The nightmare was not entirely sure what to think. It remembered its brethren getting destroyed time and time again, often after just a few times of visiting dreamers.
However, they returned from time to time, so that they could show the weaker ones how to gain power. Search a pony and make them scared and become stronger yourself.
But there was something around the dreamers that hunted nightmares. It did not kill them outright often, but rather comforted dreamers, meaning they would be able to fight the nightmares would they return.
Some of the wiser nightmares only visited a pony once, and they lived longer. They also theorized that this Presence was a sort-of anti-nightmare, gaining strength by making dreamers happy.
Long ago, there was a sudden increase in bad dreams, and the nightmares decided not to enter those dreams. Instead, they collected all the strength they could, not touching the dreams, and staying apart from the dreamers as far as possible.
It was a wonderful time, and not one nightmare died thanks to the presence during that time. From time to time, a dreamer would manage to fight a nightmare, but this time, the nightmares were stronger and could survive losing against a dreamer, if only once.
However, it lasted not long enough. After just a few hundred dream cycles, the dreams vanished again, not leaving behind normal dreams – but nothing.
The nightmares were scared. For the dreamers, and their future.
If there were no dreamers, the nightmares would not live long, too.
And secondly, they now knew that as soon as the collected energy was gone, they would have to go to enter dreams again, risking dying at any time again.
They did not want that.
A wise nightmare realized that they could either feast for a few hundred dream cycles on the energy they still had left or could try and trap the Presence with the power they had accumulated.
They decided on the latter. If it would not work, they just lost time by losing the energy, but if they won, there would be no one comforting the dreamers, and more importantly, no one killing the nightmares that were traveling to their prey or to their home.
The wise nightmare was not strong. But it was cunning.
And all other nightmares decided to follow it.
The nightmare we are observing was born in the middle of the glorious period, having grown into a very, very quick nightmare that found it could evade the Presence by outrunning it.
It, too, agreed with the plan the wise nightmare came up with.
First, they practiced dreaming. Creating a fake dream was hard, and hiding it from the Presence was harder, but they managed by hiding inside of all the energy they had collected. The wise nightmare decided to become the dream’s center, and it knew it was likely to die, but unfortunately, the nightmares realized that it was the only one capable of fabricating a false dream that was realistic in both feel and image.
Then, the wise nightmare picked out some more leaders. A strong fighter, the second fastest nightmare, and the one that was the wisest after it. They would hide with a number of others for the duration of their plan so that the nightmares would still exist if they failed.
And lastly, they created the fake dream.
After the Presence was gone, they created a small pocket of energy, and the wise nightmare flew there. The nightmare we are observing was tasked with watching out for the Presence and warn them so that the wise nightmare could create the false image, as doing so required energy they could not waste.
It worked, and the Presence ignored the seemingly peaceful, normal dream.
Over the next few circles, they moved nearly all the energy they had collected, creating a black orb of it inside of the dream. Eventually, their trap was ready to be sprung, and all the nightmares not necessary left.
Three stayed. A strong nightmare, the wise nightmare, and the quick nightmare.
The strong one would assault and assist the wise nightmare, while the quick nightmare would lure the Presence to the dream.
They all knew that their chances of survival were basically zero. But they had to do it, the Presence was growing stronger and faster with every passing circle, and only sometimes seemed slow.
They were okay with it. Others would follow, and others would fill the spots they left behind. There would eventually come a nightmare stronger than the Presence, but for now, they were content with damaging it.
The quick nightmare eventually spotted the Presence, and it touched a nearby dream, alerting it. It then pretended to flee, coming close, but not too close to the fabricated dream, in which the wise nightmare was creating a fake, bad dream.
There seemed one sort of bad dream that made the Presence ignore anything it chased, when it displayed mortal danger. And it worked, causing the Presence to move towards the dream.
The quick nightmare moved away, but then returned, hidden between dreams, needing to watch and warn the others if something bad would happen.
The Presence entered the dream, and a quick, legendary battle began that would be remembered for eons.
The strong nightmare was faking an assault on the wise nightmare, and the Presence stepped between the two, creating a shield. Before the Presence did turn to the strong nightmare, she turned to the wise one, realizing something was off, but it was too late.
The dream was cut off from the dream realm to ensure the Presence could not flee, and if the wise nightmare would get injured, the dream would collapse anyway, so it was a win-win.
However, the Presence was still too strong, even with the wise and strong nightmare having absorbed all the energy.
The dream started cracking, but what happened next shocked the quick nightmare.
From everywhere, nightmares came. And they sealed the dream, helping, smiling.