//------------------------------// // Dream - Ception // Story: A New Game // by INFUSCATE //------------------------------// Princess Luna loved tending to her night. She could think of no better way to start her day than raising her beloved moon and covering the sky in her blanket of stars. She liked to tweak one just slightly, making it outshine its brethren for only a night. Her sister insisted that this was a result of the trauma of Celestia neglecting her, Luna didn't believe that. And then there was tending to the dreams of her subjects. Which was probably the only thing she didn't like about her royal duties. It wasn't the fact that tending to dreams was tiring, or stressful, on the contrary it often left her feeling lightweight and care - free. But the idea of peeking into some of her subjects worst nightmares sometimes kept her up at night (day?). Not because she might see something she would be afraid of, but because she would see something her subjects are afraid of. And ponies usually like to keep what frightens them secret. At least, they did from what she remembered. So, as she stood on her balcony whilst draping the night sky in her blanket of stars, (she had raised the moon with her sister just a few minutes ago,) she focused on the virgo constellation. Seeing as it was the biggest constellation it has to have the most ponies in it right? Honestly, she didn't know. She aimed her horn at that particular group of stars, making them glow much brighter than the rest, normally she would only make one star brighter but, hey, she was the element of generosity for a reason, wasn't she? Finished with her nightly ritual she sat on her favourite pillow, made of an incredibly rich fabric, seemingly lighter than air, and softer than her own ethereal mane. Which was such a struggle to brush. This pillow also cost as much as several baronies, which may or may not be the reason that Griffonstone is no longer part of Equestria. As soon as she was sitting comfortably her horn lit up, pure white. Almost as blinding as her sisters sun. Then with a couple enchantments, she entered a deep trance, which is the real reason she's generally more composed than her fellow princesses. She landed in her 'dreamscape' as she called it. A number of doors appeared in front of her. All of them representing her subjects who were having nightmares. She could of course, make it so that all of her subjects who were dreaming would appear, but then the corridor would be nigh endless. Strange, she thought. there are far more doors than there should be. Although, it is in the run - up to Nightmare Night. She supposed. That holiday used to be awkward for her, even after the young Twilight Sparkle helped her get over most of it. But a couple chats (and mooncakes to the face) with Discord, who was surprisingly quite the master at conversation. Although, she had always known him to be charming and highly intelligent so she probably should have took it as a given. Anyway, after a couple chats with Discord (whom some ponies still burn effigies of on February the 29th) she got over the rest of her anxiety. Discord was surprisingly patient and understanding with her while she was talking. That must've been due to the influence of "dear Fluttershy" as Discord would call her. Or he just wanted to get on my good side so he could get amnesty for any crimes he would commit in the future. Yes, definitely the latter. She stood, poised to enter one of the many doors in front of her. Just before she used her magic to open it, however. She faltered, the door was a chalk white with purple highlights. and many gemstones studded along its rim. She didn't need to use her powers to know this belonged to the bearer of the element of generosity, Rarity. She took a quick glance at the other doors. One was shaped like your average barn door, the paint was even peeling in some areas. This must be Miss Applejacks door she mused. She stepped towards what the barn door, it smelled faintly of sweet apple acres. Not just apples, but sweat, dirt, and all those other things that make a hard, but honest, days work. Another door looked like it was made entirely of living branches, with a small window inset into the middle and a rowan tree on either side of it. Another looked like a fire emergency door, like the ones seen in gymnasiums in Cloudsdale, except it was covered in posters of the wonderbolts and Daring Do. And yet another one looked like it belonged on a gingerbread house with candies on it. It also had balloons floating above it. Which shouldn't even be possible in the dreamscape. She also saw one that, well, let us just say it was clearly Miss Sparkles door and leave it at that. There were three other doors as well, one looked like a cell door, It had a large 'keep out' sign on around the door handle. Between the gaps in the metal bars there was only darkness. She stepped closer to the door, it smelled of... nothing. How strange, usually one can tell something about the dreamer by what their door smelled like. Another "door" was actually... a palace. a huge, 100 story castle that towered over all the other doors. The castle looked like it was a paper cut - out, it was completely blank. But the door however, was intricately designed. its colour scheme was a chaotic mish - mash of colours that shouldn't work, but somehow did. It featured everything. from wrought iron designs of monsters as door hinges, to a window somehow made out of clear, solid jelly. That also worked as a funhouse mirror, except it always made you look fat. Or maybe that's just me. Luna thought. It had an ace of spades door knocker, that when looked at out of the corner of your eyes, turned white, creating a paradoxical optical illusion. She stepped closer to the door and inhaled, the scent was intoxicating... it was like everything she ever enjoyed the smell of put together. But instead of being overwhelming, it was like she was smelling them all at the same time, but separately. Peppermint, cinnamon, butterscotch, violet, pumpkin spice, chilli powder, rowan wood smoke, coconut, freshly mown grass, vanilla, cookie dough, and coffee. The smell was delicious and she needed more of it. She shuffled, zombie like towards the door. She reached for the handle. Her hoof rested atop the burnished brass metal surface. And it hissed at her! Suddenly the door knob became the metal equivalent of Luna's favourite draconequus, Discord. Although it's not as if she knew any other draconequi. "Oh, hello Princess Glooma! How's life? Met any new stallions yet to replace... Goshdarnit. What's his name? Oh yes! that Night Terror stallion. ya'know, the commander of your night guard? I'm doing great at meeting new people, actually. I've just met the most adorable bluebottle fly. And guess what? She's already moving in. At this rate I might need to set up a new casino, because I just hit the jackpot! There's only one problem though, I'm afraid I can't have a serious relationship with her... because I'VE BEEN TURNED TO STONE! So... please take your freaky, privacy invading magic elsewhere." That disturbance, although rude, woke her up, so to speak. She came out of her zombie like state. And quickly backed away from what was no doubt Discord's door. She realised that in all of her time safeguarding ponies dreams, she had never encountered Discords door, 'either he's unusually resistant to nightmares which I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he was.' Luna thought, 'or he never counted as one of my subjects until recently'. while looking at the only door remaining, It was a polished white marble, and it shone with a radiance and warmth so much so that Luna instantaneously knew it was the door of her sister, Celestia. 'I should attend to the cell door first, as the girls have no doubt faced bigger threats in their waking life, Tia has ruled Equestria solely for 1000 years, and i doubt anything can scare her now. And I shall attend to Discord last as... Anything that scares Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony? Terrifies me.' She approached the cell door, It's appearance looked even worse close up. Spotted patches of rust were dotted around the cold, blackened iron of the cell door. The darkness in - between the metal bars didn't seem to occur from a large amount of shadow, but rather a lack of light. 'How odd, usually the doors to ponies minds are more reflective of their persona.' The lunar princess immediately thought of Discords' door. No matter how disturbed the dreamer might be, I will still do my duty as princess of the night. With her mind made up, she approached the door with an air of confidence. She opened it and stepped through. She saw an almost blinding flash of teal, before she entered her subjects' 'mindscape' as she called it. The layout of the room was that of an old opera house, a very old opera house. A pre - Discordian opera house in fact. She only knew what they looked like from books. as these buildings were made ages before she was born, and stopped being made while Discord reigned. Everypony had forgotten how to make such structures after Discord was imprisoned. Inside were rows upon rows of plush, red velvet seats, with three walkways segregating them. Two of the walkways were rather small, but the middle walkway was big enough for 4 ponies to walk side by side. The walls were a rich crème colour with golden highlights, there were five tiers of seats around the edge of the building, and the stage was massive. It was at least the size of the ballroom back in Canterlot castle. Although the room was filled to the brim with the standard décor of an opera house, the subject of the dream was nowhere to be found. She floated (she had no need for physics in the dream world) down the middle walkway and onto the stage which was shrouded in darkness, with emphasis on was. As she entered onto the stage she was hit by a sudden, blinding light. A spotlight was glaring down upon her, with all the light of a miniature sun. That's not a metaphor, ponies back then could actually make such constructs out of magic and pure ingenuity. She shielded her eyes with her wings and called out: "Whatever daemon that hast taken control of the dream of my subject, will cease now! Or I will banish thee to the depths of Tartarus for all eternity!" Lunas' wings flared out, to make herself seem bigger and more intimidating to potential predators. Her horn lit up, and she prepared to use her dream magic to send this foul plague on her subjects mind to the sun if she had to. There was only one problem: her horn wasn't lighting up! She couldn't get as much as a spark from it. She heard a chuckle full of dark mirth, and turned around. Standing behind her was the culprit of this not so normal dream. Or was it the dreamer himself? "You're... an alicorn!?" Luna gawked in shock. To the best of her knowledge, her and 'Tia were the only alicorns, and they didn't have any other siblings. At least none that they knew of. But something was wrong, she inhaled. This "alicorn" was entrenched in dark magic of the foulest sort, he was more corrupted than even Sombra had been. "Having some trouble there Lulu? Need to go over your magical theory again?" The words seemed so belittling and derogatory, but the voice was incredibly warm, it was open and trustworthy, the voice of somepony who was your friend, somepony who you would fly over the sun for. Somepony who you would run to the ends of the earth for. Somepony you would give your life for. Luna battled the strange compulsion to treat him as a friend, to hug him, to ask him how his day was, to do as he commanded. And eventually won. "Thou art a fiend! Appearing before me clothed as an alicorn to mock my very own birthright. Now leave my pony's mindscape at once, and never return." The "alicorn" paused, the lights from the opera house glinting off of his charcoal black coat and feathers. His eyes glinting maliciously like the point of a knife. "Leave the dreamscape? Sure, just let me stop dreaming for a while." His laughter followed that incredibly witty remark. "Besides, it's not as if you could do anything about it, due to your current state of magical distress, also in other news, calling me an alicorn? how insulting. it's like calling a supernova a firefly. You just don't do it!" Luna paused to take this all in. The parasite knew she had lost her magic, so it was probably his doing. She spent a couple more precious seconds assessing the situation. He knew her childhood nickname, which could've been sheer luck, or something much more sinister. He had shown sheer brilliance into luring her into a dream and then taking her magic so she couldn't get out of it. Effectively trapping her consciousness here for as long as he desired. However, he had also shown that he wanted to talk with her before he carried out his nefarious scheme. She could use this to her advantage. "So, what's your name?" Luna gulped nervously, hoping her asking this wouldn't send the villain into a fit of uncontrollable rage, or whatever it is villains do. "My name? nopony has asked my name in two thousand years, I honestly don't remember it, but for now let's just go with... hmmmm, does Horus work for you?" The stallion asked, while twirling his newly summoned black handlebar mustache. Although Luna was in a very serious situation, she had to struggle not to laugh at the stallions antics, something about the gravitas of the situation, combined with a black handlebar mustache made it hilarious The stallion clearly wanted to make her laugh, did he want to impress her? Would flirting back help? Should she be focusing more on interrogating him or making friends with him? Normally, she would rather go with the former, but without her powers... "Well Horus, I can honestly say that I have never seen such a... um... such an attractive mustache before." Luna abruptly cut off upon realising how woefully unprepared she was for flirting in the modern era. She wished she had taken her sisters advice on reading some "gossip magezines" Although she didn't think that any of them would include tips on how to chat with possible super - villains. Horus dropped his mustache, he was so overwhelmed with how stupendously silly Luna's last statement was, that he simply broke his concentration and allowed his mustache to be extinguished in a puff of smoke. "Luna- hahhahah- please- hahahahhaha! Go- pffft! hahhahhah" Horus stopped trying to stifle his laughter, and simply rolled on the now darkened, polished wood floor. His laughter seemed oddly muffled, however. Luna gazed around the room curiously, where there was once a seating area and walkways was now an almost ethereal mass of dark fog. She returned her attention back to her captor and was greeted with the image of Horus finally getting his laughter under control. Before promptly looking at her face and losing control of it again. His laughter echoed through the dream, echoing and reverberating all around his mindscape, suddenly however, he stopped and became so silent and still that it shook Luna to her core. "Sorry about that Luna dear, I tend to get a bit distracted." As soon as he began speaking everything seemed to begin to return to normalcy. Or at least as normal as one can get while talking to a supervillain in his own dream. "So, Horus, how did you manage to take my magic?" Luna asked pleasantly, villains love to boast about how they accomplished their plans, didn't they? "Oh well wouldn't you like to know?" Horus teased, while conjuring up an antique set of chairs and a table, as well as coffee and croissants for both of them. "Sit, please." Luna complied, her mind racing at her actions, befriending him... sure, that's pretty much the same thing as what happened with Discord but, having a coffee with him? She started to wonder if her amazing flirting was better than Horus let on. She grasped the mug in her hooves, as she couldn't use her magic, and took a long draught. It was exactly how she'd make it. As black as her nights with two sugars. The familiar scent of coffee which somehow tasted even better in the mindscape. Her croissant was warm and buttery, with strawberry jam, her favourite kind. The oddity of the scene came back to her, jarring her from her reminiscing of the past times spent with her sister. "Well, do you still want me to fill you in on how you lost your magic?" Luna felt her body respond with a nod. "It was simple really, did you see what was on the door to my mindscape?" "It was a no entry sign, was it not?" Luna queried of her new friend. "Yes, it was Lulu." Horus grinned as he used her nickname. "And you didn't obey it, you have to obey the wishes of the dreamer, right? Or else your magic is forfeit. That is, until the dreamer wishes it to be returned to you. So really, it's all your fault." Horus sat back, downed the rest of his coffee and smirked at her. Luna frowned, she had hoped that this was all a villainous plan, some evil machinations that she couldn't fully comprehend, but hearing that it was all her fault had completely stunned her. She had wanted Horus to be a monster, but yet here he was sipping coffee with her. She knew he was evil, she could tell by the dark magic in his veins, but she was powerless and he seemed willing to negotiate. She knew something was... off about the entire scene, but couldn't figure out what it was. "So, you said you weren't an alicorn?" Luna prompted, while struggling to lift her now (magically) refilled cup of coffee to her lips. "Oh gods no. This isn't one of those stories-" he broke off his incredibly witty comment upon realising just how much trouble Luna was having. "Oh here, lemme get that for you." Horus' horn glowed a deep crimson, the colour of the setting sun, and as it glowed Luna felt a familiar sensation, the magic was returning to her veins. She stared wide eyed at Horus, to talk with her was one thing, but to restore her magic to the state where she could send him to the sun if she wanted? This stallion was obviously insane. "One: If you were going to banish me, I could simply take away your magic again. Two: I am evidently not insane, I literally just had a pleasant conversation with you, and three: I'm only giving you back your magic so you can do something for me." Horus' snide voice returned. "Did- did you just read my mind?" "Maybe I did. Or maybe you're just so obvious in what you're thinking." Horus tactfully replied. He gave a wave of his hoof and suddenly the table and chairs vanished, Luna fell from her chair and onto a giant pillow almost as plush and soft as the one in her room. "I tire of all this dancing around the issue." Horus announced, while reclining in an antique armchair. "What I want you to do is so simple, I don't think even you can mess it up." Horus leaned forward, his coat blackened and burned into a deep black colour, that was like looking into space itself, the air was filled with the feeling of static electricity. A strange symbol formed just underneath his horn. His voice became harder, and much more cruel, there was almost nothing left of the stallion who had calmly talked with her previously. "I want you to go into your little friends dreams, whilst in the guise of Nightmare Moon, and drag out their consciousness'" He leaned forward again, almost nose to nose with the princess of the night, and as his voice lowered, so too did the lights in the dream, creating an almost spotlight like effect. "Kicking and screaming if you have to. Then you will deposit their consciousness' into my dream, where I will take care of them until my..." His upper lip curled and he seemed almost to spit out the word. "associates collect their physical bodies." Luna's body lurched backwards off the cushion, "What!? No! We would die before we did such a thing!" she announced. She tried to light up her horn, but it didn't respond. She felt her head bowing, she fought it. The tendons in her neck and the muscles in her back screaming in protest. Eventually she caved. her head dipped into a low bow, her ethereal mane pouring over her eyes. "What is happening!? Why can't I stop this?" the stallion gave a chuckle and shook his head, before Luna felt her body rise up from her bow, and heard her voice utter: "Yes Horus, I will do as you command" Her voice sounded strange even to her own ears. It sounded as if her voice strings were being plucked by somepony who didn't know how to play the instrument, so to speak. Horus gave a cheshire grin. "Oh Luna, you were doing so well... fighting off my mind magic, trying to get information out of me, the whole shebang. But then you got cocky, you thought you'd won, you thought I was your friend. You thought you could beat me. You gave into your pride, and in that instance you were lost." he headed to the doorway that led from his mindscape into the dreamscape and bucked it open, white light edged into the room, and was quickly ushered out again by the dark smog that seemed to surround the dream. Her body was dragged against her will to the door, "There's a reason pride is the worst of the seven deadly sins, and that's because it's the only sin that even "good" ponies are allowed to have. Your sister knows that well enough." He gestured for her to stand in front of the doorway. "Oh, and Luna? Say hello to Nightmare Moon for me, please." With these final parting words, he turned around and promptly bucked her out of his dream. Luna landed into the pure whiteness of the dreamscape, with the doors surrounding her, and could already feel Horus' commands taking place. Luna fell, Nightmare moon arose.