting so much time and effort to this, yet in this chapter it's barely established or explored. Yeah, it's there, but to me it's a lot like saying "The hero is on a quest to slay the evil overlord because said overlord murdered his parents in cold blood!". Yeah, it gets the point across, but I feel functionally nothing for the hero. Here, I feel more for Lyra's frustration with trying to unravel the magic than I do for her utterly loosing her relationship with Bon Bon.
YES SEQUEL
,
That bit right there seems like the real loophole.
Hmn. Given the story title, is dream magic another avenue the void is using to leak into the universe?
Okay, seems that way, and apparently it's what Vinyl's parents used to successfully have her, too.
Probably way bigger than just fixing Lyra’s curse given the scope of what they just figured out.
8438409
There can be multiple reasons a thing was done :P Also this is a first person perspective, these are her thoughts. Do you think in a narrativly concise and precise manner? Does anyone?
Glad you're enjoying things :3
YOu'll get that :P The job of the first chapter is to set up a story. The job of subsequent chapters is to do the detail work. Lyra didn't realy ahve much of a reason to think about her own plans in detail here, but next chapter, since she's found people who can help her, that's when she'd have the time, opportunity, and necessity to think about and discuss her plan.
Again, this is a first person narrative. I don't pause every couples hours to think "Gee, I realy hope those car parts my friend is sending me get here soon. I need to repair that van's door so I can drive it this winter. Heck, I need the door fixed so I can get new plates for it and get it registered to me. I had better remember to get a K stamp on the plates while I'm there so I dont need to register it again. I also can't forget to buy Velcro strips and insulation to make panels to cover the rear windows up so it's not super cold in there during the winter."
No. I think about whatever I'm doing at the moment, and then remember my plans for my crappy van if the subject comes up.
8438599 You're on the right track, DJ :3
8439058
I suppose I'm still in short story mode, where definite sympathetic character traits and plot arcs have to be established in about 5-6 thousand words or so.
Anyway, I'm liking the look of this one.
8439325 Heh, yeah. Novels are a different format.
Congrats on the feature lol
Well, it looks like Sherbet CAN tell them.
She promised Discord not to talk about it with anybody who doesn't know. Lyra can see voidstuff contamination, which definitely counts.
She should still run that by Discord, but "Hey I found a person who can see voidstuff and is investigating a potentially massive breach, and a person who is practically made of the stuff, so even they don' know what voidstuff is can I tell them what they need to know so we can fix this?" seems like a pretty damn strong argument.
8439710 Yes, that's what she SHOULD do. But remember that Sherbert is a bit of a derp. Her assumption is that Discords statement is litteral, and that she cant tell them anything until they know what it is, even though Discord absolutely would want to know that Lyra discovered the stuff and would want Sherbert to say "This stuff is very dangerous. Please stop and talk to Discord right now." XD
8439710
Not necessarily. Sherbet is partially made of the stuff now, and VI's life was given by it. They are both void touched. Lyra, on the other hand, is for said purpose a Normal. She has no protection beyond a strong mind & magic, for all the fat load of nearly nothing those give against the void. At most she can hope that being altered by the nightmare brings her that little closer and helps staving of the madness.
So, the magic of fantasy come true it's a corrupted and paltry shadow of the raw stuff off universes themselves. Makes a lot of sense, really. And maybe that's one big hole a group of heroes closed in time immemorial... But the damage was already done. Well, it does give a new terrifying note to the Nightmare. It was quite literally Mythos corruption. Insanity, power and suffering given life. I don't envy Luna right now
8439754 Well, at least as NMM, Luna found an old moonbase and built a hottub from scrap to help occupy her time. So she had a hot tub :D
Twimkleshine/Meep... Where have I heard the name Meep before... HMM.
this is pretty god damn mother fucking fantastic.
camo.derpicdn.net/c53c73b9670f3293cff150100df50b63f3e9fd10?url=http%3A%2F%2F2new2.fjcdn.com%2Ffunny_gifs%2FMlp_84871d_5887505.gif
8439854 She's actually not a self insert. It's a common changeling name which translates as "silly". I tossed a joke in a previous story where Lyra got her confused with an author by the same name. Which is the closest I've gotten to a real self insert :P
8439817
A hot tub does go a great way into alleviating suffering. Did she find a rubber ducky and called it Kirk, too? Losing her ducky would explain the crankiness upon her return.
8439931
I didn't know how much I need that gif in my life until now. Thanks!
8439931 Let me just goahead and finish that meme for ya :3
*boop!*
8439754
Discord said outright "Hey, you can't tell people about this because it's super dangerous to have people dicking around with it and we can't go giving people ideas."
Lyra said "Hey! You're completely covered in this stuff I've been dicking around with! Lets go dick around with it more!"
Also, as soon as Creamsicle said "Discord made me promise not to talk about it" Vi and Lyra should have said "Ok, so we'll ask him to talk about it", because they are experts in fighting things that should not exist and know that if something scares a god step one of the threat assessment is asking the god what's scaring them.
It's not like they're intimidated by talking to immortal beings of incomprehensible power. That's their day job.
8440993 True, that is one thing the two of them could have gone and done. Howeaver, I think it's more logical for Vi to want to confront her parents on the issue immediately, and Lyra would jump on the chance to know more about the thing she discovered before asking questions of someone who classified the thing she discovered. Remember, she used to be a member of B.A.R.D., a group that specifically sought to discover the real truth behind things and would circumvent the law if necessary to get information.
And once again we will see meep's masterful use of my favorite trope "The Reveal"
oh and also Squeeee
8441259 :3 Glad you're liking things so far!
8441002
True. I just hope they remember to talk to him soon.
i'm loving this like just wow!
enter big brother LP
Welp, that's one helluva complicated way to make a baby.
8445384 1. Tab D into slot V, repeat as desired/needed.
2. Using insane brother's journal...
8445392 And tab d into slot V describes the emotion and story line of so many movies..
INTERESTING developments eagerly awaiting the next chapter. A fight between Sherbert and Absurdly Buffstallion might be interesting and probably won't go as the stallion assumes it.. so Sherbert is a ninja wannabe.
Actually Sherbert playing tag with teh guards might be interesting. She has stealth and skill on her side but no idea of the area
inciteful > insightful
That was unexpected. Dunno is Discord will allow her brother free into our reality, though. Insanity inducing Eldritch abomination and all that.
So, cute doggo fillies are so powerfully so that visitors glomping them is standard procedure. Somehow that doesn't surprise me
I can see that happening, Celly decorating Canterlot Castle with B movie posters and breaking out the weapon replicas for "respect to a foreign representative". And to see the nobility writing within their own minds at the display. Specially when the empress and princess like it
Quite a intensely emotional chapter!. I like the focus on the inner conflict, And how Vinyl in such an introspective mood considers many aspects of her life as a whole. Details like the ones brought up at the old train station really build the mood and add to Vinyl's character.
The imagery for Hollow Shades was delightful. The terraced layers around the crater. The lake. The clouds by the moon. The old castle. It all paints such a striking picture.
Great chapter Meep!
Finally, something comes of the ice caverns. Are these the same ones that an eldritch horror crawled out of in Cataclysm?
Can't believe you mentioned vore. That shit is d-ee-sgus-ting!
Also, very detailed on the castle. But i get the feeling the count is a bit over-the-top.
8447109 Yes they are :P Why would I set up something like that and not folow through?
Of course he is XD and he knows it. Dinner at Ravenloft has his reasoning for it all.
"Oh, bite me! It's cool!"
Well, the revelation was interesting on the source of Vinyl's birth.
The main problem is that the biggest chunk of this chapter-the dialogue between Vinyl and her father-felt like boring exposition. It isn't, not quite, but it's the character. I as a reader don't know anything about Vinyl's dad beyond he's a baron, and a rich vampire.
This dialogue was almost all that. Just dialogue. There wasn't action to break it up, inner reflections, or much of anything along that variety. To top it off, I feel like some of it could have been condensed down a bit without loosing quality. So combine a distinct lack of action in the dialogue between Vinyl and her father, knowing next to nothing about her father beyond he is a father and a vampire and thus having incredibly little reason to care about him, and I felt this chapter was a bit dull.
That being said, you delivered interesting exposition, so it's not a total waste or anything of the sort. I just feel the way the reveal on Vinyl's creation and Bucking Cold's entity under the ice was a lot duller than it could have been.
8447252 You're right. My apologies. I'll be sure to polish the next chapter a bit more than usual for you.
8447148
You'd be surprised Meep. Besides you, only Fallout: Equestria used all of it's plotlines... or even finished the story..
Book two? The Fun Has Been Doubled!
Pants to be darkened!
You know one of these days I'd like to see a layout of the Phoenix.
I'll take 10
I can just see the security teams in a firing line when something bad shows up, and the leader saying "You came to the wrong neighborhood motherbucker!"
HERE. It was here when reading I was all "OH MY GOSH! Dream magic is corrupted Void magic!"
But something else occurs to me here, something big. In Bats discord describes Void magic as being able to make things a reality, Dreams are the corrupt less power version of this. In Lifegiver Celestia tells us that Luna is dreams, that she can also make some dreams into reality...
Is Luna part Void Bourn?!?!?!?!?!
I would like to see that put to the test.
Hey 8437972 you added titanium walls and heavy amounts of security daka to this house right? Right?
And Lyra discovers void, Discord said not to talk about it with anyone who didn't know about void, does this count as knowing about void?
"Oh my little pony, what fun is there in making sense?"
Wait! Discord where did you come from?
"I decided to pop in."
You know I would be more concerned if I wasn't already so used to your antics.
"Oh, you humans can be as annoying as you are entertaining." *pop*
Ugh!
Alrighty, let's get this show on the road!
8448445 Her house is as secure as mine. And remember, Luna teleported the town to another dimension, and the 3 buildings that were immune to that were the spa, Azur's housetress, and my home. Not to mention no daemon could breach it's defenses and it was used as a staging area for the post war hazardous environment cleanup. So yeah, pretty secure...
Guess tourism isn't high on the list of things to worry about.
Why do I get the feeling this Fae will become important latter?
Well they better have a bucking shield, because you know what is worse than having a scared officer, a dead one.
Sword Art Online.
I've seen a few different interpretations of Seaponies, I would like to know/see your interpretation on them.
"Controle, you must learn control."
Oh that is not fair, how do these guys get the monopoly on cute things!
Wait until you actually meet Rin, in full armor. You might rethink your career options then.
I can see her doing this with the Twilight Guard, anypony else wanna see that?
I wonder how her Imperial Badflank would react to seeing B movie posters with her as the lead?
Well not counting the ICE HORROR! Were going back? I mean it's great to expand on already established lore and areas.
The funny thing is I'm reading a different story that has something simular where a pony was 'reforged' out of the remains of another. Though I think I like this better.
Sorry, neither do I.
I agree with Vinyl's reaction here, you have his sister as your daughter, you are family bucking dammit!
Ya no, how about we get some heavy power armor, laser drills, thermite explosives, hard light shields, and a tank, preferably with legs and not treads.
Actually, there is, assuming this 'guy' can see magic like Discord and other unicorns he should be able to see Vinyl's aura, seeing his sisters remade soul or at least the void signature should keep them from getting blasted on the spot.
Alright, I have to point something out here. We seem to be getting to the main plot point from the description [the tower and the ritual inside] rather quick like we should be meeting Mr. Void ether next chapter or chapter 4, Bat's was 17 chapters long and were only on chapter 2. Meed is going to drop some world-threatening danger, send our part into another reality/dimension, go star hopping, or some other awesome adventure! Grab the popcorn and strap in colts and filly's, this is going to be exciting!
I can see all Luna's knights occasionally running training exercises with the various guard groups.. IF you are going to have Sherbert play tag you might as well let Tami have fun as well
8448542
Well Vi did say they were stopping by Sky's. And if they are doing arctic shit and also lovecraftian shit, then they will need appropriate armor...
8448445
Yay! I'm not the only AT4W fan here!
I've been slowly working on that.
'But I'm here to sell thin mints :c"
"YOu came to the right neighborhood, motherbucker!"
Yes. Well done :3
No. Merely finding it dosn't count. After all, I could mail you a cube coated in vantablack. You have it, see it, understand that it was a cube, but unless you already knew what vantablack is, you wouldn't know why the cube seemed like a black void in reality, and why your camera only records values of 'no light' when you try to take pictures of it. Seeing something, observing it, and studying it, is NOT the same as knowing what it is.