Dreamscape Commandos

by Dash The Stampede

Breaking the Psyche

Sound could not believe his eyes. Before him sat a whole camp, a veritable town of trees and shacks, all hidden inside a cliff illusion! His jaw nearly dislocated from the sheer awe, and he was reminded of this when an unfortunate fly landed on his tongue.

"Urk!" Sound coughed a few times to get the offending insect out of his mouth, then re-assessed his location. "Princess, where are we?" he asked, wonder evident in his eyes.

"As I have said, young Sound, this is my Camp Pax Æterna, the place where your mind and body are attuned to the dream magic that I once was the sole controller of. It seems that since you passed the barrier, you are of the ability to Dreamwalk, therefore, you qualify for my Dreamscape Commando program." Luna lectured Sound softly, her demeanor much more relaxed now under the safety of the illusion.

"Dream Commandos sound like soldiers, like the Royal Guard! It's not dangerous, is it?" the colt's eyes widened. "What if you get injured in the dream? Does it hurt you in real life? What if-" Sound's comment devolved into murmurs as a midnight blue hoof found its way to his mouth.

"Do not worry, little one. We'll ensure your safety, however, I find it important for you to speak with Von Dreamy first, as he will set your agenda here. However, that is not the first matter at hoof." Luna extended her wing and placed it over Sound's back, encouraging him to walk further with her.

"O..Oh. Okay Princess." Sound mumbled, clearly not sated for safety. His legs, which had fallen asleep as he sat, felt as though he was being stabbed with tiny needles and his breath came short, having exhausted himself from the overload of information. He was going to be a soldier! Maybe even one to rival the Royal Guard! And what was that about passing the barrier? Weren't unicorns the only users of magic? Sound had a multitude of questions running through his head.

"Come now, young Sound, let us find you a bunk, and get you set up with Counselor Von Dreamy." Luna ushered Sound through a group of young ponies practicing their levitation. "You'll begin his class tomorrow morning. Von Dreamy will share the more precise information when you meet. Ah, here we are!" Luna gently motioned toward a rough assembly of shacks that could only be the bunk houses. "I'll let you get settled in. Von Dreamy will be waiting for you in his classroom, located atop the tree in the center of camp." Luna turned to leave, stopping suddenly.

"Oh, and Sound?" Luna spoke softer this time, almost sympathetic in tone.

"Yes, Princess?" Sound had chosen a top bunk, and now looked down to see Luna smiling.

"Do be careful. With you being the first earth pony accepted, I fear the other campers will treat you with hostility. I will be watching, Sound. Make us all proud." Luna lit her horn, and in a flash of light and a flourish of stars, she disappeared from the cabin.

"Us? Who am I trying to impress exactly?" Sound wondered aloud.

"Those no-good Dreamwalkers! That's who!" A unicorn colt shuffled in the bottom bunk, grumbling angrily.

"No-good?! You can't say that about Princess Luna! She'd never put her subjects in danger!" Sound found himself defending the only decider of his fate, as the colt below him raged and fumed about the 'Dreamwalkers'.

"Are you kidding me? I heard last year, a group of unicorns died during Von Dreamy's Basic Braining class! Just sat there, lost in his mind, when they...EXPLODED!" The unknown colt suddenly shouted, making Sound jump and slam his head into the ceiling.

"Ow! The hell? Don't scare me like that!" Sound slammed a hoof down on the mattress, sending a cloud of dust down onto the pony below him. A fit of sneezing and coughing followed the onslaught. Not a nose was saved from the dust-ocalypse.

*Cough* "If you're-hack scared that easily, then you're in for a world of hurt! Hahaha!" The colt was laughing menacingly. "So, Sound, was it? I don't think you know the real intentions of the camp, or of Counselor Von Dreamy or Luna. Or anypony here, for that matter. Let me fill you in, eh? Name's Broken Psyche, I'm sort of a veteran here." Broken didn't seem to care if Sound objected or not. He launched right into his tale.

"Two years ago, Luna returned from her imprisonment in the moon, as I'm sure you're aware. She had been controlled by a powerful mental presence known only as 'The Nightmare', and the Elements of Harmony purged it from her body. However, the Princesses fear that the Nightmare may be able to encompass so much more, able to control not just a Princess...a whole nation!" Broken took a breath and sat up, getting out of the bed to take a look at the newcomer. He stopped mid-thought when the new unicorn was anything but. "Y..You're an earth pony! They don't let you mudponies in here!" Broken spat the racial term as though it was nothing.

"Who're you calling a mudpony, you jerk!" Sound raised his voice in an attempt to defend his heritage.

"The bloody mudpony right in front of my eyes!" Broken was practically screaming at Sound, his eyes bulging and his muscles tense.

"I'm not a mudpony! Maybe if you didn't have your horn so far up your-" Sound found his speech cut off, a magical hampering of his voice cast by the recent addition to the cabin: Von Dreamy.

"Colts! Vat is the meaning of this pointless argument?!" Von Dreamy had taken authority, suspending both colts midair whist silencing them. "Herr Broken! Explain at once!" Von Dreamy's eyes were anything but nice. He was staring murder into Broken, the colt shaking in fear.

"I..I thought we didn't accept any ponies except unicorns! He can't even do magic! Why do we have to live with this mud-urk!" Broken found his air supply cut off again, Von Dreamy having silenced him again.

"I VILL NOT ACCEPT YOUR RACIST REMARKS! IN! MY! CAMP!" Von Dreamy was outraged, to say the least. Broken's body had swayed back and forth through the air as Dreamy made his motives clear. "You vill NOT, und I mean NOT use those terms in my camp, und certainly not toward our new recruits. Broken Psyche, until I see that you can improve in your treatment ov your fellow ponies, you vill be staying by MY side for the remainder ov this veek!" Counselor Von Dreamy was a sight to behold, fiery strands of psychic energy were lashing at his silhouette, threatening to burn his coat and mane off.

The Counselor focused his magic, and Broken disappeared with a slight pop. "Off to Luna, Broken!" He set Sound back atop his mattress as the flames dissipated. "Vell, now that you've gotten yourself into a bit ov a quarrel, I vill be watching you closely as vell. Now, ve vill meet tomorrow at 0700 hours at my classroom atop the center tree. I expect to see you there, herr Sound." The Counselor wiped sweat from his brow with a kerchief in his shirt pocket. "Do not disappoint me, or ve vill not have a place for you in our camp. I look forward to your Basic Braining, herr Sound Slumber. Dismissed!" The Counselor threw a salute, and Sound, still in shock of the last two minutes, numbly raised a forehoof in a weak salute back.

Sound watched the distorted sunset from his bed. He hadn't moved since the conflict with Broken Psyche, except to scribble his name on the chalkboard hanging from his bunk. Aside from him, the bunk house was empty, save for a small sleeping form three bunks over. When had that pony arrived? Had they slept through the madness? Sound mused the questions in his mind, running a mental check over everything that happened in his eventful day. He shimmied under the blanket, causing an unearthly wail of squeaky springs to echo the building. Soft snoring ensured the sleeping pony was still at it.

"I wonder what Broken was meaning by The Nightmare...can it really control an entire country?" It had taken a Princess of Equestria! Surely it held the power to control a small army, Sound reasoned. He left those thoughts on the back burner while he tried to get comfortable in bed, ready to end the hectic day and begin his venture into the mysterious cloaked Camp Pax Æterna. His eyes closed in finality, the soft snoring from his mouth proving him to be in sound slumber indeed.

Patterns crossed his peripherals...was that a face?

"Hello there, young'in! Lord Cruller at your service!"

Author's Note:

Here we are, second chapter. I'm wondering what you all think so far!

Join Sound as he explores his Dreamscape with Lord Cruller in chapter 3! coming soon!

Heh, both chapters have the same word count! Totally not planned!

Comments

[Dash The Stampede]

3744301
Uh.

I see.

...

You got way too technical for me there. I don't mean to sound indifferent, but I don't really want anything from this. I've let the idea grow cold in my mind, mostly I was daydreaming about Luna's dreamwalk and the psychonauts one day and let my thoughts out. I don't have a coherent plan for it, I haven't even played the game in a few years, and I'm just dumping ideas away. I'm sorry if I've disappointed you, but it's more of a 'throwaway' fic if anything.

I don't even really have an urge to continue it, to be honest..I've lost my inspiration.

Your conversation on colored words and stuff, man, I don't even know what you're talking about. I don't look into how I write, I just do it, and hope somebody else gets a laugh or a good vibe from it. Take my most popular story, T-T-T-Tia!, for example.

Wrote the whole damn thing in about an hour when sleep deprived and hopped up on tea I had no direction, really, just a funny idea, and look where it got me! I'm proud of the way I currently write, especially if I'm improvising on the spot. When I drag an idea out, like this fic, I find myself losing focus quickly, and if it sits for a few days, I lose my grasp on what I was planning.

That's why I'll write mostly one-shots. My multi-chapter works just don't...work for me. I can't keep the idea rolling long enough.