Chapter XLVI: Creature
It was a sleepy morning for the inhabitants of the Sugarcube Corner, as Pinkie Pie came into the bakery after dealing with the Tantabus. She was far more cheerful than normal, elated that she and her friends were able to help Princess Luna to overcome her guilt. Though she was surprised to learn from the Cakes that Aether was still in bed, she shrugged it off when she came upon a great idea on how to greet her adopted daughter today. Quietly, Pinkie headed upstairs and opened the door to Aether's room, sneaking right up to her daughter with a gleeful grin that faded away to worry when she saw Aether's face. While from the doorway it looked like Aether was simply sleeping in, but up close, Pinkie could see her daughter's face contorted in fear.
"Aether!" Pinkie yelled in surprise, shaking her to no avail. She tried every method she knew of to wake Aether, without any results to show for it. As fear started to set in, she realized that Luna she nearby, and that she, more than any other pony, would be able to help.
"Strange... I detect no enchantment on her," Luna said, as she scanned Aether with her magic, with Pinkie and Twilight at her side. While she was slightly annoyed to be woken from her first pleasant dream in a long time, upon realizing that something was wrong, she and Twilight returned with Pinkie to the bakery with utmost haste.
"What does that mean?" Twilight asked.
"I am uncertain, for normally a pony would only remain in this deep of a slumber while under some manner of magical duress," Luna explained.
"Is there anything you can do?" Pinkie questioned, her concern growing greater at the news.
"There is one way. I have to enter her dreams, and find the cause of matter." Seeing Pinkie's concern, Luna laid a hoof on her shoulder before continuing, "Fear not, for no monster born from a pony's nightmares has ever bested me."
"But Princess Luna, what about the things that Aether have seen in her previous life?" Twilight countered.
"Do not worry Twilight, for I have seen many of the monsters that Aether has confronted in the past. I can assure you that I am ready for whatever nightmare she may be having," Luna replied before lighting up her horn with her magic, as a thread of light extended from her horn to Aether's head.
Upon entering Aether's dreamscape, Luna quickly saw that it have became utter chaos compared to the last time she visited it. Floating in the sky were giant rocks, rivers of water flowing between them. Gravity seemed to be completely ignored in this dream, based on the fact that the floating rocks have trees growing at their sides or even bottoms. Luna was about to ponder the meaning of this when her musings was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Just bucking leave me alone already!"
Turning her head, she saw Aether off in the distance, jumping from one rock to another while being followed by something that Luna presumed to be a nightmare shaped as an earth pony. "Dame Aether, do not fret, for I ha—" Luna started to cry out before a hoof covered her muzzle.
"Tsk tsk tsk, didn't your mother tell you not to go to places you're not invited to?" asked a mysterious voice that sounded like several voices speaking at once. Quickly Luna used her magic to grab onto the being, pulling its hoof off her mouth as she brings it before her eyes. This caused her eyes to widen, for it was the same beast chasing Aether, except she can now see its eerie smile along with the purple eyes that seem to be boring into her own.
Shaking a head clear of the momentary confusion, Luna declared, "Begone, nightmarish beast!" as she used her magic to will the creature away. However, instead of vanishing like other nightmares that Luna had faced time and time again, the creature just laughed at her, while Luna gaped in shock.
"Wow, two ponies in a row that mistook me as some kind of nightmare. Is this going to be some trend?" the creature said, as Luna gathered her wits about her before bring the creature right up to her muzzle.
"Creature, what are you and why are you tormenting this young filly's dreams?" Luna demanded, a look of fury coming upon her face.
"Wow, you don't have to get so grumpy, unless it's your time of the month!" the creature shot back, causing Luna to blink and sputter in response. "Besides, what makes you think I'm tormenting her? We're just having a simple game of tag."
"I highly doubt that, for she is screaming for you to leave her be. Now leave this filly be or suffer the consequences!"
"What consequences? Are you going to bake me a cake?" the creature asked, causing Luna to just give it a deadpan stare. "Or are you going to give me a giant teddy bear that I can hug it so hard that its head pops off?"
This creature is as mad as Discord! Luna thought to herself before she announced, "You were given a chance, foul creature. Begone!" Luna declared before firing a blast of magic at both the creature in front of her and the one chasing Aether. However, both creatures vanished, causing the second ray of magic to strike Aether instead.
"Argh!" Aether screamed in pain, the magical blast sending her crashing into another rock.
"Aether!" Luna cried out, as she tried to fly over to the filly, before the creature again appeared before her.
"Wow, you sure are one mean princess. Blasting the poor filly like that, I should report you for foal abuse!" the creature said, before Luna felt two pairs of hooves grabbing onto her forelegs. Looking at the owners, she saw it was two copies of the creature, dressed as police officers as one of them declared, "You have the right to remain loud! Everything you spit out will be held against you in a courtyard of bananas!"
"Let go of me, fiends!" Luna yelled out before bringing her forehooves together, smashing the two creatures together, causing them to disappear in a puff of smoke.
"You're resisting parole? Does that mean princesses are allowed to abuse their subjects?" the creature asked, irritating Luna as she shot another ray of magic at it, only for it to dodge it by skipping to another rock. "So, do you have some closet where you tie up foals and feed them pudding that you regurgitated?"
"Enough of your nonsense!" Luna shot back, as she covered the creature with her magic before swinging the creature with all her might into a rock, causing it to dissipated into smoke upon impact. She then returned her attention Aether, only to find that she had disappeared. She frantically looked about until she heard a pained groan beneath her. Looking down, she spotted a half-dazed Aether sitting at a table with three more of the creatures, dressed in different outfits.
"Want a cup of lemonade, Mr. Fluffybottom?" asked one that was wearing a bonnet.
"Why thank you! I sure don't want some milk, Mrs. Lemon Tart!!" yelled another one with a cape on, as it held out a spoon.
"Here you go, Sir Dance-a-tron! One spicy cup of jello!" hollered one that had a fake mustache as it poured what looked to be hot soup from a coffee pot onto Aether's lap. That broke the filly out of her dazed as she screamed out in pain, jumping from the chair with so much force that she almost could've shot past Luna if she hadn't caught the filly first.
"Why, Professor Willy Sticks! It's the foalnapper!" cried the one with the cape.
"Don't not fret young colt! The librarians will kick the foalnapper to lollipops!" screamed a creature that suddenly appeared before the duo, grabbing onto Aether and disappearing with her in a puff of smoke.
"Come back you fiend!" Luna shrieked in rage, before hundreds of the creature appeared all around her, dressed in funeral attire, as they lifted their forelegs towards Luna.
"Frolic with us!" they said in unison as they began to shuffle towards her. "Join us in everlasting kickball! Head towards the cake!"
"Enough!" Luna finally declared in the Royal Canterlot Voice, sending out a magical shockwave, that not only destroyed the creatures, but shattered the dreamscape itself. Gathering the surroundings with her magic, Luna willed the shattered dreamscape into a grassy meadow. Looking about, she found to her dismay no signs of Aether.
"Jeeze, you don't have to be such a spoilsport," the creature said as it appeared before Luna, lounging on a cactus while sipping a tin can filled with lava.
"Enough of your games, monster! Release Aether at once!" Luna demanded while pointing a hoof at the creature.
"Sure! I'll let her go!"
"...You're not going to do that, aren't you," Luna deadpanned.
"You're catching on, Prince Artemis!" the creature cried out in joy, before tossing the tin can aside. Despite the can landing and becoming a giant candy cane, the creature continued as if nothing happened. "There is no way I'm letting the filly go that easily! And by now you should know that there is nothing you can do to stop me!"
"I am the guardian of the dreamscape! You can't not defy me forever!"
"Oh, you're right about that, but the solution is, I don't need forever," the creature replied in a menacing tone, causing Luna to start to worry. "Try as hard as you can, call upon all your resistance, and you still won't win. Accept the lie, Aether is mine! So how about you return to your world of muffins and chicken nuggets, for there is something you can do!"
Luna gathered her resolve before declaring, "No matter what you claim, I will not surrender so easily!"
This caused the creature to laugh as it clapped its forehooves. "My my my, I love it when the bystander decides to resist the unmovable facts. I despise it so much if fills me with moths!" The creature then coughed out a few wasps before continuing, "So, I'll give you a rock."
Eyeing the creature, Luna carefully asked, "Are you saying you're giving me a chance to save Aether?" Despite the nonsensical nature of the creature, having to interact with Discord in the past had provided her some experience with dealing with such nonsense.
"Didn't I just spill that? If you want to spank Aether, you just have to play a little game with me," the creature answered as it hopped around the princess.
Narrowing her eyes, Luna replied, "What are the rules of your game?"
"Oh, not much, for we're playing a guessing game! You have one hour find the right answer, or I will win! Unlimited guesses to boot? That's fair, right?"
"That depends on the question," Luna countered.
"Well, we could play my game, where you have a chance of saving Aether, or we return to our fruitful dance! The choice is yours!" the creature said in glee, causing Luna to close her eyes in thought for a moment before opening them again.
"What happens if I lose?"
"Then you have to dress as a maid for a month! Oh, and Aether is all mine!" the creature answered, its grin growing wider.
"Very well, I will play your game. What is your question?" Luna asked, raising her chin resolutely.
The creature giggled for a moment, its eyes drifting off to stare at two separate directions before it replied, "What am I?"
Stats
Page generated in 0.097 seconds
Total duration
1,007 users online
272,851 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
The answer is Eris... The Draconequs of Dusk Mirror world
You give it away when you called Luna, Artemis
...
I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it. Luna goes for the game too fast, and this unnamed creature is bossing the mistress of dreams around way, way too easily.
Heck, Aether herself folded too quickly for somebody with her will-power and knowing that this was a dream.
I really hope there's a good explanation for just what is going on, what this creature is and why it's so strong, otherwise this feels really cheap and arbitrary.
...I have no fucking clue!
6711983 Haven't read the comics, but know of it, yet, would never have guessed it.
STELLAR FLUX!
YOU SLIME KILLER!
WHY HAVE YOU APPEARED AGAIN!?
Nothing, and yet, everything...
Nice chapter!
Maybe... Aether's childhood innocence? It's manipulating the dreamscape like it was a lucid dream yet it makes as much sense as a child... Maybe the voice from the mirror wasn't lying when it said Aether was going insane... Yeah, I got nothing...
I have to agree with Dorkness, this new enemy is completely invincible and in absolute control when against Luna, the third strongest person in the entire story, at full strength within her domain of dreams when she is at her strongest and the whole time the 'nightmare' is doing the "penguin of doom, hold up spork, lol i so random" routine that just makes me so... bored.
How long until she isn't a part of the story anymore? cus I'll be skimming til then. Hell, I skimmed every single line of the nightmare's dialogue now. I guess it's because omnipotent troll characters are always boring to me (Yes that includes Discord), because there is absolutely no tension or weight to anything as long as they participate in the plot and if there is no tension why care what happens?
I couldn't resist. I have to listen to de this while I was reading de dream part of the chapter.
I think the music suit with the creature
6711989 About Aether, it is very simple! She is not an idiot
She quickly realised that she is, in fact, unable to change the dream in any chape or form. Therefore, she runs, because it saved her life in the past against foes she cannot hurt.
And Luna is also a quick-thinker, an attack that blasted the fucking dreamscape apart didn't even faze that monster. Sorry, but if something that would amount to a last-resort doesn't work, there is not much she can do, is there?
6711983 Damn it don't ruin the dispense.
Anyone else thinks that there can be better names for 63's?
The answer is a creature of an origin that is not from this dimension, or Discord's second cousin
6711983 I'm thinking this guy got it right.
You are fire you are death!
Wait, no that's something else...
You are alive.
It's true
6712041 Meh, I'm not sure "she" is from there... Eris I think was named from some fans as a rule 63 version of Discord in Dusk world, not sure if exist any comic that have her as it's mainly theory and cameos from some fanfics
Luna can trash the nighmare but the entity remains? Not exactly an entities of nightmares then, more like a spog in the brain. Definitely a spog if switching from sleeping dreams to day dreams, awakening means theyre still here.
6711989 Agreed.
Sorry but writing like this that shows an opponent that overwhelming just feels like a deus-ex-machina bait. Something I consider lazy writing and uninteresting in a story. The author has managed to keep it in check this long but this kind of stuff has gotten me to drop stories before.
6712116 you have to be a bit more creative when it comes to that family. it would be Discords second cousin 3 times removed, 4 times replaced, once forgotten, and deja vu'd twice.
Is she Aether's version of pinkie pie randomness? Or a spirit made from Aether's emotions?
This is bullshit god mode OC. Boooo!
6712085 Agreed on the skimming part. And the story was holding my interest fairly well until now.
The feeling I'm getting from this "character" and this chapter? I don't like it. This is the feeling I get right before I stop reading an 'until that moment' good story. I HATE giving up on a good story...
...but sometimes you have to accept when something isn't good anymore. I hope I'm wrong about this one.
6712104
Assuming you were talking about Eris? There really isn’t one for that character and the reason is simple: because that is the name borne by the nearest equivalent in the mythology the show draws most upon. Alternative names from outside of Greco–Roman mythology simply do not belong in an Equestria that has Tartaros, Cerebus, Pegasus, the Chimæra, and Pegasopolis. Eris’ Roman counterpart is — wait for it — Discordia. Uninspired sounding, no? So if you can’t use names outside of Greco–Roman mythology without it seeming incredibly out of place and you can’t use Discordia because to the ignorant masses that simply sounds like you were an uninspired lazy git and you dislike the original Greek name then you’re left with either trying to recreate the path that discord came to the English language — and ending up back exactly where you started — or attempting the same via Greek… which leaves you with a new word with roots that few Anglophones will even remotely recognise.
On the other hand… if you were simply complaining about Artemis then I’m in 100% agreement. I mean, Artemis not only doesn’t share Selene’s godly portfolio (so using the name Artemis for R63!Luna makes no sense in a “well, at least their powers match!” sense) but Artemis’ name is feminine!
…maybe I just should’ve spoilered my entire comment. As it is it looks like a classified document. Stuff it, I can’t be bothered fixing it now.
6712097 But because Aether knows it's a Dream, she should have Lucidity. She should be god and with but a thought be able to rip that entity's mind to tiny little bits and rearange it all so they when it thought the word left, it would say Banana instead. But that didn't happen.
Luna, being the Goddess of Dreams, should be able to remove said entity, even if it was a god more powerful than her in the real world, for her control over dreams should be Absolute where not even Discord could defy it. But that didn't happen.
And that isn't her last resort either. She did indeed give in too fast. Because if I was Luna right now, I would have exited the dream, and summoned Discord to help, playing on that Aether has been kind, and done nothing wrong to him. In fact, is even a kinda friend to him. Even offering a reward for him to help his friend, and summoning Fluttershy as well to guilt trip him if it was needed. Because no matter how powerful this other Entity was, Discord could just snap his finger and turn them into dirt.
6712541 The entity also has lucidity, and it seems to be the entity's dream, not Aether's. That makes it more powerful in the Lucidity-region.
The entitiy obviously does not have a real body, therefore it belongs to the Dream-realm. It is more powerful in the dream-realm, but in its current state would have not been a match for Luna in the real world. Luna's control over dreams is not Absolute, seeing how she has to seek Nightmares out to destroy them instead of simply telling them to not exist.
You said yourself Discord is not as powerful as Luna in the dreamrealm. The creature exists inside the dreamrealm, meaning Discord cannot simply snap his fingers to destroy it.
Oh, and might I tell you something even more interesting?
We both are assuming, we are imposing our headcanon onto the story. Neither MLP-Canon nor this story ever said that Luna's control over dreams is absolute, or even outstanding, seeing how there never was one to compare it to.
Discord never did something like snapping his fingers to turn a living being into dirt. He also tried to make it easier for him to suggest the EoH to do the opposite of their Elements, perhaps because it is very hard for him to affect sapient creatures that live in big groups, or atleast ponies because of their inborn harmonious magic, directly, probably meaning that he in fact cannot do the really big stuff like killing them with a snap of his finger.
Discord is not all-powerful, else he wouldn't have been defeated. You and I both impose our headcanons onto a story that has nothing to do with our personal headcanons.
6712523 When you read the entire mythology section of the school,district , and state's library. You learn some shit.
I think that loss a few years for doing that.
I need a new hobby.
So nobody remembers the scary demention hoping dream creatures that killed his parents?
6712422
6712085
6712229 I noticed that some of you have complaints about this particular chapter, so I'll address some fears. This isn't lazy writing, for I already planted a hint that directed toward this possibility. Furthermore, like Solarkness said, no one knows just how much control either Discord or Luna has over the dreamscape that is canon. At best we know she has dream manipulation, but as seen with the Tantabus, a nightmare creature of her own making, she doesn't have absolute power in her dreams. Anyways, you don't have to wait long for this part to come to an end, and it will produce something related to the overall story.
Well, I'm calling that a clue, because equines don't have a monthly menstrual cycle as humans do. :)
A pain. Do I win? Of course not, because riddles are only rarely fairly played.
Poor Luna. She went into that fight unprepared. She is just not built to think in 4d's. Where as this seemingly non-corporeal being does seem to think in four dimensions. (The fourth dimension being space.) In essence, when Luna was aiming at a single creature she was doomed to fail simply because the creature was everything in that place that wasn't Aether or Luna. An example. A pony can live in a room and perceives everything from only from their point of view. This being is the room, encompasses everything in it, and sees everything in it. On second thought that might be why it's so seemingly crazy... Then again this is just my off the wall idea.
6712858 The problem with the nightmare isn't that it came out of no where. The problem is that it is introduced as eyes in a mirror, completely unable to influence the outside world. Then it was a voice to talk to Aether when she was unconscious but unable to force her to stay unconscious. Then, with no steps inbetween, she was STRONGER THAN LUNA BY AN OVERWHELMING MARGIN and forcing Aether into a coma. See the problem? A character going from only able to slightly annoying to stronger than an immortal demigoddess in her own domain wasn't a foreshadowed event or logical buildup. and the fact that she is kinda... really annoying makes her whole arc kinda unpleasant.
6711983 ...John Cena?
6712976 Once again you're assuming that Luna is all powerful in the dreamscape, something that hasn't been established. You're also overestimating the power of the creature, since Luna is fighting on its turf, not the other parts of the dreamscape or in other ponies' dreams. So right now you're most likely using headcanon against me, which is highly irrelevant. There are multiple variables that no one knows, and if one were to take the comics into the issue, it is provided that Luna can influence a dream, not outright manipulate it. So it's Luna with her dream manipulation versus a creature on turf that it controls. Second, it's the dreamscape, or whatever you want to call it. What you're saying is like saying that Big Mac can't become Princess Big Mac in the show canon. Third, it came into play after a big move was done, like the merging of all of Ponyville's residents' dreams.
Oh great chapter so far!
6712523 I agree with you lol.
In ancient Roman, Female names will often have "a" at the back of their names. The male counterpart is "us". For example:
Julius ( iconic, no?) | Julia
Octavius | Octavia
6711983
Does Eris have tendencies to drink lava and outright ignore the laws of physics? (Drinking lava from a tin can)
At least Discord only ignores the laws of physics, not outright ignore them.
Plus this version of Eris is much more insane than Discord when he escaped petrification.
6713176 I think all depends of how the author take her, depending of how crazy could be the ideas.
The thing said "Accept the lie, Ather is mine" so I'm thinking if Ather is not her's than that would mean either she knows Ather or she is an alternative personality of Ather. Also this thing is acting a lot like Pinkie pie so it could mean that whatever this thing is was in pinkie pie at one point most likely at her childhood is in Ather at her "childhood." As for why I believe it has to do with pinkie pie adopting Ather thus allowing this thing access to Ather. If this is true than Pinkie may have the answers Luna needs.
I'm thinking it's Aether's original species.
"One bright day, in the middle of the night
Two dead boys got up to fight
Back to back, they faced each other
Drew their swords and shot one another
A deaf policeman heard the noise
He came and killed the two dead boys
If you don't believe my lie is true
Ask the blind man he saw it too"
Oh that little bastard did something? Just makes it easier to find it. Thanks for the help. I will just come in bag her and leave. Then I can continue experimenting. Appreciated sir author.
6713703 I'm not sure what makes my head hurt worse
trying to figure out your comment
trying to figure out this chapter
or just looking at my computer screen.
Congratulations- you have thoroughly confused me.
6712858 Tantabus is a creature of LUNA own making...It comes from Luna. Done.
OP protagonist is one thing but OP antagonist is also a problem...one of the animes villians got reboot several times because he is too poweful.
6714163 That doesn't really cover the other areas. People really need to stop assuming that Luna can dominate everyone else's dreams like it's her playground. It's never been established in the main canon, and if anyone wants to use comic canon, then she most definitely doesn't control the dreamscape at a moment's notice. Luna is fighting a creature in a dream that it controls, so naturally it would put that particular dream in the creature's favor, not Luna's. It's a dream, so hence shenanigans can happen. It's like you're arguing that people can't imagine that they possess powers in their own imagination. I can't understand why people are assuming that cause the creature can control a dream, that it means that it is as powerful as Discord or more. It's a dream, not reality in the story. I'm not trying to denounce Luna's power, but she's not an all-powerful demigoddess everywhere.
6714250 There are also no evidence that Luna is weak.
Also...We really can't take either the show or the comics as consistent canon because the writers nerf and buff them as they think is fit...So, very inconsistent.
Like in the last episode...Twilight overwhelming Alicorn power should've been able to wipe the floor with Starlight...But, that can be argued that it is a fight between a civillian arcane mage and a battlemage. But, that is just an example to show you what I meant.
6714267 Your very argument only helps to support my reasoning, there is no evidence that Luna is all-powerful in everyone's dreams. The only fact we do know of is that we can imagine whatever we want in our own dreams if we are lucid enough to control them.
6712858 I suppose the main issue causing my discomfort is how ANNOYING the creature is. It's a Flanderised to 11 Pinkie/Discord lovechild trying to be loveCRAFT. And failing.
I can't feel like this thing is a credible threat when I skim over it's dialogue because of how annoying the damn thing is. Hence why, as I mentioned before, I will be skimming the scenes with it in the future, and hope it gets beaten, crushed, evicerated, turned inside out and lit on fire* VERY SOON.
*(not necessarily in that order)
6712523 Meh, it isn't any worse than some SCP files.
6712062 Nothing, and yet everything. Is it Schrodinger's final form?
6714836 Perhaps... it is...