//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Dream warriors // Story: The Odyssey of Sunlight Blaze--Rise of a hero volume 3: Rise of the Shadows. // by Justafanfictioner //------------------------------// Almost 4 days had passed since our heroes faced Sombra. 4 days during which Sunlight worked unrelentingly on improving his suit and armor, frustrated by his crushing defeat at the hands of Sombra. His efforts paid as he finally discovered a way to counter the effects of Sombra’s crystal magic and Tirek’s draining magic by integrating the magic crystals he found during his quest for the Light Gem to his armor and suit. He also made that tiara for Sunset and other accessories from the same material for the rest of the team. 4 days during which he didn’t slept, ate or interacted with his friends at all. Not even Sunset or Cinder were able to convince him to take a pause. In the meanwhile, The villains didn’t do anything productive, since they were waiting for Stygian to complete his exam sessions. Tirek did lot of workout, Sombra watched sport and many horror movies and Moonlight read books, watched T.V, played video games and sometimes experimented things with Sombra late in the night. Now, the 3 were playing poker in the planning room. Suddenly, Stygian broke in. “Good news, guys! He said. That exam session i was talking about is finally over.” “Was about fucking time” said Tirek. “Hey, don’t be too hard on him, said Sombra. School is important. But you proably don’t understand this since you ended up in prison.” “I’m all about muscle and action, not brain and thoughts, said Tirek. School was just not my thing.” “Get some rest, said Moonlight, cause you’re attacking Sunlight and his friends tonight, like we planned last week.” “I feel not very confident about it” he said. “What is the problem? Asked Sombra. Like our leader said, the goal is not to win, just last long enough to force them to use their best techniques and jokers.” “Knowing myself, said Moonlight, i have horror of defeat. I can’t stand against a failure. This is one thing me and Sunlight share. He probably didn’t took well his defeat against you, Sombra Sempa...Uh, I mean Sombra. But you have nothing to worry, Stygian, there is a reason i want you to attack them at night, it is when your shadow powers reach their peaks. And not any kind of attack. You will attack them in their dreams.” “Hum, that sound neat, said Sombra. They will probably don’t expect that one” “But how? Asked Stygian. I don’t have the ability to manipulate dreams” “Not yet, answered Moonlight. I will infuse the power of a being called Tantabus to your shadow magic. This creature can enter dreams and turn them into nightmares. It is a creation of Princess Luna. I was able to find the spell to create one. It will not be as strong as the one Princess Luna created, and will only be able to survive for a few hours, since i still am an unicorn. But your shadow magic will allow him to corrupt this place and have total control over it as long as you are linked. And you risk nothing if they destroy the Tantabus. Your link will automatically cut if that happen. I will call you when it will be the time to attack.” Stygian returned to his room and relaxed until night came. Moonlight sent him a message and he immediately rejoined the meeting room. Moonlight took a magic book and whispered a magic spell many time. A little ball of shadows came out from Moonlight’s chest and was passed on Stygian. The young student started grunting in pain as the dreamy being fused with his shadow. A few minutes later, the pain stopped. “Perfect, said Moonlight. It’s your time to act, now. The Tantabus will be the one doing the job, he will be your eyes and your ears in the dreamworld, " “Got it, he answered. Let me just a few moment to find them in the dream world.” “Don’t take too long” said Frost. He left the room. Stygian closed his eyes and sent the Tantabus flying above the city. This one explored a couple of house and by chance, found Sunset and the rest of her friends all at the same spot, which is Pinkie’s house. Making his work easier. Only Sunlight was in a different house but this was barely an inconvenient. They were all sleeping and the dream being entered each of their dreams briefly to tag them, then returned to Stygian’s room. This one opened a portal to the dream world which the Tantabus entered in. “You know what you have to do, said Stygian, with my power and yours combined, you should be able to corrupt this dimension with darkness and have total control over it. The rest is in your hands, don’t deceive me” The Tantabus closed the rift. Meanwhile, Sunlight was dreaming about being the protagonist of his favorite anime, when, suddenly, he found himself the next second in the middle of an infinite, dull and dark place. “What the? He said. Sunset?” She turned her head and looked at him. “Sunlight!?! She said. What are you doing in my dream?” She saw that Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity and Chrysalis were also in this place as well. With her psychic abilities, Sunset quickly deduced something was not right. “Can anyone explain me what we are all doing in the same place, or in the same dream?” asked Rainbow Dash. “You are in the Abyss of Nightmare, said a terrifying voice coming out of nowhere. A place where every nightmares originate from and the perfect playground for someone mastering dream magic. It will also be your grave. Ha ha ha ha ha!!” A giant dragon head made of ghostly shadows showed up in the sky and looked at them. “You are probably wondering who i am, said the ghostly being, transforming into a giant dragon. Since you are all going to die here, it doesn’t matter.” “Is this you, Moonlight?!” asked Sunlight. “No, i am Tantabus, Master of Nightmares, harbringer of eternal darkness, fear and despair, answered the being.” Sunlight looked at the being’s body texture. “I thought Luna took care of you” he asked. “I am a different Tantabus, said the being. Created by Moonlight Frost to trap you inside this dimension. For how long? It doesn’t matter. I received orders from him and i have no choice but follow them. This is not personal...” The Tantabus turned a part of the dimension into a giant graveyard. Zombies, vampires, werewolf, witches and scary looking animals appeared out of thin air and attacked the group. Rainbow Dash made a laser machine gun appear out of thin air and started blasting the monsters. Applejack followed her example and summoned two shotguns. Pinkie Pie made a giant party canon appear in front of her and covered most of the monsters in a sticky goo. Rarity, instead of helping her friends, was looking herself in a mirror, trying different dresses from many celebrities. Twilight was inside a giant mech suit and was squishing and vaporizing the enemies. As for Fluttershy, she was playing with the animal zombies, which she had easily tamed. Sunlight turned himself into a giant badass firebreathing dragon. Only Sunset was doing nothing, looking confused.The evil shadow being laughed and used his powers to modify reality. Applejack’s shotguns turned into snakes, Rainbow Dash’s Machine gun turned into bubbles, Twilight’s mech suit turned into a giant gummy bear, Pinkie’s canon started shooting real explosives at the group, Rarity’s mirror difformed her look and broke, Sunlight turned back into a human and the animal Zombies turned into sand. “Don’t get cocky, said the shadow entity. You might be able to shape your thoughts into becoming reality, but so can i....I control this dimension. Everything you do, i can do it better!!” The ground under them started to liquify. Sunlight used his magic to teleport everyone out. “Hum, i guess you might be entertaining enough for me, said Stygian. Let’s see where the limits of your imagination end...” The group were transported into the belly of a giant monster. “Oh great, said Sunset. How do we get out of there?” Rarity made a giant tube of antiacids appear from thin air and let it fall into the stomach acid. “Good thinking Rarity, said Twilight. Alright, get on board, everyone, the trip’s gonna be rough!!” She made a submarine appear and everyone entered inside. The gastric acid covered the engine and then projected it at high speed to the exit. The Submarine landed without too much damage on the ground and the monster ran away to throw up. Pinkie Pie turned the disgusting goo into strawberry flavored frosting and they left the engine. The evil Tantabus snapped his fingers and the group found themselves inside a maximum security prison. “Let’s see how you get out of this one” said the villain. Sunlight made a plan of the prison appear from thin air and looked at it. “Hey, you cheater!!” said the dreamy being. The plan turned into a 5 years old drawing. Sunlight made another plan appear. “Stop it!!! He said. Rah!!!! You know what, you might have the map, but you still need to get out of this place!” Sunlight turned the cell into a 5 stars suite. “What are you doing?!” asked the Tantabus. “If me and my friends are going to stay locked here forever, he answered, might as well make ourself cosy.” Rarity made a butler appear out of thin air to serve her some tea and Pinkie added some cupcakes. “Does anyone want tea and cupcakes?” asked Rarity. The evil dreamy entity screamed of rage and made the cell and everything in disappear. “Pfft, what a Party Pooper” said Pinkie Pie. The Tantabus used his powers to make dark replicas of Sunlight and his friends. “Let’s see how you do against yourselves, said the villain. Ha ha ha ha ha!!” The clones attacked and each of the heroes took on their copy. After a moment fighting them, the heroes realized the enemies were reflecting each of their personalities to an extreme. They finally were able to overcome them, but Stygian just made more of them appear. “Uh oh, said Applejack. This situation start gettin’ out of control.” “He is playing with us, said Sunlight. We might be able to counter what he throws at us, but so can he. That will never end!” “There must be a way, said Twilight. Let me think about it...” “If only we had someone with a magic powerful enough to make rifts between dimensions, said Pinkie Pie. Someone that can turn this nightmare into a dream...” Sunset got a spark. “We do have one, she answered. Remember the Friendship Games, Twilight? When you turned into that horrible demoniac persona of yours?” “I do! She said. You really want me to turn into Midnight Sparkle?!” “Not you, me! She said. To stop you, i used the magic of our friends to transform into a being powerful enought to seal the rifts you created between Equestria and this world.” “Is this that transformation you used to match my power during our fight?” asked Sunlight. “Yes, she answered. But...” “Why you just don’t transform right now?” asked Sunlight. “This won’t be enough to just turn into my Daydream form like you turned into a dragon earlier, she answered. He will just reverse it immediately. I need to transform in this world and the real world. And for that, i need your help, girls.” Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight and Rarity looked at each other and held their hands. They started glowing and were covered of a magic aura that Sunset absorbed into her body. In the real world, Her like her friends were also glowing as well. Worrying Spike. Sunlight created a forcefield to protect them. Sunset floated in the air and turned into her Daydream form in the real world as well as in the dream world. “What?! Said the Tantabus. What is this transformation?!” Sunset erased all the clones of her and her friends and looked at the dark mass of black clouds and shadows. This one tried to turn her back to her normal form, but he was unable to do so. “What? How? This is my realm, my dimension!! Said the dream being. How can you resist my magic?” Sunset instantly turned the dimension into a sunny, bright, peaceful paradise. The mass of cloud shrinked, exposing the Tantabus to the group. In the real world, Stygian was trying to help Tantabus to regain control, but it was vain. The Tantabus tried to flee, but Sunset stopped him. She touched the evil creature and using her magic, was able to turn it into something pure and good. “Thank you, said the Tantabus. Thank you for offering me a second life.” “Such power should not be wasted, said Sunset. Certainly not for evil...” “I will make sure to protect this world from being corrupted again, said the Tantabus. For now on, my name will be Morpheus. Guardian of Dreams, Slayer of Nightmares. I am sorry for what i did to you, Now, it’s time for you to wake up...” Her and her friends were envelopped by light and woke up suddenly. This was already morning. Sunset looked at herself, still in her Daydream form. Before leaving this form, she was able to enter briefly in contact with Stygian. “Congrats, he said. You did way better than what i expected. I thought you would defeat the Tantabus, but you chose to save it and turn him to the good side. I didn’t know you were hiding such power, Moonlight is right to be worried about you. Well, anyway, we will meet again, way sooner than you think. Goodbye, my dear...” Stygian rejected Sunset out of his mind. She turned back into her regular form. Sunlight appeared in the room shortly after. Sunset explained what she learned from the Tantabus, and also mentioned Stygian. “This is the third member of the trio i met at the restobar at least a week ago, said Chrysalis, she said. He told me he was an university student when we talked. There is no doubt, my encounter with him, Sombra and Tirek was not a coincidence, Moonlight must have sent them. But i still ignore the reason why...” “Moonlight must have send them fight to study our techniques, said Sunlight. Now that i think about it, Sombra could have killed us the other day. But he didn’t not, him, Tirek and Stygian were only sent to test our power before the final confrontation. And if i am right, We will have to fight all the 3 at once, plus Moonlight. And they will probably be more powerful than before.” “We can do this, said Sunset. We have the most powerful magic on our side, the magic of Friendship. It’s time we start using it...” “So, what’s the battle plan?” asked Twilight. Sunset looked at Sunlight. This one made a negative head sign. “Nah, this time, i’ll let you come with the plan” said the hero. “Are...Are you sure?” asked Sunset “Absolutely, he answered. You have more experience than me for what’s about leading a team” Meanwhile, in the villains lair, Stygian made his report to Moonlight. “You did a good job, said Moonlight. This transformation of her is much more powerful than what i was expecting. But if what you said about needing the magic of her friends to be able to activate her Daydream form is true, then i need to review my plan in detail, For now, take a break until afternoon.” Moonlight returned to his room and Stygian went to the kitchen to make his breakfast.