//------------------------------// // A Nightmarish Dream // Story: Red Dead Revival // by Crimson_Moon //------------------------------// Normally I put these notes at the end but a warning needs to be applied on account of graphic content. This chapter has gruesome acts of violence including hanging of children, mutilation, and other content. The sun set once more across Equestria, inviting deep sleep to its residents. It was this time that Celestia quit governing and her sister, Luna, took up the mantle of Ruler. As such, she was charged with protecting her denizens, both in the physical and corporeal realms. Tonight, however, she'd pay close attention to a certain gunslinger's chaotic dream... The doors of Canterlot Palace's throne room opened with a swift creak, a set of blue hooves clad in quicksilver boots echoing across the surface. "Sister, as Ruler of the Night, I Princess Luna hereby relieve you of Courtly Duty!" The midnight blue Alicorn spoke with a powerful voice. "Honestly Lulu, you take this way too seriously!" Celestia chortled in her Pearl throne. Activating her magic, the Princess of the Sun gently lowered her charge, making way for Luna's moon. Noticing a glare from her sister, she rolled her eyes. "*sigh* I am hereby relieved of my duty, you take over my paperwork, blah blah blah. Happy now?" She grumbled. "It will have to suffice. Thank you sister." Luna gritted her teeth. Honestly, their relationship is still the same as ever, but even as rulers, they were still sisters. Small sibling rivalries like this broke out occasionally, causing a collective rolling of the eyes from Canterlot's Royal Guard. Even the Night Guard found it annoying at times and they were twice as disciplined! Nevertheless, they carried on their duties as if nothing happened. "SILVER QUILL!" She roared in the Royal Canterlot Voice. A yelp, followed by a silver unicorn stallion shuffled their way towards Luna's throne, a clipboard and quill followed closely behind. "Y-you called, your majesty?" "Indeed I did." She sighed, grinding a hoof into the side of her temple. "Dear sister of mine has hit a nerve as of late, and We have need of a distraction. What duties would you have of me?" She lazily flicked her other hoof half-heartedly at the unicorn. It seemed she was in another mood, and many could guess why. Celestia, for the past thousand years never really took much care into her Royal Duties and instead focused on the well-being of her subjects, leaving the paperwork to her cabinet of politicians. It was a result of the loss of her only sister, and a fear of the mistake repeating itself within the hearts and minds of her kingdom. Princess Luna, however, was a different story. She still wasn't used to a lot of the changes since her long absence, and despite adjusting well, sometimes slip-ups happened. Usually it was a small speech issue involving the Royal "We" or using the Royal Canterlot Voice. However, when the Midnight blue Alicorn was especially rattled-- "There's n-nothing t-to do tonight as per usual, your highness, e-except d-dream walk" Quill spoke, quivering behind the floating clipboard and preparing for the worst. The worst happened as his brand new custom-fit ruby vest, straight from Canterlot, as well as the clipboard he was cowering behind, shrivelled up in smoke and he was teleported someplace far away. Probably to the dungeons, it was her favorite teleport spot after all. --When she was rattled, typically all who dare approach her with less than satisfactory news end up in the Canterlot Dungeons "to re-think their usefulness and come back with good news" as she put it one night. Moments later, after her head cooled, Luna relented. Sighing, she teleported the slightly terrified assistant back to where he was, in addition to a new clipboard. The quill however, was a rare Phoenix feather quill Celestia gifted him. She kept a mental note to bother Philomena for another one later. "We-I apologize for my behavior, Silver Quill." She spoke, teleporting a pen last minute for the stallion to use. "N-no worries, your majesty! Much as it p-pains me to say, these *ahem* sibling spats are routine to even the servants." We didn't think they were that obvious... The lunar princess thought. "Regardless, it was childish of me, and I apologize. Since there are no important matters to attend to aside my dream walking, carry on as usual." After scribbling a few things on the new checklist and asking Luna mundane questions about guard patrol and last minute requests, Night Court had officially been adjourned. Elsewhere, a lone stallion fell into a quick sleep under the stars, only to have one hell of a nightmare... "...Thur." A distant voice called out. "Arthur..." As time passed, it became louder and clearer, sounding familiar yet foreign to the lone stallion. Suddenly, he was jolted awake by a hand. A human hand. "Nnnh, 's that you, Dutch?" "Wake up, son." Dutch Van der Linde spoke, kicking out a nearby fire and unholstering his pistol. "We need to move right quick before the Pinkertons get here." "Pinkertons? But I thought I was-" "What? Dead? Arthur, as much as Micah has persuaded me of your true intent, even I am not so bold as to kill the 'noble' Arthur Morgan. At least, not without good cause." Suddenly a flurry of bullets rang past the two, fully waking Arthur up. Running for the hills, he wheezed and dodged the bullets ringing past him, making for the horses they had hitched nearby. However, when he took the reigns, something odd happened. His balance seemed off and he could no longer keep a grip on his pistol, dropping it on the ground beneath his hooves. Wait a minute, hooves!? Sure enough, he transformed back into that cursed form from Equestria. "W-what's happenin'?! I-I don't understand!" "Well ain't it clear yet, you ungrateful fool?!" Dutch yelled beside him, everything fading to an eerie darkness behind him. "This ain't America, and you ain't human anymore!" "B-but I-" "But you what?" He inched closer, looking more and more menacing with each step, his voice taking on a demonic tone. "You died? You thought you were in PURGATORY?" Finally within reach, Dutch violently kicked Arthur, sending him hurtling towards the air. When he caught his breath, the demonic version of his mentor was gone... Only to be replaced with another twisted version of one of the members of his old gang. "You sent me running for the hills! Me, a bag of money, and a pistol!" A hoarse voice echoed from the abyss. "The Pinkertons, do you know what they did?" "N-no, you got free! I-I saw it with my own eyes!" As if a curtain was drawn back, a lone tree with a noose tied on one of the sturdier branches revealed itself. "No!" Arthur whimpered. "Not a hanging, anything but that!" "Oh no, Arthur. It was way worse than that." Stepping from behind the tree, John Marston approached him. His clothes were different and he seemed older. However, it was the mass amounts of blood and bullet holes that got Arthur's attention the most. "They shot me deader than hell! That noose-" he pointed towards the tree. "Was for my wife and son!" Suddenly, there they stood: hanging from the branch like gruesome toys. Abigail was bruised and bloodied, and Jack... Jack's neck look mangled, like a twig that couldn't snap completely. "I-I didn't know, John!" He collapsed, tears streaming down his now equine face. "Christ above, I didn't know!" "Of course you didn't." Another voice chuckled, an eerie yet feminine voice... One he didn't recognize. "Your friends all die around you, it was laughable to even give yourself hope!" The voice cackled maniacally. "S-shut up! You don't know John like I do!" He curled himself into a ball, trying to block out all noise. It was obvious to him this voice's words were meant to poison. "I don't need to know him! You know yourself what happens when people you care about are involved." "I-I don't believe you! Y-you're full of lies!" "It isn't a lie if you know it to be true, whelp! You just can't convince yourself that you've doomed the very idea of freedom just by being in contact with all those people!" "S-shut up! Y-you're not real, this is a nightmare!" "ENOUGH!" Another voice boomed, breaking the darkness with a blinding light. Once it cleared, a navy blue horse with wings and a horn stood in front of Arthur, protecting him from the darkness. "Release your hold over him, Demon of the Nightmare." "Tch." Blazing red eyes broke through the darkness, each one the size of a planet. "Why do you care about this abomination? He stinks of another realm! Even you can't throw caution to the wind about this!" Another surge of darkness threw itself at Arthur, only to be deflected by the mysterious horse's magic shield. "That is for my sister to decide. Leave, or I will end thyne life swiftly." Blue light grew from her horn, coating it in an intense aura. "RRGH, FINE. YOU WIN THIS TIME, PRINCESS LUNA. BUT KNOW THIS; IF HIS HOPE EVEN FALTERS FOR ONE SECOND, HIS WILL IS MINE." The darkness that pooled around the two ponies vanished, replacing the scenery with a starlit road. "W-what the hell was that?!" Arthur spoke. "That, my little pony," Luna began, turning around. "Was a Demon of the Nightmare. And you sre lucky to still be sane, let alone aware enough to still project among the dreamscape. Though I suspect you are not a pony, Arthur Morgan." She kneeled, smiling regally. "I am princess Luna." "P-princess Luna?" She nodded in reply. "...Well shit."