The Boogey Man returns
As the sun gently lowered, replaced by the moon, the sky made its transition from blue to orange, and finally resting in a dark purple. The stars lit the sky, aligning in their proper patterns, painting a picture for all to see. From her balcony, Princess Luna let out a content sigh, pleased with her work.
Ever since the Princess of the Night returned from her banishment to the moon, Luna had taken a greater pride in her duties. Whenever she raised the moon, she made sure to make the night sky as beautiful and fulfilling as possible. The moon would keep enough light for those who were active at night to see, and with the stars, she hoped they would appreciate the full beauty of her night. She now knew there were ponies out there who truly enjoyed the night sky. It was a bit of a difficult transition, getting ponies to see her as their Princess, instead of Nightmare Moon. It had taken some time, but she had done it, and her life had been all the better for it.
Satisfied with the night sky, Luna turned and walked back into her room. She had more duties to attend to, specifically, watching over the dreams of Equestria’s children. Making her way to her crescent moon bed, she lied herself on her bed, and got into a comfortable position. Once she was comfortable, she closed her eyes, and channeled her magic into her horn, casting the spell she would use to enter the dreamscape.
As her magic did its work, Luna felt her consciousness fade away. It was a seamless transition into the world of dreams. Without really noticing it, she was soon in the dreamscape. It was an otherworldly place. It didn’t appear to have a floor or ground, and yet she was standing on a steady surface. The scene was constantly changing, lit with stars, and shifting colors. And in front of the Princess, she could see doors, hundreds of them, each one leading to the mind of a little filly or colt.
The dreamscape could seem overwhelming to some, but for Luna, it was a familiar sight that she had grown accustomed to. Luna started walking down the wall-less hallway, lined with doors, searching for any that showed signs of distress. She walked for several minutes, finding no nightmares. So far, the children of Equestria were having pleasant dreams, or none at all.
Just as Luna was starting to think she would not need to intervene in anypony’s dreams, she saw a bright pulsing red line beneath her hooves. The line stretched a long way away, leading to a far off door. Luna used her magic to teleport herself to the door in question, and she was soon in front of it. There was a red glow coming from the cracks, an indication that the child inside was having a nightmare.
“Just when I thought I was going to have a boring night,” said Luna, in a half joking manner. No matter, it was her duty to guard the dreams of her young citizens. She opened the door, and entered. The scene morphed before her, and she found herself in what looked like a playground. She recognized this as the Ponyville schoolhouse’s playground. The sun was shining in the sky, and as she could see, there were young fillies and colts playing.
Luna used her magic, to initiate a dream scan. Her vision changed, somewhat like a blue X-ray, and the ponies who were merely figments of the dream faded, while the dreamer was highlighted. Luna could see a young blue earth pony, with a violet mane, swinging on one of the swings. Luna disengaged her spell, and kept herself out of sight. Everything looked fine; the child was happy, and playing. But dreams usually had subtle changes, which were like a first warning for nightmares. She just had to wait a little, it would show itself soon.
It started with the sky. The light blue color made a transition to a dark grey. The colt didn’t seem to notice, at least not at first. But then two things happened; the grass started dying, and the children stopped playing. In fact, they stopped doing everything all together. They just stood there, frozen like statues. The happy colts swinging started to slow, he no longer pumped his legs to keep himself going. He looked around, confused, before getting off the swing, and taking a few tentative steps forward.
“Hey…what’s going on?” questioned the colt. Everypony was facing away from him, gazing off into the distance. Starting to get nervous, the colts voice squeaked; “What’s wrong guys?” The sound of the swing slowly squeaking to a stop was the only sound that could be heard. That was, until a faint giggling could be heard. Followed by a collective singing, the voices of the imaginary fillies and colts rising in volume, from quiet whispers, to full blown singing. The collective voices of the children could be heard, but it wasn’t a real song, it was just the words; “La la la” repeating over and over again.
Princess Luna noticed this, but didn’t make a move. Something was wrong here. Young ones dreams never got this dark, unless there was something seriously wrong with them. Children dreamed of silly things, old scary campfire stories, or secret fears, like not finding their cutie mark. But this…Luna could already tell something was off. She wouldn’t intervene until she knew just what she was dealing with.
The child started feeling a chill run through him. The other children’s fur and manes had dulled, losing their bright colors. Then, they started to turn around to face the colt. When he saw their faces, he screamed. Their manes and fur were matted, with bald patches running through them. Their eyes were glassed over, and milky white, with the veins pulsing against the surfaces. The children had wide smiles, so wide that they tore the skin at the cheeks, causing them to become unhinged like a snake. This revealed rows of brown, rotted teeth, chipping in places, making them sharp like broken glass.
The children started closing in on the colt, slowly, but surely. Panicking, the child looked around for an exit, but found he was completely surrounded. With no were to go, the colt covered his eyes with his fore hooves, trying to hide from the monsters. It was now that Luna chose to act. She dashed forward, casting her magic at the closest abomination, causing it to explode into dust. Acting as quickly as she could, she dispatched of the other nightmares.
The colt, still trembling on the ground heard the sound of magic blasts being shot, but didn’t dare look up. But as the battle was happening, he felt a presence directly in front of him. Daring to peek, he looked up to see one of the demented foals standing in front of him, smiling at him.
The colt let out a scream, but as soon as he did, the demonic pony exploded into dust. He blinked a few times, before looking around. All the figments were gone. The only pony who was still there was…
“Princess Luna?” questioned the colt. Catching her attention, Luna looked to the colt. She then quickly surveyed the landscape before making her way towards the child.
“It is ok young one. I have dispatched of those demons.”
“W-what were those things?”
“Products of nightmares. You were having a bad dream, one of the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Luna, looking off to the side to scan for more nightmares.
“I’m asleep?” asked the child.
“Yes, you are. And I have reason to believe you are being targeted by a force I thought defeated.”
“Huh?” asked the colt. Luna turned and faced away from the colt.
“NIGHTMARE! NIGHTMARE MOON, SHOW YOURSELF!” Luna recognized what was going on. This was the work of the one who tormented her for so long.
“N-nightmare moon!” cried the child.
“Do not worry young one, nothing can harm you in here,” assured the Princess. She waited for her long time enemy to emerge, but she didn’t. Nothing happened. But then, the ground shook beneath their hooves. This was followed by a sound, a screaming of sorts. It sounded like a cow being brutally slaughtered, only with a higher pitch. Luna and the child turned to face the direction that the sound came from.
They could see what appeared to be a tear in the very dream itself. On the other side was darkness, but from what Luna could see, there was dark, heavy stone on the other side, like what you would see in a long abandoned dungeon. And through the dark portal, Luna could see dark figures approaching. As the first creature emerged from the tear, Luna’s eyes widened in realization.
“It…it can’t be…after all this time…I thought he was gone!” The creature that emerged was bipedal and bone thin; its grey, rotted skin sticking to its form like wet clothes. A dark liquid dripped from its body as it lumbered forward. As it moved, it made a clinking sound, the sound coming from chains wrapped around its wrists and ankles. As soon as it made it through the tear, two more nearly identical creatures made it through the hole.
“Get behind me,” said Luna to the child, taking a defensive stance in front of him. The colt complied immediately.
“W-what are those things?” questioned the child.
“Very dangerous dream monsters. What ever happens, do NOT let them get a hold of you,” warned Luna.
“B-but I thought you said nothing could hurt me here?”
“The situation has changed,” said Luna, flaring her wings. Just then, a dry raspy voice echoed throughout the entire dream, flowing with raw power and malice.
“Bring them to me….” Hissed the voice. The creatures started making their way towards Luna and the child, intent on fulfilling the voices command. Growling, Luna lit her horn.
“You will NOT take this child!” she decreed. She then turned, and dashed towards the oncoming terrors. Using her horn and wings, she propelled herself like a bullet strait through the creature in the middle, causing it to explode into black vapor. It let out a piercing scream as it died. Luna landed behind the other two, and turned to face them. Though it had only been a few seconds, the two creatures were already nearing the colt. The child screamed, and ran away from the nightmare spawn. In response, the two monsters increased their pace, chasing after the child.
Luna used her wings to quickly take to the sky. Charging her horn, she sent down a violet blast of energy, strait at one of the offending creatures. Not thinking to look back, the creature was taken by surprise, and was obliterated like its brother. The third creature saw its friend die, and quickly turned to face the real threat.
Luna prepared another attack, but this time, the creature was ready. Luna charged another spell, firing at the monster, but before it hit it, the nightmare jumped backward, dodging the attack. The monster, much nimbler and powerful than expected, landed in front of the child. Surprised, the kid screamed, before trying to bolt away. But, he wasn’t fast enough. The monster reached towards him with his claws, and gripped onto him tight. As soon as he had him, the nightmare started sprinting towards the portal, intent on taking the child through. Seeing this, Luna’s heart skipped a beat.
“You will never take this child!” screamed Luna. Angling her wings, she dived strait for the monster, as it ran towards the tear. The creature was nearing the hole. Thinking quickly, Luna used her magic to propel her towards the nightmare, intent on taking it out as quickly as possible. She flipped her body, so that her hooves were below her. The instant she landed hit the ground; she kicked her hooves strait into the monster, while using her magic to protect the child.
The monster let out a pained scream, as it dissipated, dropping the colt. Luna used her magic to catch the child, levitating him behind her. The colt was shaking, and in tears, grabbing onto Luna’s leg, and not letting go. Luna looked to the colt with sympathy in her eyes, before turning to face the portal.
“I won’t let you take any innocent souls into your web of nightmares! Please, stop this!” pleaded the lunar princess. In response to her request, Luna saw a figure appear in the dark realm. Steadily fading in was a black silhouette of another bipedal figure. Its form was masked by the shadows, but what Luna could see was a pair of glowing yellow eyes.
“So, the Tormentor returns. You may have stopped me this time, but I will see to it that your monstrous plans don’t come to fruition.”
“I am not evil! All I want is the safety and happiness of my citizens!”
“You say that, but I see through your façade. No matter…your time will come. You may have stopped me from liberating this child, but there are more. I will succeed in saving Equestria from you and your sister.”
Luna just looked deeply into the eyes of the being on the other side of the portal, trying to comprehend what was going on in his mind.
“Until we meet again…monster.” The portal began shrinking, stitching itself back together. The last thing Luna saw before it disappeared were the eyes of the creature on the other side. As soon as the portal was gone, Luna shut her eyes tight, a terrible feeling in her stomach. A tapping on her leg caught her attention, and she looked down to see the colt looking up to her with fear in her eyes.
“Princess Luna? W-what was that thing?”
“It was someone…someone I failed to save along time ago.” Luna took a moment to compose her self, before looking into the child’s eyes.
“I must go now my child, for I must make sure the dreams of the rest of Equestria are safe.”
“P-please don’t go…I don’t want to be alone…” Luna closed her eyes, and lowered her head, placing her horn on the forehead of the colt.
“Do not worry,” she said as her horn started to glow. The entire dream started to fade to black.
“This spell will put you into a peaceful, dreamless sleep. And when you awake, you will remember none of the terror you have just witnessed.” The colt’s eyes started to grow heavy, and as the dream turned to black, the child’s eyes closed completely. When this was complete, Luna was returned to the dreamscape, right in front of the door that she had recently entered. Luna looked to the floor to see if any more bad dreams were happening, but luckily, no other nightmares were happening. Luna closed her eyes, and let out a sigh.
She would need to tell her sister about this, but it would have to wait until sunrise. She couldn’t abandon the dreamscape, and leave her citizens unprotected. If those creatures took anyone away, she would never forgiver herself. So for now, she needed to stay on guard, and protect the dreams of her citizens. If HE was returning, that meant she was in for a long night. A feeling of sadness wormed its way into her stomach, and she felt her eyes starting to tear up.
“Oh Noah, my friend. What has happened to you?”
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good I like it.
Besides the occasional grammar mistake, this is a good story so far keep it up.
Loved it keep it coming
Not bad! That was a good start!
7249823 Thank you!
Hey. That's pretty good. Keep them coming!
Dude this is one of the best H.I.E fimfics i have ever read
7295918 Thanks very much!
I NEED BLOODSHED!
7297245
I agree, in just one chapter, this story has shat on at least 2/3 of the HiEs I've read. Well do, sir!
Well then, if this is only the first chapter then I am going to need some lights on for the next few. *Maybe not but it's quite unnatural to see a nightmare monster other than Nightmare Moon, and one that was a human who is a literal boogeyman makes it all the more creepy.*
real terror
7607642