Ted spent the rest of the day, and most of the evening learning of the local terrors. It turned out the cultists had commandeered an old, rundown temple deep in a jungle literally on the other side of the planet from the place he'd originally been when he was dragged to Equis by the Nightmare. While the foliage was thicker and the monsters weren't as magically inclined as those in the Everfree, the local predators made up for this with numbers and viciousness. That wasn't to say he hoped to not see any. Apparently, a chupa-thingies fangs were all but revered among the Sharp-Talon griffons to the west, and alchemists paid heavily for vine-snake venom. A local plant, disturbingly similar to aloe from earth, was unsurprisingly an excellent healing agent. Not to mention most of the plants in the area were edible to herbivores, barring the occasional poisonous vine or mushroom. Yes, the resources his followers needed were here, they could work this out. It would just require some patience and an angry demi-god jealously guarding the gatherers.
Eventually, sleep called to him, and he started shifting around, trying to make himself comfortable in his new body. The little girl had finally fallen asleep in her pillow fort after eating a bit more, curling up into herself and letting out little snores every now and again. Careful not to drop any pillows on her, he grabbed a few and started making himself comfortable. It took a good five minutes, but eventually he found a position that allowed him to settle in for the night.
'Ah, sleep my old friend. Good to see you again, it's been way to long.'
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'I know it's been a while since I've slept properly, but I'm pretty sure my dreams were never so... plain?'
Ted had become aware soon after dozing off, and found himself floating in a strange cloudy void.
"Seriously, it's so boring and empty. It could at least-'
Before he'd even finished the thought, the world around him twisted. Suddenly, he found himself on a beach, watching the sun set as the waves rolled endlessly against the shore. It was beautiful, but the sudden alteration of the environment had placed a spark in his mind. If he could replicate a beach so easily, what else could he do? Quickly, he thought up a new location, and, for lack of a better word, pushed. The world twisted once again, and he found himself standing on the bridge of The Executor, Imperial officers going about their business, apparently oblivious to his current... winged... human form? It meant something, didn't it? Maybe a visual of how he currently thought of himself, a mix between his birth form, and his current form?
Truthfully, it wasn't of great importance to him at the moment. No, he had other things he wanted to try. He had a new toy, and he was going to exploit the living hell out of it. Wearing a predatory grin, he thought of one of his favorite shooters, and pushed.
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The stranger walked through the alien hallways, a shadow upon the marble, gold, and strange metals as she continued her search. It had been almost forty years since she'd seen a dream, the traitors dreamless-sleep array leaving the dreamscape an empty void. Truly, the Traitor was thorough; when she'd found she could still dream-walk, she'd thought her ability had been overlooked. But it was not to be. The Traitor didn't need to stop her dream walking. No, the stranger was free to wander the void as much as she liked, she would never find another being on this plane of existence. Who would she dream-walk to when there were no dreams?
It was why she was drawn to this dream, starving for contact as a beggar approaches a banquet. She wanted, no, she needed to talk to somepony. Somepony other than that smug... nag, that had imprisoned her and her sister. She was pulled out of her mental wanderings when her physical wanderings were cut off by a horde of strange, white and gold colored bipedal golems running by her. At least, they appeared to be golems, some of them seemed to move too smoothly, too organically to be any form of golem she was familiar with. As they approached the far door it opened, deafening her with the sounds of a great battle. She followed the strange constructs, hoping to find the dreamer.
Turning a final corner, she barely managed to duck as the upper half of one of the more organic golems flew over her head, ending it's abrupt flight pinned to the far wall, stuck there by some unknown means.
The shadow had lived centuries, and had seen her share of battles. Nothing prepared her for what she witnessed before her. Neither the griffons in their bloodlust nor the dragons at the height of their rage compared to the absolute savagery she witnessed here.
'How, how can this not be considered a nightmare?'
The golems target was at last visible to her. Encased in an orb of ice was a strange, beautifully crafted double egg-shaped container, which seemed to contain additional bipeds, though they seemed to be in some type of magically induced slumber. Standing on a small pillar inside the orb, another strange biped moved, twisting and turning at impossible speeds. Each motion was accompanied by a loud crack, similar to thunder. With each report, another golem would fall, bearing large holes in what for most bipedal creatures she had seen would be vital areas. Standing below the first defender, was a second, this one apparently responsible for the orb of ice, as every now and again it would shoulder it's crossbow, spread its arms, and reinforce the spell with yet another layer of ice. The third reminded her of a griffon berserker, tearing through the golems ranks with reckless abandon, claws of light separating some of the golden creatures- there was no way a golem let loose that much blood-from shoulder to thigh, or cutting through the torso, leaving the two parts to tumble free of each other. The strange light weapons the golems wielded, while they left scorch marks upon every surface they struck, didn't seem to even cause the berserker to flinch.
Despite all of this, it was the last defender that held her eyes, at least when it was visible. It's blade flashed out, cutting large swathes through the ranks of the golem army. Every now and again, it would discharge a burst of energy, causing the light-weapons of the golems to spark, some even melting, forcing them to drop the useless weapons and draw glowing batons. What drew her eyes to this creature in particular though, was unlike his fellows, he was flamboyantly colored, despite obviously favoring stealth; bright orange and blue accents with just a splash of red. Second was the fact that he was the only creature bearing an emblem of any kind, a small dove resting peacefully on the back of a large white and brown raptor appearing on his shoulder.
The final thing that caught her eye were the wings. Jet black wings adorned the creatures shoulders. Originally, she'd thought them ornamental, till they'd flapped as he made a ridiculously high leap over the heads of some of the larger golems, striking the weaker targets as he flew overhead. But no, they were certainly a sign that this was the dreamer. Firstly, because no other creature in the dream had them, and even with them, he was a grounded creature. Second, they were underdeveloped, a sign in dreams that the dreamer had undergone changes they had not yet reconciled.
Soon, the last golem fell, frozen solid by the cryomancer. Three of the warriors took defensive position around the pod, while the fourth sat down against one of the golden guard rails surrounding the pod, breathing heavily. Despite being in a dream, the creature seemed exhausted.
"Ah, an amateur dream-manipulator." Suddenly, the creature was staring straight at her, and she realized she'd spoken aloud. Then again, when one spends several decades locked away from any form of contact, one is bound to make a social blunder or two, right?
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Ted could only stare in shock at the intruder in his dreams. Across from him stood a creature that was at the same time a complete stranger, and yet as familiar to him as his own family. No, she was closer to him than that. If he was completely honest knew more about her than he knew about any of his family back home. After all, seeing her here in his dreams, there were a few memories on the other side of his partition that were screaming at him 'That's me! That's what I'm supposed to look like!'
'Damn, I thought I'd properly sealed that, gonna have to double check it in the morning.'
Willing his helmet away, he gave the intruder a tired smile, beckoning her closer. "No need to hide in the shadows, princess. It doesn't suit one of your standing."
The shadow slowly came closer, stepping out from a dark overpass into the light, revealing a form he'd seen in the mirror so many... 'Dammit, stop that.' "I won't hurt you miss Nocturnas. Something that I can help you with? Actually, perhaps you can help me; do you have any practical experience partitioning memories?" If he was completely honest, she didn't look very healthy. Not as bad as the cultists, mind you, but the last memory he had of her, she was nearly twice the size of her current form, and her eyes. There was a hunger in them, a desperate need for sapient company, one that he himself had just begun to feel before the cultists had made off with his prison to the temple.
'What is it with these things looking so scared and hurt all the time that it takes all of my willpower not to pick them up and hug the stuffing out of them?'
The alicorn's confusion only grew as she stared at him, closing the distance between the two. "How do you know my name? I'm certain I've never met you before, and few address me by my full title, especially in this age."
Ted could only laugh at her, the absolute ridiculousness of the situation still settling upon him.
Here he was, controlling a dream well beyond anything he'd heard possible back home, speaking to an alien he was beyond-intimately close to, seeing as he had a good chunk of his head filled with her memories. He was hoping to learn enough from her about the powers he was, for lack of a better term, borrowing from her, to properly separate his memories from the ones he'd been left with before he ended up with a brain casserole. Seriously, who knew what going home in his current situation would do to him. Was the human mind even capable of containing several centuries of memories?
At the indignant glare being leveled at him from the alien, Ted finally managed to compose himself, wiping the sweat and tears of laughter from his face wit the back of his glove. "I'm sorry, the situation, it's just too much." He chuckled a bit, getting the last of it out of his system. Walking up to the blue alicorn, he kneeled down to her height, offering his hand in greeting. "My name's Ted Fredston, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Lunacae Nocturnas, though you already seem to know this." She said, cocking her head slightly.
He merely smiled, he really needed her to relax, she was the one with the answers he needed. "So Luna, what brings you to my humble dream? I'm afraid I'm not up to date on current events. Perhaps you could you fill me in?" With another quick blur, the golden halls they stood in were replaced by a park near his home, complete with a blanket set on the ground and drinks. "I'm always happy to meet new ponies." 'Especially when they hold the key to keeping my sanity.' He thought to himself. No need to mention the cultists, or the Nightmare, or anything like that. Just two individuals enjoying a nice conversation over a wonderful selection of drinks.
'Oh sweet, is that Mountain Dew?'