//------------------------------// // 12: One Week Later // Story: Equestria's Dreamscape // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// One week had passed since Faust had arrived in Equestria, much to the surprise of Twilight and her old foalsitter Cadence. One week since the world had avoided complete destruction at the hooves of her son Midnight, the Prince of All Magic as he called himself. Even now the stallion was resting in the Canterlot Hospital, his mind and body healing after all the damage he received from fighting with his mother. Faust hadn't actually harmed her son, but she had forcefully removed the demonic part of him that had taken over his mind and fueled his desire to destroy everything. He was going to carry the scar on his chest that would always remind him of his possession for the rest of his entire existence. But Faust had spent the majority of her week in the hospital, watching over her son while being visited by her other children. She even had the opportunity to properly meet both Princess Cadence, who love was something Faust admired, and Twilight, the newest Princess. Most ponies who noticed Faust only saw a white coated unicorn mare who was watching over the sleeping alicorn, unknowing they had just past the deity who created everything. The only ponies who could actually see the real Faust were her children and the newest Princesses. Most of the past events had been erased from the minds of everypony, so most only knew Midnight was a wounded relative of Celestia and Luna. That was how things should be and would always be until she decided that everypony else was ready to know she existed. Midnight had spent the last week sleeping, his body and mind healing the entire time, and not once had he woken up the entire time. It was starting to worry Faust, worrying her that she might have went overboard when she had separated the demon from Midnight's mind. She worried that he was never going to wake up and that he would remain trapped in the Dreamscape after everything that had already happened. "Any change?" Faust looked up at the door, surprised to find her little Luna standing there with a stack of flowers that replaced the week old flowers that were in the room. She was dressed in her royal attire, but for once she didn't have her batpony guards with her. "No," Faust sighed, "no change at all." "Celestia and I talked earlier," Luna said, taking a seat near her mother, "Remember how we were forced to seal Midnight away in the Dreamscape? How the five Elements of Harmony overpowered Magic and blasted him into the realm he eventually escaped from?" "Yes?" Faust answered, raising an eyebrow as she wondered what her daughter could be on to. "He shattered five of the chains that held him down, but what if there was a sixth chain?" Luna asked, "A sixth chain, a hidden chain, that maybe only he could shatter on his own? One that represents his link to his past, the same past that he must now be ashamed of. What I'm saying is that he might still be in the Dreamscape, trying to find that last chain so he can free himself from the sins of his demonic side." "Its not much to go on, but its worth the effort to check." Faust said, casting another look at her sleeping son, "I can't just leave him in this state, knowing that it was by my hoof that he ended up back where he started again. Quickly, you and I will dive into his dreams and see if we can find him." Before Luna knew it the two of them were suddenly in the Dreamscape, standing in front of what had previously been the Forest of Thorns. The forest was now just a dried up husk of what it had originally been, the thorns now reduced to withered up logs that looked ready to burn. The very air seemed, well, dead to say the least. It was almost as if Midnight's escape a week ago had destroyed his dream area, which would have explained why everything felt so wrong. Even the very sky was a deep shade of red and was partly covered by black thunder clouds, making Luna worry for her brother. "We must begin our search," Faust said, returning to her true form as her eyes scanned for any signs of danger, "I suspect that we'll run into nothing that will hinder our progress, but it is best to have some weapons in case something appears." Luna nodded and summoned up her magical lance, casting an eye over to her mother to see what weapon she would conjure up. To her surprise she only summoned a simple sword with the rune of unbreakable on it, meaning nothing could shatter the blade. Luna sighed and moved into the rotting forest, keeping an eye on things as her mother followed close behind. The further they got into the dream area the more Luna was disturbed by what she saw and by what she didn't see anymore. The once grand stone walkway that once paved the way to Fort Arcanium was now destroyed, left in ruin with stones scattered about. Even though there were no fires at the edge of the forest there were several fires going on deeper in the forest, burning like the fires of Tartarus. Something didn't sit well with Luna, not when she heard the howls of something truly demonic around them. "A demon from Tartarus," Faust commented, eying the direction in which the howl originated from, "I sense the presence of only three demons at the moment, but it was a wise move on your part to seal this place off from the rest of the Dreamscape. The Lord of Tartarus and his lieutenants are well aware of Midnight's powers and tried to recruit him under the false accusations that lead him to go to war with you all. They will stop at nothing to turn Equestria into a version of Tartarus that they can command without having to travel through that gateway of theirs." "So why are there three demons here now?" Luna asked, wondering if she should don her armor in case the creature attacked them, "Should we fight them off?" "No, they are only here to scout and watch Midnight." Faust answered, an idea already in mind, "But I can create a new dream area for him, one that doesn't reflect his troubled past and allow him to have some much deserved sleep. This area will become an isolated place in space, one that the demons who enter here will find they cannot escape from no matter what powers they possess. If I could trap the Lord of Tartarus in a cold star in the middle of space then I would, but to trap him would certainly ensure his escape." "Does the Lord of Tartarus have a name?" Luna asked, "Or will you keep referring to him as such?" "I would not dare speak his name here," Faust replied, "To speak his name here would mean I was summoning into Midnight's dream and that is what he wants. He wants to control Midnight, or more specifically his demon, so he can shatter Tartarus' Gate and escape into Equestria. After that all I can envision is a great and terrible war between my family and the Lord of Tartarus." "I will keep my eyes peeled for the demons," Luna said, stepping over a fallen tree husk, "and hopefully we'll find Midnight before...long?" The area in front of them, the same place that once housed Fort Arcanium, was now a burning ruined fortress with smoke rising all over the place. All over the burning fort were the charred corpses of both ponies and the foul demons that were lurking around the dream area. Of the charred bodies Luna noticed ponies that had once served her brother in the Abyssal Legion and those who were once his citizens. The demons had butchered his ponies and his army had retaliated in kind, which explained what happened to the area. Midnight's mage tower exploded in a fury of fire as a batpony, dressed up in the armor of the Abyssal Legion, flew into the air with a demon close behind. The batpony spun around and the demon was blasted right out of the sky by some sort of explosive, something that only Razorwind would do to his enemies. Thundercloud would have lit the sky ablaze with lightning while fighting his foes and Mistwing would have tricked them into signing their doom. "Razor, get down here," Luna shouted, wondering if there were more demons waiting for them. The batpony noticed the two of them and quickly brought itself to the ground, where Luna found that it was not Razorwind, but rather Mistwing instead. How she failed to realize exactly who the pony had been in the air confused her, but for the moment she really didn't care. She cared that her brother was still around somewhere and that his wife was still alive, fighting the demons in what appeared to be an attempt to find him. "Princess Luna," Mistwing greeted, eying the second mare as she approached, "I have bad news. Demons have attacked Fort Arcanium and have killed the majority of our ponies, ponies who once believed that Midnight would save them no matter what the price. But Midnight has not returned from Equestria, leaving us to deal with the demons when they first arrived in search of him." "Rest easy child," Faust said, scanning the area, "How many souls still linger in the dream?" "Alive or dead?" Mistwing sadly asked, shaking her head, "We have lost nearly everypony who followed Midnight in the beginning, so almost all thousand of us are already dead. There are about ninety of us left now. Those who served Midnight and survived the initial attack are fighting the demons scattered around the dream. Unfortunately my brothers have fallen to the demons tricks, leaing me as the last of my family." "We haven't much time," Faust said, "Midnight will have gone to the one area that he knows anypony will look for him at, the area in which the seals were broken. Follow me now." Faust guided the two mares through the ruins of Fort Arcanium, as if she had known all the routes by heart and kept a grip on her weapon. Twice they came into contact with demons and twice Faust dealt with them, her weapon turning the ponies to dust easily. Luna was amazed, wondering why her mother seemed scared of the Lord of Tartarus if she could reduce his minions to dust so easily. Within minutes Faust guided them to what looked like a prison, but waiting for them was the remainder of the Abyssal Legion, defenses created to allow one enemy to enter at a time. "Look, its Lady Mistwing," one pony shouted, the others realizing they were finally saved at long last. "Luna my daughter, stay with these ponies and make sure they stay safe," Faust said, turning to face the direction of where Midnight would be, "I will return with Midnight when I am able to do so." Faust traveled to the immediate north, her sword moving quicker then her enemies could even predict. When she had told Luna there had been only three demons left she had lied, there were literally hundreds of lesser demons roaming the dream area. That was why she took it upon herself to rid the dream of as many demons as possible, leaving a trail of black dust in her wake. She had little love for demons, those destroyed whatever they pleased, and if anypony who knew her was watching they, to, would know it. The clearing that Midnight was supposed to be in was so scorched one would have mistaken it for a field of black stone and grass. The entire area was scorched black, as if something had exploded in a giant ball of fire. The only thing that wasn't ruined was Midnight, who sat alone in the center of five stone pillars, each with the symbol of a Element of Harmony. Wrapped around him was a set of golden chains that glowed with the purple color of the Element of Magic, proving Luna's theory. "My son, I see you are well," Faust commented, the chain melting away like it was nothing, "Why have you remained here while your citizens are under attack from the demons?" "I...I don't know," Midnight answered, his eyes looking away in shame, "I thought I had all the answers, that I had the capabilities of leading a kingdom on my own. I let my magic get the better of me and I destroyed everything that I created, sealing my ponies and myself in a prison that took me two thousand years to escape. Now I wonder if I should even be in Equestria, seeing how I can only bring destruction and unease." "You need to learn to be a true leader," Faust smiled, wrapping a wing over her son, "You need to focus less on the magical aspect of live and more on the actual ponies who make up your life. You lost everything you held dear two thousand years ago, but it was an experience that will have made you a better pony in the long run. You may not be able to see your old friends and loved ones in the real Equestria, but you can always see them again whenever you dream. Come back with me and Luna and we can see about getting you back into politics. And maybe you can rebuild your castle in the Everfree Forest one day." Midnight looked up and in that instance the two of them reappeared in the hospital room, with a very confused Luna laying on her side next to Faust. Midnight was sitting straight up, sweat rolling down his face as he stared at the ponies who braved his unstable dream area to get him. Luna smiled as her brother smiled for the first time in a long time, meaning whatever her mother did had gotten through to her brother. "Rest my son," Faust said, "You have need of some real uninterrupted sleep." Midnight, for the first time in over two thousand years, finally got some much needed sleep. Only this time he didn't have to worry about the demons roaming his dreams and ruining everything again. All he knew was that he owed everything to his mother and slipped right into the dream without a second thought.