After Pinkie’s absurd disregard for the laws of physics, I said my goodbyes to the Crusaders and Applejack as I picked up my saddlebags, explaining that I needed a moment alone to recover from the shock. I was walking down the the street, my mind in utter confusion due to Pinkie's antics and the knowledge that these ponies were somehow able to move the sun and moon. It was mind boggling that there was actually a species that can move giant ba—THWACK!
"Gah!" I said as I fell on my rear, as I rubbed a hoof over my muzzle as I looked at what hit my face, only to see a door. Guess I was too caught up in my mind-breaking realizations to pay attention to what was in front of me. Looking at the building before me, I saw it was Sugarcube Corner, which made me realize just how long I was lost in thought. Shrugging it off, I opened the door to see the usual line of customers and Mrs. Cake at the register, who waved at me when she saw me. After I waved back at her, I headed upstairs and into my room, not wanting to deal with any more craziness for the day so that I wouldn’t end up with permanent brain damage.
Putting down my saddlebags, I pulled out a book and got to practicing my reading for the rest of the day, though during dinner I did give Pinkie a stern look for the surprise she gave me earlier. She instead simply smiled and tousled my mane with a hoof, which caused me to drop my look since it was pointless to keep it up. After dinner, I returned to my room to practice my reading until sunset, at which point I decided to simply go to bed instead of staying up, hoping that a good night's rest would help put my mind at ease.
"Hey shorty, how was your last job?"
"Eh, nothing special Kalin, just the usual 'do my best to not die' kind of stuff."
"Are you sure? Cause you're now even shorter than you were before."
"What are you tal-" I started to say before I looked at myself, where I saw that I was in my pony body. "Oh... this is a dream..." I muttered to myself as I look up to see that Kalin had disappeared. Turning around, I found myself in the middle of the pony town... I really should have asked for its name by now. Though one thing struck me as odd in my dream. It was in color. Normally my dreams are monotone, while this dream was fully colored. Though this change was probably caused by my change in species, so odds are my new brain chemistry is allowing me to dream in color. Maybe this is why ponies are more cheerful than most other species.
Choosing to wander around in my dream, I noticed that it was rather devoid of any signs of life. Sadly, I had no way of controlling my dreams. I never mastered the art of lucid dreaming, though it is hard to learn that skill when you don't dream often, and this was my first dream in this world. Normally, I recalled my sleeping to be just vast voids of darkness where nothing happened, or I just simply go to sleep and wake up hours later without anything in between. Regardless, this was a time for me to explore the effects my new body could have on my dreams. As eerie as it was to have the entire town empty, it did offer me a much-needed moment of solitude. I could only handle so much of Pinkie Pie defying the laws of... well, everything... Oh fuck no, I hope she can't enter dreams, too!
After looking around for any signs of Pinkie, I let out a sigh of relief before I began to notice something changing. Looking around, I saw the background losing some of its color, as the color of the sky began to fade, but not into the darkness of night. It was just losing its hue of sky blue. As I pondered this sudden change, the ground began to shake, cracking apart as the buildings were torn to pieces. Bracing myself on the ground, I watched as the ground shattered, fragments of the land beginning to float all around me as though the laws of gravity had ceased to exist. Yet even after seeing this occur, I remained calm, for I knew I was dreaming and that I had experienced stranger things... until I saw a massive tentacle come from below. Its flesh dark and mutilated, the tentacle was something I’d never seen before in my life. That is when I started to panic.
I saw the tentacle flex away from me, which alerted me to its intention. Quickly, I jumped off the floating chunk of land I was on onto another one before the tentacle swung down on that chunk, shattering it into pieces. Knowing that it wouldn't give up so easily, I jumped from floating island to floating island as the tentacle came up and down, destroying anything in its path. It wasn't long before I was left standing on the last chunk of land left untouched, the tentacle before me as it flexed in preparation to smash me to bits. Knowing that this was the inevitable end to this nightmare, I simply closed my eyes to wait for it to shock me back to the waking world.
"Begone foul beast! Thou shall not torment this young one's dreams no more!" Opening my eyes in shock of the unknown voice, I looked up to see the tentacle being blasted apart by a ray of light. Looking to the source of the light, I beheld the sight of a dark blue alicorn, one that was larger than Twilight and dressed in what looked like royal regalia as she flew down onto the last remaining strip of land. While I would hate to admit it to anyone, I was gaping at the sight of the alicorn, completely dumbfounded by what I had just seen.
"Do not fret, little one, for that beast was merely a figment of your imagination," the alicorn said after she landed. While she was keeping a reserved composure, it soon started to crumble at the ridiculous sight of me gaping at her. It didn't took her long before she started to wave a hoof before my face as she said, "Young filly, are't thou well?"
It was her break in composure that brought me back to my senses as I closed my gaping mouth. Looking at her, I asked, "What are you? I never seen you before, and I do not think I imagined you."
Apparently my limited understanding of the pony's language confused the alicorn, though the only sign of that was the slight raising of one of her eyebrows. "Thou do not recognize us, the Princess of the Night?"
"Err... no... though I do not know many princesses, I know of Princess Twilight... because I met her..." I explained, which caused the princess to tilt her head in now open confusion.
"Hath thou been living under a rock? How can thou not know of the princesses of Equestria?"
"Umm... well, I am not from around here. I even speak different... words... though I have been learning the... words of this land now," I said, hoping that will satisfy her.
"Ah, thou are from a foreign land, and with thy age... that explains thy lack of knowledge. Thus, we will introduce ourselves then," the alicorn said before taking on a more regal pose. "We are Princess Luna, princess of the night, co-ruler of Equestria and Steward of the Dreamscape. We hath come to thy dream for thou hath been experiencing a nightmare, and it is our duty to protect our subjects from all threats, real or imagined."
Wow, she's certainly one for words, I thought to myself, before realizing that this meant that this was actually royalty before me. I quickly bowed to her as best as I could, since this was the first time I actually bowed and she looked like a more important figure than Twilight. I mean, Twilight didn’t dress for the part of royalty and lived in a tree house. Princess Luna, on the other hoof, was far bigger than Twilight and certainly looked the part. "Sorry Princess Luna for my... lack of respect from earlier. I thought you were a.. thing of my... mind, and not an actual pony," I said, as pondered on the fact that a pony could enter my dreams. Great, next thing you know, they can read minds whenever they choose. I hate dealing with species that can mess with your brain.
"There is no need to bow before us young one, though we appreciate the gesture. Now we will take our leave of thy mind, for we have other subjects that we must safeguard from their own nightmares. But first..." Luna said, before waving a hoof, causing the landscape to return to what it once was before the nightmare began.
"Thank you Princess Luna, it was a... pleasure to me—" I started to say with a smile, until a bestial growl interrupted me. My smile slowly fading away, I looked around to find the source of the sound, as did Luna, a frown on her face as she scanned the surroundings as well. Suddenly, I heard a howl, my head turning towards the alley to catch the sight of a monster leaping from it toward the two of us. At first I wasn't frightened due to having an alicorn that apparently could control anything inside dreams, but then I saw its eyes. At the moment I saw the eyes of the monster, I let out a terror-filled scream, as my dream completely shattered and I returned to the waking world.
The moment I awoke from my nightmare, my screams came with me as I sat up, screaming in horror. Only mere seconds passed before Pinkie Pie appeared at my side, her forehooves encircling me into a hug.
"Aether, it's alright, I'm here. You were only having a nightmare," Pinkie said, as I continued with my scream, that apparently awoke everyone for soon the Cakes were at the open doorway to my room, Mrs. Cake calming down the twins who were about to burst into tears from having their rest interrupted. Pinkie soon started rubbing my back with one of her hooves, which soon calmed me down enough for me to finally end my screaming. Looking up at her, I saw her eyes full of concern before my vision blurred from tears surging onto my eyes. As I released terror-induced sobs, I buried my face into her chest, crying onto her fur as she continued to hug me, repetitively telling me that everything is alright.
However, even with Pinkie's attempts to soothe me from my terror, the sight of the monster still dwell on my mind. It was on four legs, bearing wicked claws on its feet, its skin ragged, dark, and mutilated like the tentacle nightmare that came before it, it's triangular shaped head roaring with its jaw full of so many sharp teeth that no natural creature should have. But what scared me the most was its eyes. Its hatred-filled eyes. Eyes that spoke of untold horrors of what its appearance would foretell. Eyes that I never before witnessed in all my travels, but I knew what they were, what they belong to. Eyes that will haunt me for the rest of my life, as they would for any that have saw them. The eyes of a Venanite.
Enjoyable as always. Looking forward to more.
I seem to have a very livid fantasy... I kinda spooked myself while reading this...
Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
Good chapter, guy(s)! Monster setup via dream sequence is pretty cool. Also, ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE!!!
-TGRP
If he has been in worlds Venanites. have attacked before, why is he having nightmares about them now?
Also if Tatarus and the Everfree is anything to go by, Equestria might the first land to survive a Venanite invasion.
Also, I guess he used to be some kind of canine?
Note: Canines DO NOT actually see things in black and white, but in a limited range of pastel colors.
5928783 Not going to answer that question for various reasons, the answer will be discovered eventually as the story goes along. Also, how would being a canine or not affect the colors in a dream? Some people dream in black and white, others dream in color.
5928805
Is a common belief, mostly spread by Tv, that dogs see the world in black and white.
nuzzle should be muzzle. Or Snout....
----
Odd. I wouldn't have expected his Mental Avatar to be a pony. Does his multiverse jumping usually change his form, and he got used to it, or do dreamscapes in this continuity take their form from reality?
5928805 Is this a crossover?
5928892 I know about that belief, but this is the dream, not seeing the actual world.
5928909 'She' got used to it. Error noted and edited.
5929013 It's not a crossover.
5929047 So all the things mentioned are original?
5929093 More or less, hard to claim originality in a world where you could say everything has been done. If there is some material where the names I used were also used, well... didn't know they were taken. All I can say for certain is that I'm not using any material from anything else for the story premise.
5929130 That's cool!
Great job, and you still have me looking forward to more.
encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6BjZ9H_j6Xa0TMsQY4UVgKdN7I3J9haRYzRXTIPeyT7O_oVgI
This says it all.
What exactly is the creature she used to be exactly? All I have for a description is; male, five fingered hand/paw, foot and a long tail similar to that of a feline/catarrhini(Old World Monkey)/canine.
5934358 Sorry, but that would be spoiling.
i don´t think i said what i wanted to say about him/her, and the princesses. First he bowed to Twilight, and was sorry about what he did to her, then again i think he did something like that again, and was suddenly mean again, now he/she is bowing again.
I think he should decide for himself, how much respect he wants to have towards the princesses, and well even if i like Luna, i guess i would be angry with her at first, for just being in my head or something like that.
I just agree with some Characters, that would like to know if somehone is about to enter their mind.
That he wa so frigthened, means probably that the thing really exist, as a Dream thing, an monster he once defeated, or something that is still after him.
5947445 I guess he bowed toTwilight because he thought that he screwed up, after that they resumed their friendly relationship - Twilight isn't into the whole princess thing, after all
With regards to Luna, he knew that she was royalty and acted that way. I don't really see a discrepancy in his behavior
By the way, I am wondering: is 'he' or 'she' proper? At least biologically, he is a she .
5973999
That and he had to use percussive maintenance to reboot her shattered mind.
Okay, I'm sorry but it is a little annoying to find everyone trying to figure out what this character was before they turned into a pony. It is obvious, with the author furiously expressing he was not human, he is matter of fact, humanoid. NOT THE SAME THING. (I am not at all trying to say you should not present your theories or opinions, just think things through more, and understand the basics of all sci-fi/fantasy stories a bit more. And yes, they can overlap.)
Humanoid: Basically a human shape, but not human, has torso, head, upper limbs normally used for handling objects, whether it has hands or not doesn't matter, and then lower limbs which normally entails some form of legs, could also be limbs like a spider, and have multiple, but as long as it still retains more of a human-ish appearance still humanoid. This could also include other things, such as it was pointed out, a tail. Though it was not given a full descritpion, to leave us with a curious mind to read on. It was merely a cursory mention. Male, shorter than others of his species, moves the same as anyone or anything else, but has either power/technology to assist with the interdimensional travel.
Many are also trying to figure out a cutie mark, being that he was once a different species, he may not even get a cutie mark (Speculation). That is up to the author's world and rules that has been created. We can only best determine things as they are presented to us. Which is key to get us to try and use brains to determine things and find out if they are right, wrong, or close in determination. This is meant to be a surprise, and I must admit, the way the author presents this, is very, very well with giving small details of the character and their former background before finding their self in Equestria.
Sorry for the rant.
Also, additional note, in case people assume I am calling them stupid or something, I am not, even if it sounds like it. I am just saying some of the things people are trying to guess seem to be getting a little out there since they are now going beyond the original descriptions the author presented in the beginning.
Give the author time to bring everything together.
Should have replied in his native tongue to confuse her even more.
Why would its skin be mutilated? It get into a fight with a cheese grader?
did you mean "it did offer me a much-needed moment" or "it afforded me a much-needed moment"? The wording you use here doesn't seem right, I don't mind it when Aether talks like this to others, since she's still learning the language, but it feels a little of when 'she' is thinking or commenting on something to 'herself'
This chapter tripped me out seeing that my name is kallin
5928783
Technically, s/he said s/he normally dreams in monotone, not necessarily black and white.
Did you mean to say he dreamed in monochrome?
5928783
Probably for the same reason Luna saw one in her nightmare.
6434987 maby as u said its a for warning but que massize mayhem and buck i just relized my ic is a colt not a stallion since hes 20
So that's a venanite. Seems like their literally the stuff nightmares are made of.
First image in the search (just in case it was an actual thing in a book, movie, or V. game):
cdn-img.fimfiction.net/story/qsgh-1432609339-254824-medium
By the throne...
So my guess is that they are either like the World of Warcraft Old Gods, the Flood, or the Tyranids.
Being of mutalated horrors and foreboding, and galactic plague of death, or a galactic race that just consumes all.
Im sure one of those is right.