Building Walls, Burning Bridges

by MonolithiuM

Chapter 11- Sweet Dreams Are...

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." ~Oscar Wilde

Celestia and Luna awoke together in the middle of the night, which was rare indeed. However, Mono was not to be aware of when Luna would be invading his dreams. Right now, he was tucked in bed and mumbling occasionally thanks to his rather infuriating imagination.

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"Fee-fi-fo-fum. What beanstalk you fall from?"

I glared at the huge motherfucker standing just a foot or so away from me. He cocked an eyebrow quizzically and opened his mouth to say something, then stopped, his hazel eyes showing clear signs of confusion. He put a hand to the top of his head and gripped his light brown hair.

"Uh…"

I swiped my hands about and shook my head. "Listen Godzilla, we clearly are both human, so just tell me where you're from and well go from there."

"Alright, I'm from Sector Thirty-three of the Belt Colony, where are you from?"

I crossed my arms and looked at him speculatively. "What in the hell are you blabbering on about, Buzz Lightyear? What country are you from? Sweden, Brazil, America, what?"

He narrowed his eyes and bit his lip. "I've never heard of any of those countries… What planet do you hail from?"

"You. Are. An. Idiot. I'm from Earth, now just where in Sam Hell are you from?"

"Earth."

"Well, that's just fan-tucking-fastic! Alternate universes, just what I needed today! What's next on the menu, chef? Ponies and adventure, you say? I'LL TAKE FUCKING TWO!"

Sevilin rose both eyebrows and knelt down in an attempt to get closer to me. "You know about Equestria?"

"Yes, and all its peace-loving neo-hippies known as ponies. I'm just going to assume right off the bat that you too are acquainted with the princesses and the Elements, so I'll just cut to the meat of this sandwich and sum everything up." I took a deep breath.

"We're both in a dreamscape and somehow connected due to the fact that we are linked through some kind of dramatic convenience. The reason for this is that we both are created by some kind of extraordinarily powerful being that just decided his playthings should meet each other. The only reason for it to do this is because this entity is severely lacking in the brain cell department and must be euthanized with a baseball bat."

"What's baseball?"

"Not important, but right now we need to-"

My speech was cut off when Princess Luna just decided to wreck my dream and drop in unannounced. While she got up off of me, she gasped… twice.

I deadpanned as I took in the sight of another Luna behind the titan. "Great, two third-rate rulers to bug us incessantly. What's next? An army of teletubbies come to start the day?"

Instantly, we were surrounded on all sides by green hills and flowers, and a familiar sun shone in the sky. It laughed and looked down upon us with the delightfully frightening caricature of an infant. The big guy took a step back and raised an arm. His lip curled up in disgust while his eyes portrayed horror.

"What the hell is that?!"

A rumbling noise came from all around our group and in seconds we were flanked and outnumbered by beings of yellow, green, pink, blue, and red. They all smiled and laughed at the same time, and held out their arms as if offering a hug.

They then all collectively dropped one arm and raised the other higher. The sun in the sky shifted and became a man with a combover and a rhombus-shaped mustache.

All the teletubbies grew grim and shouted, "Heil Hitler!"

Luna stared up at the sun and mouthed, 'what the fuck'. Big Guy's Luna lit her horn and glanced about us. Big Guy himself knelt down and clasped his hands on his head, shaking slightly.

"Nazitubbies, those bastards! Kill them, kill them all!"

With a swing of my arms, a claymore appeared in my hands and I swung wildly at the Nazitubbies, cleaving through them easily. They exploded in showers of candy and flames, and both Lunas began blasting the fascist bastards with concentrated magic.

I landed next to Big Guy and said, "My name's Mono, by the by." I then leapt back into the fray.

The Nazitubbies soon realized their plight and reached into their hidden pockets, unsheathing their weapons against us.

Wurst came flopping out to meet us, and I screamed in anger while I butchered them like the pigs they used for their weapons. While Luna and Luna shied away from the weaponized meat, I tore them to delicious shreds with my teeth.

"Victory through CARNIVOROUS DIET!"

I brought my blade down upon the last Nazitubbie's head, and snatched the slain Deutsch-bag's sausage away from him. While the abomination of all things evil and wrong in the world bled out on the beautiful green grass, I took a massive bite out of the meat and brought my sword into the air.

"DEMACIA!"

"What in the sweet name of all things sane are you talking about?!"

I simply roared in laughter at Luna's question. The scene suddenly changed again, and we were standing on a platform that shone with brilliant azure lights.

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"Is she alright, Princess?" Twilight leaned over Celestia's shoulder, peering at the fitful form of Luna. The dark blue alicorn mumbled and opened her mouth, and breathed a single word.

"Sausages…"

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"Conquistador Sevilin Jacobs on deck! Atten-hut!"

The ridiculously gaudy golden armor of the human soldiers shone brilliantly, and their right arms crossed their chests Roman style. I hummed while Big Guy was sheathed in armor that made him incomprehensibly huge, and deadpanned immediately.

"You're just compensating for something, aren't you?"

Sevilin looked down at me from behind a badass-looking faceplate with two huge angular horns that reminded me faintly of a bull. The glowing amber eyes of his flashed and he grunted with a new, rusty voice.

"Commander, what is the current situation?" he asked.

A man dressed in another insanely intricate golden suit stepped forward. "The Siftraw are pushing the Rubicon Gate and are currently breaking through using their weapons. Orders?"

Sevilin stared out the command bridge's panoramic window and observed the faint multicolored explosion occurring around a pulsating blue field.

"Engage," he grunted.

"Yes sir!" The commander held down a panel and began shouting orders that I had since began ignoring. I tapped my chin and thought of something I could wear.

Glancing at Luna and Luna II, which I had just begun calling them, I saw that they were complementing each other on the pitch-black armor they both were wearing. The steel was entwined with golden olive-vine twists and red sash-like shoulder and flank plates.

I cocked an eyebrow and looked down, and saw that my usual dark winter coat was replaced by angular interlocking plates resembling the ensemble. Reaching up, my head was encased by a helm similar to my hat, and the rest of my clothing was replaced by the metal.

I felt surprisingly light, and I turned to face the reflective pane of glass. My face was now a curved plate of digital representation. My eyes and mouth were expressed through bright green mock-ups of the actual thing, which was quite impressive.

A horn that damn near shattered my eardrums sounded, and I was immediately snatched by Sevilin.

"ALL UNITS TO DEPLOYMENT BAY IMMEDIATELY. ENEMY ENGAGEMENT IN TWENTY SECONDS."

"Put me down, asshole! Hey! HEY!"

Big Guy didn't pay attention, he simply kept moving with me in his grasp. I flopped about like a doll the entire time, keeping my arms crossed while he gripped onto my foot.

A short time later, we were all somehow lined up and facing a massive metal wall with thick clasps and sliding mechanisms on either side. A door. Perfect.

"LOCK RELEASE IN THREE."

"Fuck."

"TWO."

"Double fuck."

"ONE."

"We're all fucked."

"RELEASE"

"Fuck it."

The vacuum of space pulled a multitude of armored humans and our little posse into the fray. Immediately, a group of armored, crab-like things flew at us like facehuggers. Disgusted by the nasty bastards, I rose my arms and a cannon of some sort appeared.

Pure, white-hot energy came arcing out and hit the first crab bitch. I laughed and fired at another, watching the suit crack and the crab get sucked out. Little orange bits and pieces floated about, and I recognized shell and meat.

Giggling, I fired over and over. "I'LL CRACK YOU OPEN AND DIP YOU IN BUTTER!"

I spun around and out shot two cylinders from beneath my alloy coat. I somehow knew what they were and grabbed them instinctively.

Blue energy erupted from the two objects and I began to spin and flourish them with more grace and lethality than I thought possible. The beams of energy curved and spluttered while I used boot-mounted propulsion systems to enhance my already lightning fast movements.

"Is he…? He's moving fast enough to distort the Mercury Beams!" I heard somebody shout over my in-ear radio.

I laughed madly while I zipped and slashed around the enemy. The instant I cut them open, their squishy insides were sucked out by the vacuum of space. It really didn't matter where I cut them as long as the incision was deep enough.

I lopped off the tip of the crab-thing's leg and watched amusedly as it was sucked from its suit, looking like a faucet dispensing liquid crab.

A massive wave of concussive force hit me, and I just barely managed to propel myself away from a chunk of metal. I located the source of the explosion, and saw both Lunas high-hoofing each other near a titanic hunk of floating space metal.

Small blue and green fires sputtered all across the ship, and the debris left over floated about.

"…wow."

A voice I recognized as Luna crackled into my ear. "You know, Mono, I'm positive that we have more kills than you."An image of her popped into my helmet and pushed me to one side.

From the right I heard the other Luna. "Yes, it seems that we are far more deadly than you. Are you having trouble aiming your weapon? Are you afraid to truly kill?" The second Luna pushed my face into the other's.

"It could be that you are in fact a child or a man-child."

"Or you were abandoned at birth."

"Maybe some mental damage?"

"Most likely."

"But what would cause such damage?"

"Who knows? Perhaps blunt force trauma."

I blew a gasket right there, with my face squished between the two ponies.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The two images popped from existence and I exhaled. Looking up, I saw the biggest damn ship I had ever laid eyes on. "That right there has got to be-"

A wave of concussive force shattered two planetoids near it, sending chunks of space debris towards us. "Evasive maneuvers recommended," spoke a feminine voice in my suit.

I hadn't even gotten a chance to truly take in the details of the enormous ship before it had been blasted to hell. Now I was darting to and fro in a desperate attempt to avoid rock, metalloids, and bodies.

"Screw space and its lack of sound! Fuck everything in space! Fuck the asteroids, fuck the planets, and fuck the moons!"

Luna's voice popped in, both of them.

"SCREW YOU TOO!"

"SCREW YOU TOO!"

"Screw you to the second!"

I kicked on the boosters and added my own burst of super-human speed, accelerating the combustion of the fuel cells exponentially and increasing their power.

I was soon watching blips of light zoom past my face-plate, distorting and stretching as I entered warp speed.

"Ahahahahaahaha!!! See ya later suck-"

CLONK

"Rank Thirteen Conquistador Sevilin Jacobs, stationed on the Emancipator. You are hereby awarded the Medal of Imperial Honor and Excellence. Your title has been updated as well."

A lean, tall man in a suit of pearl-white armor and a red helm spoke to Big Guy with a voice and posture of respect. Several hundred armored soldiers had their fist across their chests dutifully.

I, meanwhile, picked myself up from the floor in a vibrating mass. My suit was shaking so hard that I doubted I would ever lose the kinetic energy. The sound of metallic hoofsteps came from behind me and I focused my attention on the ceremony.

"What happened?"

"Aaaand attention broken." I groaned and held my faceplate in aggravation. "Listen Luna, and Luna Squared, we are in a dream. Shit happens."

"But whenever I enter a dream, I have the ability to control every aspect of it easily."

"Like clay," the other elaborated.

"You are in the dreamscapes of not one, but two humans. Both of which have experience with ponies. How long has he been with you?"

"I've known of his existence for maybe a few days, but Twilight Sparkle tells me he has been on our planet for nearly a decade. Possibly more."

"Well, even with all of those years of first-hand experience, I know more."

One of them shifted behind me. "I've been meaning to ask you how that is truly possible."

I sighed and stretched my back. "You are all fake. A show meant for little girls on my planet that became a phenomenon among older age groups. I was apart of this older age group that call themselves 'bronies'."

"Pfft. Bronies? Surely you are not serious?"

"…"

"Sweet Faust, you are."

"Anyway, I know a freakish amount about Equestria and its residents due to the fact that I can easily bring up a single episode with a few button presses. Your people and this entire universe that you reside in is the creation of Studio B! Owned by Hasbro and previously aided by…"

I clapped my hands rapidly using my speed, creating a metallic drumroll.

"Lauren Faust!"

Both Lunas collapsed to the floor and stared intently at it. At least, I think they did, because their faceplates obscured their features.

I turned back to the ceremony. "And don't call me Shirley."

"And so we honor you, Sevilin Jacobs, for the destruction of the Siftraw home world! Your new title is now: Sevilin Jacobs, Spear of the Emperor."

I gave a whistle amidst the blaring horns. "Damn, their entire home planet? That's pretty impressive. I wonder how he did that."

Sevilin accepted a massive rod with a long, sharpened tip, and thrusted it into the light above him. This elicited cheers of excitement from the amassed crowd.

Before any of us could think, we were whisked away to somewhere inherently familiar to me.

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Twilight Sparkle observed Mono, while Celestia had not taken her gaze away from her sister. Twilight moved closer to Mono, and using her horn, shed some light on his face.

"Celestia!"

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"I'm… home?" I walked through my room with Sevilin and the two princesses, running my hands on the yellow walls slowly. Everything was just as I left it before I ran out of the house. My small television attached to the wall, the bed with the dirty sheets that I had neglected to change.

Heaps of dirty laundry against my closet door. I methodically put the mass into my laundry basket and proceeded to the door. It was bright out, morning to be precise.

The wood-floored hallway of the second floor seemed to glow. I knelt down and smelled the Orange Glow. Hearing utensils in the kitchen, I ran down the stairs. "Mono? What is this place? Mono!"

I ran ahead of them and through the dining room, seeing my father's desktop and all of the Ikea furniture. Pictures hung on the walls. My group stopped at the wall to stare at the pictures, and I continued toward the kitchen.

The second I stepped inside, my body returned to normal. I was once again tall and thin, with angular features and my usual get-up. At the kitchen table was my family.

"Mom," I said through tears. Her auburn hair shone brilliantly in the sunlight, with her smile warming my heart considerably. "Dad." He smiled too, his eyes squinting behind his glasses, while his head reflected the sunlight.

And in the last seat, laughing and smiling at me, was my little sister.

"Leah!" She shouted my name and ran towards me. She hugged my knees and I knelt down to embrace her. "Leah, girly! How are you? How's school?"

No response. "Leah?"

I lifted her head and froze. "N- no. No…"

Two hollowed-out eyes and that grim smile. Her skull stared back at me while the rest of her body withered away. "No! Leah! Mom! Dad!"

They too, began to crumble, their ashes mixing with their breakfasts. Oatmeal and eggs became tainted with the dead, the powdered remains of my family swirling about the room.

"Big… brother…"

I stared down with tears in my eyes. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't do a thing.

"Why?" Those words chilled me to my core. My sister's skull kept saying it, over and over. "Why? Why?! WHY?!"

"I… I didn't know… I don't know what happened…"

My mother's skull shot up from the table, her skeleton molding back together. "You left us! You RAN!"

My father's remains did the same as my mother's. "COWARD! You fled from your home! From your FAMILY!"

I began to sob, crawling away backwards, The skeletons began to climb over the table and floor, screaming at me.

"WHY DID YOU RUN? WHY? WHY WON'T YOU COME BACK? ANSWER US!!!"

The scene imploded in a whirlwind of dust and tiles. Pieces of the kitchen swirled about and collided with one another. I felt a pull from behind me, and I was dragged through a bright white light, even as I was crying.

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I opened my eyes, which had begun heavily tearing up, thus blurring my vision. I sniffled a few times, rubbing the tears from my eyes.

"Mono?"

I thought back to my family, screaming at me. "I haven't even tried very hard to go back."

"Mono, are you well?"

I choked on my words, the tears beginning to flow again. I was already emotionally compromised, and the fact that I couldn't speak correctly served to further aggravate me.

I coughed and cleared my throat, then sucked some more snot down my esophagus.

"Get out," I whispered to them.

I heard two pairs of hooves leave the room slowly. Then a shadow moved over my light. I brought an arm to cover my eyes, and continued to sob.

"Mono, what did you see?" Luna's voice made my will waver. I was seconds from forcefully throwing her out.

"Tell her," I demanded myself.

"My family. They… they crumbled into piles of bones and began demanding why I hadn't come home."

"So you had a nightmare?"

"Yup." I hadn't had a nightmare since I was a toddler, so this was a bit of a shock to me. "It's pretty funny, though…"

"How so?"

"The first nightmare I have in nearly a decade happens in a land of peace-loving colorful ponies." I gave a weak chuckle and brought my arm away from my face.

"Hey Luna?"

"Yes, Mono?"

"I know I'm a jerk, but I don't actually hate you guys. I'm just trying to be… unique… In my own special way of course… And I just want to apologize to you three, okay I'll apologize to Shining Armor too. But on one condition…"

"And what would that be?"

"Make him a fucking Princess so I can torture him about it for eternity."

Amidst the somber aura in the room, the two of us began chuckling. She sighed and placed a hoof on my left arm. She gave a shudder and her astral mane separated into indigo locks. She then smiled and said, "Only for a day."

"That's all I needed. Now get out of my room," I smiled genuinely at her and she returned it, trotting out into the hall and slowly closing my door, letting me hopefully rest without a head full of horrors.

Author's Note:

Feat. Sevilin Jacobs from Slime City ...Made of This

Comments

[FattBoy94]

Well, that...