Chapter 4: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
The dreamscape is an expanse of the incorporeal ideas and beings located just below the Veil. As such, all those that can dream can receive ideas, stories, and impressions that skim across the Veil, as if one were to see things through a distorted glass pane. Sometimes, ideas are sent out, but where they go, nopony knows. But the things that exist in the Beyond, trapped between Reality and the Void, they are the creatures of nightmares. Abominations of blistered flesh and bloody maws, serrated beaks, tentacles that ooze pus, they glide by the Veil, reminding one of a shark circling prey. Those few given physical or magical forms that pierce the Veil to enter the physical realm often cause disaster. The Nightmare was one such intruder, infiltrating Luna’s mind from the dreamscape as if Luna was nothing more than a means of transportation for the parasite.
Luna couldn’t help but shiver, despite being in a realm where she once felt safe. The Nightmare ruined the dreamscape for the princess, the one place where she felt she was truly important. And now that she had returned to ease the dreams of her subjects, Luna couldn’t help but feel on edge. It was true that the Nightmare had robbed her of her sense of security, but there was something else that bothered Luna. When she had last been to the dreamscape, there had always been a sort of turmoil outside the Veil, movement that indicated the existence of the foul beasts that survived in the Beyond.
But now, a thousand years later, there was utter silence. Her ponies still had nightmares, but not of the dreaded shoggoths and other demons that plagued the Beyond. Did Tia destroy them? Were they hiding? Have they moved on to find easier prey? Luna shook her head. It was best not to question it. However, Luna couldn’t help but feel as if the sharks had dispersed because they sensed something else…something bigger. She decided to ignore these paranoid thoughts, and tend to the dreams of her little ponies.
Where should I begin? She approached a bubble of sky blue, and took a look from the outside. Is that…a giant muffin? Luna could see a gray pegasus mare with a blonde mane digging throughout the muffin like a worm in an apple. The alicorn chuckled. That is a dream I would enjoy. Although, Luna gave a grin, I could imagine Tia having the same dream with cake.
Hours passed as Luna tended to the few nightmares of the Equestrians, from squishing giant spiders in a filly’s dream, to consoling a royal guard who lost his friend on a deployment to the border of the Badlands. Luna was about to return to the physical realm, when something caught her eye. A dream bubble, secluded from all the others, spinning faster than any other. A lucid dream. Luna’s eyes widened. They were rare enough, but Luna always enjoyed watching, and sometimes even interacting with them. With little more than a moment’s hesitation, Luna touched the bubble and entered the dream.
<><><>
I was human. But I knew I was dreaming. I was standing on the hill overlooking Ponyville, a dark forest behind me, wearing my turquoise hoodie, jeans, and because this was my dream, socks and sandals. Because if someone told me off for wearing socks and sandals, I’d know I wasn’t dreaming. Plus, I always found them comfortable like that.
This was my dream. I was aware. I was in control. I willed the buildings in Ponyville to float in the air, to spin in circles, to grow chicken legs and fight one another. It was my will, and so it was. And for once, I was in control of the madness. There was an order to this chaos, my order. And simply knowing for sure that it was not real, that what I was seeing was indeed impossible, a sense of security flooded through me. I still had my dreams.
Until she came. I felt something enter my dream, the feeling not unlike someone managing to squirm their finger inside a clenched fist. I sat down and willed myself to be invisible. Eventually, a dark, ethereal-maned alicorn flew down from the sky and landed in front of me, back to Ponyville. I quickly restored order to the small dream town.
“We know thy art there.” She trotted closer, but it was still my dream, so it was about as effective as moving forwards on a treadmill. Luna noticed, and adopted a hurt expression. “Art thou…afraid of us?”
Awww, dammit, she’s doing that pouty face…this is so much more potent for real…or, well, in a dream. Note to self, don’t get caught by pouts outside of the dream. Taking care to disguise my voice, I elected to respond, and really determine if she was an extension of my delusion, or, against all odds, the real princess Luna.
“I am not afraid of you,” Wow, that deep reverb voice is as awesome as I wanted it to be. “I am simply…unsure. I don’t really know if I have become delusional once more, or if the more improbable had occurred.” Luna perked up.
“Thou doubts thy senses?” She snorted “Thou seem well-spoken for a madcolt.”
“I have a good reason to. And what makes you think I am male?” Luna rolled her eyes.
“Please. Thy voice is the perfect ‘mysterious male voice’. If thou were’t a mare, thou wouldst hath chosen something more…” She circled her hoof around in the air. “Original.” Wow. Sassy. “And do not try to change the subject. We art very curious, but we art also willing to help thee.” Oh, what the hell. I know I am dreaming, and if this is just an extension of my insanity reaching here, which I don’t think (or so I hope) is true, then I don’t think there is any harm in talking to it. But if it really is Luna, I have to be careful on what I mention, I don’t want to be tossed into an insane asylum, or exiled, or-stop. Just measure my words.
“I doubt my senses because they have deceived me once before. Even now, I am not completely sure you are not an extension of the madness seeping into my dreams. Heck, the only reason I trained myself to lucid dream was so I would be confident if I was dreaming or not. It is true that you may be Princess Luna, but it is far more likely that it is not the case. And when I wake up, I will be in the delusion once again.” She didn’t see me, but I bowed my head.
“Why hast thou not sought medical attention? Or mental aid?” There was a rumbling as the trees behind me quickly caught fire, and were consumed by the raging inferno. Luna’s eyes widened, and she stepped back slightly. I let her.
“I have very bad memories of my last visit to one such facility.” I spat the word out, and I made sure my vehemence permeated throughout the dream. “Not an experience I would like to repeat.” Taking a breath may not be necessary in a dream, but it did wonders for my flared temper. The trees behind me melted into ashes, but more slowly grew in their place. But there were still a few embers floating about, moving haphazardly between the pines like lost fireflies.
“How does thee know what thou’st see is not real?” Luna asked. I considered telling her the truth, that for me, magic was impossible, meat was delicious, and unicorns, pegasi, and all that other crazy stuff was nothing more than mythology to me, and I may have come from a different reality entirely. But I couldn’t help but feel it would be placing me in danger if this was the real Luna. I saw shadows flitting between the trees behind me in the reflection of her eyes, the light of the embers making them seem even larger.
“Honestly, I wish I could tell you, but I believe that telling you will end up hurting me.” I’ve never had a lucid dream with an element I could not control. And you can’t be something I consciously made, because I’ve been willing you to sing some Jimmy Buffett for most of our conversation. So either you and everything outside is real, or, more likely, lucid dreaming doesn’t beat back the madness. I guess all that effort was invested in a flimsy hope. Luna frowned.
“Why dost thou not trust us?” The scattered leaves began to smolder, the embers grew larger, and the shadows in the forest grew longer. Luna stepped back again, wings flared out.
“My mind wasn’t the only thing to deceive me.” This was getting too personal. Time to flip the tables. “But enough about me, let’s talk about you.” I could hear my sneer through the voice modification. “How do you know if you really are you? For all you know, you were Nightmare Moon for a reason, and the Elements tampered with your memories, just so harmony would be restored. Harmony isn’t stable, it’s a fickle thing that demands the sacrifice of many to make sure everybody, or rather, everypony is happy. It is stagnant, unbalanced, and too easy to fall apart.” Luna looked baffled, and I was pretty sure I could see the fear in her eyes. “The real you could have been stripped away like an ugly coat of paint by the Elements. Or it could have put a veil over your senses to get it to do what they want you to do. Or you may still be on the moon, slowly changing during a dream, from when Celestia first used the Elements against you. I may be the voice of reason in your mind, calling out.” I paused.
“But you will never know for sure.” I willed a powerful updraft to take her out of my dream, and it was so. I chuckled mirthlessly at the sight of Luna tumbling off into the distance, before she disappeared with a small flash. “Say hello to Team Rocket for me.”
I opened my eyes. Pony once more, I shook my head in disappointment. I could have said a thousand things, and I chose to go with a bad Pokemon reference. It sounded so lame. But still...I’ve never experienced a lucid dream like that. Could this all be...true?
<><><>
Luna could not help but panic as she hurried through the dreamscape. The lucid pony ̶ No, not a pony, she corrected, he said ‘anybody’. And what he talked about, it was dangerous, different, so…unpony! He could be a danger to all of Equestria. Luna may have tried to not think about what he said about her, but his words kept prodding at the back of her thoughts. So great was her haste to reach the ley line to the waking world, Luna failed to notice something stir beyond the Veil. Something far bigger than the creatures of the past, far more ancient.
Activating the ley line, Luna burst back into her chambers in a flash of blue light. She had to warn Celestia of the impending danger! Her royal horseshoes clicking against the pristine floor increased in rhythm as she approached her sister’s quarters. Ignoring the guards, she burst into Celestia’s room, and saw her attending her duties by raising the sun.
“Sister!” she rushed over to the Sun Alicorn. “We bring grave tidings! Upon exploring the dreamscape, we happened to find a lucid dreamer!” Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but Luna rambled on. “Furthermore, he hath disguised his voice and form when we went to see him, and he admitted to not trusting his senses, and he spoke of the fragility of harmony! We think this creature means to bring trouble to our fair land!” At this, Celestia stood straighter, what little sleep in her eyes dissipated from the potential threat. But just as quickly, she relaxed.
“Luna, if he admitted that he did not trust his senses, then it is obvious we are dealing with one who is mentally unwell. Maybe his little rant was nothing more than the talk of a madcolt?” Luna shook her head in response.
“Thou dost not understand, sister. He was lucid, in both dream, and awake. He was aware of his condition, and did not fully believe it was us in his dream. Imagine if a pony were to annoy him while awake, or if one stood in his way. He disbelieves his senses, thus he may decide they are not a pony, but a threat to him! Or his misguided senses would paint others as enemies when they would want nothing more than to help him!” Luna averted her gaze and whispered in fear. “We hath seen the shadows in his dreams, sister. Shadows that remind us too much of the Nightmare.”
Celestia moved closer to her sister and nuzzled her neck.
“Don’t worry Luna. If he is a threat, we will find him. If he is as lost as you think him to be, we will help him.” She looked into Luna’s eyes and smiled. “Now, if we could find him, that would be a good start. Do you have any clues?”
Luna shook her head.
“No, sister. He was very lucid in the dream, and was clever enough to disguise his form and voice. We could only sense he was there, and see his emotions in the forest behind him.” The younger alicorn paused a moment and continued. “He grew very angry when we suggested mental aid, and he verbally lashed out when we broached the issue of trust. Then he threw us, quite quickly, out of his dream”
The two sisters frowned, deep in thought, before Celestia spoke up.
“If he was lucid enough to disguise himself, we may not be sure if he was a pony or not. A madcolt, an insane gryphon, a deluded minotaur, those would all work, correct?” Luna nodded. They both knew that although non-pony dreams were harder to enter for Luna, they were easier to go into the closer they were to potent ley lines, which meant most of Equestria was ‘multi-species dream territory’ for the dark alicorn. “And if he has as much control to fling you out of the dream, then disguising his voice to make it seem like he was male would be no problem.”
“So what we are looking for may be a madcolt of any species, and may actually be a madmare.” Luna grimaced at her own statement. “Forgive us, sister, but that seems much harder.”
They sighed simultaneously.
“I suppose,” Celestia said dejectedly, “The best we could do is keep our ears to the ground. We should send more scouts along the borders of Equestria. Shining Armor will lead the watch on the Badlands border, since that is where danger most likely lies.”
Luna nodded and started to trot back to her room, but errant thoughts still fought in her mind. I should know better than to let these thoughts consume me. These are the same thoughts that made me vulnerable to the Nightmare. She turned back to her sister.
“Actually sister, we would like to talk to you about some…doubts.” Luna approached the Sun Alicorn slowly. “While we were in his, errrrr… let us call it 'Lucid' for now.” Luna took a breath to steady herself. “While we were in Lucid’s dream, he claimed that it was possible that we are still on the moon, dreaming, or that the Elements have changed everything we see, or even that the Elements changed who we ̶ who I was. And these thoughts, they assail me, they pester me, and they fester in the back of my mind. And ̶ ” Luna was interrupted by an angelic wing draped over her back. The Solar princess smiled at her sibling.
“Doesn’t this feel different from a dream? Don’t you know that no matter what the Nightmare made you do, I would always try to get my sister back? And do you really believe my sister, the gentle, artistic, shy, Princess Luna, would ever do what the Nightmare did? Do you think I would want any less, settle for any less? You are my sister, Luna. A victim of a monster, but a frank, loyal, humorous mare who was twisted for that parasite’s foul plans.” Celestia nuzzled her sister once more. “I will always love you, and I would do anything in my power to help you when you are hurt. Your scars will heal in time, dear sister. But for now…” Celestia summoned a bell and daintily rang it three times. Within seconds, a mare with a mustard coat and perfectly simple brown mane entered. “We are going to spend some time together, and we won’t be disturbed. We are going to talk over some tea, biscuits, and ̶ ”
“A margarita!” Luna blurted out. Both the maid and Celestia looked at the Lunar diarch in surprise. A visible blush came to Luna’s cheeks, as she worked her mouth to continue. “We…have been craving one recently. We don’t know why.” The maid shrugged and exited the room to carry out her request. Celestia chuckled.
“It’s nice to know you have been looking up the advances in beverages we’ve made in the last millennia.” Celestia coyly smirked. Luna’s blush only turned darker.
<><><>
Aside from my dream, the past week had gone swimmingly for me. With the funds I got from Zecora, I was able to afford food directly from the farms rather than going into Ponyville. I managed to convince Carrot Top, who I called “Ginny”, to keep the extra bits I gave her because I “liked the cut of her jib”. It took a few minutes for her to accept the money, but she eventually realized that I could be very stubborn, and decided to accept.
Surprisingly, food was cheap, and I quickly had money left over after getting assorted vegetables, namely, potatoes. Potatoes were necessary for basic survival. For humans, at least, and if the Irish could do it, so could I. Pots and pans were easy enough to come by; offer to buy some from the Apples. Thinking nothing suspicious of a traveler buying appliances, they were happy enough to try and give me a discount. I didn’t feel right paying ten bits for a frying pan, two good pots, a soup ladle, and a complimentary axe, so I insisted I pay the normal price. AJ seemed confused, but Big Mac gave a respectful nod. Thirty bits lighter and a frying pan, two good pots, a soup ladle, and a complimentary axe heavier, I made my way back to my refurbished tent, now with sturdier sticks! The somewhat chilly air spurred me on to the clearing. It was getting pretty nippy, but I decided not to think about it.
I was satisfied with how much I was doing, and felt a swell of pride when I saw the beginnings of my house. Already, stone had been carefully placed to fill the ditches, making a stable base for my walls. Lumber that I had bought from Pine Timber, a big lumberjack who lived in the forest to the south of Ponyville, was carefully placed as floorboards on the ‘inside’ of the square of stones, with a tarp covering it so rain would not damage the wood.
Putting down my new pots in a pile by the fire pit, I entered my tent for a few minutes of thought. There were several inconsistencies that I wanted to look over. The way these people act around me is inhuman! I got a job from Zecora practically on the spot, which I doubt would have happened anywhere I’ve been before. The Apples were very happy to sell to what they thought was a nomad, and even insisted on a discount. What is it with these folks and money anyways? I know haggling is a thing, but apparently, I’m either being well-paid, or people are trying to sell me stuff for less than they should. This is so odd. Unless…I took a sniff at my forelegpit.
“Eugh, ah!” I retched, “This is why! I smell awful! Next objective: jump in the river, then buy soap. Huurg. Awful…OH GOD, I THREATENED CARROT TOP WITH HOURS OF THIS!”
<><><>
The wolf ran through the peculiar forest, its steel-gray fur rippling in the wind as it chased its prey. The past few months had been odd for it. One moment, it was hunting in the snow with its brothers and sisters, the next, it found itself in the strange forest, stranded, alone save for a few unrecognizable lumps of meat and bone and some patches of melting snow.
But the beast had little to fear from the forest. It was warmer, sure, and some other predators were strange, such as the feline with a scaly tail, and the other, smaller wolves made of tree-material. Wood. Sticks, branches, and twigs. The wolf gave a smirk as it steadily approached the fleeing deer.
There was another thing. Ever since it had come here, it had changed. It began to know things, to think things. He had realized, after a month, that he had become aware of himself. Sapient. I am sapient. But I am still a predator, and the deer before me is my prey. The wolf leaped forwards and bit hard on his victim’s leg, his powerful jaws crushing the bone to calciferous shrapnel. The food tumbled, and he took the opportunity to tear its throat out.
But sapience came with a price.
As the light fled from the deer’s eyes, he could not help feeling troubled. I’m sorry. I’m hungry. I wish it wasn’t so, but such is the cycle of life. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t become aware, so I wouldn’t feel like this every time. And it is worse still that I suspect you were sapient as well. He shook his head and began to eat. He would eat all that he could, so he would not be forced to eat another for some time. When there was nothing left but bloody bones, a few of which were cracked oven for the marrow, the beast looked around.
It seems as if I am no longer in that other forest. This place feels…different. The smells are purer, and the scent of rot that permeated throughout that dark forest is no longer here. No, it smells like…them. The wolf knew that odor far too well, a smell that carried well in the tundra, and a fragrance that could only be attributed to one species. The smell of smoke. The smell of fire. The smell of death. The odd, shambling creatures that hunted his kind only rarely for food. It was only now that the wolf realized that they were probably just as sapient, if not more, than him now. I know now which advantage they held. Intelligence. And I do not want to know what would happen if one were to exist here.
But curiosity could not be denied, and the wolf approached the origin of the scent. He came across a clearing, with weird piles of stone and wood, seemingly organized for a reason. And by it…he recognized the shape as a den for one of the creatures. He tensed as he saw similar tools. The club, which had an oddly sharp end, the fire pit, and black pots. But what came out of the tent was not one of the dreaded creatures.
What…what is that? A turquoise quadruped, lacking the distinctive flat face, odd forelimbs and strange claws the beast had learned to fear, had settled down in front of the pit and began to make a fire. The wolf saw its flat teeth as it held a pan in its mouth while it sparked a fire into existence.
You are not one of those creatures. For that, I am relieved. Unfortunately for you, you are prey. And although I regret it, you will be my next meal, when I become hungry. And the Gray Direwolf sulked back into the depths of Rambling Rock Forest.
<><><>
Far north of Los Pegasus, and equally south of Vanhoover, there lived an old fishercolt. An earth pony stallion, with a blue coat and a greasy, graying mane, spent his days fishing and drinking. Fresh Halibut had built his hut decades ago, when he saw the cove for what it was; a beautiful place to spend the rest of his days fishing. He proposed to his wife there, they got married there, and, a couple months ago, she died there.
So Fresh continued his existence, alone, using alcohol and salt to get through the day. As the sun sank into the shining ocean, Fresh felt a sense of unease. Deciding it was nothing more than his buzz wearing off, he took a swig. The sensation ebbed away quickly. But there was something else. A slight shuddering. A pause. And another shuddering. Fresh decided that was enough alcohol. But the unease came back. And it came back with fear. An unnatural, archaic fear.
Fresh didn’t know it, but he was feeling the aura of a powerful being from beyond the Veil. And had his vision not been shot by all the alcohol, he would have seen the colossal form that approached Equestria from the west. It walked on two legs, like a diamond dog, but that is where the similarities ended. Its skin oozed toxic pus consistently, and it had four huge, curved claws at the end of each arm. On its back were an enormous set of leathery bat wings, ends tipped with talons. But its head…the monster had blazing yellow eyes that screamed maliciousness, and a wide dome with a mouth hidden by a plethora of tentacles that writhed consistently.
As the titan approached, it began to slow down. Five hundred meters from shore, it stopped completely. Fresh couldn’t help but look up at the massive blurry being, noting how terrifying his last hallucination was. The creature stood there, and, with a voice that made Fresh involuntarily shudder, began talking in an indecipherable language.
“~ I know you are here, whatever you are. ~” Almost instantly, a sphere of the darkest black appeared in front of the titan, suspended in midair. Tendrils unwrapped from the sphere and slowly flowed outward in every direction. There were many, moving seemingly at random, but even in Fresh’s addled state, he noticed two small tendrils seep down low, near the water, and move behind the colossus. Five tendrils made themselves obvious by thickening and vibrating at different frequencies.
“~Cthulhu, ~” The mass of black spoke, “~ You aren’t supposed to be here. Your place is in the Beyond. ~”
The giant let out a bark that Fresh could easily identify as laughter.
“~I choose where I go, creature. If I want to come to a world to eat, to hunt, to destroy, all for my amusement, then I will do so. And with so many realities connected, my brethren and I should do so with ease. Yet…~” The hulking figure took a step forwards, but failed to notice as the low black tendrils closed into a loop surrounding it. “~…for some reason, the armies refuse to go into any realm, save the one with the Beyond we have been trapped in since the beginning. I have traced this realm by finding out where my minions refuse to go the most. Do you know why, creature? ~”
The floating being’s tendrils slowed.
“~ I do. Because despite being from beyond the Veil, you still belong to that universe. Errant shoggoths and other demons can exist far away from their native Beyond, but entire populations know instinctively that to do so would mean annihilation. ~”
“~ So what is stopping me from simply ignoring these idiotic instincts and destroying you, as well as everything in this world? ~”
“~ …I must ask you, leave, please. ~” There was a thunderous laughter from the titan, while another tendril split off from the unnoticed loop and rose up behind the behemoth.
“~ So, ~” the giant continued, “~ Nothing can possibly stop me…save for those two beings I could sense, of great magical prowess. No matter. I will crush them. ~”
“~ What do you want? I could give you anything for you to return to your realm and stay there. ~”
“~ I wish for nothing more than death and destruction. ~” The two stood there silently, observing one another. The sphere floated back, then slowly moved forwards, near the creature’s chest, moving along to its right arm.
“~ Your physical body is impressive. Skin as hard as steel, with natural and magical regenerative abilities that allow you to survive the harsh Beyond. Survive, not live. But would the same be said about you in the Void? ~”
“~ What are you insinuating? ~” And the rising tendril, faster than Fresh's eyes could follow, fell forwards and passed cleanly through the monster’s right arm at the shoulder. As it roared in pain, the same tendril caught the arm before it hit the water, and the loop began to coalesce into a thicker tendril, before it separated behind the monster, and with a sound that was not heard, but felt in the bones of the old fishercolt, a fissure opened behind the monster. It was not pitch black, but the color that all blind people see, the sound that deaf people hear, and what rocks think. Nothingness.
The sphere pushed the monster into the tear, almost effortlessly, and carelessly tossed the arm of the beast after it. Its tendrils took the edges of the tear and, slowly, inexorably, closed it. And as quickly as the black sphere came, it disappeared.
A few moments passed, and Fresh looked at his bottle in bewilderment.
“Feather Dawn would be ashamed to see me like this.” He muttered as he threw the half-full bottle far into the sea.
<><><>
Windell biked to Benny’s house, distracting himself with some music on his phone. He was depressed, but now that he thought about it, he was angry at himself for not seeing the signs.Veronica...she...I should have been smarter. More emotionally guarded.
He dropped his bike on the lawn and let himself in. Benny was pretty okay on him dropping in whenever he felt like it, and today, Windell just didn’t care for the general civility of knocking. He found Benny frying some bacon on his gas stove, not a care in the world.
“Hey, Windell! How’d your date with Veronica go?” Benny turned to face Windell, wearing an apron that read ‘Please the Cook’, with an arrow pointing to his crotch. Classy, thought Windell.
“Are…are you frying bacon at five p.m.?”
“It’s never too late for bacon!” Benny gave him his trademark smile. “You want some while you tell me what’s up?” Windell threw his arms in the air, but couldn’t help giving a smile to his best friend.
“Sure. What do you want to know first?” Benny scooped some bacon out of the pan and put eight strips on two plates.
“How about why you’re so glum after a date with the lovely Veronica?” He passed Windell a plate. Windell’s smile disappeared.
“I had to break up with her…” Windell couldn’t help but cast his eyes downwards. “Apparently she’s been cheating on me with two other guys. I found out when one of the other guys saw her there with me. Worst part is, she told us both that we were ‘easy lays’ and that our ‘performances’ were probably the worst she’d ever had.”
“Wow, so you two actually got intimate?”
“Twice.” Windell sighed “But it was really involuntary the second time. I didn’t really feel like it, but she was forceful and got me to do it. Afterwards, when I told her how I felt, she said ‘guys always want it’. She tried a third time a week later, but I pushed her back, successfully. She slapped me, but at least we didn’t do it when I didn’t want to.”
Benny gave a low whistle.
“What a bitch.” He nabbed one of my bacon strips and started munching on it. “Cheer up, man, you’re better off without her. There’s so much more to life than getting hung over some bad girl. Life can only get better from here.” Windell looked up to him.
“Are you sure?” He asked. Benny beamed.
“Trust me.”
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I'm really proud of this chapter. I really start to get into the dynamics of Windell's presence in Equestria, from the little things like how he plans on surviving, to how he influenced Celestia and Luna, albeit unintentionally, despite how little screen-time (letter-time? Word-time?) Present Windell has. Then there's the dangers from the universes being too close together, which is still a problem, and will continue to be so.
I love the title that I chose for this chapter, because it fits so well. Also, blatant foreshadowing. But if it's already happened, is it preshadowing? hmmmm.
Finally, shout out to all those people who liked, favorited, and even commented. Personal shout out to my three followers; Izanagi, Atrunia, and guang, who apparently all believe I'll be going places. Thank you guys, your votes of confidence mean a lot to me.
Edit:
For the song, here:
Hooray relevant songs!
Lovecraft was right!
How did he know?!
Anyways, it is nice to see our protagonist's views on harmony.
Also nice to see that the entity is still doing its job even while waiting for our protagonist.
What a good worker!
Oh boy, trouble in paradise. Lots of trouble.
Yeah... I don't think he'll get to just continue building his house in peace while waiting for his condition to run its course.
...Sapient wolf, in a world with no humans. Do not want.
5627408 Quality deserves recognition doesn't it?
This is sapience. The wolf was already sentient.
5631897
Thanks Lab! Didn't know there was a difference. Nice to see you here.
5632193 No problem. They're often used synonymously in science fiction, but sentience means it possesses sensory organs. Sapience means it has knowledge and wisdom. Sentience doesn't require something to be self-aware.
5640807
I called it "Ballad of the Wanderer"
a look
basically my reaction to the later half of this chapter, dire wolf cthulu and veronica in one, also rereading
6380979 To my writing or to the situation? I admit the latter two parts are a tad lackluster. Maybe later there will be a rewrite.
I'm surprised nobody commented on the funniest thing that happened in this chapter. I almost lost it when I put together that Windell was channeling Jimmy Buffet at Luna in the dream... then when she woke up she was craving a Margarita!
coacheshotseat.com/coacheshotseatblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/JimmyBuffett10.jpg
I wouldn't be surprised if she started singing it at a later date, since it was projected into her subconscious!
That's sexist.
"I'm going to hide and disguise my voice and everything because Luna might see me as a threat. I absolutely, under no circumstances, want the unstable guilt-ridden ex-villain princess of the night who waltzes into dreams without warning to see me as a threat."
*Protagonist traumatizes her for shits and giggles*
Shoggoths weren't from Beyond, they were created by Ancient Ones inside realm