06| This too, shall pass
It was Luna’s intention to seek out Joseph’s thoughts while asleep. The ability to inconspicuously traverse the Dreamscape came in extremely handy for tasks such as this, and the purpose of this particular “Dream Walk”, as Luna aptly named it, meant to discover anything that could be considered nefarious towards the nation, as the case with the new arrival.
While Celestia and Luna gave him the benefit of the doubt in his actions at having been thrust into the unfamiliar world, that did not excuse the need for further investigation. While the subject had control over their dreams, they had to be aware of themself dreaming to be able to gain control of what manifests in the dream.
The sudden appearance of the Princess of the Night could easily be chalked down to the subconscious recreating her.
The dream realm was like a massive ethereal corridor with portals to dreams all around. The individual portals wrapped around Luna as she walked through the veritable tube. She simply needed to think of somepony, or a portal within her view, and that particular one would pluck itself out of the ethereal sky and present itself in front of her.
Her task was made more complicated by the fact that she was looking for a portal whose owner had two minds in the same head. After the face, she didn’t know what to think of; Joseph, Nightmare Moon, or the physical body they both inhabited. Given not too many ponies knew what Nightmare Moon looked like outside of her armour, Luna ventured that very few would take her seriously without it.
She kept an eye out for any portals that seemed to be… out of place? All of the others were easy enough to locate because they each had one mind and she hadn’t had too much experience with this kind of thing before.
It became apparent after some thought that the solution had been masquerading around as the problem all along. While she couldn’t figure out a method of selection for Joseph’s dream portal, her magic would allow her to dispel all portals that had one mind in them, which would leave any other portals that had conflicting personalities.
She once used it to find Discord’s portal before he got turned to stone. Given his mind is no different than his title as the God of Chaos, Luna tried and found it to work.
However, she did not like what she saw. Never again could Luna look at chocolate milk and candy floss without the overwhelming urge to purge her stomach contents.
Luna charged her horn with magic, readying the spell.
One by one the portals got switched off like light bulbs out of of existence. They’d be back by the time Luna returned to the real world, either that or she could ‘turn them back on’, but given the former the latter seemed pointless.
Out of the myriad of dreams, only a few discernable ones remained. Luna passed one in particular, and she knew all too well who it belonged to. She pushed the thought out of her mind and shuddered at what would be going through his head.
She called the remaining half dozen or so portals in a circle around her, and one by one she put her head through each. The first belonged to the peculiar pink mare whom she met beforehoof, after the Elements purged Nightmare Moon from her. While her magic wasn’t near as strong as Celestia’s since it was mostly stripped along with the Nightmare and essentially resided in Joseph, it would return to her in all due time. That said, Dreamwalking is relatively simple and doesn’t require too much effort.
The second portal housed a peculiar sight; a blue pony with scraggly silvery-white hair, barking. “Oohhhkay,” Luna awkwardly stated before turning herself to the third portal.
She put her hoof on it, but got quite the surprise. It refused to let her in. Not only that, but it gave her quite the literal shock. Luna tried pressing harder but the shocks got all the more intense. Eventually she was forced to pull her hoof away before the shocks got too bad. She got as close as she could, peering through the portal to the best of her ability.
She could see her dark alter-ego talking to a strange bipedal creature. He looked rather agitated as Nightmare exchanged words with him. Luna kept watching the conversation.
Joseph cupped his face in his hands as Nightmare sat next to him, but Luna couldn’t figure out what those strange appendages were. They looked like claws, but more fleshy and flexible. They looked almost like tiny little penises on the end of hooves, and that perplexed Luna to no end.
She couldn’t read the human like a normal pony in terms of body language, and thus had no idea whether or not he could be sad, happy, conflicted…
Luna focused her magic on the portal, thinking because it was a new creature she was dealing with that it would require a different method to get into Joseph’s dream. Luna let the spell drift from her horn to the portal, but unlike the physical contact that shocked her, the spell didn’t agree with the portal.
Instead, it got violently rejected. So much so that it sent her flying away as lightning arced to Luna from the portal. An apparition of Nightmare Moon manifested itself in front of Luna but she could still see the other version of the Nightmare talking to Joe.
You’re not taking this one away from me. He’s mine, it said before dissolving, leaving a shocked and stunned Luna staring wide-eyed at the portal.
“I must tell Celestia!” Luna exclaimed.
She closed her eyes in concentration and furrowed her brow, readying her magic to take her back to the real world. Ponies that don’t know they’re dreaming get woken up by external means, namely something that goes bump in the night so it’s no big deal. Dreamweavers, like Luna and a select few special ponies, have the innate ability to interact with dreams and they usually had to will themselves awake. That essentially meant forcing themselves to wake up, although having someone else wake them up would work the same.
Luna sat bolt-upright in bed with a sharply inhaled gasp, immediately letting it heave as her chest rose and fell with panicked breaths.
You see, Joseph, The Fates have chosen you for a reason, The Nightmare began.
’What, those three old bags? How did they ‘choose’ me, then?’ he queried. ’I’m pretty sure this happening with me in your body wasn’t an arbitrary decision.’
Nightmare Moon had spent the duration of the walk from when they left the house trying to explain why Joseph had ended up in this land. Her supposedly convincing argument was doing little to persuade him.
’You see, I’m aware of people like you. You spin elaborate tales and try to convince me to do your deeds since you are rather incapable of doing so given your current predicament,’ Joseph said, irritation creeping up in the tone of his voice. ’You would do wise not to underestimate me just because you don’t know anything of my species.’
Hmm, Nightmare smirked. We shall see about that.
’Just what do you mean by that?’ he asked. Several seconds of silence ensued without a response. ’Uh, hello? You still up there?’ He tapped a hoof to the side of his head but still got no response.
“Oi, you still there?” Joseph asked aloud.
Another’s voice sounded, thickly accented. “I didn’t realise I was supposed to go anywhere.”
Joseph’s head snapped to his left and he saw a rather well-built, alabaster unicorn wearing what could be described as a waistcoat by human standards, with a monocle propped on his right eye, sitting outside at a cafe table while sipping a cup of tea that floated in his aura.
Looking down a bit further, he noticed the stallions cutie mark consisted of a moustache with an overlying monocle. Joseph pondered why someone with a picture of a moustache on their thigh wouldn’t have one growing.
“I must say, you seem to be quite the character. It’s not often I see a mare with dark purple mane and equally darker blue coat, but… it is rather surreal to see a grown mare without a cutie mark, if I’m to be honest, my dear.”
“Hey, y’all best not be hittin on me,” Joseph retorted. “I’ve had enough of that and I’ve not been here two days.”
“Madame, I’m merely suggesting I could help your cutie mark appear,” the stallion replied with condescending sincerity.
Joseph turned in place to face the stallion with a slightly confused look. “I thought they appear when you ponies find the thing that yo..” Joseph cut himself off, mentally chastising himself for not completely thinking that through.
He had caught wind of an explanation that a cutie mark is a pony’s special talent, effectually representing either the job or profession they’re best suited at… doing.
“Oh you dirty bastard!” Joseph exclaimed.
Instantly, a rather wide grin appeared on the stallion’s face. Indicative of what Joseph would have called a ‘shit-eating’ grin, he leered at the pony and cursed himself for walking right into that one. Joe’s interesting choice of wording garnered the attention of several passer-by’s, whom seemed to snicker at the monocle-wearing pony’s expression.
Utilizing the moment, Joseph plucked the teapot from the table and held it aloft in his aura. “It looks like you enjoy your tea, don’t you?” he began.
“My my, the lady seems to have considered my offer! She’s pouring me another cup of tea to prove it!” He laughed at his own joke, but the moment was short-lived.
Joe didn’t pour another cup, no, he had other plans in mind for it. He levitated the teapot over the head of the stallion and turned it upside down. The lid to the pot fell off and hit the unnamed stallion on the horn before clattering back to the table. The tea stained the alabaster-white coat, turning the top half of him a light brown. The basket holding the tea leaves slid out as the leaves landed with wet plops atop his head.
Joseph watched as the basket caught on the horn of the tea-soaked individual, spinning a few times before settling. The unicorn didn’t do anything; he was stunned from disbelief at having his imported Jasmine tea emptied over him.
Holding his head high, Joseph put the teapot back on the table and replaced the lid and turned back in the direction of the castle while several ponies were trying to hide their snickers and giggles from adding insult to injury to the tea-stained pony.
“You would do wise to check yourself next time, or it won’t be tea I’ll be dumping on you.” Ignoring the expressions of shock and awe from the bystanders, he continued his walk towards the palace to meet with Luna.
It took Joseph all of twenty minutes to make his way back to the palace entrance after the incident with the tea, feeling delightfully smug. He was greeted by a pair of stoic guards, akin to the British Royal Guards that stand guard, unmoving, outside the gates of Buckingham Palace.
“Halt,” one of them commanded. “Please provide either a summons letter, invitation, or state your business at the palace.”
“I have business with Princess Luna. Tell her that Eclipse is here.”
The guard teleported away, gone for all of thirty seconds before re-appearing. “She says to make your way up. Have a nice day.”
Joseph passed the gates and began to head up the stairs to the main entrance. When he was heading for the exit before he had Luna to guide him, now he had no idea where he was headed.
The main entrance had a massive foyer and the staircase at the end of the room opposite the door tapered towards the top and spread out quite a bit where it met the floor. At the top was a walkway that spread along the walls back towards the main entrance, doors lining its entirety. The ground floor had doors too, but there were two arched doorways that didn’t have any actual doors. Instead, they were corridors that lead down a certain length before turning sharply right if you walked down the left hand corridor for example.
All in all the layout reminded him of the Calvert Mansion from Point Lookout to a degree.
“Uuhhh…” he uttered to nobody in particular. In hindsight, he should have been paying attention to the route Luna took with him to make sure he knew the right way.
He guessed the two corridors would have been for any servants to hurry from one part of the castle to the other had they not the ability to teleport. “Goddamn it!” he swore under his breath, figuring he’d pick and choose a random door until he found someone that could take him where he needed to go.
Joe went up the stairs and turned right, using his magic to open the first door. All that greeted him was another corridor with a left-hand bend, but he could hear hoofsteps coming down the hall. Several seconds later a unicorn mare strode around the corner. The first thing that came to Joseph's mind was the rather disappointingly modest maids outfit.
The second thing that crossed his mind was why he was thinking such things. 'They're animals,' he reasoned. Then the weight of that statement hit him. 'You're an animal...' He mentally sighed.
He wanted to ask Nightmare a question, but getting annoyed at her alarmingly long absence he tapped a hoof on the side of his head. The maid must have seen him do this.
"Are you ok there, Miss?" she asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yes, thanks." Joe searched for an excuse to explain why he hit the side of his head with his hoof, but couldn't come up with anything, so he sidestepped the issue. "Could you please take me to Princess Luna's office? I'm due to meet with her."
"But of course, ma'am," the maid said with a courteous bow. She cantered down the hall towards Joseph as she tucked the feather duster behind her and out of sight. Joe figured she put it in a pocket, but when she came out the door and took a left, Joe could see no pockets, leaving him wondering where she put it exactly.
"Right this way," the maid chimed. Joe followed her to the end of the balcony and in turn the door at the end. With Joe in tow, the maid took him through a nigh endless expanse of corridors, while Joseph thought to himself that he'd've surely gotten lost had he simply wandered around searching for his destination.
Eventually they stopped at a seemingly inconspicuous door in the middle of a hallway that looked like every other hallway they had come down to get here.
"How the hay do the Princesses find their way around this place, or anyone else for that matter?"
"They teleport," the maid said. "Or you just got to know your way around."
"So I take it you know this place rather well?"
With a slight giggle in her voice, the maid knocked on the door and disappeared in a flash of blinding light as sparkles cascaded down from where she once stood.
"Cheeky bitch," Joe muttered. "Freaking sparkles," he added, swatting at the sparkles in the air as they slowly sank to the carpet and disappeared. "I swear, this place is right out of a kids cartoon show."
A resounding click came from the door as it creaked open. He gazed upon the ever so beaut- 'Why why WHY!?' he mentally chastised. 'You dump tea over a guy's head but raise an eyebrow at a maid, and think her outfit could have been shorter?'
"Ugh..." he groaned as the door swung open completely.
"Something the matter, Joseph?"
"I am getting some weird feelings as of late."
"Presumably because of the body swap?" Luna quizzed. "Or is it hormonal, given that you are a mare?"
"Excuse me?" Joe asked, raising a curious eyebrow at the last part of the Princesses' question.
"Please, we have no need for formalities in this instance."
"Right. Anyway, I dumped tea over a guy's head and found myself raising an eyebrow at one of the maids, mentally complaining her outfit was too long—if I'm to be blunt, pardon me otherwise. It's like I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body."
Luna cracked a slight smile. "Or are you a man trapped in a lesbian's body?"
Joseph chuckle-snorted. "You do realize that I am essentially you?"
Luna's smile disappeared. Quickly. Very quickly. She hurriedly regained her composure and made an attempt at wiping the growing blush from her face. "Come in, I have much to discuss with you."
Joseph walked into the room, noting a desk with two bookcases on the left and right walls, opposite both ends of the desk, while the desk itself contained several parchment scrolls and quills sitting in containers of their own next to a little bottle of ink. On the floor were two cushions.
Joe felt like he was back in the principal's office at school from the layout.
"Please, sit down." There was a pregnant moment of silence before Luna continued. "If you care to say why you're back here so soon, then I'll address my concerns about you."
With a sigh, Joseph began to recount his dream. "Well, after I left here, I went to get food for the house and I got sidetracked and wound up at a cider bar."
Luna giggle-snorted at that. "Pardon, that was unbecoming of a Princess. Continue."
"Anyway... Given I wasn't familiar with the strength of your guys' alcoholic beverages, I went home—loosely speaking of course—to sleep it off. That's where things got interesting." Joe saw Luna raise an eyebrow with intrigue and lean closer. "I had a dream. It was... about you."
"Me? Pray tell, what did it involve?" Joe was quiet for a good while, then Luna saw his ears flatten against the side of his head, indicating he was either sad or remorseful about something.
Joe, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure how to properly phrase his dream. Did he tell Luna it was about her banishment, that he experienced it first hand? Or did he ease into it by asking what happened?
"If I may ask, Princess, how long were you banished for?"
"If it is of relevance, then I will say nigh a millenium, a thousand years if you will." Joe's expression didn't change, leaving Luna wondering what it is he had to say. "Joseph, why hesitate?"
"I don't know, your highness. I'm new here, obviously, and thus I don't know how you'd react to certain things I say. To address why I'm here by way of answer, I'm hesitant to find out what happened if I told you that I dreamed of what happened between you and Celestia, specifically the period between you transforming into Nightmare Moon and getting sent to the moon."
"Hmm, that is interesting. How did you experience it?"
"Well, first hand if that's what you're looking for, although I felt myself play the part of Nightmare. It was all too real, I felt and heard everything. It was when you made your introduction and declaration of intentions that you transformed. When I say I was the Nightmare—and I mean this literally in this case—I felt myself take over you, making you do all those things."
Joe looked up at Luna cautiously, seeing her eyes narrow at him, not with ill intent, but rather carefully studying him. "This has the potential to be problematic. You have the abilities of the Nightmare in body, but your thoughts are still intact from your previous life."
Joseph gave a 'Yeah, right.' huff through his nostrils.
"Excuse me? Was it something I said?"
"Well, there was a second part to it. After I, or you—oh I don't know anymore, I woke up in my own bed back home, on Earth. I got up, and went about my daily routine. I was on my way to work, but Nightmare kept popping up. I thought it was just hallucinations from such a vivid dream from the first part of it, but then my car crashed and I woke up back in this body," Joe finished as he gestured with a hoof over his feminine body.
"Car? What is a 'car'?"
Joe deadpanned. "Is that all you got from that? Focus, please."
"Oh, but of course. I just wish to know what it is to fully understand your story."
"Imagine a cart being pulled by a horse, or pony in your case. Except that pony doesn't have legs, just another set of wheels to replace his legs."
"It sounds horrifying, what accident would have caused that?" quirked Luna.
"That's not the point. Anyway, imagine that it lives off a diet of liquid which gives it energy to move forward."
"Seems simple enough, but please continue."
"My question is; am I losing my mind if I am having these realistic dreams of your past?"
Luna paused in thought, looking off to the side as if contemplating a reply or thinking about something else in relation to Joseph's question. That's what it would have looked like to Joe, but the fact of the matter was Luna was taking into consideration what she had seen in the Dreamscape with Joseph’s dream.
"It does present a problem. Given that there's two minds in one body, it could be that you both are vying for control. One wins while the other gets locked away in the mind."
"OK, now the good news," Joe said with a hint of growing agitation.
"It is possible for you to come out on top, and that's already very likely since you're the more dominant one; you're the one in control."
'Lady, you have no idea,' Joe said to himself. He often found that his somewhat opportune sense or dirty humour had a hard time leaving him.
"However, you mustn't be swayed by whatever Nightmare says to you."
"Eh," Joe shrugged nonchalantly. "You can't corrupt what is already so."
Immediately, Luna stood up and assumed an aggressive stance, her horn glowing. "Art thou really Joseph, or just the Nightmare parading around claiming to be him?"
"Woah woah woah! That didn't sound like how you thought it did, I swear!"
"Prove it," the alicorn seethed.
"Well, on Earth, I had a motto; Everyone has two sides; one they want to show, and one they want to hide. I say that because you shouldn't take anyone at face value, being that they could already be corrupt."
"That doesn't help your case!" Luna boomed,
"I've got your evil alter inside me, that's what I mean!" Joseph returned in equal volume. "I've already lost my home, friends, my fucking body—of all things, and I didn't have any family! What else have I got to lose!? This, your highness," Joseph said, his voice dripping venom, "IS. ON. YOU! Had you not been corrupted, I wouldn't be here! I would have died with dignity at saving a life on Earth!"
Joseph took a moment to collect his breath as Luna dropped the magical charge in her horn as she tentatively sat down, still on guard. "It's called a Nightmare for a reason. The more innocent something is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt. The ponies of your populace live in a state of ignorant bliss, it would be extremely easy for an outside force to corrupt someone else like it did to you."
Luna's demeanour softened somewhat while she absorbed his sudden—but not completely unjustified—outburst.
"It pains me to admit that you are correct on the terms of being unaware of danger, but they aren't totally and utterly ignorant about it. They have enough common sense not to go wandering in the Everfree Forest. Such a place harbours creatures that would tear a pony to ribbons."
"Just remind me not to go there without supervision, then," Joseph joked in an attempt to lighten the air of tension lingering like a fog in the room.
It was at that point a soft knock came from the door as it immediately clicked open.
'Well that was rude,' he thought.
"Sister, have you a moment?" The door was opened more, revealing the radiant white alicorn standing in the hall.
"Joseph, do you mind?"
"Oh of course not, Princess," he said as he lamely sat upon his cushion. Both Princesses looked at him expectantly for some reason. "What?" Celestia stepped to the side with a hoof holding the door open. "Oh..." He got up and left the room, leaving the two mares alone for the moment.
"Just wait outside."
As soon as Joseph left, the door got shut fast enough that he felt a draft rush over his rear and creep up his spine. "OK, that was odd..."
Meanwhile in Luna's office, Celestia turned to Luna. "Did you discern whether or not his presence is an issue?"
"Nay, Sister. His presence is not, but that is a non-issue. The matter lies with the mind the Nightmare and Joseph inhabit. Nightmare and Joseph are vying for control of the body, that's my concern."
"What I still don't understand is; after The Elements purged Nightmare from you, how he got brought here, a body created, and Nightmare still lives on in consciousness."
Luna nodded in agreement. "Tis on everypony's minds. But the fact of the matter, Sister, is that he possess the abilities of Nightmare, of which he is only partially aware. He possesses foal-level levitation magic currently, but it would go without saying that we need to keep a close eye on him."
"He deserves the benefit of the doubt," Celestia said calmly. "But it would behoove you to watch him, Luna." She finished on a stern note, driving home the point to her sister.
The two shared an understanding, silent, moment before Celestia turned to leave wordlessly, opening the door to reveal Joseph sitting on his haunches outside the doorway. The alabaster goddess looked down at him with a welcoming smile before she teleported away.
Joseph cocked his head in confusion and looked through the door to Luna. "Why did she take two steps out the door when she could have teleported to begin with?"
Half an hour later, Joseph had left Luna's office and made his way through the streets back to the house. He thought he'd take his time, though. It was late afternoon, and the air had that deliciously crisp scent as it permeated his nostrils.
On Earth, he'd often take time in the evening to walk down to the store to get a few snacks and some soda to enjoy on the following day off. It was one of his creature comforts; eating a load of junkfood and enjoying a few computer games or watching TV.
It was said that an ancient Persian poet dictated the fable of a King, whom challenged wise men to make him a ring that made him happy when he was sad, and sad when he was happy. The King was presented with a ring engraved with the phrase 'This too, shall pass'.
Joseph wondered how long this would keep up, if this whole thing will pass. Parading around as an alien with another alien inside his head. Joe knew he couldn't go back to whence he came, for it was his death that brought him here to begin with. Even if such a method could be found, it would be pointless trying to return to a dead body which had an extremely high probability to be buried six feet under by now.
People can overcome an innumerable amount of hardship. He remembered watching a medical documentary where a man got shot and the bullet ricocheted off of the bones in his chest cavity, succeeding in nicking the vast majority of his organs. Miraculously, he survived thanks to the help of the medical professionals, whom spent their time tirelessly stitching up every cut and wound the bullet caused.
Other instances were of people being born blind and learned to use echolocation like bats. Other people lost their arms but continued their career as a graphical design artist by using their feet to draw and move the rulers around.
That left him wondering: 'How long would it take me to overcome this happenstance?’
The answer was easy. He couldn't fully overcome such a jarring experience. He went from tall, fleshy human with opposable thumbs to a lady-horse, infamous for wanting to block out the sun and create eternal night. With his new gender and body, as well as appendages and abilities that would exist strictly in fantasy and books about wizards and dragons. It was all too much for his mind to process.
When people lose brain functions from trauma, the brain itself will literally rewire the neurons in the brain to reroute the information and provide the same functions it lost. It's like a road gets destroyed beyond repair, so you build a new road to the same destination, around the damage. It would take a huge amount of time, but it's possible.
This brain, however, was not his.
His human mind was discovering parts of its host's brain that it never knew existed, controlling functions that were right out of a fantasy novel. Joseph could perform the functions it provided to a degree; he knew they were there, but accommodating them is akin to trying to stuff two-thousands words of an essay onto a page big enough for only a thousand. Parts are going to need to be erased, and it's the ones that have already been involuntarily scrubbed that he was worrying about.
He came upon a little cafe that didn't appear to have many ponies at it. Even though Joseph was rather introverted on Earth, well, in general, he did enjoy hanging out with his small group of friends working on projects and going out with them. It's times like this that a nearly empty cafe on a delightfully chill late-afternoon was utter bliss. He always liked his alone time; it gave him that moment of clarity that everyone needed, and this chance to have something to eat and drink while reflect on his situation and how he could make the best of it.
Upon entering the establishment, he noticed it wasn't entirely unlike a diner from back home. There was even a plate pass between the front counter with the kitchen in back. It gave Joseph a modicum of comfort and he smiled weakly. Muffins and cakes sat on stands, covered by the half-globe fly nets, and pastries sat in a cabinet. Behind the counter he saw the oh-so-familiar coffee pot with filter coffee brewing which made him feel right at home. And there was even a young couple sitting in one of the booths doting on each other like he saw in 80's-themed movies where the teens would hang out at Milk Bars.
While he was smiling, it was an uneasy one because he was still upset about being in this strange place.
"Hey hon," greeted the mare attending the counter. "Coffee's fresh, and we got some delicious, home-style hay-fries."
Joseph always found the term, 'Home-Style' to be tossed around quite a bit. In the end, curiosity got the better of him and he did a quick search on the internet to settle any confusion he might have had.
He found it's typically used as a term to describe something made or produced by a specific person, place or region, referring to the unique way something is produced. Because of marketing, brands marked as such lose the meaning behind putting that label on their product. He often found that small scale cafès had more weight behind it. Since the product wasn't exactly mass-produced, it had that much more care put into it.
"Oh yeah, how do you make them?" Joseph inquired.
"Sorry there, it's our secret," the mare replied with a sly wink.
"Come now, I'm new here—been in town for the good part of a couple days. Food for thought?"
"Tell ya what, I'll give you a free sample to taste, and if you can guess right then I'll give you a free meal. How's that for first time customer service?"
"Delightful," he replied with a comedically eloquent tone and a wave of his hoof. The mare behind the counter shared in his humour, and he glanced at the nametag on the mare's apron. It read 'Muffin Top. She must be the baker of the cakes and sweets by the sounds of it. He didn't know why exactly, but this place seemed full of connotative names. Morning Glory, now Muffin Top? What's next, Twatty Flowers?
"Hey, Taka, taster of the hay fries please."
"Taka?" Joe quizzed, then thinking to himself: 'It begins...' "What does that mean?"
Muffin Top shrugged. "I've been asking him that for years. It's one of those exotic names; he's not from around here. Won't let people see his cutie mark either, oddly enough."
Joe craned his neck to look through the gap in the wall, namely the pass, to see into the back. He saw a dirt-orange stallion with a black mane and a white muzzle with a scar across his left eye, using magic to levitate over a dozen things; including dishes, plates, cutlery, and several food items. Joe saw Taka, whom he presumed to be the chef, place a small plate on the pass with a napkin on it.
Muffin Top took the coffee pot by the handle in her mouth after putting a mug on the counter, pouring Joe a nice cup of Joe.
He picked it up with his magic and took a precursory sip. His eyes widened like saucers.
"Like it eh?"
"It's delicious!" he exclaimed taking another sip. "It tastes rather... I unno, Christmas-y?"
Muffin Top gave him a peculiar look. "What's Christmas?"
"Uuhhh..." He tried to think of an excuse. "An annual holiday from my country. Celebrated as a joyous occasion. We'd sit around an open fire with our families, sing, tell stories..." His voice trailed off as the nostalgia about his family hit him.
Joseph was barely out of his teens. One day, him and his parents went to the Bahamas for an exotic holiday. They all had an unforgettable time; an entire week of just the three of them. They went jet skiing, yachting, ate at four and five star restaurants, and went reef diving. It was that underwater excursion at weeks end two days before they were due to leave that turned everything upside down. Joe's mother got cut on some coral, and his father got stung by a weird jellyfish, of which professionals weren't able to identify in any catalogue they had.
The symptoms of the sting were greatly bizarre, as was the cut on his mothers calf.
They were hospitalized on the island under quarantine, not allowed to leave. Medical and bio-hazard chemical and animal professionals and experts were called in from all over the world to try identify, and source whatever toxic substance had got into the systems of his parents. Joe's father tried to describe the jellyfish, saying it was largely a blackish-grey with red and purple tentacle stingers. The coral, as his mother said, was black, but it had a distinctive emerald-green sheen to it.
Dive teams—equipped with the necessary safety equipment—were tasked with finding the jellyfish and coral.
Meanwhile, the condition of Joe's parents worsened.
His father had aggressive fits periodically, and he needed to be put into a more secure room and sedated whenever he had an outburst. The most notable change was the eyes of both parents. Joe's father's eye's sclera turned green while the iris turned red. His mother had a similar effect; except the sclera and iris of her eyes turned different shades of green, but she had delusional ramblings instead of her spouse's outbursts. The one thing they did have in common was a rampant, and extremely puzzling case of frostbite, gangrene, and a rather mild case of Necrotising Faciitis that the doctors found was the easiest thing to explain to Joe, and although Joe's dad didn't get the NF, his mum did.
Gangrene is where the skin rots, turns black and falls off, similar to how mountain climber's feet go black if they get frostbite. Necrotising Fasciitis, however, is an extremely debilitating disease. When it gets into your blood, it will literally eat your flesh, turning it to liquid. The only cure is to cut, and keep cutting to remove the infected flesh.
Doctors took blood samples from them both, and then Joe's worst fears were coming true. The toxins from the jellyfish and coral were destroying them and their DNA at the cellular level. Eventually there wouldn't be enough tissue, muscle, and things of that nature. It would all just break down, not entirely similar to how biodegradable plastics work, the doctors told Joseph—by way of answer.
It got so bad that they both were put in the ICU ward in specialized rooms normally reserved for cancer patients going through harsh chemotherapy. The rooms were sterile, literally no bacteria could get in or out. They were designed that way because the radiation that destroys cancer cells also does a number on the body's immune system.
If they could keep germs out, they could keep a never-before seen exotic illness, in.
Joe's mum's legs and arms got the worst of it. They had become almost entirely black, and lumps of flesh had fallen off as well as doctors trying and failing to cut away the infected tissue. There were a couple places on her arms and legs where you could see right through.
His mother was the first to go: the NF had eaten away enough of her tissue. It had been a long, gruelling three weeks at the hospital, and by this point he had spent a month away from home. The staff were understanding enough to let Joseph sleep in an adjacent room, and he only left to go back to the hotel to get some of his stuff, shower, things like that. A week later, his father passed away. The black from the comparable case of frostbite—the doctors never did find out what it was, it was as a comparable case—had crawled its way up his dad's entire right arm, half of his left leg, and only just the foot of his right leg.
Doctors never could figure out why something akin to frostbite and NF had afflicted these people. The jellyfish was never recovered, and several samples of coral were retrieved for analysis. None of the samples indicated the levels of toxicity in the case of Joseph's mum and dad.
Doctors put them in medically-induced comas at week two. The pain from everything had gotten too much, bordering on inhumane. It hurt Joseph beyond words to see them like that. The doctors needed his consent to do it, and he gained an extra half hours sleep on top of the hour or so he was already getting at night knowing they weren't suffering through all that pain, that they could at least rest easily enough.
Because of the nature of the affliction, the bodies weren't allowed to leave the country for fear of the disease or cause, spreading. Instead, scientists collected all necessary samples they needed before the bodies were incinerated to completely destroy the rest of the disease so it had no chance of spreading. All collected samples were in lockdown, inaccessible to all except those studying to discover what it was that killed these two people.
Five weeks ago, the three of them left on a holiday as a family. Only Joseph returned, three suitcases in tow.
"Excuse me, are you going to try the hay fries?"
"Huh?"
"You were talking about your 'holiday' then just trailed off as you stirred the sugar into your coffee. I gave you the fries but it's been several minutes since you touched them. Are you alright?" she asked with a concerned tone and raise of her eyebrow.
"Yeah, sorry. Was just thinking about my parents. You know how it is, thinking about all the good times we shared."
"Ah, I understand. Just remember; free meal if you can guess the secret!" After Muffin Top finished her sentence, she went to the other end of the counter to top up a pegasi's cup from the coffee pot.
Joe took the bowl of fries placed upon the napkin on the plate—complete with ramekins of red and white sauces he assumed to be tomato sauce and aioli—to a booth across from the doting couple. He always thought that the napkin between the plate and bowl was there for customers to use to wipe their hands on after finishing. No, it was there to stop the bowl sliding around on the plate: the bonus was you could wipe your hands and dab your mouth of the sauces that collected.
Even though he didn't get an answer out of the mare as to why the coffee tasted Christmas-y, he relished in the delicious flavour as he pulled a fry from the bowl. He put it in his mouth too carefully sample its flavours on his palette. Biting it in half, he thought about the smooth, yet bold flavour.
"No, you are~" cooed the mare adjacent to him, playfully swatting at her partner.
Joe just rolled his eyes and went back to his fries. It had to be the oil they were cooled in; the fries didn't have any special flavour themselves apart from the oddly coloured salt. He collected enough to taste it, and gave a small chuckle. Lightly spiced salt. Most likely paprika and chillies.
"Oh my parents are going to love you," returned the stallion sitting opposite the mare.
Joe heaved an exasperated sigh.
Loneliness was a complicated thing. He liked having a coffee and reading the newspaper alone, walking alone, those moments gave him time to set his mind free, to think, and some privacy to scratch his balls if he so desired [but the latter has been thrown out the window].
But when he saw a mother with her child, or a friend laughing with their friends, a girl or guy with lovers showing public displays of affection, it dawned on him at that moment, that even though being alone had its moments of clarity and blissful silence...
He didn't want to be lonely.
The impact of the situation as a whole caught up to Joseph. The death of his parents six and a half years ago, his death, being reincarnated as an arguably evil magical princess horse. His throat hurt, he could barely swallow from all the repressed feelings beginning to creep up on him as the flood barrier for his tear ducts opened.
Joseph did the only thing he could do in a situation like this, and something that everybody needs to get out of their system from a build-up of emotions.
His lay his head on the table, and he cried silently, tears streaming down his face and collecting on the table as he carelessly ate and drank. On the bright side, he would be coming back for the fries and coffee.
In his mind, Nightmare has watched the events of his memory play out like a slideshow in front of her.
"Good, good," she uttered to herself. "It's only a matter of time."
Meanwhile, in Celestia's private office, she stared into a pool of water shining with her magic. A viewing portal designed to see whomever she chooses.
She only saw Joseph take a bite out of the hay fry, then his head hitting the table. Through the viewing portal, she could hear the muffled sobs of the distraught human-turned-pony.
Having had enough, the glow of her horn dissipated, turning off the magical water, only to return a moment later as it levitated a parchment and quill.
Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student, she began.
You are aware of the happening of Nightmare Moon reborn into a body of her own controlled by the thoughts of the human. We have a task for you and your pink friend...
First off, please don't hate me for taking two months long to knock out a chapter! 
On a side note, towards the beginning where I mentioned 'Dreamweavers'. I used it as a reference from a story of the same name, namely this story: Dreamweaver. Y'all should go check it out, it's absolutely fantastic!
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Those diseases sound like they made his parents look kind of like Sombra and Queen Chrysalis when it was killing them. Something tells me that that is foreshadowing related to how he got there, and I'd be willing to bet a small amount that his parents show up as those Villains later on. But that'll be a long time from now...
Screw Loose
Hmmm, I wonder does this mean that his parents somehow became Sombra and Queen Chrysalis. I do wonder what Joseph will do once he finds out this information, will he try to somehow make his parents minds reassert themselves? It would be interesting for Joseph to fire a spell at them to possible have their human bodies claw out of the villian's bodies hopefully also returning Joseph to normal as well?
*sigh*
Evil nightmare stuff...
*sigh*
She is evil...But, she doesn't know true evil...
Let her experience the vile end of the stick and she will fall.
Love the story, please continue it.
P.S. Good luck with the writing as well
5550677
I don't understand?
Luna....BUSTED!
So his dad was becoming Sombra and mom Chrysalis. You have made more questions.
5550702 And so you shall not!
What I meant is she has never had to endure what she has done to other...For me, being evil mean they are usually so because they refuse to understand certains concepts...And it doesn't look like nightmare has the full understanding of her actions. If she understanded it and stil continue...then "Hasta la vista, baby!" and eat my Behemoth-class battlecruiser yamato cannon for you are truly evil...
5550738
5550608
5550659
I was wondering if someone would pick up on that
5550939 Both of their limbs became black and his mom had holes in them? It was obvious.
5550958
My editor had zero idea what was going on haha
5550659 Chrysalis, maybe but Sombra is dead
5550960 I've read naught but pony words for the last year, at least. The fact that they didn't notice means that they have more of a life than me.
I'm predicting rehab and memory restoration for two suspected villians. Also, probably something with Tirek. Uncle? Sibling? Can't wait to see.
5550659
Nah, I don't think it is possible to simply return to how you were, especially with magic inside them.
Ah, I see nightmare is trying to, break him? To take control.
Looks like Luna has been caught red hooved, although I have nothing against it, it's kinda funny for her to realize how she basically said she's a lesbian.
A ponified, 'stache-less Monopoly Guy!
Epicosity readings just hit a new record!
5550973
Well Nightmare Moon certain wasn't taking a respite after being elemented. And this story takes place right after episodes 1&2. Sombra is still on ice, and the empire is still lost.
5551472
Bear in mind that his parents died six years ago, and you need to take into account the time differential between Earth and Equestria. Time can be folded between the two planes; six years could be twelve-hundred years in Equestria—for example, so that'd mean Joe's father could very well have lived out Sombra's existence up until he got banished. Same can be said for his mum.
I thought about saying his dad was a jeweler and his mother worked in a maternity ward at a hospital, but for some reason it didn't sit right with me. Would it have worked? They would've correlated to Sombra for his love for crystals and Chrysalis with her drones.
Nice Fallout reference.
What. The. Fuck.
5551681 Fallout New Vegas.
5551501
You have a point, but the post I was replying to was saying Sombra was dead, which most likely references when he was blasted by the Heart. I was saying this takes place before that.
And those are okay parallels, but my idea is joes dad is a manic rare gem collecter, and his mom is a workaholic, always going full speed like an insect at work.
5551681
Seconding that notion.
And I really think Luna was an even poorer fit for that joke. Because even if Spike's talons/claws doesn't trigger some recollection...
Two freaking words: Iron. Will.
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121211042945/mlp/images/7/70/Iron_Will_scolding_Fluttershy_about_her_apologetic_ways_S02E19.png
Notice something about him? Not that the show have had many minotaur characters, but I severely doubt he's a penis handed mutant.
So yeah, I could imagine some hick in the far corners of Equestria making that comparison...
But not the co-ruler of the entire nation.
5551472 maybe a little longer then the pilot. It sounds like Luna is in her prefered form not pilot form. But you are right on timing. he might still be alive.
5551805
AIE! That joke was in poor taste. Wrong moment to make it, wrong character said it.
5552533
At the end of the day you can look at any fic and say that stuff could be cut from it. Look at Fallout: Equestria, that is a prime example.
5554984
It's a legitimate criticizm, but until a story has finished then it's pointless to say what is and isn't relevant. And also hope I'm not coming across rude either but those kinds of comments are a dime a dozen.
While some paragraphs are filler, any authors can have them contain a couple jokes which add humour to the story, and that is on concept alone. While the content is irrelevant, it's the diversity of the content that gives a story meat.
If you stripped it down to the bare essentials then it becomes boring and monotonous.
5551681
5551791
rockpapershotgun.com/images/2011/07/glados.jpg
... seriously?
"Well... Shit."
That about sums this chapter up.
5564158
Reference from Fallout: New Vegas Old World Blues DLC.
5566152 Well, I'm gonna say you forced it. I can't imagine Luna being perverted enough to immediately compare fingers to willies, moreso because i doubt she's familiar with any penis that isn't a pony's. And horse dicks don't look like human fingers at all.
But I'm not gonna nitpick about it. Carry on if you still feel it's appropriate.
5566246 Luna and Celestia are easily 1500 years old. Are you telling me that in all that time, Luna hasn't had sex?
5566658 I never said that she was a virgin. I said she doesn't strike me as a pervert.
5567344
I walk past hundreds of people a day, and deal with hundreds of people at my job.
I can't tell at a first glance which of them are perverts, but it doesn't excuse the fact that they could be.
5567369 I understand your point, but we know a fair bit more about Luna than what we know of strangers that cross ways with us on the job or the street, don't we? How outside of business matters she behaves like a teenager not above enforcing her position in her petty outbursts?
... then again, teenagers are perverts.
Carry on.
5567390
Me --->
You should get out more, dude.
Luna is from a cartoon, we don't know diddly-squat about her in the same way we can physically speak to people; we can always ask people if they're perverts or not, whether or not they'd actually say anything is another question. That's the good thing about the concept of 'headcanon', isn't it? People can make up little things about a character to suit the whims of their writing headcanon. Unless Luna somehow shows up in my room and we get to talking, we don't know anything about her outside of the show, and even those details are sketchy.
On a semi-relevant note, the other day me and a friend were doing this thing where we would name a pony, then off the top of our heads make up a headcanon about their sexual preferences and they're kinks and whether or not they're Top or Bottom. It was for giggles for the most part. At the end of the day I made that joke because of two reasons: One, I have a dirty mind and thought it would be funny for the readers. Two, I put it in as a reference from Fallout: New Vegas.
Also to address this comment:
I'm not a teenager, I'm 23.
5567445 You saying that I'm comparing a character to a real life being is frankly insulting my intelligence. I'm talking about Luna with this grain of shallowness exactly because she's a fictional character and therefore not nearly as complex as a real person no matter how hard an author tries.
And the observations I'm making are based on what the show gives us and absolutely nothing else. I don't like to extrapolate to ridiculous degrees. Or do you think it can't be said that her behavior in "Luna Eclipsed" can be used as a base? 'cause then we wouldn't be at all on the same page.
Also, I said Luna was teenage-minded. I don't know where the hell you got the idea that I was talking about you from.
5567456
You're making this too easy for me. You're the one that said:
So I'm not insulting your intelligence, you just need to go outside and/or get a job. Plain and simple. I know more about my colleagues than I do about Luna. If you know more about Luna than people, then you're doing something wrong.
No, you didn't. You said:
And if you say that teenagers are perverts without being disambiguous about whom you're referring to, then any number of assumptions can be made concerning the open-endedness of the statement, thus why I thought you were referring to me.
5567471 Maybe I'm missing some kind of nuance here because English isn't my native language, but I get the feeling that I'm not expressing myself right over here.
I'm not comparing Luna to known people, I'm comparing her to strangers. People you literally know bugger all about other than they exist and could literally make any assumption you desire out of. Luna isn't the same: the show gives us a baseline for how she is, although tenuous. How you extrapolate it is up to you... and maybe that's the meat of this issue: our headcanons don't match eye-to-eye.
And I do have a job, a 40-hours-a-week reception/secretary one that I've been in for five years straight, thank you very much. So I'd appreciate if you stopped being a condescending dick talking like I'm some lowlife "basement dweller".
No, I was not ambiguous at all. That first statement was referring to the immediately previous line on my comment, which is this one:
WHERE WOULD THE FAILSAFE ROOM BE!!!!!!!!!!
ANSWER ME!
UPDATES!
5582503 Did you only just see the recent update or are you wanting the next one?
5582519 The latter.
5582522 Well I'm a thousand words into it at the moment but I don't know how long it'll be before it gets published
5582567 THANK YOU!
Finally read through your story. And right off the hop, I'm going to give it a 5/10. It's average. Nothing special in my book. Average.
The story hits many right spots and doesn't miss anything, that's for sure. To be clear, this is not a bad thing. The plot covers elements that get the reader thinking, pondering about the main character's situation and how they are dealing/will deal with it. There isn't anything missing from the text. Most points that are brought up are properly concluded in a satisfactory manner without dropping the subject awkwardly, and most ideas don't overstay their welcome. I didn't spot any mechanical errors, but I don't exactly have eagle eyes. Still, if there are some errors in the story, they were insignificant enough that I couldn't see them. I think one of the most important things in your story that you have so far is that you're moving the plot forward. Too many times have I read a story on this website that has gotten very good ratings and a large following base that simply can't find a way to progress the plot forward, with the author either stalling for way to long, unable to find a way to get to the next point, or the author rushing too the end too fast, losing their sense of pacing along the way. A Nightmare Come to Life does not have this problem. Each chapter addresses a new issue or idea, moves along the story and does not reiterate anything, covering lots of ground but not too quickly. You have a good sense of pacing in your writing. I put an author's sense of pacing high on the pedestal, so good on you.
But otherwise, that's mostly it. That's all the big positives I have for the story. Granted, the rest mostly isn't bad, but a mixture of average and cringe worthy moments.
Here's the thing. I've read so many HiE stories in the years of experience I have gained on this website that if I read an HiE story that isn't unique enough, I just get bored. I've seen the "human-turned-known-pony-in-show" premise before, so going into A Nightmare Come to Life I had predicted many events that sure enough, actually happened in some point in the plotline. HiE's are predictable by nature, because they mostly follow the same plot patterns, and it is your job as the author to mix up the formula enough to make your story unique and noticeable from the rest. Granted, some readers of the site love HiE's, and will eat and HiE that pops up. I'm one of those people, and I still read HiE's from time to time. However, these HiE stories put unique twists in their ideas and the styles of writing are either mastered or different than the usual bunch, and that's not what I'm getting from A Nightmare Comes to Life.
The main character is painfully average. Sure, he's no Gary Stu, I'll give you points for that, but he is so average and non-notable that having him as the main character kind of leads to dull scenes. I get a sense that you tried to create a main character that is relatable; he works, he hates his boss, he sometimes feels down in his life but overall he's just a normal man in a normal life. At first we see a glimmer of bravery in his first acts in chapter one, but that all gets thrown out the window when the main character is relegated to a safe, non-lethal environment. Your main character never gets challenged! This makes for a boring story, so instead of being challenged by an obstacle and working their way around said obstacle, they instead do stuff. Yes, simply do stuff. Sure, Joshua is getting used to Equestrian life, but by the way he easily succeeded, that wasn't such a big and threatening challenge. This could be fine, except for the fact that ever since that first challenge we still don't know that much about Joshua and he hasn't faced a conflict since. Stressful situations bring out our honest selves, and we see that for the main character in the first chapter. However, all of his character development comes to a complete halt after chapter one, even if we get to see him reminisce of his parent's death, because he doesn't improve over it. Instead, the reader gets exposition dumped right over them and we are left with the main character sobbing over a table. The foreshadowing at the end of chapter six is nice, though.
Speaking of exposition, you seem to provide a lot of it. Show vs. Tell, blah blah blah, you've probably heard it all by this point. But really, you've got a bad case on your hands, as you take a bucket of the backstory and pour the contents all over the lap of the viewer. A large amount of scenes pass by too quickly, only glanced at for a moment before moving on to the next part of the plot. This isn't bad pacing, but bad use of narration. You could have extended several points in the story simply by showing the reader what was happening instead of telling them outright. Would it have taken longer to write? Yes. Would have it been worth it? Most likely. But the point is here is that you have bits and pieces of detail that are in your story, and you want to present these details to the reader, but instead of taking time and care to present it you stuff your hand in a bucket filled with ripped-up parts of the detail and fling them at the reader all at once. Yes, I just used the same analogy twice in the same paragraph. I'm a master at critique (sarcasm). Regardless, the biggest example of telling instead of showing is right in your first chapter, in one of the first paragraphs you present to the reader.
Of course, as the opening of the story, you need to introduce your main character quickly and get him to Equestria as fast as possible, right? Because that's where the main meat of the story is! In Equestria! We write on Friendship Is Magic Fiction.net for a reason! But, as the readers, we could stave off the main point of the story for a long period of time if the scenes before Equestria were written well enough. In this case? Nope. Literally on the second paragraph of the first chapter, you dump Joseph's info onto the reader. I winced as I read the lines of the paragraph, and it did not give me a good starting impression of what I was getting in to. It was such a small thing, but in the bigger picture created an impact that lasted with me until the end of chapter six. I noticed many times where you outright told the reader facts instead of showing it to them slowly with times and hints, and I may not have noticed if the second paragraph was done differently.
I'm pretty sure exposition dumps are the bane of this story. They're painfully obvious when in full view, and otherwise bring a better-than-ok story down to average. The main character doesn't help, but it's also hard to judge the story by the main character, as A Nightmare Come to Life isn't even that far into the story yet. Not that I can tell, anyways. The foreshadowing when used in the text is chilling and well executed, the characters from the show are translated perfectly into the story, the ideas presented are finished properly and not dropped, the plot's pacing doesn't overstay it's welcome and the premise does get in to some interesting stuff in later chapters. But basic elements of creative writing are poorly done in most instances of the story, and what you get at the end is something that could have been great, but ended up not.
So, how could you improve? Get more characters involved, for one. You can balance out the main character's dullness by involving him with more characters from the show, or perhaps more original characters from your story. We have a small supporting cast here, and it isn't going to get better unless you either give your supporting cast more depth, add a few more characters or even better, develop your main character to be deeper. And like I have said, show, don't tell. Super annoying, I know, but it's honestly true. You still are writing a good story here, and all you really have to worry about is moving the plot forward at a consistent pace, but fixing the exposition dumps are such a huge, huge point I'm trying to get across here.
It's an ok story. I'm sorry if my bluntness of my review style is a bit cutting, but I would rather have you have the truth, all the truth, and nothing but the truth than beat around the bush in an attempt to avoid offending you. This is what I think of your story. Take at face value. I don't know you, and you don't know me. It's not personal.
Enjoyable thus far, worth a favorite. I only hope the author considers it worth completing as well.
5598190
I have every intention of completing it.
How long, however, is an entirely different matter