//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Regions Beyond // Story: Night Terrors // by TikiBat //------------------------------// The answers that Silver was looking for hadn’t materialized in the two days since he had pondered them last, but what did materialize was a clearer headspace. Much as Psychic Calm had predicted, his magical exhaustion had finally seemed to fade away— at least for the most part, and for the first time in what felt like a long while (but was actually closer to a few days), Silver felt alive. It wasn’t as if he was a complete zombie before, but he felt nothing like himself, and even the mundane feeling of normalcy felt better than what he had felt before. He had lots of energy again, wasn’t wiped out by the migraines he had been feeling, and most importantly, felt as if a part of him wasn’t locked away behind some invisible wall. In some ways, a part of him was, but that was behind him now. Today he was finally enjoying what he loved to do, which was spending time with the ponies close to him, in a dream adventure of his own creation. The dream adventure in question was an extended bedtime story for Orion, one which Silver put every ounce of his creative energy into. Scarlet of course was helping too, and together they had created a narrative that Orion excitedly ate up, much to the adoration of his parents. Tall rocky canyons surrounded Silver, Scarlet, and Orion, and in the distance strange ethereal sounds could be heard. A bright flash burst out of the side of a mountain in the distance, and shadowy wraiths flew into the sky before vanishing into the inky abyss. Orion’s eyes darted over to it, and then he looked over to Silver and Scarlet as if he was seeking permission or validation for what he saw. Silver smirked and Scarlet snickered, but neither denied the events. “Did you see that Orion?!” Scarlet called out, pointing over into a glowing light in the distance. “It’s the scary space monsters!” Silver added in, getting the colt’s attention. “Space monsters!” Orion excitedly cheered back. “So what should we do then, little star hunter?” Scarlet pushed the narrative forward. Orion sat down for a moment and stared off towards the lights, clearly pondering his next moves. “Let’s save the moon queen!” The mare’s face twisted into an overly dramatic grimace. “But that could be dangerous, don’t you think?” Orion shook his head. “I’m the space pony.” “And you think you can go take the scary monsters?” Scarlet asked. “That sounds very brave.” Orion beamed at the praise. “I am!”  As adorable as the sight was, Scarlet didn’t break character. Instead she smiled and urged him onward, and in an instant he was running off towards the glowing lights. WHO DARES APPROACH THE CASTLE OF THE MOON QUEEN?! came a booming voice from within. THE QUEEN IS OUR PRISONER, ALL WHO ENTER SHALL PERISH! Scarlet let out a snicker at Silver’s overly dramatic dialogue, but Orion ate it up and began to excitedly jump in place.  “I’m gonna save the moon queen!” he yelled back followed by an adorably cute sounding ROOOOAAAAR from the colt. “You tell ‘em, Orion!” Silver cheered him on. The colt charged forward and into the dark cave, showing no fear whatsoever. He was in his element, and there was no stopping him now. Silver and Scarlet were quick to follow behind him, but they were merely his support, he was the real hero of this dream. HALT! the booming voice ordered, though that did little to stop Orion’s pursuit. Entering the large antechamber that made up the Moon Queen’s throne room, Orion briefly paused as he took in the sight of the large and imposing brain-like alien creature with piercing red eyes that stared back at him. YOU WISH TO SAVE THE MOON QUEEN? HA! YOU ARE TOO LATE! it shouted back at him. Orion, as undeterred as ever, swiftly jumped into action. With a few weak but nonetheless enthusiastic punches and kicks, the young colt had defeated the scary space pony, and in the truest sense of a cliche science fiction tale, his actions defeated the rest of it’s hive. However, much to his own curiosity, the moon queen was still absent. “Where’s the Moon Queen?!” he asked. Silver looked over at Scarlet and smirked. “Guess there’s still another adventure for you to go on. But right now it’s time to settle down and relax.” “Now, what kind of dream would our little brave space pony like for the rest of his day?” Scarlet asked, picking up Orion. “Space dreams!” the young colt cheered. Scarlet laughed. “Okay, but what other kinds of dreams? You can’t just have space dreams, otherwise they won’t be as fun.” “Your mother’s right kiddo, so what’ll it be then?” Orion pondered Silver’s question for a moment, before his face lit up. “Snow dreams! Like Auntie Sapphire!” Silver smiled, having not really expected that choice. Nonetheless, it was an adorable idea, and one that Silver was more than happy to oblige. “Alrighty, one snowy dream coming right up!” In an instant the dream shifted and morphed into a snowy wonderland. No longer were there tall rocky canyons and craters, in their place were now towering snow dunes and tall pine trees that created the perfect natural border around the area that Silver wanted Orion to stay near. Nearby sat a cozy log cabin with a smoking fireplace— a location not so subtly lifted from some of Silver’s older dreams with Scarlet. Turning to the mare, he smiled. “What do you say we all have a snowman building contest? Then afterwards we can all have a sled race.” Orion, picking up on the fun that Silver’s suggestion implied, immediately began leaping into the air, his wings buzzing excitedly. “That!”  Scarlet couldn’t help but laugh at his simple, yet enthusiastically excited reply. For as bright and well spoken as Orion was for his age, there were still some moments where a simple one word remark sufficed for a response, and each one never failed to be adorable. “Sounds like a good idea to me.” Scarlet responded. “Then may the best pony win!” Silver cheered. The three ponies jumped into the new activity, and Silver knew that it was something he’d want to recreate in the waking world someday. Time was never easy to get a feel for in the dream realm, and for as adept as Silver was, that was still something that eluded him. He couldn’t say for certain how long he and Scarlet had spent in Orion’s dream, but at one point the colt had lost his grip on the dream’s stability, and had slipped into the narrative. Silver didn’t necessarily mind this, because for a kid like Orion who was just getting used to the new experience of exploring dreams, he was sure to be a little more exhausted when he’d wake in the evening. Slipping into a dream would at least give his mind a chance to rest, and in time he’d adjust and adapt to exploring dreams. Once the colt’s dream had effectively gone off the rails, Silver and Scarlet had wandered back into a handful of other dreams, doing their usual visits and adventures before briefly parting ways as they often did. As much as Silver loved to spend time with her, it was healthy for the two of them to spend a little time apart in the dream realm, and those daily moments gave them a greater appreciation for the times that they spent together. Silver had naturally gone back to Somewhere, which was his usual end point for the day. There was no real telling whether his students would stop by for a visit, but regardless, he would remain in his dream and reflect on the day’s events, taking that rare moment of solitude to clear his head and relax his mind. As he sat on a cushion overlooking the bay, his thoughts drifted back to the fun that he had had earlier with his family. Having his energy back and being able to actually play along in Orion’s dream was something that Silver didn’t realize he had missed so much. While the colt wasn’t yet ready to explore the open dream realm on his own yet, he was more than content playing in dreams with Silver and Scarlet, and the extended sessions of family bonding melted his heart. Despite feeling better however, as he looked out over the calm waters in the bay and towards the still sealed gateway on the opposite shore he couldn’t help but get the feeling that he was being watched.  He walked up to the guardrail that lined the edge of the metal catwalk and rested his front hooves on it, letting out a small sigh as he began to scrutinize the large dreamscape more thoroughly. The tall mountains that surrounded the bay seemed as stoic as they always were, and the buildings built into them seemed unchanged as well. Aside from the usual ethereal sounds that filled the dream, the place seemed as dead quiet as it usually was, but he still felt like he wasn’t alone. “Anyone there?” he projected his voice out into the dream space. When the answer he wasn’t expecting to get predictably didn’t appear, he just shrugged and walked away from the railing and over toward the opposite shore. I’ll have to talk with Psychic about this later, I know I’m all better now… but why do I feel so paranoid lately? he thought to himself. Before he could act on that thought, a sharp voice called out to him from nearby. “Morning, Eclipse!” Silver looked over to Morgana and smiled. “Morning Morgana, how are you today?” The mare leaped into the air and flew towards him, shrugging her shoulders as she spun through the air. “More or less the same as always.” She dropped down onto the catwalk with a soft metallic thud and folded her wings. “So where’s the missus at?” “Off on her own adventure” Silver replied. “We usually take a little time apart just to clear our heads and meet up with our different friends.” “So that’s why you were just hanging out here alone then eh?” Morgana started. “Got lots of imaginary friends I bet.” “Of course.” Silver gestured all around him. “Care to say hello?” Morgana smirked and shook her head. “I think I’m okay, I’ve got enough imaginary creatures hanging out in my dreams.” Silver thought back to those feelings of being watched, imagining that perhaps it was some unseen dream construct watching him. The thought made him laugh, but also left him with an uneasy feeling, for he knew that that wasn’t the case. “So what are you two up to today then?” Silver asked, taking his mind off of the subject. “We actually came by to talk with you.” Koruk finished. Silver raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What’s up?” “Koruk and I thought about what you said the other day…” she paused. “And I think you need to reconsider.” Silver glanced over at the gateway and shook his head. “Morgana…” “Eclipse, please. Hear me out.” “Morgana, we can’t mess with things we don’t understand.” The mare stomped her hoof on the catwalk, making a metal clang ring out. “You didn’t even give it a chance though, we have no idea what we’ve really seen, and—” “ — and we still don’t know what it is or whether it’s dangerous or not.” “Then let’s. Find. out.” she argued. “You wanted to play things safe and grab a Warden? Then let’s do it. Let’s figure out whether it’s dangerous once and for all.” She trotted up next to him. “I know you want to explore what’s inside— I can see the glint in your eyes, the gears turning in your head… and I know you want to see it through just as much as we do.” “So why don’t we enter it together, and give it a chance?” Koruk started to plead. “Because it’s dangerous.” Silver shrugged. “I still say we need to play this safe and wait until we know for sure.” Morgana rolled her eyes, but didn’t cause any further commotion. Instead, she took a breath and nodded. “How about this then. Seeing as how we’re all one team, perhaps we take a vote and decide what we do on the matter.” “And if everyone else votes no?” Silver asked. “Then we go with your rules and Koruk and I drop the subject…” her ears dropped down. “And as annoyed as we’d be, we’d respect it.” “Okay.” Silver replied. “Then why don’t we assemble the others and go from there.” She perked up again. “For real? You’re going to actually go for that?” “Of course.” Silver started to walk towards her, resting a hoof on her shoulder. “I know that technically I’m the teacher and leader, but that doesn’t mean you have no say in what we all do. I’ve always believed that even the best teachers have something to learn, and a part of that is learning to work together with the group.” Silver tapped his hooves on the nearby railing. “So let’s meet back in a little bit, and we’ll go from there.” Morgana smiled. “Thanks Eclipse. I know I can be a burden sometimes, but I do mean well.” “I know you do.” Silver nodded. “You both do.” His two students nodded their head and left through their own gateways, and Silver wasn’t too far behind them. With the trio dispersed, Silver went about assembling his students once more. Morgana and Koruk handled finding Moonlight and Phoenix, while Silver went to go find Emily and Stardust. Both were easy enough to find, and soon enough the entire group was assembled in a boardroom that Silver had crafted for them.  “Alrighty,” Silver cleared his throat. “As some of you are aware, a few days ago Morgana, Koruk, and I entered the gateway on the lower shore of the island. Now, I didn’t create that gateway, and I don’t know where it came from or what it’s purpose is. I wanted to keep it sealed for the time being, until we knew more about it, but Morgana and Koruk wanted to call a vote on what we should do.” “I’m guessing the options are to either go in or keep it closed?” Moonlight Dream asked with a raised hoof. Silver nodded. “I’m going to abstain because I already made my decision clear to both of them, but if you all want to take a look inside, then I won’t overrule the vote.” “What’s inside?” Stardust asked.  Silver looked over to him. “I don’t know for sure. When we went inside there was… a really chaotic world that seemed like a dream… but it didn’t feel like the realm we all know.” Emily raised a hoof up. “Do you think it was some kind of shared dream?” Silver shook his head. “It felt like nothing I’ve ever seen before, including your shared dreams and visions.” The pink mare looked out the window towards the gateway in the distance. “I see.” “What was it like in there?” Phoenix took his chance to ask.  “Hard to explain. There were islands, and clouds, and… just weird stuff,” Silver replied. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it gave me a really weird vibe and the whole time I was in there I felt a sense of dread and doom.”  “Right… that gives me a lot of confidence then.” Phoenix rolled his eyes. “A part of me wants to just lock my vote in as a solid no… but the part of me that wants to encourage others to get out of their comfort zones says that we should give it a chance.” “So what’s your vote then? Silver raised an eyebrow.” Phoenix looked around at the others, taking a few solitary moments to read the room and gather his own thoughts. Finally he smiled. “I’m going to say yes but with the caveat that we play this as safe as possible if we decide to do it.” “Noted.” Silver nodded his head and conjured up a score counter.” Turning to Morgana and Koruk, he began again. “What about you two?” The two students looked at each other before Morgana started to speak up. “It’s a yes from both of us, and you already know that.” “Mhmm.” Silver added their votes to the count. “And you Moonlight?” The mare nodded her head. “I’m going to say yes. As scary as the unknown is, we’re all more than capable of keeping ourselves safe.” “Right.” He moved on. “And you Stardust?” The stallion held a hoof up to his chin, contemplating his vote for a moment. “I’m gonna say no. Not that I don’t think it’s a neat concept or doesn’t have potential, but I’m not getting a good vibe from it.” “Understood. Emily?” “If the others want in then that’s fine, but this is unknown dream stuff that we probably shouldn’t mess with so I’m going to back away from that too.” Adding her vote to the tally, he took a moment to compose his own thoughts. Morgana’s camp had won by just a single vote, and despite the fact that he could cause a tie and halt these plans for the time being, Silver knew that it wouldn’t be fair for what they had all agreed on.  With a heavy sigh and a lingering feeling of doubt and dread, he nodded his head once more. “Then we’ve come to our decision… We’ll explore the realm once more as a group…” Silver led the group out onto the metal catwalk that ran along the water’s edge and towards the gateway, shifting the path closest to it and creating a new landing for them to access the gateway’s shore from. Taking a cautious step forward, he took a breath and dispelled the large barrier he had materialized around it. A small chill ran down his spine as the ancient-looking stone archway was revealed, and as silly as it was, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of anxiety at the sight of it. Silver turned back to his students and held up a wing to stop them. “Before we go in I want to set a few rules up.” “What’s up Eclipse?” Morgana replied. “We voted to go in here, and I’m not going to back out of that unless there’s a good reason to. But we still don’t know enough about this place so I want to make a few things clear. You can try to build up your own areas if you want— I don’t know if it’ll work or how easy it’ll be, but it doesn’t feel like a part of my dream so what’s to say we can’t try to do a little research while we’re at it.” “You think it’ll work like that?” Emily raised an eyebrow. Silver shrugged. “We won’t know until we try it, so let’s just see what happens.” He looked over to the rest of his students. “And until we know more about it, I’m going to ask that we only go in together— no one alone. AND no one is to go in when I’m not present. I don’t think that whatever’s beyond those doors is a part of my dream, but whatever it is, it’s anchored to Somewhere, and I don’t want anyone messing around with it until we know for sure that nothing’s going to bleed back through. Okay?” The group silently gave their nods of agreement, and with another heavy sigh, Silver begrudgingly pushed open the doors and let the inky void greet them once more. A few hushed whispers could be heard, and one by one, his students slowly stepped forward onto the rocky island that stretched out past the door. The island only stretched a short distance away, but save for the dim stars and the gateway itself, it was the only visible landmark in the entire unknown realm. Silver fell back on his haunches and stared on in disbelief. “There was— stuff here before!” “Indeed,” Morgana raised her eyebrow. “It wasn’t an illusion, right?” Koruk shook his head. “Illusions are my specialty, and I can assure you that that was no illusion.” The group sat silent for a few moments as the three who had visited before tried to make sense of everything. “So what do we do now?” Stardust broke the silence. “I know you said this was a weird place… but I guess I was expecting more.” “That’s up to us.” Morgana cheerfully exclaimed. “I don’t know what happened to what we saw before, but we’ve got a blank canvas here, don’t you see?” As if to emphasize her point, she hopped out into the endless void and landed on a glowing tile of light, much to the awe and surprise of the rest. “Did you make that?” Koruk asked her. “The glowing tile? Kind of?” She stepped forward and another tile appeared at her hooves, though this one seemed to have been made up of a glowing cloud. “I wanted to make something to stand on… it’s just not exactly what I expected it to be.” “Interesting…” Silver stepped forward, a wooden plank appearing under his hooves as he stepped forward to meet her. He looked over at the others and gestured forward. “Feel free to try this out… it’s kind of cool?” “Mind if I try something a little more complex, Eclipse?” Morgana asked. Silver shook his head. “Go for it, I don’t know what else we’ll do here otherwise.” Morgana whistled over to Koruk. “Mind helping me out with something? I need another gothic eye to assist with what I have in mind.” “What do you have in mind?” Koruk asked. “Let’s find a nice big area and you’ll find out.” The snow-white stallion didn’t seem to have any protests, and no sooner had she beckoned, the two set out on a patchwork bridge of every material imaginable. Slowly the other’s found their own motivation to step forward, and it wasn’t long until the group had dispersed a fair distance from the archway. All save for Silver, who sat near the open gateway. Having his students accompanying him this time helped clear his mind and put his fears to rest, though with them now all dispersed he couldn’t help but hear the faintest of whispers echoing in the back of his mind. It was almost as if something was trying to talk to him, but unless he had suddenly become a Storyteller and had captured the attention of the universe’s narrative, then it was surely just the echoes of his students’ own conversations mixed with his mind playing tricks on him. The stallion shook his head to dispel those thoughts and instead turned his focus to the task he had given his own students. The others were already clearly framing out their own structures and areas, so it was only fitting that he gave it a try as well. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on visualizing what he wanted to build. Oftentimes this was as easy as riding a bike for him— or at least it would be if he still rode bikes. For whatever reason today however, a clear idea of what to build eluded him. That wouldn’t be an issue though, because like any artist or craftsman, he could let his muse capture his imagination and guide him through to its completion. In this case he didn’t have a specific muse, but figured that a simple room would be a good enough starting point, so that’s exactly what he set out to create. “Four walls, a roof, and a floor. That’s all I need to make.” He spoke out loud. Opening his eyes, he expected to find exactly that… but to his own surprise he only found one simple crumbling wall in front of him. “Well then, not exactly what I was going for…”  Tapping a hoof to the wall, it changed from a crumbling ruin to a more practical brick wall, as if he had turned back the hands of time. No sooner than it had changed, it rapidly shifted from stone into an ornately papered wall. This was more than acceptable to Silver, if not a little too ornate. Nonetheless he was pleased with it and moved on to the next. “Alright, one down, four to go I guess.” Raising a hoof up to the wall, he went to copy it’s detail, though this time instead of conjuring a new wall entirely, the existing one stretched out into a long rectangle. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Silver went to wipe the slate clean, though this time the wall wrapped around him forming an octagonal space as if it was fighting back against his wishes. A network of wooden beams and stone tiles stretched from each corner into the center, and repeated into a spiderweb-like pattern that terminated where he was standing. An ornately molded ceiling finished the room, sealing him in and leaving him in complete darkness. Silver was never one to panic, but his creation suddenly gaining a mind of its own surprised him and caught him off guard in a way that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. For a moment the question of whether a warden had slipped in and was messing with him crossed his mind, but he felt none of their telltale presence, and even Yinyu wouldn’t just silently play with a pony like this— at least that’s what he assumed. Flickering candles in ornate wall sconces burned to life around him, interrupting his thoughts once more. Confused, yet satisfied that he was making progress, he tried conjuring up some furniture to give the room some more life. Couches and chairs easily appeared around him, and some portraits of his friends and family weren’t too far behind. Much to his own surprise, and a little dismay, the patterns that adorned the chairs seemed to resemble eerie faces staring back at him. The sight was unnerving, but not unexpected given his intention to give the room more life through the added furniture. In this case he supposed he had just imagined this literally, but thankfully enough they hadn’t come to life. He slowly trotted around the room, feeling unnerved but not necessarily in danger, though from the corner of his eyes he could swear that the eyes of the portraits that he had conjured were following his every move. This was foolish though, and he knew that his mind was just playing more tricks on him. Ignoring those for the time being, he turned his attention back to the flat walls that surrounded him, and the distinct lack of an actual door to leave from. He walked towards one of the walls and began to draw out an imaginary door with his hoof. Silver couldn’t help but laugh as a glowing white line actually followed his path. With a quick flick of his hoof he finished the design with a doorknob and knocked three times. . Nothing… Silver blinked in surprise, having expected the door to materialize and open. Instead it just faded into the wall, leaving him sealed in again. Undeterred, he trotted forward and focussed on passing through the wall.  Thunk! He fell back on his haunches and shook his head at the unexpected collision.  “Okay… guess we’re doing things the hard way, eh?” Silver focussed his magic on the wall in front of him, and imagined it simply vanishing. However much to his own surprise, the eyes of every painting suddenly darted to him, and the walls began to stretch into infinity. The feeling of not having any control in Sapphire’s dream struck him again, and he couldn’t help but yell out in surprise. A flash of lightning blinded him, and when his vision returned he was facing an ornately carved door. Not wanting to stick around any longer, Silver quickly darted for the door and forced it open, running out into a long portrait gallery and then into the open void of the unknown realm they were exploring. All around him he could see the different things his students were working on, though unlike him it appeared that they weren’t making much progress in conjuring anything— save for Morgana and Koruk, who appeared to be creating a large frame for some castle. While their work seemed impressive from afar, the way that his creations came to life left a bad taste in his mouth. Whether they liked it or not, he needed to get the group out of there for now, and maybe forever.