VI - Nightmare's Minion
Pip entered his bedroom and locked the door behind him. Unlike on the Lunar Mare, rooms at the fortress weren't created by imagination, as they were simple and provided only required necessities, like a desk or a changing screen. You wouldn't need a shower in your room because the restrooms and showers were down the hall. You wouldn't need your own bath because the spa was two stories below. The slick, layered granite bedrooms, however, still had necessities that other pirates wouldn't have: an armoire to store their swimsuit used for the lagoon below, a weapon rack nearby in case of invasion, a water bed (which admittedly sometimes backfired for a child's bladder), a body-sized mirror, and a desk with pencils and crayons for journal entries.
Pip threw his shorts and underwear off, knowing that as soon as Featherweight's and Dinky's tours were over, it would be time to play. He took out his swimsuit, light brown and rustic with his cutie mark on each flank area, and sniffed it; it still smelled of chlorine. He loved swimming, especially outdoors. Luna added chlorine to the water surrounding the fortress to make it feel more like a swimming pool, and it practically worked. The atmosphere was the best of both worlds, as he would be able to both pee in the water without any consequences and do so with the fine sand getting trapped between his toes. However, although he loved playing in the water, he was a pirate. He had treasure hunting to do. Making sure his swimming trousers were snug, he moved to his desk and opened a drawer to take about an array of treasure maps. Luna had new maps prepared for the young buccaneer every time his crew docks. Treasure could be found anywhere, from a forgotten temple under the seafloor to a mountainous cave above the Everfree Forest; from hidden underneath floorboards in a standard portside tavern to searching all over Manehatten for a few measly doubloons.
He looked at this visit's dozen of maps. A hidden cave at Foal Mountain? He already went there, and he would've noticed something like that by now. Plus, that mountain smelled weird...like newborn babies? It was a scent he'd rather not go back to anytime soon. A grotto in White Tail Woods? He had never been to White Tail Woods. It sounded like a good place for camping. But a grotto? That sounds small and little rewarding. He'll consider it for now. An abandoned castle in the middle of the Zebrican Ocean? That was automatic approval in young Pip's eyes. Anything abandoned was bound to be abundant in riches.
"Well, it seems you are once again deciding by your own greed."
A chill went down his spine, despite the summer rays shining onto his back.
That voice...is it?
Taking a gulp, he forced himself out of his chair and turned around. There was no source of the voice. It was probably his brain playing tricks on him. That nightmare last night scared him stiff. Getting his thoughts back on track, he took the maps to his bed. Walking over, however, he caught something out of the corner of his eye from his mirror. Is Luna ready? He looked toward the window, but nothing was there. Luna's scared him before, and she's probably trying to now. He turned back toward the mirror and screamed at the stranger staring back within.
Dinky walked around the halls with Luna. As big as the fortress was on the outside, it looked even bigger on the inside. She recalled one of those old boring black-and-white shows her parents watched of that weird old man and a time machine. His time machine was just a narrow rectangular box, but inside seemed to be an entire universe on its own. She watched it as a little kid, but got bored easily. She could never understand at the time how someone could watch something that has no color. After all, nothing keeps a child's attention more than technicolor cartoons that had innocent, violent humor. Adults were just weird.
"So how often will we come here?" she asked.
"As often as your ship passes by," Luna answered, her gaze focused toward the end of the hallway ahead. "I must divert this topic, however." She paused in front of an arch, of which the inside was marked by baby blue tile, completely out of place in a castle made of dark rocks. "Now, here are the bathroom and shower facilities for this floor."
Dinky looked inside, and saw that the bright wall in front of her actually connected two separate rooms. To her left was a row of three showers separated by walls of glass. However, the glass was so blurred only as little detail could be seen as possible, much to her own relief and most likely her other mates as well. Curtains hung from a metal cylindrical bar to ensure that the only parts of her body visible to outside were her legs and feet. To her right held the actual bathroom, which was surprisingly much cleaner than she anticipated. Instead of urine stained flooring and unmentionable terrors, the setting was more like how a school's restroom should be: toilets on one side, with privacy doors and walls surrounding each one (Thank Faust!) and a-
AHHH!!
A shriek erupted from the floor above, making Dinky jump. The voice, though, there was no mistaking...
"Pipsqueak!" she shouted. However, Luna was already making a mad dash toward the stairwell.
"Something's blocking my magic. Hurry, child!"
While Dinky was too weak to control her magic at her age, there was no point trying if royalty couldn't. As fast as her legs could allow, she rushed up the spiral stairwell.
Princess Luna had done pranks on Pipsqueak in the past, putting Nightmare Moon's image into his mirror at night and hiding spiders or other creepy crawlies under his pillow or bed covers. However, this wasn't her, but rather a grotesque...thing. It was an anthropomorphic rat that showed extremely old age, as if it had lived forever. Even with that, however, it still had a full head of yellowed, mold-like hair. The body itself was beaten, and wore a tattered trench coat. Also, was it just him, or was the figure...blocky? Pip looked behind him, but no such person was there.
"You seem surprised to see me in person, my friend."
Pip froze. What was this thing, and why was he real?
"Am I really just a nightmare to you?" A spider crawled out of its nose, seemingly on purpose.
"You're..." Pip began but he couldn't vent his emotions into words. "Get lost!"
"For what? I wouldn't cause any trouble..." He paused for a second and thought, putting his...flippers?...against his chin. "...or would I?"
"Enough of your games!" he shouted. His fear was slowly channeling into frustration.
"Oh come now," it laughed. "My friend, you and I are like light and shadow. You can't have one without the other. I only exist because of you...Pipsqueak."
"Pipsqueak, are you there?!" Dinky shouted, banging on the locked door. "Luna, it won't budge! Help him!"
"I can't, I already said!" Luna responded, her edge not very well hidden. "Something is disabling my magic!"
"But you're a princess, you should be more powerful than whatever's in there!"
Ignoring Dinky's complaint (albeit legitimate), Luna looked around and saw the armored mannequin behind her. She took it and held it as if it was a ram.
"Get out of the way, Miss Dinky. Dost thou know what 'to improvise' means?"
"SHUT UP!" Pip screamed, throwing his desk chair at the mirror, breaking the reflection into pieces. However, despite the shattered shards of glass and wood on the ground, the creature's image still retained. Now, however, its image was on each separate shard of glass. Now instead of one scary creature eyeing him, he faced a dozen if not more.
"Just remember, Pipsqueak. You won't be a child forever."
Luna broke the locked door open for Dinky, just in time to see the creature before it faded away. Pip was sitting on the floor, crying into his arms. Even after the rat's leave, the pirate was in tears, still muttering.
"Leave me alone...leave me alone..."
Rumble was wondering why his captain was taking so long. He and Featherweight were told to meet by the showers, but a message from Luna said to continue without them. Not wanting to disobey his sworn ruler, he followed her command. However, even during their shower period, Rumble focused less on helping Featherweight's aim and more on his best friend. Did something happen? Was there a special princess-to-captain talk going on right now? And wasn't Luna supposed to be guiding Dinky through the castle like he has been with Featherweight? He snatched himself out of his trance to focus on what's now. He was helping Featherweight become a master at the art of shower urination (whom was quickly adapting) and he should be helping to make the new underling comfortable, not the opposite. Too bad the grunt had to ask a question as soon as he finished trickling down his leg.
"Rumble, where's Captain?" he asked curiously.
Rumble hesitated before making his response.
"Busy," he replied. "Captain duties, like finding treasures and stuff. Luna's having a meeting with him, too. And, uh, he had to get his swimsuit ready." He was hoping any possible reason for his delay were all of the above.
"We have swimsuits? Oh, thank Faust," he said, relieved that he didn't have to be naked in front of anyone in anyplace other than the showers. "Admiral Rumble, can I ask you something private?"
Rumble laughed. They were both boys. What kind of question was that?
"Go on," he challenged. "We're both men here. Ask away."
"Is it..." Featherweight paused as he hesitated to ask in front of a high-ranking pirate. "Is it funny that I don't like being naked in front of people? Like you?"
Rumble stopped washing his hair to think. Honestly, he felt mixed emotions about the subject, mostly because of how relatable it was. When he still lived in Ponyville, he actually was a little hesitant going into a changing room whenever his babysitters took him to the public pool in Cloudsdale. Unlike other children his age, he wasn't so scared about his blank flank as he was about...down there. That was a secret that he wouldn't even tell Pipsqueak at first. Since he became a pirate, however, Luna reassured him that his fear was more out of courtesy for his surroundings rather than embarrassment. He'd laugh from remembering, too, his first reaction when one of Luna's "textbooks" said that it used to be normal for people to parade with their privates hanging out for everyday tasks. However, times were different and nowadays that was considered obscene by the more civilized attitudes of Canterlot.
"It's not a big deal," he replied coolly. "Not to me, anyway. Of course, some people will complain about stuff like that, but we're pirates. We're all in it together, whether we're fighting a kraken or showering and cleaning ourselves. Am I making you uncomfortable somehow?" He noticed Featherweight struggling to reach his wings to clean them. "Need some help with that, bud?"
"Yes please," Featherweight said as Rumble dispensed soap to scrub the younger's gritty wings. "I don't know, it's just weird. I feel like you guys tease me behind my back like I was at the orphanage."
"You don't have to worry about that," Rumble assured. "Think of our crew as one huge family and our ship as a house. We don't betray each other because, at sea, we're all we have. Do you understand now?" to which the young boy nodded with a smile back on his face.
Featherweight really was a brother to him, in a way (part of that might just be because they're both pegasi), and he felt like he could talk about more matters with him than his own captain. His attention finally relaxed about Pipsqueak's situation, he let the small boy rinse off his wings before helping him into his swimsuit and walking him out of the showers toward the lagoon that waited below.
"Captain, are you alright?" asked a worried Dinky.
"Get away from me!" he shouted, pushing her back, but Luna wouldn't have it.
"She's trying to help you, boy! Show some appreciation!"
Not wanting to triggering his princess's rage, he let Dinky lead him to his bed. He felt dizzy. All of this had to be some weird daydream from the summer heat, right? Was he hallucinating all of this and making himself look like some insane person from Canterlot Asylum? He wanted to talk, but he couldn't describe what he saw. How exactly do you get your crew, or even the princess of dreams, to believe that a blocky rat person invaded your bedroom mirror and taunted you about your future until you finally lost it?
This was wacky even for Equestrian standards, with its existance of chimeras, dragons, and minotaurs, and random tunes that played out of nowhere when someone started to sing.
Luna on the other hand, was surprised. She would naturally expect the spirit of Nightmare to enter his dreams this time of year, what with it being October and close to Nightmare Night. However, this would usually only happen at night, when the spirit was more powerful. This was new; this wasn't any of Nightmare Moon's images, but rather someone new. She thought back to her legends of Equestrian lore, looking to see if this figure was familiar, when it hit her. She thought this rat was banished to Tartarus the last time she saw him.
She saw him in person, and it was difficult to forget the vividness of the image because it was the only true memory she still had from being a young kid.
A very young Luna dragged her half-asleep sister into her room and pointed at the mirror. The noticeable wet spot on her bedsheets, even visible in the faint moonlight shining through her window, showed that whatever startled her did so tremendously. Celestia, however, wasn't willing to have this at one in the morning. These nightmares had been going on for at least a week now, and yet Luna hasn't come up with the bright idea of telling their mother. It was always Tia; Tia, I had a bad dream. Tia, can you make me a glass of water? Tia, Tia, Tia!
"Luna, do you have any idea of what time it is?" the elder sister groaned.
"But he appeared again!" whined the youngster, squeezing tight to her Ursa doll. "The creepy mouse did!"
"Luna, how many times have Mother and Father...and I...told you?" She said in as much of a dignitary voice as she could muster past her bedtime. "You're getting to be of age where, as future Princess of Night and Dreams, you'll have nightmares every so often."
"But he keeps coming back!" she explained, in tears. "And these aren't nightmares, they're real! Can't I just sleep with you, Tia?" she asked, activating her cute puppy face. Unfortunately, Celestia was used to it by now. She always wondered how it worked every time with her mother. Trying to sound assertive without waking her up and making Luna cry more than she already had, she spoke.
"Luna, you'll be seven years old next October. Especially as royalty, you can't rely on others to baby you. I love you, sister, but you have to face these challenges on your own. I don't know where these nightmares are coming from, but as you'll be dreamwalking one day, you have to find the solution on your own."
Luna was streaming tears. How could her sister betray her like this? She thought Tia loved her and would protect her from everything that threatened her, and now she was just abandoned. She wasn't old enough to understand what dreams were, or what caused them. How was she expected to fight something that "supposedly" didn't exist? What was she talking about, it was real! Why wouldn't it be? She knew the difference between real life and a dream, and this was real life!
"Can't I just sleep with you once? Just tonight?"
Celestia glared and sighed. Of course, she was annoying, but she wasn't going to risk her sister being exposed to whatever night terrors she experiences throughout...nor risk many sleepless nights as this cycle repeats.
"Fine, you can sleep with me this once," she decided. As Luna's hopes soared, Tia interrupted her. "However, first you need to change your pajamas. And get the servants to wash you up, too, because there's absolutely no way I'm letting you sleep with dried piss in my bed." Nevertheless, Luna smiled (and even blushed at the mention of her accident) and ran toward the doorway before turning around.
"Can I bring Umbra, too?"
Celestia broke into a smile and chuckled at the mention of her sibling's stuffed ursa major.
"Of course you can, sister."
"Princess, are you alright?"
Luna snapped herself out of her trance. She felt a tear slipping from her eye. Was she crying? Pipsqueak was staring curiously toward her face, looking for an answer, but still trembling. He contained his fear within his eyes, as his pupils were bead-sized and red from his recent sobbing fit, but showed no signs of serious mental trauma. In that sense, she was relieved.
"Yes..." she stated. "I think I know what this thing is that is terrifying you."
"A minion from Nightmare Moon?" asked Dinky, equally anticipating the reveal of the villain, though more out of an awkward combination of concern and excitement. Dinky found it odd how Luna seemed much quieter than she usually was.
"Possibly," the princess considered. "but this entity has been around much longer than she has. I was hoping he couldn't escape Tartarus, but if Tirek was able to..."
Her thoughts wandered off. The memories were back. Her memories of the spirit were back, and she knew his name.
Gregory...
Luna began to walk toward the door, catching Pipsqueak's attention.
"Luna, where are you going?" he asked.
"I'm going back to Canterlot," she said. "I have some work to do."
With her magic, she opened a portal to the Canterlot's royal library. She stopped before entering and looked back at the two.
"I'm sorry for the troubles you are about to face," she said before leaving for good.
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4504064 It would be if stories didn't have a 5 genre limit. The 5 that are currently listed also apply to Pipsqueak, and I think are more significant than human/anthro.
Also, this may be my own misunderstanding, but Human represents that a human has come from the real world and into Equestria, not humanized characters themselves. So, the Echo the Diamond Dog series, My Little Dashie, and Bathtime with Ponies all properly fit the genre.
4504064 Void the genre part, but seriously, Anthro is a very minimal genre.