Back again. Not much to say, besides that if you thought Celestia was bad in the last one, this ought to clear some things up.
'Oh boy... not this again.'
This was one of the many things going through my head as I stared into the eyes of a beast I was partial to block from my memory. It was something that constantly tormented us back on Earth, weaving in-between the tall trees that covered the mountain top. Scattered around me were the remains of my weapons, the rifle I had come accustomed to having been broken while being used to ward off the beasts gaping maw. Next to that was one of my extendable, a .9mm that had managed to stand up to the freezing temperatures, intact for the most part but too far away to be of any use. Lastly was my .357 Magnum, a personal favorite that I rarely used because of the scare ammunition I had found. That and it was a gift from a friend. Standing hunched over, blocking any chance for escape, was the beast, hovering close to my weapons, staring at me with cold grey eyes as my hand twitched.
This was obviously a dream.
Normally I couldn't distinguish a dream from reality, being that the nice ones were so uncommon that I would rather enjoy it than analyze it. This one though, no matter how realistic it was, would always be noticed. This is a dream I've had constantly, for months. I've seen to it that I notice all the abnormalities: the subtle end the trees signified, as the dream would end when I approached them, the hazy sky that when looked at would begin to distort itself into unidentifiable shapes, and lastly and certainly not least as the monster. You see, it being here was not real. For when I had found out the deeds this being was guilty of I had one objective in mind.
To track it down and gut it like the animal it is.
I saw to that the head of the beast was rotting away, the lifeless eyes now having new meaning. Ever since then I had begun to have this dream. It used to fill me with a sense of dread whenever I was aware of its presence, but not it only fills me with hatred and grief, for both the monster and myself. For it was I who let this heathen go, unscathed for its crime. A crime I had no intention of initiating, but was still held responsible for.
It had killed two of my closest friends and maimed one near to death, where they died of their injuries shortly after. Even to this day I couldn't say their names without feeling immense grief and anguish. I had started an argument that had gotten very heated. It was about what to do with Fluttershy, a strange and innocent young woman who showed up on our doorstep freezing cold and without clothes. We eventually let her in and the rest is history, until a fateful night.
Thanks to some force of nature, Fluttershy had been told to meet at an old abandoned storage house, though abandoned didn't mean much by then. At a time like that, it would be surprising to find someone alive, much less a small group of all males, for the most part anyway. When we had been told about this message, we were all very skeptical. Yes, by then she had been there for months and proved her worth many times over, but something like this was suicide, especially with weather that was constantly nearing hurricane speeds. Not to mention the monsters that lined the way down the mountain. It was a ridiculous idea, but not one we would dismiss.
After living with her for some time it became clear that something about the woman was strange, off if you will. She had something there that no one else in the world had, but to figure it out would be a pointless task, as she always had an answer that didn't make sense. Take 'being a Pegasus pony' for example. Now that I can finally believe her without looking like I had lost my mind, it makes more sense since that's what she actually was, just not on earth. On earth she was a normal human, with an admittedly surprising amount of strength for such a frail figure.
The day before the plan to trek down to the town was when it happened. One of our members was certain that it wasn't right, that there was something wrong. I of course took this the wrong way and began attempting to defend our newcomer, any bias from me not surprising as we had hit it off fairly early and began to learn to love each other. This eventually led to the rest of the team leaving to do something I couldn't remember at the moment. All I know is that as soon as they were outside the house, they set off running away from the behemoth that laid awake in ambush.
When I had reached them, it was too late. Two were obviously dead, their grotesque and mangled bodies having me hope to all deities that they were dead. To live in such a way, to survive an experience like that... one of them was torn straight in half while the others head had seemed to be missing. Then I noticed one was still alive, missing a foot and having large fresh scars all along their body. I was mortified at what had become of my closest allies. I would have nearly emptied my stomach right there if I hadn't connected eyes with the monster.
It leapt away from the survivor, who continued to wail in pain, and stalked towards me slowly before suddenly charging into me, sending me meters away. I had the rifle gripped in my arms, an old Springfield that had been left at the cabin by those who lived there before, and would later have to use it to fend off against the beasts jaws before getting a shot out next to its ear, forcing it to flinch, giving me just enough time to kick its neck in before getting up and sprinting away. When I had pulled out my .9mm I managed to get a few rounds off before it was smacked out of my hands by a frighteningly long tail.
This all leads up to now, me standing parallel to the horror that had taken my friends away. In that one moment, everything changed. Any fear for my life ceased as I realized that being scared was what had gotten us here. What had caused them to die. I would no longer obey fear, for now I banished it from my mind. All I could feel now was hatred. Hatred towards the thing in front of me, standing there arrogant in its strength. It would prove to be of no use in just a few moments.
I couldn't remember all the details as my anger made it fuzzy but the important parts I could see clearly. I had gotten off two rounds out of my magnum before using to block an attempt at a swipe. Next I saw my self going around the beast, unsheathing a family heirloom that would find its peak of glory that day. I slashed at its legs, forcing it into a lower position before I grappled the beast neck from behind, quickly jabbing the knife in its throat, feeling the resistance fade away as the blade hit its point and went even further, the tip breaching the end of its neck. I did not stop there.
I continued to stab it repeatedly in different areas, its shoulders, its back, even once managing its chest before it fell forward in a heap, barely breathing as it lay there, defeated. I still sat upon its back, staring at the animals vulnerable head. I gripped my knife harder than before, ripping it out of the beasts side before raising it above me with both hands, my gaze never leaving the target. With one last battle cry I impaled its head, feeling it thick skull attempt to match my own ferocity and failing. It immediately went limp and as I sat there, I yanked the knife out before plunging it back into the fatal wound.
Again.
And again.
Again and again until I couldn't find the strength to keep going. It was there I sat as I openly sobbed for the loss I had received that day. Even then, I forced myself up and began walking back to the house, limping the entire way there from scratches I hadn't noticed before. Even when I made it to the cabin I didn't stop until I found her. She was sat by a boarded up window with just enough space between the boards to see outside. I made it to her and collapsed, pouring out whatever emotion I could find still left in me while she held me, probably crying too. I normally woke up before I got here but I guess I could deal with more now.
After a while I seemed to run out of everything and just stood there, enjoying the moment. That is ,until I noticed something. It was small and I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't felt like something was off. There was something here, watching me. As I curiously looked around I eventually found a small patch of purple smoke filtering through the walls. It was very subtle, in fact I didn't even acknowledge it until I saw a pair of two small eyes.
I don't know what came over me but at that moment I felt the rush of battle once more. I gently pried Fluttershy off me, her giving me a confused glance, before I turned to stare at the well. The eyes were much more noticeable now and I would have seen the eye color if the rage I was experiencing wasn't so blinding. I gripped my fists tightly, a face of pure unadulterated rage permanently stained on my face before I sprinted to the wall. As I raised my fist and gave a battle cry, the eyes widened everything began to dissipate. Right as I felt my hand connect to the watching being everything went dark and I lost conscientious.
I woke up with a start, swinging my fist as a first instinct. When it connected with mere air, I gave the room I was in a look. It was not the cabin as I had believed, but rather in the house of my beloved. After taking a moment to compose myself I sat up at the edge of the small bed, something I hadn't noticed before. I gave a sigh before standing, noticing that my clothes had stayed the same overnight, something I was completely fine with. With grunt I began stretching as I walked to the door leading into downstairs. Didn't want to keep her waiting.
When Luna had begun to attempt to delve into the humans dreams she did not expect so much resistance. While it did not appear so at first, Jorge may have been trained in the arts of mental defense, or he might have been gifted with it. Either option only made it more apparent that this was no easy task.
So she waited.
She waited days until she felt the humans pull on the dreamscape. It surprisingly rough, demanding attention before all others, ignorant to the level of seriousness that Luna took in her nightly task. As she went through each and every beings troubled dreams that were within her reach the ferocity of the humans dream became more and more apparent. Once she finally made to his door she made preparations. She had been planning ever since her fist attempt failed, up to the point where she was certain victory would be assured. It was when she managed to get past the haughty doors that she realized that it might not have been the best of ideas.
While it she was certain she had missed the majority of the dream, she deemed what she saw to be enough. It was Jorge, beaten and bloodied, walking through snow covered ground towards a small cottage or cabin. As she followed him she saw the interior of the home through cracks in the walls, not wanting to expose herself just yet, though it would turn out to be well outside her control as he had began to stare at the wall she was hiding in.
Narrowing her eyes she made sure to cast another spell the next time, if only to hide her further. When he had walked parallel to the wall she had consented to revealing herself, and she might have been able to if he hadn't charged towards her in righteous anger, aiming a fist directly towards her face. She began to dissipate the dream, but not fast enough as she felt the fist impact her before sending her out of the dream.
She laid there on the floor of the dreamscape, dazed and confused as to what happened when she heard the sound of the door turning to sand. When she successfully righted herself she found the only evidence of his placement was the sand following an invisible breeze that took it away to unknown places.
She thought long and hard about the encounter, confirming her suspicions. His mind was a strange and unusual place filed with unfortunate memories. She had suspected that to be true but seeing the evidence in front of her very eyes was different. She now understood that he disliked visitors in his personal dream space and would actively confront them. While this was somewhat disappointing, she smiled, glad to have learned a valuable lesson about the human.
She couldn't wait to tell her sister all about it, though she felt as if, in some way, she might have already known.
With a content smile resting on her face she began to shift and morph her surroundings into a personal exit just for her, gladly trotting through.