We finally came upon the last stage of the tour, and arguably the most important. Thank goodness Professor Genius didn't spaz out anymore, I don't think I could handle anymore embarrassment tonight.
Insulting the Protector straight to her face, when all she was doing was experimenting with the dream world after god knows how long her banishment lasted. A thousand years. God and I told her to 'cut it out', good god I am such an idiot!
Chastising her for assuming a normally dangerous individual would still be dangerous. She must think I'm completely incompetent, I didn't make a good impression at ALL. Hopefully I could save face with this last stop, this was by far the grandest display of my power I had ever managed. Still wasn't anything to be compared to the Protector at her strongest, but for a non alicorn it should still be suitably impressive.
"And this, My lady, is the nexus of my dream," I stated with a wave of my hand. The will of the dreamers pervaded this cavernous space, tying the dream together ever much more than my initial work of will. I doubt I'd even be able to unmake it at this point, so strongly were the dreams of others entangled within my own. Their will wound through the air around us, causing a small shiver to go down my spine. if I were but to reach out a hand, I would touch over a hundred different dreamers. And if I wasn't careful and resisted their lures, I'd be swept along into their dreams, as once was my only method for breaching them in the formless aether.
"This is the center of Slumberland, the cornerstone with which it rests upon," I explained. I could see her nod in contemplation, her egos eyes closing in concentration as she inspected the mass for herself. If the slight smile that touched her lips was any indication, I had finally found something which gained her respect. Stars above know I didn't pique her fancy with my introduction to the city. Blasted Flip.
"From here I can alter the city at will, in case any of the inhabitants desire a drastic change in scenery. As I'm sure you've noticed, you can also reach through the various threads to have immediate contact with the dreams of any of the inhabitants currently connected to Slumberland," I ended in a silent huff.
"I do not sense the dreams of the bearers," Princess Luna prompted.
Of course she'd go right for one of my biggest faults, one of the main things I couldn't do a damned thing about.
"Ten years ago, the six bearers were chosen," I explained, in a desperate attempt to save face. "The elements -while not fully attached to them till recently- separated them from the whole of the astral plane. They protect their bearers from mental intrusion, and as such are beyond my reach."
Luna stared at me for several seconds, blinking owlishly. "And you have not been able to contact them?" she asked, an eyebrow arching incredulously. "You, the king of this land?" she added with a joking lilt.
I bristled at her insinuation, but managed to calm down before I made more of a fool of myself. With a short laugh to join her own bout of laughter, I ended with a cough.
"I do not claim to have the full powers of an alicorn, Protector," I said in an intention to save face. "While I may have done... all of this," I gestured with my arms outstretched, slowly turning in a circle, "I can only imagine what this would have looked like had it been done by yourself at the apex of your power."
She looked quite taken aback at my words, before a warm smile broke across her face. A trickle of giggles escaped from her, before she turned her attention once more to the web above us.
"Well then... even though I am not at full power I might be able to make a minor... improvement~. May I?" she asked, her horn already lighting up with a deep azure glow before I even answered.
"I, uh... sure. What did you have in mind?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.
"To start off, to simply polish what you have started. I will bring the elements inside of this fold," she declared.
"...Really? Can you actually do that?" I didn't want to assume... but she was still recovering. She wasn't even strong enough to shake me off. As she was...
"I was once the bearer of Honesty, Magic and Generosity. Even as I am now I can feel them," she stated confidently. "I will call out to them, hopefully they will respond."
Lines of light cascaded from her horn, attaching to the web and also disappearing as it reached out through the void around us. I didn't hold out high hopes. While she may be the Protector, a former bearer of the elements, she was still severely weakened from her fate at the hooves of the nightmare. And the elements wanted nothing to do with me.
Every time I tried to reach out to them, they actively rejected me. One time they left me senseless for nearly a year after I tried to force them and their bearers into my dream. They were... something else. Power beyond measure, unattainable for myself. As powerful as I had become, I was never a paragon of any of the elements. I lied when it suited me, or when I believed it to be in the best interest of others. I had many times when I was less than happy, or when I visited unhappiness upon the dreams of less than virtuous ponies. They might have managed to hide their crimes from the eyes of their fellow ponies, but they couldn't hide from me.
Everyone has to sleep sooner or later.
In that aspect, I was often less than kind as well. I punished them in their dreams, torturing them in various ways until they seeked out the hammer of judgement from their peers. Eh... until they turned themselves in, I mean.
Loyalty... I might be a technical candidate for that. Maybe. I am attached to my citizens. It doesn't seem to be however, if my efforts are anything to go by.
Magic... I may be a heavy hitter in my own right, but in the grand scheme of things I am a very small fish in a very large pond. I might be able to overpower Luna as she is now, but even a shovel can get some of the cereal in the bowl when it tries to.
Generosity... the very fact that I tried to snare the elements proved how unworthy I was in that regard. I wanted them, I craved them like any other human would crave an item of power. All that I had, and yet I still wanted more. Pretty sad, I'll admit.
They would most likely take one look at my dream, and slap the Protector with a sucker punch of power. Maybe she could pull this off, maybe they would listen and heed her call. Maybe.
The moment I claimed it as an impossibility, they would likely show up just to spite me. Only if I really meant it though, just saying it without believing it wouldn't be enough to gain Ironys' attention.
Irony... was something. Some... thing. She didn't reside within Equestria, but from what I could weasel out of her when she was feeling talkative, she frequented Equestria a lot. As far as I could understand from her seemingly aimless ramblings, her power was somewhat 'fate' based. If it could even be called that. She liked going 'topside' -as she called it- and redirecting things. Like if a pony said something along the lines of 'whats the worst that could happen,' she'd enforce events so it so something untoward would occur. Maybe if they were planning a picnic, the weather committee would decide to schedule rain due to a previous drought. It wasn't ALWAYS her... but she did enjoy her fun.
I was jarred from my musing by a tremendous surge of energy that rippled its way through the dream, staggering me and forcing me to fall to my knees in order to steady myself.
It was like nothing I had ever felt. I thought my realm was immense, but the probing presence easily dwarfed my pitiful kingdom, and eclipsed it. It grasped at the edges of the web, slowly pulling by a fragment of itself in. Lunas' ego rose from the floor, the telltale energy of the elements flowing around her. An honest laugh drove its way from her throat, a happy sound that filled the space around us.
"They... they remember me~," Luna choked out, tears slipping from the corner of her eyes. "Hello, hello again..."
So... I guess if they got a message from someone they liked, they actually might decide to come for a visit.
Such was the power of the Protector.
I couldn't even feel where they were entering my dream from, the best educated guess I could possibly make was the rather unhelpful 'everywhere'. Their power surged within the center of my cornerstone, attaching six threads that outshone all the others. They didn't seem to destabilize the web, in fact they seemed to make everything... cleaner? I could definitely see less tangles in the web, but I hadn't even seen them change it.
Six colored strands. Each refracting their light onto the strings around them, creating a kaleidoscope effect if I stared in any one place for too long.
Luna reached out and gingerly plucked each one in turn, filling the room around us with the echoed dreams of the bearers.
They opened up, shedding their light upon our surroundings as Luna slowly sank back down to rest her hooves upon the floor. She turned her gaze upward to look upon the dreams, a happy smile upon her face.
From the right to my left. They started with a purple unicorn simply sitting in an open field, having a picnic with another unicorn, two earth ponies and two pegasi. A drakkon was also present, a baby by the looks of it. They all appeared to be enjoying themselves, even though I couldn't hear any of their spoken words or laughter through the shell of the dream.
The next was bright pink. As in, the view was completely dominated by the face of the same pink earth pony that had appeared in the first unicorns dream. She was... staring out at us. Waving a pink hoof while she wore a wide smile. She whipped up a wooden sign into the focus, the dream rendering her mute. Written upon sign in sloppy lettering proudly declared "Luna! You have to come back to Ponyville so I can throw your 'Welcome to Ponyville Party!' I don't think you'll be able to attend Nammo, but I'll throw you one too once you get here!"
"Huh," I muttered, as the pink pony pronked out of frame and sight. Curious that her dream didn't follow her... "That... was interesting. A Wanderer? Maybe? Where'd she go?" I asked, repositioning the sight of the dream in an effort to locate her.
"She's in Twilights' dream," Luna stated dryly, pointing back at the unicorns' dream. Sure enough, the pink ponies had indeed doubled within the dream. "She may be a Wanderer... but I highly doubt it. The chances of another one, even in a thousand years..."
"She looks exactly like an earth pony version of Surprise," I noticed. "So... the unicorns' name is Twilight?" I asked.
"Yes, the bearer of Magic," Luna stated in a breathless tone. "She was the one who guided the other bearers to the elements' resting place within our old castle, long since abandoned within the everfree forest to the ravages of time. Apparently after I... was 'taken', ponies viewed the forest in a much more wary manner. Some even assumed it was the forests' magic that had rendered myself as Nightmare Moon," she continued, a note of sadness entering her voice.
The third one was of a white unicorn... seeming to be having a bit of a spa day to herself. In that being that she was the only pony present within her dream. Milling about, waiting on her hair and hoof was at least twenty identical versions of the drakkon from Twilights' dream.
She must have just met the drakkon recently, and been extremely impressed with him in some fashion. As it was, he was definitely in the forefront of her thoughts for some reason.
"Which bearer is this?" I asked, trying to distract Luna from her obvious self depreciative thoughts.
"What? Oh... that is Rarity, the bearer of Generosity," she explained, nodding her head in contemplation. "Through her selfless nature, she managed to fjord across a raging river, and placate the sea serpent living there..." She trailed off, an image of a female sea serpent slowly swimming about her head for a couple seconds. "I used to be good friends with a loch dweller named Nessie. She wasn't nearly as gaudily colored as the one the bearers came across... She did have an odd appreciation for tartan headwear, however."
Good. If I could just continue to distract her with pleasant thoughts, I could make this a much more enjoyable visit for her to remember.
"And this one?" I asked, pointing towards the next dream in the line. In its confines, a rainbow pony pegasus flew in circles around a cloud based obstacle course. Her speed -if accurate, regarding the nature of a dream this was highly unlikely to be her actual speed in the waking world- was frankly astounding, outstripping several other faceless pegasi that also flew within the confines of her dream. Her maneuverability was quite amazing as well, I could appreciate the control she exhibited despite a speed that would have put the most stalwart of pegasi into a wall they had been trying to steer around. Cloud wall, of course. More cushy than a stone or an earth wall, but still a wall.
"Rainbow Dash," Luna stated with an odd air of satisfaction. "The element bearer of Loyalty. Nightmare Moon used her illusions in an attempt to lure her away from her friends with promises of fame and fortune, but her nature proved steadfast. Not even for a moment did she even think about abandoning her friends. A true and through pegasus, straight to the wing," She claimed, a smile stretching across her face as she nodded in affirmation.
Hadn't heard that expression in a while. Way back in the day, a common insult among pegasi would be to claim that 'your wings are fake'. Meant to insult ones honor -and at times, the truth of ones words,- it was frequently rebutted by the claim that they were 'true, down to the wing'.
As stated, I haven't heard it at all recently. Maybe it's still in use among nobles. I'm not at all sure.
Balderdash! I was running out of dream windows to direct her attention towards. I hope she was in a better mood after all of this, and didn't return to dwelling on her perceived failures.
"And this one?" I directed her attention to the next dream.
This one was also one of a pegasus, -and is wont of their race,- and seemed to focus on flying. Adverse to her companions however, this flight was calm, serene, and above all rather slow. A butter yellow pegasus with a light pink mane and tail calmly floated along, partaking in a picnic much like the first unicorn had in her dream.
Unlike this Twilight however, this picnic seemed... a bit chaotic. Food and drink lazily drifted around in the cloudy sky, seemingly at random as a medley of animals also flew around her with little regard to whether or not they had means to do so.
It seems she had a very strong fixation on these animals, -as plentiful as they filled the space around her,- to want to even share her flight with them.
"I do believe her name was Fluttershy," Luna said, clearing her egos' throat, "She is the element bearer of Kindness, who soothed the anger of an enraged manticore through her understanding nature." She paused, a short laugh spilling past her lips. "A mare as timid as she went headlong into a forest that abjectly terrified her... all due to the knowledge that her friends were at her side." A warm smile adorned her lips, fondly looking at the dream.
"And what of this one," I started, moving on to the last one. By process of elimination, this one was obviously the element bearer of Honesty and the hat wearing earth pony from Twilights' dream. I assume, anyway. All the other four ponies from Twilights' dream had turned out to be bearers, so it could be safe to assume in this regard.
"The last must be Applejack, the bearer of Honesty," she stated, affirming my suspicions.
Something was... off with the view we had into her dream. It was dark and muddy, a haze that prevented us from even seeing the dreamer herself.
"Did... something go wrong?" I asked, reaching out a hand to stroke the outer edges of the dream. It didn't feel like she was having a nightmare or anything of the kind, but it was definitely still blocked from my realm. I didn't want to say anything negative, but I think she had messed something up when bringing it here. "I can't reach her dream. It might just be the elements ignoring me..."
Her brow furrowed in concentration, a slight frown touching her lips as her magic sparked to life once more. Her magic rose from her horn to envelope the dream before us, lighting up its edges in an azure halo of glimmering light.
"Her dream ..." She strained, a note of tension entering her voice as she forced her magic to glow ever brighter. "... being blocked... but I... I can feel..."
She turned to me suddenly, a look of concern in her eye. "Her dream is being blocked, even from my power. It must be due to my diminished power, for I cannot break through. Despite my failings, I can still feel her emotions through the dreams' shell. She is... her emotions are in an extremely heightened state. I can only imagine the nightmare she must be experiencing to be in such a state. King... an idea," she gave me a questioning glance, her head tilted to the side. "If you were to lend me your strength-"
"Of course!" I belted out, quickly switching my position to stand beside her. "Anything to assist the protector."
Nightmares... nearly a thousand years and I still had next to no clue what they really were. At times they had no definite personalities or intelligence, seemingly just born of the ponies fears and day to day memories. These I was able to simply dispel, or outright destroy with little effort. Others resisted my power, these I simply banished to the cage. I wasn't stupid enough to try and take them on face to metaphysical face. One such nightmare had taken the Protector. Something that could lay low an alicorn... better to just lock them away, behind unbreakable walls.
They definitely had intelligence, and as far as I could figure were intent on causing their prey as much fear as possible. They consumed the emotion, as far as I could tell. Beyond that, I had no way of knowing what their actual intention was. They did talk, but most of what they said was nonsense. Designed to create more fear, actually listening to what they said was an exercise in futility. Nothing ever came of it.
I had little knowledge regarding how she dealt with nightmares in her own time. I had to assume she took them on, fang to horn. Especially regarding how she ended up. One does not become injured if one never takes any chances.
I was fairly giddy at the opportunity to finally see the protector in action. And to add to that, I had the chance to mitigate my own failings in her eyes, by supplementing her power with my own.
Holding my key to the back of her head, I saw her horn light up as I funneled my own magic through her ego. I turned the key, instinctually pushing more and more of my power into her own control. It permeated the area around us, bending to her whim as she brought it under her total control. Perhaps the influx of energy would also promote her eventual return to full strength? I could only hope I would be as helpful.
With but a twist and a thrust, she dragged us forward into the dream.
I heard sobbing.
The sound cut through me, and I could feel one pushing from my breast as well. I felt rather than saw Luna sag to her knees, the emotion of the dream cutting through her defenses as surely as they had mine. It was only pure chance I hadn't prostrated myself right alongside her, my ego locking up and rendering me a veritable statue.
It was more than sadness. It was despair. Guilt. Terror and impotent rage. I had felt my share of dreamers emotions over the years but I had never felt anything this undiluted and compacted. Perhaps the elements amplified their bearers emotions across the dreamscape, further hampering my senses? As it was it was all I could do to divide myself and view the dream as an outsider. Moments later, I felt Luna copy my actions and break from the turmoil of emotions as well.
"Nemo... this dream... I can't... this is," she stammered, almost losing cohesion. "Something is wrong, this nightmare shouldn't be able to be this potent. We must find the cause of this mares pain and rid her of it, post haste!"
I nodded, steadfastly agreeing with her. I looked before us, to the center of the dream. Sitting squat on her hindhooves, the mare with the hat sat sobbing as she cradled something small in her forehooves. I drew my gaze closer, growing bolder as I felt the Protector draw up alongside me.
It was a filly. Young, her coat was smeared with dirt as she lay lifeless in the older mares hooves. A pink bow hung limp from her mane, all but obscuring her face from view.
"You're too late, little king," a voice cut through the tearful sobbing, its' cruel tone sounding from behind us. It was a mirror image of the sobbing mare, the colors of her coat dulled and offset by the smug grin plastered across her face. The original mare remained unaware of our presence, continuing to cry over the body she cradled.
"And you brought a friend! How quaint. You and her were made for each other, little king. Both of you equally powerless. I should know," she licked her lips, a long motion where her tongue flicked out in an unnaturally long fashion, "After all, I practically wore that pathetic waste of power next to you for a millennium. And I had more than enough time to gauge your abilities when we first met~,"
I could feel Lunas' eyes widening in horror as she came to the same realization I did.
"You can't be it," I choked out, "I got to you as soon as you crossed over, I locked you away!"
She laughed in a derisive tone, slowly walking over to sit in front of the mare. She slowly twisted to stare at us, the smile never leaving her face.
"...Locked?" Luna choked out, the word whispered from her lips as she stared at me in confusion.
"Oh? He didn't tell you about all the wonderful new changes he's made in our absence, Princess?" the nightmare crowed, a laugh escaping it as it caressed the side of her doppelgangers face in an almost possessive manner. "Such a wonderful little cage, as if it were tailored right to fit my needs specifically."
"Cage?" Luna parroted once more, looking worriedly from the nightmare back to me.
"Yes! A wonderful little thing, you wouldn't believe how glad I am your replacement has turned out to be just as incompetent as you were. Unsure of even his own ability, he hasn't been destroying nightmares like you did." She grinned even wider as Lunas' eyes widened in confusion, "No, he simply brought them all together. Shoved them into a tiny little cage and believed them to be dealt with. Out of sight, out of mind, huh? How fortuitous that turned out for me. A thousand years worth of defanged nightmares all set up in one place, just waiting for me to gobble them up. Oh, they tried to resist me," she stated with a short laugh, tweaking the cheek of the sobbing mare. "But I owe my survival to you and your incompetent sister just as I do the little king. If you had but taken the time to inspect the armor we once wore, you might have actually had a chance to stop me. As I still clung to my waning power in the waking world," her grin grew once more, nearly reaching from ear to ear. "Thus I was able to overcome and consume the nightmares the little king kept stashed away."
The look the protector was shooting me was bordering on painful. After I locked this smarmy little nightmare back in the cage -regardless of how it had escaped- , she would probably have some very hurtful words to throw my way. I'd have to deal with that later, though.
"Doesn't matter," I muttered, breaking the silence, "You're still just a little shit, and you're going right back in the cage."
"Ha!" it bellowed, its' laugh echoing in the dream around us. "You assume there's still a cage left to put me in?"
"I... but you couldn't have possibly..." I gasped, considering its' words. It shouldn't have even been able to escape the cage... but the evidence was staring me in the face despite all the implications that it shouldn't be able to.
"It was quite the dessert you left me after my main course, little King. thank you for that," she stated, slowly stroking the edge of the mares ear. "Now, if you wouldn't mind running along, I have business here."
"Step away from the bearer of honesty!" Luna called out suddenly, jarring the nightmare from its' monologue.
With a smile, the nightmare vaguely gestured in our direction. I felt my ego seize in place, freezing beyond my control. I had to assume Luna shared my fate, as I didn't see her dart forward to strike at the nightmare in my stead.
"Apologies, foal. But you are no longer any threat to my goals. As you are, you're but a minor annoyance. Easily remedied. As are the elements of harmony, as it so happens..."
"What are-," Luna started, letting off gouts of magical energy in attempt to break free.
"What am I doing?"
"You'll never get away with this," Luna replied coolly, staring down the nightmare. "You are but a nightmare. When the bearers awake, mine sister and I will simply direct them to dispel you in entirety. You have no chance of winning here, you might as well give up now!"
"Oh, but where's the fun in that?" the nightmare asked, cocking its head to the side. "And also, they wont get the chance, I'm afraid. Such a fragile bond the elements make..." she continued to stroke her hoof along the mares head, slowly brushing out her hair. "Dispose of one piece and the whole becomes inert. Isn't it simply a wonderful disaster just waiting to happen?"
"You can't kill her," Luna protested, "you are but a shadow in her mind. You have no true power-"
"None but that which she gives me willingly," the nightmare replied tauntingly. Another gesture, and I found myself unable to speak. Due to her silence, I had to assume Luna faced a similar fate.
"Look at her, so much she worries. Such a disadvantage, to become so attached to others. Such a true horror to be burdened with waste like family. They are a liability, and allow me to reach straight through to her heart and crush it~"
She turned back to the mare, slowly reaching an identical hoof to place it lightly on the top of the fillys head. "Why are ya'll cryin', sugarcube?" she asked, her accent suddenly shifting to a southern lilt. The mare twitched, finally registering the nightmares presence.
"Applebloom, she... I... I don't..." the mare stammered, and it was evident the nightmare had copied her voice as well as her appearance.
"Oh, shhh, there there..." The nightmare replied, her hoof unmoving on the fillys head. "It's okay, she's finally dead now, ya'll don't have to cry no more..."
"What?!!?" the mare cried out in surprise, momentarily forgetting her tears as she stared wide eyed at her mirror image. "She's mah sister, she can't be dead! Ah'm... ah'm supposed to protect her..."
"Always looking out for her, always keeping her out of trouble," the nightmare continued, its tone composed as it continued to stroke at the fillys head. "It irritates you, you know. You hate her for it," the nightmare claimed, the grin gone from her face as she stared down at the filly in contempt.
"N...no! Ah love mah sister! Ah'd never-"
"Look at your hooves," the nightmare commanded, "You can lie to me, but you can't lie to yourself. Her blood is on your hooves, splattered there with the viciousness you've always wanted to show her."
The mares trembling hooves inched out from under her sisters body, and even from here I could see the bright red of freshly spilled blood staining her hooves.
"No... ah'd never..."
The fillys head slowly turned over, her dim and lifeless eyes staring up at her sister as if in accusation.
"Why do you hate me sis?" she cried, tears welling up in the corners of her dull eyes. "I thought you loved me..."
"I despise you," the nightmare said through the mares lips, as her expression took on one of shock at the cruelty spilling from her mouth. "Always getting into trouble. Never bucking listening to anything I say. Always being such a drain in my life. But out of all of it? I hate you the most for one thing. If you had never been born, my mother would still be alive. My father wouldn't have shortly followed her in depression. Me and my brother would still be happy if you had never been born!!!"
With a titanic crack, the nightmare drew a hoof up, bringing it down to crush the fillys skull inwards against the cold ground. "You did this...You've always wanted to do this..." The mare but twitched, lost within the dream once more as the nightmare laughed in delight.
"Stop it!" Luna called out, control of her voice finally restored to her.
"Oh, I'm done, believe me dear Luna," the nightmare claimed condescendingly. "Do you hear it? The drum beat of despair... did you know you can die within a dream? If one loses the will to live..."
I could feel it.
A deep, brassy tone that thrummed with the mares lifeblood, slowly signalling her life within the dream.
It was the sound of blood racing through ones ears, the pulse of life in ones veins.
And it was slowing.
With each breath, each beat of her heart came a fraction later as she seemed to crumple inwards upon herself. The tears fell freely from her eyes, the shuddering sobs that wracked her body scattering them in an erratic pattern below her. With each heaving breath, the colors of her coat and mane grew dimmer.
"Please, don't do this!" Luna pleaded, desperately trying to break free of her bonds.
"Oh, but its already done," the nightmare replied calmly, not even deigning to look at Luna as she carefully inspected the mare. "My hour of triumph is finally at hand..."
With one final shuddering gasp, the mares body stilled and the dream became fouled. It just... felt wrong.
"No... no, no!" Luna cried out, finally breaking free and running wildly over to the mares side. The nightmare made no move to stop her, a faint smirk alighting in the corner of its mouth. "She can't... you can't have... that's not..." she trailed off, her hoof refusing to come into contact with the mares now monochromatic side.
"Not possible, my dearest Luna?" the nightmare taunted with a laugh, "That's what I always liked about you. How naively stupid and foalish you always were... such precious memories... but I'm afraid I've outgrown you..."
"I'll stop you," Luna declared resolutely, bringing her horn to bear as she stood alongside a mare who hours previous she had seen breathing, laughing and living like any mare. I could see her glancing at her out the corner of her eye, not being able to bear to look directly at the mare.
"Stop me?" the nightmare guffawed. "Far too late for that, foal. I've already won."
"You... you can't have... this is just-"
"Just a dream, little Luna? You know better than to believe that. Not even you are foalish to believe that, are you?"
Luna's expression fell, succumbing to the nightmares words.
I slowly made my way over to stand on the other side of the mare, peering down at her now still form. The grey of her coat was no longer stained with blood, and the body of her sister had disappeared with the last of her breath.
"Truly, it has been a pleasure doing business with you little king. Luna," it gave the crestfallen alicorn a nod, its stolen grin never once wavering. "I'll be sure to give you a sound beating once I'm fully recovered. Be a good girl for now, tell your sister I'm on my way, would you?~" it stated cheekily, turning and starting to walk off.
I'd had enough. It wasn't going to leave. Not alive. Not intact. Nothing short of point blank annihilation would be enough for my tastes. Not once had it shed the mares form, taunting us with it so brazenly. Well if it wanted to be so closely tied to the mares dream...
"You're not going anywhere!" I called out, brandishing my key.
It stopped midstep, slowly turning to look back at us. "So you truly desire death so soon, little king? How the 'mighty' have fallen."
"What are you doing?" Luna questioned, falling into step alongside me. "We can't defeat her as we are, we must regroup, and gain assistance from mine sister!"
"No time," I stated, shoving my key forward and turning it, "lets change that." the dream shuddered, disconnecting from the outside and becoming as a contained space.
The nightmare looked around, as if confused. "What... was that? What did you do?" she demanded in a frustrated tone as I could feel her probing the edges of my barrier.
"Slowed down the passage of time," I stated slowly, unhitching my scepter from behind my back. "Gave us a bit more to work with."
"Oh. Oooohhh! You do realize you've just shortened your life all that much more, don't you?" it stated confidentially, its form slowly twisting, growing darker with every passing second. "You do realize your little staff there doesn't hurt me, don't you? You already tried it before, if memory serves..."
"About that." I lowered the scepter, pointing its tip at the mare. I still had one trick left up my sleeve...
Most simply assumed the scepters only function was that of destruction, to obliterate evil before it like the movement of a blade. Limited to naught but violence. But it was so, so much more. And as anyone who had ever watched the movie might know, it could heal even the gravest of injuries.
I could only hope I wasn't too late.
The tip of the scepter slowly brightened, a bright pink glow softly diffusing in the area around us. The nightmare cringed away from the healing light, hissing as it did so.
"What is that?!!? What are you doing?!!? Stop foal, I command you!" it cried out, shielding its face from the light.
"Come over here and make me, parasite," I replied, touching the scepter to the small of the mares back. Second after second, seemingly nothing happened. Then, a blush of color appeared beneath the tip of my scepter. It quickly spread its way across her back, overtaking her body as she let out a shuddering gasp.
"No!!!" the nightmare snarled, hatred etched upon its features as spittle flew from its lips. "What have you done? How did... no. No matter. This simply means I'll have to kill her again, right after I've finished taking care of you," her confident smile returned, as she slowly stalked back towards us.
"Wha... whats going on?" the mare mumbled, slowly becoming aware of the dream around her. Upon seeing the Protector standing at her side her eyes grew wide in surprise. "Princess Luna? I... I remember... I can't... remember..."
"Mayhaps it is best that you do not," Luna claimed, placing herself between Applejack and the nightmare as she brandished her horn. "Twas not a dream meant for pleasant company."
"Oh don't worry," the nightmare claimed, stalking ever closer. "I'll be sure to reacquaint you with the lovely dream you were having. Just as soon as we get rid of the uninvited guests."
"About that," I started, swinging both my arms forwards to levy both my scepter and my key towards the nightmare. It stopped in its tracks, quirking an eyebrow at my actions.
"Oh? And what are you going to do with those, little king?"
"Not much. I'll stall her for as long as I can. Wake the bearers. Make sure they have the elements and bring them to wherever the hell the remains of this thing are in the waking world."
"What are you playing at?" the nightmare questioned, a look of dissatisfaction stamped across its snout. "You can't possibly think I'll just let the princess wake up, do you?"
"I'll keep it here," I continued, ignoring the nightmares words. "If you destroy it out there, it might be weak enough for me to kill it in here. Now, GO!!!" I shouted, swinging my key forth and ejecting Princess Luna from the realm of dreams.
I felt it as her consciousness vanished, and due to the expression on the nightmares face -one of suddenly stricken panic- I could assume it felt it as well.
"You too, Honesty," I muttered, swiping at her with my key.
"No!" the nightmare shrieked, vaulting forward to grasp desperately at the suddenly vacant space. "What have you done? What have you done?!!? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!" its' voice lowered in pitch becoming little more than a growl as its form collapsed inward upon itself. "What did you do? You shouldn't have been able to do that! You don't have that kind of power! You're nothing but a powerless little foal, playing at being king!" it snarled, trying to swallow me up.
I found myself above it, hanging in midair as a large balloon which was tied to my waist was steadily rising upward.
"You... you... YOU...." it drawled, its tone becoming increasingly more unhinged. "I... you.... you die. You die! You die now, you stars forsaken piece of trash! She belongs to me! Shes mine! Mine to do with as I please!"
"She's as much yours as she is mine," I said, pointing the tip towards the roiling blob beneath us. "We both are just borrowing her attention, what little we can scrape together."
"Now hold still, would you? Jazama... Pajama," I started the incantation as my balloon popped, sending me falling upwards away from the twisting nightmare. It shot tendrils of misshapen shadows after me, shrieking in rage as it tried to kill me.
I felt the power of the scepter tremble beneath my hands, and it was all I could do to hold it steady with both of them. My key lay forgotten once more, hanging lightly around my neck.
"Pajama... Jazama!" I called out, feeling the power build. The gem on the tip of the scepter burst forth with azure light, swiftly forming the tip into that of a glowing cone. It needed the full incantation if it was to hit with its full force. I'd only tried it at quarter incant previously, I hadn't dared try to recite the entire incantation before.
It would have taken too long.
Just as it was now taking too long. My recitation allowed the nightmare ample time to fall upwards after me, growing to fill the space around me with inky blackness. A tendril shot out, tearing a chunk of flesh from my leg as it grazed it. Momentary pain. It didn't matter. I had already given this nightmare too much leeway as it. I should have shoved the full incantation down every nightmares gullet as soon as I saw it. This was my fault. It was now my responsibility to set it right.
I could feel the time dilation falling apart outside the dream, returning us to the normal flow as we fell. I could only hope I had given them enough time. If I hadn't...
"Shimera Kazam!" I bellowed, ignoring as a mouth studded tendril ripped apart my left arm, leaving the scepter tightly gripped in my right. I swept the scepter in a looping pattern, severing the tendril that had taken my arm in compensation before returning the tip to bear on the quickly closing nightmare. "Kimera Kaz Imperatazam!"
The blazing light bloomed from the scepter, shattering its light in glowing arcs that shed itself in the air around me. A tendril stabbed forth, furiously skewering me through the shoulder as the nightmare laughed in delight.
"You realize they aren't going to make it in time, right?" the nightmare claimed giddily as it tore gleefully at my body. "You're going to die here, little king. Alone, and bereft. Even if they destroy my hold on my armor out there... It will only be a minor setback. I'll simply have to bide my time, wait while my power grows strong enough to gain another hoofhold. You've accomplished nothing, little king. Your dying gasp will be as pitiful as was your first."
"Paja-Pajap Shazama!" I cried out in concentration, trying to ignore the pain as it tore me limb from limb, finally grabbing onto my chest in a vice like grip.
"I was there when you made your first, do you remember? Did she even know? How could she have, she was always so blind, even when it was right there staring her in the face. How fitting that I should be the one to kill you, little king."
"Shazama!" I cried out, desperate to complete the incantation even as my consciousness ebbed.
"Pajamas! Pajamas!"the nightmare called out tauntingly as it held me in a cocoon of darkness, the scepter pinned to my side and its light all but snuffed out. "Is that all your petty little spell is? No wonder your so called powers are so pitiful. No wonder I'm now able to kill you not once... but twice!" she crowed, crushing the air from my lungs.
"Pa...jama..." I choked out, fighting to stay a cohesive entity. I had to hold on. I had to wait right up until I could feel the elements eating away at it from the waking realm. If I couldn't hold out till then, then it might get away. I wouldn't have that. I couldn't accept that.
"Pajama pajama," it parroted back at me in my own voice, "That's you! That's how dumb you sound!" she cackled in a harsh tone. "Really though, I have to thank you. I never imagined I might have a chance to cause dear old Luna this much pain. When I killed you the first time... locked you away in here, apparently... her lamentation was so delicious. I could have survived on that alone! When she learns of who you were, when she learns I killed her-"
THERE. I could feel the elements penetrating the dreamscape, the light delving deep to strike at its heart. The nightmare gave a sharp hiss as it tightened its grip once more, and I forced everything I had into one last thrust.
"Pa...jama," I choked out, finishing the incantation as I thrust the scepter forward into the center of its being. Light exploded from the tip, erasing the darkness around me and leaving nothing but light.
I could hear her choke out a single anguished scream, before everything went white.
They stood before the smoking remains of the once menacing armor. Chests heaving with the exertion of having traveled as far as they had in such short time, the air was permeated with heavy breathing.
"Sister... is it?"
"Verily," Luna confirmed, staring with satisfaction at the crumpled remains of the once mighty armor. "It hath been destroyed, both in and out of the dream. The nightmare... it is finished."
"Ho yeah!" Rainbow Dash crowed, pulling off a tight loop in the air before she threw her forelegs above her head in triumph. "Twice! She came outta the woodwork twice and we still kicked her tail straight up to her ears! I mean, are we awesome, or are we awesome!?"
Even the usually timid Flutter shy had the briefest of smiles grace her face, joining her friends in their levity.
"Indeed rainbow tinted one!" Luna declared, a tired but grateful smile plastered on her face. "We are victorious! Now we must..." she sagged, collapsing to the floor. A quick wing waving off her sisters advance saw her wearing an exhausted look. "Apologies. We... are still tired. There is but still one more task before us to complete however, before we can truly rest..."
"Princess?" Twilight asked, her gaze tracking between Celestia and Luna with a questioning look.
"If I were to guess," Celestia stated as Lunas' eyes closed, her head bowing as if in sleep, "I would wager that she's attempting to talk to her new friend~"
"She already made a new friend?" Pinkie Pie burst out, bouncing giddily in place. "I'm so proud of her, I knew she could do it!"
"Princess..." Applejack asked, lowering her hat to he barrel with a shaky hoof. "This friend..."
"Yes, the one within the dream, the one who somehow restored your health," Celestia affirmed, nodding her head.
"So... that all was real?" her gaze grew cloudy, tears threatening to spill forth unbidden. "What ah saw... I didn't... I don't really think that, do I?" she requested hopefully, looking up at the princess of the sun. "I can't get it outta mah head... I can't make the words stop repeatin' in mah head..."
"The nightmare preys on your weaknesses, your insecurities and pries at them until you fall," Celestia stated, drawing the trembling cowpony into a warm embrace. "Even one I viewed as strong as my own sister was brought low by its lies and honey tinged half truths. You are the bearer of honesty, fair Applejack. Tell me, how do you truly feel regarding its words?
By this time, most of the others had joined them in a giant group hug, save for Pinkie Pie. She was sitting in front of Luna, slowly batting at her mane.
"Ah... ah don't..." A look of determination crossed her face, and she placed her hat back upon its perch. "Ah would never let anythin' hurt mah sister. Nuthin'. Not even me. Mah parents... they left her as a precious gift to remember them by. Ah'll treasure her always. Always, by gum!"
"Nemo..." they heard a near strained sob escape from the princess of the moon.
"Loony?" Pinkie asked, leaning low to bump her forehead against the princesses. "You all right?"
"I... I am fine. Nemo..."
"What of the king?" Celestia asked, tilting her head in confusion regarding her sisters reactions.
"There... there's nothing left of the little king," Luna muttered aimlessly as she sank to the dusty stone beneath her. "He's... he didn't make it..."
"Oh... Luna..." Celestia crooned, drawing her in to the group hug with her magic.
"I couldn't find even the slightest trace of him, sister... the nightmare... It didn't leave any trace... it's like he was never even there..."
My head hurt.
...
...
...
My... head hurt.
It was hurting. I could feel it. It was aching with a steady beat, declaring the presence of blood flowing through my head. Flowing. Through my veins.
I sat up, my sudden movement bringing with it a brand new sensation of nearly unbearable pain. Light stabbed through my eyes, aggravating my headache even further.
With a low moan, I brought my hands up to rub at my temples. What dream had I been shunted into, to bring about such a sensation?
I brought my hands to my head... and hesitated as the hard surface of hooves brushed the hair of my coat. Tearing my eyes open slowly, I stared down at the two offending hooves curved upwards towards my face. Despite my desire to reform my human ego, they steadfastly remained as cloven hooves. I raised my arm to my mouth , intent to enforce the change with a brand new source of pain. Even as weak as I obviously was, I should still be able to retain my ego through applied will.
I flinched as the pain did nothing but add to the steadily growing list of confirmed aches. What was happening? Even as reduced as I was, there was no way I shouldn't be able to reform the dream around me.
I was... in a crystalline coffin, if my unfocused eyes were to be trusted. I pressed up at the lid, heaving at it unsuccessfully.
"C'mon... move you stupid-" I wheezed, a bright light momentarily sparking above my eyes. The lid was encased in an azure aura for a split second, before I blinked and it vanished. I stumbled upwards, tumbling over the lip of the coffin in a tangle of unfamiliar limbs. I had felt the bodies of the ponies before in centuries past, but this... it just felt wrong.
I scrabbled at the dirt beneath me, trying to right myself and gain my bearings. I reached out into the dream...
I felt nothing.
There was no dream. I couldn't feel anything. There wasn't anything there to grab onto, I couldn't... I didn't see... There was....
I crumpled to the ground, a panicked breath squeezing through my chest. There was no dream. I was alone. I couldn't hear any of my subjects, I couldn't feel the pliable fabric that dreams were made from.
"Is... this...?" I asked, the directionless question directed towards the dirt beneath me. I could feel the grit, in such a way I had never felt before. It was a brand new sensation, one I had forgotten over the centuries. "Am I... in the waking world?" I asked myself, prodding and poking at my body to try and shrug the unfamiliar shell off. I couldn't... stretch out of it. It was just... there.
With a sudden crash, the lid of the coffin fell back to the ground, barely missing me as I jumped back in fright. Looking up, I could see an indent in the top of the overgrown ceiling where it must have momentarily stuck after its brief disappearance.
"Did... I do that?"
A sudden twitch of movement to my left caught my attention, and I whipped my head around to focus on it. Bad move. A fresh new wave of pain greeted me as I cringed inward, moaning piteously into the dirt.
A wing lay splayed next to me in the dirt, jutting out from my side. It slowly crept back into a closed position, easing the cramp that had come from its opening.
Wings. I had wings. Looking up, I also had a horn. Judging by the giant glowing tree in the middle of the cavern, I was also ridiculously small.
I was... an alicorn foal?
"What the hell is going on?!!?" I cried out in confused frustration. Nothing made sense. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't have a body. I never did. It was always just the dream realm and nothing else. Yet here I was, pawing at a form unfamiliar. Cut off from my kingdom, left sore and confused in an unfamiliar location... I really wish I knew where I was.
There was a large opening leading out of the cave, away from the giant multicolored crystaline tree and the crystal coffin I had been in that lay under its downturned branches.
Another glance towards the exit sealed my decision. I'd never learn anything holed up in here. I had to get out.
I readjusted my scepter on my back, awkwardly pawing at the key around my neck in turn. If there was anything to be found, it wouldn't be from within this cave.
One leg after the other.
Out into the light.