//------------------------------// // 17 Invasion of dreams // Story: Holy and Hellish brothers // by NinjaTurtle //------------------------------// Chapter 17 Invasion of dreams --------------------- Charles --------------------- Charles dodged another thrown knife as he pulled a battle axe out of nowhere and lobbed it into the head of a nearby dragon. He grabbed the neck of the knife throwing robot and slammed it into the grassy ground. He, again, pulled a huge minigun out of nowhere and let loose into the swarming army of teddies and toys. He stood where he was and hosed any within view with glowing metal lead. Dreaming. Randomly, he twirled on his feet and tossed the weapon into the crowd as it exploded. The corpse of the dragon, axe still embedded in its head, came crashing down as it caused another explosion. The knight riding the dragon slowly parachuted down. Dreaming. He turned around and walked away as more and more things exploded behind him. He casually pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on as a particularly big one went off. Charles was lucid dreaming, which he usually used to release stress or to pick at thoughts and ideas. Tonight's dream was stress relief in the form of over the top action and violence. Although Charles could lucid dream, it did not mean it happened all the time. He had to actively remind himself it was a dream to keep his awareness. It did cause him to be a bit more grumpy in the mornings, but that was barely noticeable. Dreaming. He stopped walking as he calmed himself down. All the action that had just happened just stopped as it ceased to exist, filled with nothing. A weird thing Charles had noticed in his head was that the nothing around him was not black, like he had read and seen in web novels or TV. In his head, the void that filled his subconscious was grey. A dark grey, sure, but grey nonetheless. Dreaming. He grabbed a chair from the air and sat down, leaning back as he did so. He closed his eyes as he did, letting his conscious drift back into a normal dream. … Click. He sat up. He still knew he was dreaming. One tell was that he had to ask if he was dreaming, meaning he was. The reason he sat up was that, despite having control over what he 'saw', in dreams he couldn't hear anything unless he was waking. He looked around for the source of the impossible noise. He saw that, to his side's, there was a door. A heavily built iron blast door, but a door nonetheless. The simple sound was caused by the door as something tried to get through. After it silently rattled a few more times, as if it was being hit by every bomb he could think of which included nuclear ones, he saw it get gently pushed open. He waited for the creature to pass the door. Am I dreaming? The being he saw come through was not who he had expected. It seemed to be a horse of some kind. It was a dark navy blue with some black on it. It had a single straight antler and it also had huge feathered wings. "Hello human. I am princess Lu…" it didn't finish that sentence as Charles walked towards it and tried to smash it in his mech. Huh, why didn't that work? "You cannot harm me as I am not…" it was cut off again as Charles started firing the weapons on his mech, the sense of noise buffering his perception of hearing although no sound was actually being made. Why is this not working? Am i dreaming? "I am not a part of your dream. Now listen to me. I am princess Luna. Ruler of the night and protector of dreams. " it said. Who is Lu...oh. It's you… "Yes, it is me. I would like to talk with you, human. " it...no...she said. "Now that I have your attention, I would like to say that…". Get out of my dream. Get out of my head. The princess seemed to be a bit stunned as Charles gave such blunt commands. This didn't last long as the princess started using her magic. The scape around Charles fell away, revealing more of the grey. He also found that his consciousness was more...solid? Full? He had no idea. "Human, please listen to me. I only wish to talk of your world. " she said. Why should I tell you anything? I'm banished, remember? I am, in no way, obligated to do anything for any of you princesses. Princess Luna sighed as she spoke. "I understand this, but you hold much knowledge, which Equestria could use to bring more harmony to the world. Just being here, I can sense the immense amount of information in this head. ". You expect me to tell you anything from my world? Even if I did, what's in it for me? Charles had stopped trying to destroy the princess as nothing seemed to work. Nothing seemed to affect her, no matter how hard he tried. "Your name would be in the history books for generations to come. We could also discuss the matter of removing the banishment put upon you and your brother. " the Lunar princess offered. Charles had only partially been paying attention as he looked for a way to get this princess out of his head. Nice offer. I refuse. "Pardon me? Why do you refuse this offer? " the princess asked. I don't want to go back to Equestria. I've already travelled this far. I'm not just going to turn around because you asked me to. As Charles looked around for the umpteenth time, he finally came up with an idea. "Human, I urge you to reconsider. This could improve the world as we know it. " she began. A world that's not mine. The princess went to open her mouth, but Charles didn't hear anything as the door she had entered through fell on top of her, sending her the way she came. Not taking chances, he started using his mental energy to weld the door shut. The baby dragons and flying candles joined as the door turned into a solid slab of Steel. The door shook as the princess tried to force herself back in. The door buckled and cracked, but like gum, the door pressed itself back into shape. She must have got bored as she eventually stopped. Whatever magic the princess casted in his dream started to fade as he felt his conscious slip into unconsciousness. With that, his memory started to fade along with it, until his world went from black to nothing. :-| :-) }:‑) -------------------- Harry -------------------- He woke up with a groan. He could feel his body as it layed in an awkward angle with one of his feet hanging off the side. It took Harry a whole minute to sit up before he even attempted to get out of bed. The me five were spent climbing down and getting dressed. As always, Charles was already up and gone. Quill and Jesse were just waking as he walked out. "Morning Charles. " he called out. There was a second delay before he heard a reply. "Oh, morning ginge. You alright? " he asked. By the sound of it, Charles seemed to be on the roof of the cart again, on the right side which was opposite from Harry. "I'm good, you? " Harry responded with a yawn. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good, I'm good. " Charles said, distractedly. Harry could sense something wrong. Charles had his small signs and repeating himself like that was one. He could tell something was on his mind. But Harry couldn't just ask what was wrong because Charles would just cram it and bottle it up like normal. "So, what are you doing? " he started. Charles turned around and was now looking down at Harry. Had simply looked up at him, now that they had each other's attention. "Have you had anything enter your head? ". Shit, does he know about the demon? "Umm, not that I know of? Why? " Harry asked. Charles's gaze turned hard and serious. "One of the princesses entered my dreams and tried to convince me to give them information about our world. She said it was to 'help spread harmony over the world' or something. " Charles said, nearly snarling at the mention of the princesses. "Wait, what!? " Harry shouted. Charles nodded. "That's why I asked. I wanted to see if she got into your dreams, like what she did to me. " he explained. "If she did, don't remember it. I can't lucid dream like you. " Harry said, getting a relieved sigh in return. "Well, just, keep this in mind, OK. I don't want her to take you. " Charles said with genuine concern. Harry smiled. "Like she could take me. Do you know what goes through my head? " he said jokingly. Charles's seriousness broke as a smile and a chuckle emerged. "Your right. I've lived with you for my whole life and I still can't understand you most days. I bet she couldn't get into your head in the first place. " Charles said back. Harry and Charles had a brief moment between them before Charles's face turned serious again. "But seriously Harry, I need you to be careful. We don't know the extent of their powers. " he said. Harry sighed. "Alright, I'll be careful. Geez " he replied. "That's not all. I'm not sure if it was part of the spell she cast or something else, but I felt something in my head. " Charles said. "Like what? " Harry asked, once again worrying about if his brother knew what was in his head. "What are you two on about? " asked someone behind him. Surprised, he turned around to see Jesse. "Morning Jesse. How are you this morning? " Charles asked without turning to see who it was. Seriously, how does he do that? Harry saw Jesse smile. "I'm fine. How are you two boys? " she asked. "I'm good. '' Charles answered. "I'll live. " Harry said. This got a chuckle out of her. "You sound lively, Harry. " Jesse joked. Charles jumped in before Harry could come up with a witty come back. "If this was our world, you'd be lucky if you got anything more than grumbles at this time in the morning. " Charles said. "Shut up Charles. " Harry said to his brother. It didn't take long before Quill also got up, followed by all the golems that took their respective places. Aaron was on Charles's shoulder, Solem was riding on Quills back and Sid curled up on the roof of the cart before napping some more. They once again took off with Harry having to pull for the first length. He saw his brother turn back to his smart, smiling self as if this morning's conversation never happened. If it weren't for the fact that he was the one Charles talked with, he would have never known of the troubled thoughts the most likely raced through his brothers mind. It really started to make Harry think of just how well he actually knew his brother. After a quick pit stop and swap, Quill was pulling as they all went back to talking. Most of the talk was about the new world, Equis, Harry and Charles found themselves on.Charles only seemed to butt in if he had something to say but was otherwise quiet. The rest of the day was just more walking and talking up until dusk. That night, after dinner and once everyone had gone to sleep, Harry simply stared at the wooden ceiling above him. Hey, demon. Yes master. Is there any way for you to protect my dreams? Yes, but it requires me to actively defend it. Is there no way for you to create a passive shield or barrier? Such methods would be so weak that they would not be worth the effort. Could you do it without being detected? I have no idea what the pony princess would do if she saw you in my head. I will try, master. With nothing to do, the shear boredom eventually caught up with Harry and he drifted off to sleep.