My pulse pounded in my ears as I ran through the shadowy corridor, the rasp of claws against stone behind me barely audible over the sound of my breath and heart.
Turning the corner, I ducked through a open door and closed it behind me, finding myself in another corridor, the windows to one side showing the rest of the castle far below, lit up by the moon.
Taking a second to catch my breath, I slowly started to walk, every time my hooves hit the floor, the sound seemed to echo forever through the entire castle.
Have to be quiet. Have to escape.
They would hear me. Find me.
The door behind me shook from a heavy impact and I froze, staring at it before ducking into one of the side rooms, closing that door behind me as well, then pushing the bookcase in front of it.
Suddenly, I was no longer alone in the dark room.
“Your dreams are troubled, dear Page.” Luna said as I tried to get my breathing under control as my brain processed what was going on.
“...This is a dream. Yes... of course it is.” I whispered, my back pressed against the bookcase. This was not the first time I had this dream.
I had been having this dream at least once a year for the last fifteen years. This was a variation though, I had never been in a castle before.
Looking up, I met Lunas worried eyes, “Luna... You shouldn't be here. You should leave.”
She frowned, “But you are in distress. Page... you are terrified.”
“Please. It's... it's a bad dream. I have had it before. But I have no idea how it can affect you. I don't want you to even see it. Please, Luna.”
She smiled softly and leaned down to give my right ear a nuzzle, “Calm, Page. Dreams are my realm, Nothing here can threaten me. You are safe, whatever it is, it can not hurt you.”
A hiss on the other side of the door made me fold my ears back and I trembled.
Luna gently guided me away from the bookshelf with her wing before floating it to the side with her magic.
No. Don't do it.
“Luna... no. Don't. It's not worth it.”
She gave me a calming smile and then opened the door, finding herself nose to nose with a pack of xenomorphs.
Luna took a step back in surprise and they hissed before pouncing and the princess screamed as they tore into her.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
The window shattered behind me, exploding outwards into nothing but sparks of light as Luna floated to the ground behind me. Light was flaring from her horn and the light and shadows around faded to day, the grizzly sight before me turning to dust and blowing away into nothing.
The hissing, clicking and screams faded away to be replaced with soft gusts of wind and the chirping of birds.
Luna folded her wings and approached me carefully, “Page?”
I stared at her in horror, trying my best not to collapse.
Her eyes flicked over at where she had been torn to pieces and shook her head, approaching to lay down next to me, covering my back with her wing as my legs folded beneath me, “It was not real, Dear Page. A dream image, nothing more. It was not me.”
Shivering, I leaned against her side, “I... I saw...”
“Easy.” Luna whispered, “You are safe. I am sorry I didn't interrupt earlier.”
Closing my eyes, I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath.
“What were those creatures?” Luna asked after a moment.
I swallowed, “They... they are called Xenomorphs. They are not real, a made up monster for a story. I... I first saw it when I was a kid. They hunt you down. They take you... implant a egg in your chest that hatches and bursts out through your rib cage. This... is a nightmare I have had before with variations. A couple of times a year for a long time.”
Luna frowned again and looked over at the patch of marble where they had ripped her dream copy apart, “Horrible creatures. For somebody to come up with a creature such as that takes a dark mind. And to inflict them on foals... even in our time such a thing would have been unthinkable.”
I couldn't help but snort a little at that, “...I'm afraid that was my own fault. There was a warning that the movie was for adults only. I hated those things.”
The Princess nodded, “Even so.”
“Trust me... they are not the worst things created by human imagination.” I sighed and lowered my head onto my frontlegs, “Just the one I find personally terrifying.”
At least they don't exist in reality.
“You have nightmares often.” Luna said softly, “Or at least, your dreams are often darker than those of regular ponies. Almost every night there is something minor, even if you do not remember it.”
“Sorry.”
Luna chuckled softly and held me softly against her side with her wing, “I only interfere when things become especially bad, such as now. And usually only to end the dream and not interfere. It is rare that I enter somepony's dream to assist and even rarer that I make myself known.”
“...Thank you, Luna.”
She smiled and slid her wing up along my back, curling it around to cover my eyes, “Now sleep, my friend. And dream of nicer things.” she whispered, giving my ear a small nuzzle.
The world faded away to black before returning around me and now I was alone, laying in what seemed to be soft grey sand.
I frowned in thought and looked around. No sign of Luna.
My gaze turned to the skies and I gasped as I saw the blue and green orb of Equestria hovering far above.
TO DA MOONorig04.deviantart.net/af23/f/2013/136/2/1/prank_wars_to_da_moon_by_mad_cloak-d65i0ry.png
Also first lol
6317095 Dat smirk
6317098 She is looking right at her crotch
There is nothing I don't love about this picturedl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90142170/Eyebrows.gif
6317214 I know it's the best crotch shot you can get
I've had my fair share of xenomorph nightmares. Awesome as they might be, there are still creepy.
I love that ending of this chapter, basically she just gave him wish in form of dream. To look at Earth from moon's perspective; well in this case the world where Equestria resides in.
HISHE version:
Blank Page: "You don't understand. Where I come from, that's called 'entertainment'. I just wasn't ready for it."
Luna: "..."
Blank Page: "Are you okay, Luna?"
Luna: "That's fucked up, Page! That's seriously fucked up! TO THE MOON WITH YOU!"
Blank Page: "......"
6395843 You left out the part where Page described R34!
6385423 I found them adorable.
6841658 me to I have a life sized chestburster plushy
xenomorphs are my fetish.
You totally missed an opportunity to do a
'They mostly come out at night, mostly' reference.
But I digress, I'm thoroughly enjoying this fiction and am looking forward to the sequel as well.
I'd rather face a xenomorph than a synx.
I don't have nightmares. Just dreams where I kill whatever is haunting me. So many problems can be solved with a shotgun and a hand grenade.
. No shit
Chapter 33 would have a much stronger emotional effect if the nightmare was based on a past trauma instead of something that's not relevant. (Not belittle the trauma of seeing something before your ready, it's hard for me to think of the deep end of a pool thanks to Jaws). Overall a good read, though it does rely on to many cheap cliches.
Luna nuked the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
I'm sure it wouldn't have been lost on Luna that his lifelong dream or horror had changed...to being of Luna herself being harmed.
Just wait untill he meets the Equestrian equivalent
6874884 and if violence isn't working, you aren't using enough
6874884 That only really works if you can control your dreams.
If I had ANY control in my dreams that lasted more than a brief instant/actually did shit I would sleep SOOO much better. (Seriously, the closest I came to controlling my dreams was summoning fire that didn't do SHIT! I expected the zombies to burn but...)
7693356 That's if I have dreams at all. But if I do, I'm a lucid dreamer and I've never been one to let a threat stand. So yeah, shotgun to the face is a near universal solution to nightmares in my book.
6976554
Not to offend, but in my opinion this comment contradicts itself. Constructing a 'past trauma' in this chapter for more emotional impact would be a severely cheap cliche. Seriously. Most people do not actually have dark skeletons in the closet - they have various fears of specific things. This chapter shows a realistic fear (modified to put Luna in the place of being in danger) and ends with Luna fulfilling Page's moon dream with a dream. The set up for his 'visit to the moon' was put in place like 20 chapters ago, so I wouldn't call it cheap. The cheapest thing was that Luna was suddenly the one he dreamed of getting attacked.
We can thank Ridley Scott for Alien.
Not that it's really all that scary.
Actually, I've never found horror to be all that great anyway. It only ever scared me when I was a kid.
Honestly, the scariest thing I've ever seen in a movie was when that Zombie Pygmy umped out at that guy in The Mummy Returns.
I still jump at that part!
8005627 as a lover of horror, it's not the fear that makes it great, I can't explain it other than it's like folk lore on the darker edge. Fear is old and you learn to love or at least respect fearful things.
If the movie actually does make you scared that's a bonus!
Hmmm, the Alien things always reminded me of dogs for some reason. Terrifying, insane, homicidal, monstrous, BAD dogs, but dogs. What got me was an X-files episode I saw as a kid. It was one where these roaches would cut slits in your skin, travel to your brain and eat you from the inside. For years I was terrified that there might be one lurking behind my furniture, under my bed, or flitting around at night. I think it got me because I never saw the end. I'm fine as long as I know how something can be defeated.
And I live in the Southern United Sates. The roaches down here fly. And come in sizes from itsy-bitsy to HOLY **** What is THAT? KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE! Where's MY SHOE?
So, you know, man-eating roaches are a legitimate concern.
8005627
I think my mom put it really well when she said that (for her, anyway) the scariest kind of horror stories/movies are the ones that are actually plausible. Like stuff on the show "Monsters Inside Me" or what I call "hospital horror stories" that are about shady practices, accidents, or just plain cutting corners done by hospital staff. That's the kind of stuff that bugs me.
Stop tempting the gods.
8005627
And we can thank H. R. Giger for the design aesthetic of the alien.
Or at least, mostly Giger. I'm pretty sure it was a team that worked on the design.
6841658
6846271
at least till they get to Equestria and you have to take out the one that came out of Luna.
i'd probably let the one that comes out of Ron Prewett (from Harry Potter) live.
YAY!!! TEH MOON!!!!!!
9089250
Lol wonder if anyone will catch that.
But i agree.
8091870
oh, you reminded me of that movie "Damnation Alley". someone really does get swarmed by large cockroaches and killed in that movie.
i've also heard people say that "alien" was essentially a horror movie disguised as sci-fi.
I Hope he didnt get Xenomorph nightmares after the Changling invasion
9567274
I’d think changelings would be like exposure therapy. They are plush toys compared when compared to the original xenomorphs.
🎶 so together we are all lost on the moon... 🎶
Yep... Had that dream more than once
10186454
Back in the 1980s, I had a job stocking shelves at night in a K-Mart. Saw Gremlins. Being alone in the backroom by the trash compactor when the lights went out was No Fun At All
"-But they are..."
So Page has a fear of Xenomorphs, eh?
...yep. I can relate.
I can't imagine which is more terrifying, the fantastical imagination made up by the human mind, or the actual horrors invented and created through mankind and the various legends and folklore told throughout the ages. Either is terrifying but the difference is - one was made through imagination, while one is closer to actual fact and reality than others.
Well, ponies exist in your reality, so... Multiverse is real, man. X)
10466905
That's it, we're officially doomed
10476110
Well I am going to go commit shot gun suicide. If aliens from the move aliens were real then fuck my life I am out.
i hAtE sAnD iTs cOaRsE aNd rOuGh aNd iRrItAtInG aNd iT gEts eVeRyWhEre
10630442
Luna dream snuggels yay!
My favorit scene from Aliens:
The worst thing made by humans are humans
11016675
Unnecessarily cruel, complete monsters sometimes, preying on their own species, evil for the sake of evil, and capable of doing unspeakable deeds for arguably the best of purposes...
And what's worse: utterly and completely real.
11016675
Again sadly not wroug. We done great good..... and great evils.