Subject #4: "Determination"

by Starlit Rose

Chapter II - Your Best Nightmare

The mind is the last refuge for a sapient being.

Sure, they can lose a leg, lose a mane, lose a few eyes here and there. One can even lose their mortal bodies, and still not be dead, yet. Even more unusual circumstances include spirits like the Nightmare and Sombra, which are souls that have taken on physical forms - possessing ponies and using the umbras respectively. They still retain their minds, and so are still to an extant, alive.

But, the mind presents the last safe haven for a soul; a sanctuary of sorts. When the mind is destroyed, the soul drifts away in the ether without the means to contain itself. It floats away in the 'river of life' so to speak.

Who knows what happens at this point. Perhaps the final destination is a raging waterfall, an end to all means, an inescapable void. Or perhaps the river leads to a pristine ocean. A promised land, idealistic; perfection at its finest. Or even perhaps the river does not leave anywhere to significance; it is merely a cyclical path, leading back to where it had started - a resurrection, though without the memories and personalities of the previous life.

But this is merely conjecture now, and also off-topic from the discussion at hoof. And fortunately, one would not have to worry about their mind being destroyed as much as worrying about dying in the strict traditional sense of a failure in the mortal body. No, what must be of concern is the mind while it is still in function.

With the mind being of this significance to all sapient creatures, one must surely think of it being impenetrable, a wintry fortress in the hardened glaciers of the north. Yet this is not the case, and can easily be seen with the most simplest of concepts, and the most unknown of concepts.

Dreams.

---

She opens her eyes. Not too much of a help, since everything and everywhere is in darkness. Although it is unlike Luna's night as there is no ambient light of any sort; or rather, the singular concept of light does not exist naturally in this place.

It is dark, darker yet darker.

The darkness seems to be growing, but that cannot be right - the surroundings are of blackness.

The shadows cut deeper into her soul, striking fear into her heart. She rapidly turns her head around. Shadows? They need light to exist, yet there is none. Confusion reins in her head as she tries to rationalise her situation.

Light readings are negative as she fails to produce light from her horn. Not a glow, nor a spark appears. Any magic simply vanishes off into the... air? Atmosphere? She cannot tell if there is one, although she keeps on breathing as if oxygen is present.

"This next experiment..." The mare hears a voice in the darkness. She stiffens, her body's senses going into overdrive, attempting to find out something, anything about her predicament.

"Seems very, very, interesting..." Her heart throbs loudly, too loudly. Loud enough for that, thing could hear her. She feels sick, to the point of throwing up. Rivers of sweat run down her body, sweat from pure, unadulterated fear.

"What do you think?" The voice is close to her. Too close. It must be behind her. Or maybe to either side. Or maybe above her. She doesn't think anymore, neither does she care. No, primal instincts are what will let her survive today. Adrenaline will let her survive tonight.

So she runs.

Into a solid object. The last thing she sees before blacking out is the spark of a candle. Unnatural light spills from the stick of wax before she loses consciousness.

---

Dreams. A curious topic indeed.

Nopony really understands the need for such a thing, though if one were to take on Princess Luna's words, then dreams are the mind's way of dealing with stress, with fear - though it seems that purpose only applies to nightmares. Who knows what the average dream could result in.

Regardless, the dream is quite a weak point in the barrier of the mind, no matter how useful it may be. Many creatures traverse through the realm - for no better word can describe it - with apparent ease, often interacting with the subjects within them. Most often this occurs unnoticed, though it depends on the skill of the dream walker and the lucidness of the subject.

However, awareness can be forced directly with the subject, if the walker so desires to. This usually leads to, interesting circumstances.

---

She wakes up. No, that cannot be right.

She opens her eyes.

She blinks rapidly. Blinks at the lone candle set ablaze, merely floating a stone's throw away from her. The light emanating from it doesn't reach very far, as it barely illuminates the floor. The mare gathers herself up off the floor. A non-existing floor, yet still feeling solid to her touch.

Like a moth to a light, she draws nearer to the candle. Only once she is beside it does she realise how fake it seems. How cold and lifeless it felt. Her eyes narrow at the realisation. Everything appears fake to her now, as if she is...

...in a dream.

"Took you long enough." Her heart beats faster but she wills it to calm down. She will not act like a panic-stricken filly in the face of a fictional entity. She stands her ground, rising slightly taller as if to prove her resolve.

Unable to find the source of the voice, she calls out, "Who are you? Where are you?"

"I believe the first question is unimportant right now."- Her nose flares in suspicion -" As for the second question, I presume you would rather talk to something which you can see." With the statement, the candle besides her floats a distance away. Curiosity overtaking her, the pony watches intently as smoke wafting from the flame coalesces into a physical body.

She should not be able to see the smoke against the inky blackness of the world, yet her eyes observe more than the candle in front of her. The figure before her stands tall, much taller than she is. The figure before her splays her wings out, her horn lighting up in synchronous timing.

The figure before her is Nightmare Moon.

---

With dreams being such a backdoor entry to the minds of a sapient being, it is often used as a method of extracting vital information and accessing memories. Some creatures, through conditioning or just plain stubbornness, do not react well to physical or mental torture, requiring more subtle forms of gathering vital knowledge.

This can pose quite a severe threat to the unfortunate victim, as openly sharing a dream with another being is the equivalence of throwing them a perfect record of their memories, desires, beliefs... everything about themselves. Thus, it comes as no surprise the practice had been outlawed in Equestria for centuries, only to be used in dire situations.

The art of dream walking is a dying one. The thousand years without the leader of such a practice had severely limited the motivation for such information to be spread down from generation to generation. Ponies eventually forgotten the process altogether in the centuries that followed, and creatures which could naturally do so have begun to die out simultaneously with the banishment of the princess.

Even with the return of the Princess of the Night, and subsequent collaboration with the Alicorn of Magic, the practice had yet to be picked up upon. To this day, only two beings can perform such feats successfully.

It's a shame only one of them follows the laws of Equestria.

---

"I believe we have met before." Nightmare Moon smiles at her. A smile which is both genuine yet unsettling.

"Well, if you must remain so silent, at least allow me to indulge myself." The alicorn magics up a crystal protrusion from the non-existent ground and two sofas. A wave of her hoof and a set of teacups and the accompanying teapot appears. She motions for the mare to take the seat, which she complies.

The concept of fear had long left the pony's body, replaced with a burning desire of curiosity, an insatiable need to satisfy her knowledge. She asks a simple question, "Who are you?"

The alicorn raises her eyebrows. "Why, I must be simply offended! Do you not simply recognise the creature seated opposite to you? That is not a question though, is it? You do know who I am, though you do not acknowledge me as such."

The mare merely nods her head. "If... you're Nightmare Moon, then what did the Elements..."

The alicorn laughs. "The elements, what would they do to me? Have you ever noticed that those magical gems had never killed a creature? It is certainly interesting, what their method of dealing with... opponents are: usually temporary and always non-lethal. It's always on the belief that every sapient creature can conform to the notions of harmony..."

He eyes darken in malice. "But they can just as easily go the other way as well."

"Still, what they have achieved is separating me from dear Luna, yet still leaving enough magical substance to sustain me in thought. Oddly enough, I can never seem to gather enough power to free myself from the prison, but that's a story for another day, or another night."

The pony only gazes up at her in disbelief. "Why do you tell me this?"

The alicorn wistfully rubs her chin in response. "Why are you concerned with me telling you information you already know of? Don't give me that face, you obviously know me well enough by now. No, the real question has yet to be asked."

She frowns. What question has she not asked? There are plenty of them, that is certain, yet the... creature before her is set on being asked a specific one. What could it be?

True to the alicorn's words, she does know of the predicament of which the Nightmare exists in: imprisoned ever since her separation from Princess Luna. Yet the Nightmare seems to be able to traverse through the dream realms, as if she still contained a shard of her power. But that cannot simply be true! How could the elements allow her at a chance of once again rising in power? Unless...

A crazy idea comes to her mind. Nonsensical. Ludicrous. She's an idiot for actually doing this.

The pony reaches out across the table, across the untouched teacups, and touches the Nightmare on the nose.

It is as real as she is. Oh dear.

The nightmare herself is just bemused by the action. "Well, that was unexpected. What did you hope to achieve with an ambush on my nose? A poor hit, if I must say so as well."

The pony mumbles under her breath, "Just making sure your real..."

"Real? Why, what makes you think I'm real?"

Confused, she faces the alicorn. "What do you mean by that?"

"What makes you think I'm real. For all you know, I could be a figment of your imagination. Still, you have managed to find out the question to which I had been seeking. Congratulations, by the way. I would give you a prize, but it is your dream; you can merely wish anything you desire."

The pony hardens her gaze on the alicorn. The dancing flame on the candle continues to produce flickering shadows on her darkened face. She appears to be real, but considering her words... she could also be another part of an elaborate dream. All the information she had been told, in a way she had known it all along, or reasoned out as potential theories.

It is all too confusing in retrospect. Too many hidden layers. The strings of deception ran too deep into her. What is this is just a dream, to another dream? What if the dream is in fact, real life? Or the other way around?

"Oh dear, it appears you have gone silent again. Maybe some tea would calm your nerves?" The alicorn pushes forward a cup, prompting the mare to take a sip from it. Immediately she throws it away in disgust.

"Not a fan of orange seasoning now, are we? Oh well, that was all I had."

"So you are simply a fantasy, a delusion of my addled mind?"

"Oh no, I would not be so definite with that judgement. There is a saying: In every shattered window, there is always a shard of truth. Meaning-" The alicorn begins to fade away in smoke "-you have to decide yourself on what is real and what is not. Take care of yourself, pony. For there are others in this world who are watching your every move, calculating your every step. No matter how immune you may think you are with your status or rank. For now, auf wiederschen..."

The candle blows itself out, leaving the mare in darkness.

---

The final point on dreams that is worth mentioning is on its reality. Or perhaps, whether real life is merely a dream from which we all may wake up from.

Sleep tight indeed.

- Prof. Embow

Author's Note:

The plot thickens...

He who dreams of drinking wine may weep when morning comes; he who dreams of weeping may in the morning go off to hunt. While he is dreaming he does not know it is a dream, and in his dream he may even try to interpret a dream.

Only after he wakes does he know it was a dream. And someday there will be a great awakening when we know that this is all a great dream. Yet the stupid believe they are awake, busily and brightly assuming they understand things, calling this man ruler, that one herdsman ‑ how dense!

Confucius and you are both dreaming! And when I say you are dreaming, I am dreaming, too. Words like these will be labelled the Supreme Swindle. Yet, after ten thousand generations, a great sage may appear who will know their meaning, and it will still be as though he appeared with astonishing speed.

- Quote from Wikipedia. Burn me.