Mental Games
THIS IS NOT A DRILL I HAVE POSTED A CHAPTER!!! I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!
Oh my gosh, guys! It has sooo long since I've posted a chapter on you guys. I'm so sorry for the very long wait. A lot of things have been happening and frankly, it has been hard to write lately. I lost my editor, I had to get readjusted to online school. But, I'm back on my grind so hopefully, we can get back to the frequent chapter uploads.
But seriously, I extremely apologize for the wait, I didn't exactly know what I wanted to do in this chapter, and then it was dragging on. Also please correct any grammatical mistakes you see, I might have missed some. But yeah, you guys deserved to have this chapter up a long time ago. So, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and look forward to the next one!
This fight was symbolic in a way, y'know. Luna looked like the embodiment of light, and I looked like darkness itself. Yet, I knew inside that our true selves were reversed. I was fighting for my survival and freedom pretty much. And she was fighting for her' subjects safety'. Did she have any risks from this fight? I mean, wouldn't she just wake up if I managed to kill her in the Dream Realm. Was she sleeping? It's strange, I know so little about her, yet here we are, fighting for our own reasons. I guess it is true everywhere; people do fear what they don't understand.
She stared at me with her pupil-less eyes. Even though I despised her, I couldn't deny her beauty, her elegance. I felt paralyzed in wonder; the way she shined was stunning! If this was the last thing I'd ever see, then so be it. If this is my eternal prison, then I'm going out with a bang!
"Then allows us to assist you." Nightmare said, which kind of made me jump. She sounded a lot closer like she was right beside me.
"Are you always gonna keep interrupting my thoughts," I asked, slightly annoyed.
"Ist thou going to keep forgetting who thou hast to fight?" That made me chuckle a little.
"Yeah yeah, I know, my mind is just a little scrambled right now." This whole situation was giving me big Hollow Knight vibes. Especially with my recent power-up.
"Beast." her voice rattled my spine. With a single word, she had sent all of my senses in overdrive and now had my complete attention. I had never felt this way with anyone; I wasn't scared; I was just alert? Maybe?
"I would like to thank you." If I had facial features, I would look absolutely dumbfounded.
"W-what?" I stuttered, taken aback by her earlier statement.
"Because of you, I was able to let go of everything. Everything that held me back." Luna took a step forward. "Out of every creature I have ever faced, you have been the most troubling. I have never felt so much stress over one singular threat before. I was so afraid of you, what you could become, and what you would represent. All of that pressure almost destroyed me, and I almost gave in." she paused and looked me straight in my eyes. "Almost gave into you..." she wasn't looking at me; she was looking through me. Her eyes were fixed on what was inside of me. "But I resisted you and persevered, and I have never felt so free. And as a fruit of labor, my suffering, I can finally get rid of you permanently. No longer shall you be an itch that grows within the back of my mind. When this night is over, I won't ever have to worry about you again!"
"Is that all I am to you?" I asked coldly, "Just an annoyance, an obstacle, a fuckin rat in your kitchen?! Huh?!" I shouted in anger.
Luna eyed me curiously as if she was surprised I was capable of intelligent communication.
"You're not the only one who suffered. Because of you, I have felt pain that no one should ever feel. I came here completely clueless only to be incinerated by a goddamn moon beam!!! Time and time again, I have died at your hands, but for some reason, I can't help but see you as a living creature. Despite everything you've done to me, I tried to find some ounce of good in you, and because of that, I held back." I took a deep breath, "You are selfish, you aren't doing this for your 'subjects,' you're just doing this for yourself, for your oh-so-precious piece of mind! I can't show sympathy for you anymore; you don't deserve it-"
"Silence! I've heard enough! I do not need your false sympathy nor your lies!" she spat with venom in her voice. "I don't need you anymore!" her horn quickly glowed and then
flashed a bright white light.
I easily stepped to the side, dodging a missile of light. I felt a massive shockwave and heard a huge explosion behind me. I fought the urge to turn around and kept looking at Luna.
She stamped her hoof as she charged her horn again and shot another magic missile at me.
I lazily tilted my head just out of the way of the blast. Her attacks seemed slower than usual, which perplexed me. She didn't seem to be holding back.
"Adam, you slightly accelerated thy body again." Nightmare explained. "However do not waste thy power!" she warned.
That made sense; I guess my standards for her deteriorated after her speech.
Another magical bullet broke me from my thoughts. "Y'know I'm getting really tired of dodging your attacks." I taunted.
Luna snorted as she charged something bigger.
I focused on Luna and myself, my individual body parts. I could be fast if I wanted to; I just have to believe that I am fast, maybe if I mimicked something that's also fast.
What's fast? Uhh, Sonic, Flash, Jets, Lightning McQueen? No, not the kind of speed I need -wait! What about that thing Sasuke had? The uh Rinnegan, with that, he just teleported instantly. Maybe instead of forcing myself to accelerate, I could just teleport.
I hardened my gaze; now that I had a plan, I could focus on what I needed to teleport without any flashy stuff. I just needed to be over there.
I got into a position with my fist raised; I was ready to strike as soon as I got over there.
Instantly my vision swirled, and I felt weightless for a moment. Then I felt the gravity of the world return to my shoulders, and I was standing again. I felt slightly off-balance, but what caught my attention was Luna dangerously in front of me.
Without thinking, I thrust my fist forward, and I felt like I had punched a brick wall. To my surprise, I had hit a white dome of magic. My fist bounced back as if the dome was made out of rubber, sending my whole body off balance.
Immediately, the white bubble of magic faded, and Luna shot forward.
Hot pain struck through my chest. My eyes darted down, and I saw a white transparent blade injected into my chest. I quickly looked back up at Luna and saw a smile creep onto her face. Several more magic swords burst into existence; they sat suspended in the air. Each blade was then sent forward. Every one of them dug into various places in my body, causing almost mind-numbing pain. My arms and legs spasmed as if electricity was sent through them.
I wanted to scream but I couldn't. I tried to move, but I couldn't. My body felt so heavy like I was sinking in a pool of thick oil. My arms and legs wouldn't respond. I felt like my mind was trapped in my own body. My concentration was gone; I couldn't think straight. My thoughts were hazy and muddled. I lost; if I couldn't focus, then I couldn't use my powers. I got too laid back, and I messed it all up; now I'm going to be here for eternity.
Was this it? Just a minute into the fight and I'm already out? I really screwed up; I'm so stupid, I keep holding back even though I know she wants me dead. I fucked up.
My vision dimmed, the grass turned pale, and the world's color turned into a depressing shade. Everything slowly got darker..darker...darker….and darker, until finally, the inky blackness of darkness enveloped my vision.
"It is far from over!"
My vision clicked back on, and my body was full of energy. I quickly regained my stance, and an invisible force swept me off my feet and away from Luna.
When I stopped, I quickly pulled a sword out of my shoulder, breaking the blade down into a blue dream goo and absorbing it. The pain was long gone, and I felt great. I wasted no time pulling out the rest of the swords and drinking them. I was just so...excited in a sense.
"Forgive us for our absence; we were...getting used to thee." Nightmare awkwardly said.
"Thank God you're here! Luna is stronger than ever; I don't think I can beat her!" I exclaimed, shaking my head.
"Indeed, she is powerful. However, she would not hath been an issue if somepony did not...fuck it all up-mmm yes we do enjoy that word." I could feel Nightmare smirking.
"Okay, okay! I get it; I messed up! Just help me out!-AH!" A not-so manly shriek escaped my mouth as I jumped out of the way of the White Mare barreling towards me.
"However," Nightmare began, completely ignoring me. "Thou hast all the tools thy needs to defeat her, and now thou hast me."
"What?!" I asked, feeling a little pissy.
Luna rapidly flapped her broad wings, quickly rising high in the sky. She stopped when she was right in front of the bright moon. Her body turned from white to pure black as she blocked the moon. The only features I could make out was her glowing pure white eyes.
My fear returned with a vengeance. I felt so small compared to Luna, and I was afraid of what she planned to do up there. This was supposed to be easy, but I couldn't think. I had no ideas because I was so focused on just surviving.
"Thy mind does not have the experience to manipulate dream magic as we can. That is where we shall assist thee. We shall refine thy skills and keep thee focused." Nightmare explained.
Luna's horn flashed, and two giant white circles appeared in the sky. Each one was bigger than the moon itself. The rings were filled with unknown symbols and markings that reminded me of a zentangle art project. These symbols slowly rotated in circles like gears in a giant machine. As the magic circles turned, they grew brighter as if they were gaining power.
"Art thou ready?" Nightmare asked, her tone shifted from stern and demanding to soft and understanding.
"Yeah, and I really mean it this time," I affirmed.
I looked up, and Luna's circles were spinning so fast that they were a blur. She was almost ready.
I knelt and plunged my hands into the ground. I forced my magic into the very foundations of the dream and pushed Luna's influence out. The lock she placed on the dream was unbreakable, so I couldn't escape, but I still had control of the very dream itself.
The white circles in the sky were spinning even faster now; I could even feel the tingle of power they emitted. Then, an orb of light passed through a circle and crashed into the ground a few meters away from me. The orb shook the ground with its explosion and charred the earth where it struck. Then another sphere of light struck the earth having the same effect as the last one. Dozens of orbs simultaneously hit the ground, tearing into the dirt. The balls of light were spewing from the magic circles, like a Gatling gun of mass destruction. It had no accuracy, but it was carpeting the area in explosions, and if I didn't do something soon, I would be in trouble.
I pulled my hands out of the ground and stood up. My fingers felt like they were attached to invisible strings connecting me to the ground. Like a puppeteer, I began to pull at the strings, and the ground in front of me rose and curved over me. A half-circle of dirt and stone protected me from several explosions. Each blast tore chunks out of my shield, quickly eating away at my only defense.
I threw both my arms down to the side in a stylish manner, and the wall of rock and earth retreated into the ground.
My eyes lock onto the darkened form of the mare in front of the moon.
As if gravity reversed, I shot up towards Luna. Magic missiles whizzed past me and just barely missed me.
Black feathered wings suddenly burst out of my back, and with a hard flap, I'm pushed out of the way of an orb of light. My wings had a mind of their own, and they effortlessly weaved me through the blanket of balls in the sky.
I never felt so alive; I was flying! Sure, it wasn't the first time, but I felt like I was flying.
"Now is not the time to be so easily distracted." Nightmare said forcefully. She sounded pretty distracted herself; maybe she was controlling my wings.
I felt like I was strapped into a roller coaster; I was just here for the ride. My wings, however, were much more proactive. They turned, dipped down, and did so many flips with accuracy and grace that would take me years ever to master. Clearly, these wings knew what they were doing. I could hear the soft flapping of my wings as they snapped to attention in a seemingly random direction, but no matter which way they turned, they kept pulling me up.
Which was symbolic of our relationship—Nightmare and I, I was a vessel for her to raise me; raise me above what I ever could've been. I didn't love her romantically, but I did really care for her. She was the only one there for me when no one else could've been, which is why I owe it to her to get her out of here.
I was at a steady advance towards—no above Luna. Once I passed those magic circles, they would be virtually useless, but that was getting increasingly difficult due to the sheer amount of magic bombs spilled out of the rings. The wings were doing an excellent job at evading these projectiles, but it wasn't enough. I needed something more, something yellow.
"Nightmare, I got an idea but, I need you to keep us steady," I said. She didn't respond; however, most likely, she was focused on keeping us safe. She did acknowledge me by lowering our altitude and slowly giving up ground to Luna.
This is kind of an advanced move, but what I'm creating is a pretty simple creature. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the feeling of my body jerking left and right while balls of light whizzed past me. Like I was in a pitch-black workshop, I went to work. I imagined a bright yellow sphere and then visualized a triangular cut in the sphere like a slice of cake. The cut area quickly darkened to an almost pitch-black shade. I placed two black ovals over the creature's front to finish it off—these would be its eyes. I opened my eyes, and the basketball-sized creature was cradled in my arms.
"Pacman!" I shouted in victory. That's right; I had created the most iconic character in gaming history. However, despite his complete appearance, he was still a husk—a body without a brain. He needed some commands to get him going.
I pressed my black bony fingers into Pacman's head, and they sunk through—straight to his core. I sent my thoughts through my fingers and straight into him. I gave him three simple commands.
"Find the magic. Absorb the magic. Reproduce." These were the only commands I gave him, and they would be more than enough to complete his task. "Oh, also, don't eat my magic." I hastily added, it would've been quite the predicament if he tried to absorb me.
I plucked my fingers from Pacman's skull and let him go. He hovered in the air and slowly rotated like a planet in orbit. He seemed like he was unfocused and was calibrating himself like a machine.
Suddenly his mouth twitched, and his whole body slightly tilted at an odd angle. Confused, I slowly reached out and poked the side of his head. I felt what would be the equivalent of a static shock when I touched him.
"Ow! You jerk!" I shouted in surprise, quickly retracting my sore finger.
Just like that Pacman was full of life, he completely ignored me and flew past me. With his iconic shrill and grainy "waka waka," he charged forward alone into the cloud of magic balls.
"I guess he needed a jumpstart of magic." I shrugged, and then my wings flapped hard. I was a few feet behind Pacman, but I intended to stay behind him. I had to find out if he could do what I told him to do.
Pacman's maw opened and closed wildly as he was racing to intercept the closest ball of light. It took no time for a magic missile to connect with Pacman's eager mouth and his mouth enclosed over the ball, and it was gone, but he kept going forward.
"Wait, you're supposed to reproduce!" But my words had fallen on deaf ears that I didn't create. "Damn, maybe I need to specifically tell him how to reproduce. That would make sense; he is something that acts only on its commands. Great, now I'm going to catch up to hi-" I paused because while I was mulling, a second Pacman appeared. "....what?"
I watched as the second Pacman ate a magic ball and continued on its way. That Pacman slowly grew larger until its size was nearly doubled. Then, in an instant, it flashed a bright white, and another basketball-sized Pacman split from the first one. When that happened, the original Pacman went back to its average size.
"Huh. So it works like bacteria, I guess." I shrugged in mid-air before I was forced to the right, narrowly avoiding a ball of magic. "Thanks," I said on instinct as if this was normal.
Already there were about twelve Pacmans...Pacmen? They were quickly growing in number, and all I could do was wait. However, my wings had a different plan, and they refused to sit idly. They rocketed me straight to the front, using the opening of magic blasts the Pacmen created. But, we passed the yellow creatures and were right back into the spinning runes' full power. We were back to trying to weave through a blanket of destructive magic and to be honest; it was all pretty stupid to me.
"Nightmare chill!" I shouted, trying to halt her advance but to no avail; she either couldn't hear me or chose to ignore me. Rightly pissed, I visualized the strings I had rooted into the foundations of the dream, and I pulled back. I was causing us to halt our advance suddenly.
"What art thou doing?!" Nightmare hissed. "I was almost there!"
I rotated my arm in circles, wrapping the invisible strings around my hand tightly, and pulled harder. We plunged behind the incoming waves of Pacmen.
"I don't give a shit; you need to be patient." I scolded. "I don't need you putting us in dangers we don't need to worry about."
"We can do this, thee needeth to trust us!" Nightmare pleaded; I could hear the strain in her voice as her wings fought against me.
"I do trust you, but you need to trust me too!" I shouted. "We're supposed to be a team, but you keep trying to do all of the work! All we need to do is hang back and let the Pacmen do their jobs!"
"No! I'm tired of waiting; we must seize our chance while it is still here!" Nightmare replied.
"You're the one who always talked about patience, so why are you being so stupid right now!" I angrily responded. "Are you bipolar?! Because you're really screwing up our plan!"
"Don't thou dare call us strange names! We shall cut thy tongue off for such an insult!" Nightmare threatened.
"Ooo, scary!" I said sarcastically, "Yeah, make threats when you have a body to something. Just take a hint and realize that you're fucking everything up!" I took a deep breath; I needed to calm myself. "Look," I began calmly, "We can't be fighting like this. We need to be on the same page, y'know?"
My words seemed to calm Nightmare considerably, "Agreed, which is why thou should stop impeding us."
"I swear, Nightmare, I'm not gonna keep going back and forth with you. You need to chill out! We aren't going to take any more unnecessary risks!" I stated.
"It's thy fault that we are here! Thou was supposed to only take the child's fear and leave! But nay! Somepony had to use their magic to save a colt who was soooo scared!" Nightmare mockingly replied.
"Okay! I accept that blame for that, but that has nothing to do with what's happening right now. We need to work together, or else we will be trapped here forever! So, I'm please just wait; we don't need to rush into things right now." I pleaded, trying desperately to get through to her.
Nightmare sighed, and her voice softened, "We suppose that we can see the strategy in letting your...creations 'do their thing.' However, we wish to be heard too! We wish to have a say in our strategy!" Nightmare emphasized.
"I understand, and I'm sorry that I made you feel like you haven't had a choice in what we do. But you gotta admit, man, you're usually pretty quiet." I explained.
Nightmare spoke slowly, "We suppose we have been a little too...observant." We hovered in contemplation; none of us knew what to say at that moment. "And we... apologize …for being uncooperative, we shall try to follow your plan."
"Pssh, don't worry about it," I waved her off, "We are partners, comrades, amigos, friends, and in this moment, we gotta work together to get out of here. No more discourse! And certainly no more fighting between us! It's like you said before we are one, and now we gotta start acting like it." I ranted.
"We...I...trust you...and I believe in you, so please do what we could not, please defeat Luna." Nightmare sounded broken, but I knew she was genuine. This was probably the first time she had someone to rely on, and it must be hard for her to admit that she needs my help.
"I promise I will, and you just watch my back and keep me focused," I told her. I released my magical grasp on the ground, and we slowly ascended.
"Yes." It was the single reply I got from Nightmare, but she was determined.
I looked up, and holy shit, there was a lot of Pacmen now! It was practically a sea of Pacmen advancing on Luna, and their numbers were still growing. This was our chance to get to her finally.
As if on cue, my wings snapped to attention and quickly thrust me upwards with hard flaps. I easily cleared the distance between the Pacmen and us. Then, I entered the swarm of Pacmen, flying past the dozens, maybe hundreds of yellow faces. Each Pacman raced fearlessly towards the looming circles above them, and I was getting ready to lead the charge. I matched their energy and rushed to get ahead of most of them, but I still kept a few ahead of me as shields.
We were getting pretty close, actually, and my plan was working quite well. The Pacmen are still relatively slow, which was good initially, but this was starting to get dull. So, I thought that I would speed this process up a little bit.
I pointed a finger gun at one of the Pacmen, and an arc of electricity shot out at the yellow ball. The electricity traveled straight through the creature and jumped to the next one. The arc hopped from Pacman to Pacman and quickly moved through them at an incredible speed. I began firing these arcs in every direction and silently watched as sparks of electricity jumped every which way. It was somewhat fun, actually, like playing one of those arcade games with the plastic guns.
A storm of sparks jumped through the Pacmen, and then suddenly, all of them came back to me. Dozens of sparks danced through the air and entered back into me quite violently. My body slightly spasmed as the electricity came back into me. However, my wings were unaffected by the shock.
After my mini seizure, I gazed upon my work. The Pacmen were glowing now and were even faster now. Like really fast now.
"Hm, so thou made them faster by sending a magical signal through their cores. Very wise Adam." Nightmare complimented. It felt weird being praised by her, but I still accepted the compliment as any human being would.
"Thanks." I responded, "And, uh, good luck not getting tazed." I teased.
"Our magical core is much denser than thy simple creations." Nightmare gloated. It was pretty typical for her to compliment herself, and I'd just have to work harder for her to compliment me instead.
"Mmhmm," I mumbled, not knowing how to respond to that.
I focused my attention back on what was ahead of us. My Pacmen were now advancing much faster than before, and we were finally making significant progress. My wings had to struggle a little to keep up with them. I finally felt like we were getting somewhere; I had single-handedly nullified her attack using barely any magic. I continued to move within the swarm of Pacmen and even closer to Luna. Then, I felt a shiver up my spine, the same tingly feeling I felt before something terrible was about to happen.
But, I couldn't tell what was happening; my vision was covered by Pacmen. I felt myself getting anxious, and fear prickled up where my stomach would be. I needed to fucking move right now!
"Nightmare! Move out of the way!" I yelled in desperation. My wings turned direction, and I was swiftly moved to the right. My body was freaking out and throwing warning signs all over the place.
"Calm down Adam, what hast thou so troubled?" Nightmare asked, sounding a little panicked. Just then, everything went deathly silent, and a beam of light considerably more massive than me had driven through the horde of Pacmen. Every single Pacman that was where I just was had vanished. A hole had formed in our army, and through it, I could see a direct path leading straight to Luna.
"Shit! Move!" I exclaimed. The prickles of fear just wouldn't go away. I clutched my sides, trying to alleviate the pain, but I just couldn't take it. I let out a cry of pain as Nightmare's wings carried me in a different direction.
Just as we moved away, another beam of light crashed through our last location, and the Pacmen that were there were gone. Through the pain, I looked on in surprise. She was specifically targeting me.
"Adam! How did thou know when she would attack?" Nightmare asked. She seemed genuinely shocked.
I shook my head, "I-I don't know, I just felt in danger." I explained. Maybe I could sense her intentions, or perhaps I could feel her cold glare on me. But, the pain was mostly gone, so that I could think rationally now.
I looked around and noticed how a lot of Pacmen had been eradicated with just those two attacks. If I didn't do something fast, they would all be destroyed. Thinking quickly, I sent out dozens of invisible strings. Each one carefully traveled through a Pacman, and through its core, it was like threading string through beads to make a necklace. Then fear stabbed my chest, halting my concentration and killing any rational thoughts. However, I did notice that I felt much worse than I had before. It was a sign that I was not going to take lightly.
"Go, Nightmare, and don't stop moving!" I cried out. I don't know why but we needed to go. Someone big was happening.
Nightmare took my warning seriously and immediately changed her direction, just narrowly avoiding another beam of magic.
"God it hurts! Please keep going!" I begged. My ears were ringing, and I lost grip on reality. This mind-numbing pain was seriously pissing me off.
Nightmare did keep moving and moved in strange directions, trying to avoid an attack that had no pattern and no warning.
I closed my eyes and did my best to focus. The ringing in my ears blocked all sound, and the throbbing pain in my torso stole my attention. I just needed to concentrate. Just focus on my own words in my head. Let this pain subside—let this pain disappear. Now go away. Shoo! I don't want you here anymore! Bad pain! Ow! That made it worse. Okay, okay...please go away…
Apparently, I just needed to ask nicely. The pain was still there, but it had faded away substantially. I felt so much better; heck, even the ringing in my ears was gone.
"ADAM!" My eyes snapped open as I heard the angered tone of Nightmare.
"W-what?" I asked drowsily. My body swung to the side as Nightmare dived, just barely dodging a beam of light.
"If thou hast any ideas, then please feel free to say so!" Nightmare shouted with a strain in her voice. She was getting tired, and it must be bad because even I could notice.
Shit! she's only firing lasers now. "Uh-uh-uh, hold on!" I panicked. I feverishly looked around, trying to get a grasp of my situation.
Just then, another laser broke through the Pacmen. Nightmare's wings folded, trying to drop below the blast. But, this shot was aimed dead center.
My eyes widened as the blinding stream of magic flooded my entire vision.
Then...nothing...happened...Was my death, painless? This wasn't that bad...could use a few more colors other than just white. As a matter of fact, I don't think I can even see myself here in this mysterious room of...whiteness!
"Would thou stop it with thy delusions! We are still alive!" Nightmare roared.
"Wh-huh?!" I blurted out, confused. I shook my head vigorously, and the whiteness in my vision began to clear. I saw the night sky, the green grass below, the Pacmen still fearlessly charging, and I saw-A GODDAMN BEAM AHHH!
Then there wasn't a beam, but I felt off. Like out of place.
"Adam! Snap out of thy stupor; we merely just teleported thou!" Nightmare explained.
"Oh," That would make sense, "Oh shit!" I exclaimed. I don't have time to do this! I need to finish what I started. "Okay, Nightmare, just keep dodging as long as you can; I need a little bit more time." I didn't wait for a reply; I just got straight to work.
Flexing my fingers, I felt the strings I had made earlier and reconnected to them. Each one immediately slithered towards more Pacmen at a swift pace. I didn't dare pay attention to what Nightmare had to do and just focused on my task at hand, but I did need to hurry. My strings were more like arcs of lightning with how much speed I pumped into these puppies. I quickly got every Pacman I needed.
Finally, I looked up and paid attention to reality aaaannnnnd we were still alive! That was good news!
"Alright, I'm going to clear the skies!" I shouted. I firmly gripped the magical strings in my hands and pulled my arms over each other. Every Pacman on either side veered to the left and right respectively to meet in the middle. They all kept going towards the sky, but they were now all in a huge clump.
"Damn, these dudes must really want some of that magic," I mumbled. Then an idea struck me, "Nightmare, I got a plan, stay behind the Pacmen." I told her.
She quickly carried us behind the mass of Pacmen jammed together. "I hope thou knows what thy is doing." Nightmare said, Clearly skeptical of my abilities.
I just nodded in response and shot one more command through the strings I had firmly implanted in each of the Pacmen. Merge.
Then in a graphic display, each Pacman violently clashed and squished together. Their skin melted like yellow mucus, and they connected with one another. They formed a mass of dripping liquid that never fell off; it just kept rolling around the round blob of yellow. It was over very quickly, but there were some stragglers who just dug into the mass and disappeared.
I shivered in disgust at the scene ahead of me. That was the most disgusting thing I had ever had to witness. Well, minus that time I rearranged my entire body.
Anyways, the Pacmen blob had smoothed out, and all that remained was a gigantic Pacman. As its mouth bounced up and down, I felt a burst of air. The absolute power of this thing was incredible.
My wings jumped to action and flew me on top of the giant Pacman. I took a few seconds to sit in a comfortable criss-cross fashion, and then I plunged my hand into the giant creature. I sent a powerful boost of energy into the monster and held onto its core as its head bobbed up and down.
"WOOOOO!!!" I cried in excitement. We were in maximum overdrive now, and it was a very rocky ride up to Luna. As we rapidly ascended, I noticed that the magic circles were narrower and more compact. That must have been how she was firing lasers now. Each spinning ring had tilted and was pointed directly at us. I also noticed that the circles were quite bright now. I felt a tingling sensation in my stomach again, but this time it was toned down since the last time.
The rotating circles flashed a blinding white before a beam of light was discharged. They made no sound, but I could feel the buzz of the energy just pouring off of this attack.
I flinched as the magic laser came right at us, and I closed my eyes. I felt nothing, not even the pressure from the blast. I opened my eyes, and it worked! Pacman was big enough to eat the magic! We rode forward undeterred by anything she could throw at us now.
Before I could begin celebrating, I felt a massive amount of energy charge through me. It felt like I hit my funny bone. It didn't hurt, but it didn't feel right either. It was hard to explain.
We were very close, and she was just a few meters ahead of me. This was my time to act now! As another blast of magic was sent our way, I gripped the Pacman's core much tighter. With my other hand, I lightly rubbed Pacman's head and whispered, "Thank you for your hard work." Within the next second, I forcefully ripped the round black core out of Pacman. Then, I jumped off of him, and my wings instantly took flight.
I glanced down and watched as another beam of light eradicated the defenseless husk of the Pacman. I felt a tinge of sorrow, but I couldn't focus on that. I sucked the magic out of the core and felt it get smaller and smaller until finally becoming nothing in my hand. I used this burst of energy and conjured a powerful gust of wind that rocketed me up, past the circles, and finally up to Luna.
I was finally faced with the pony I've been trying to get my hands on for the longest time. Part of me wanted to savor this moment, but my more responsible side decided to end this little game. I raised my black fist and prepared to strike, but then I stopped for a moment.
"Were her eyes closed?!" I asked, bewildered. I felt my anger rising, "What the FUCK!!!" I exclaimed as my fist came down on her at lightning speeds. She quickly shot down and impacted the ground, leaving a sizable crater.
"Ah, so she was sensing thou, that explains how she was so accurate." Nightmare said mostly to herself. "Adam those pains thou had felt; it was thy aura conflicting with Luna's." Nightmare explained.
"That's cool and all, but I'm still pissed," I said while descending towards where I slammed Luna.
She was completely unharmed and encased in a bright white shield. With her hooves planted onto the ground, she dropped the magic dome around her. Her eyes finally opened, and then she spoke, "You finally made it, I almost fell asleep up there." She made an exaggerated yawn and even put her hoof up to her mouth. "But, I suppose I've gotten used to my new power." Luna said calmly before a spear of white light flashed into existence in front of her. "It's time we take a more...hooves-on approach." her silver hair swished in the nonexistent wind, and her face had a stern look.
With a flap of her wings, she had lifted herself out of the crater she was in, and then she lightly drifted forward and landed in the grass.
I quickly brought myself to the ground to match her. My wings disappeared as well because they were no longer needed. As soon as my feet touched the ground, a familiar feeling of excitement had returned. Only this time, I could tell she was just as eager as I was.
"Yeah yeah, you're all-powerful and pure and shit, so let's just finish this thing," I replied, trying to speed things up. I held out my hand and visualized a powerful weapon to aid me in this fight. Moments later, I felt a sizable amount of weight in my hand, and a giant sword had appeared in my grasp.
The sword was pretty simple in design, but the sheer size of it made up for it. It was almost as big as me and was very wide; I'd have considered it a club if it weren't for its sharpened edges. The blade was double-edged and ran straight down before sharply turning to a triangular point.
I gazed upon the sword with awe and slowly lowered my wrists to point the sword at Luna. Despite the size of this enormous weapon, it felt like I was just holding a long stick. It was perfect; this would be the weapon to crack that shield of hers. The Dragon Slayer would get the job done.
Luna looked at the large sword with confusion and curiosity. Her head slowly cocked to the side as she said, "That is quite...the interesting weapon, yet very unwieldy in combat. Do you truly believe you can keep up with a sword of that size?" She held back a laugh as she inspected my sword.
I chuckled at her response, "Come on, Luna, you've been here longer than me, and you still don't understand. This is all a dream." Suddenly with incredible speeds, I was in front of her with my sword held high above my head, and I then swung down with all of my might. The blade connected with Luna's rigid shield and crashed right through as if the shield was made out of white glass.
Luna swiftly moved to the right, narrowly avoiding the incoming sword. Using that momentum, she jumped backward to put more distance between us. She must've been quite surprised by my display.
When the sword hit the ground, a shockwave threw up all of the loose dirt and clouded the area. The dust finally settled; I pulled my sword out of the ground and looked directly at Luna. I could see the look of surprise on her face for a moment before she turned it into an annoyed expression.
"Where did your spear go?" I asked sarcastically while looking around dramatically. "Looks like somebody lost their focus." That statement only heightened her angered expression.
A combination of magical swords and spears took their place behind Luna. "That was a miscalculation on my part; however, do not expect me to fall for any more of your tricks." she said as she sent all of the weapons in my direction.
Holding my sword with two hands, I charged forward. I swatted the first flying spear out of the air without losing any speed and leaned out of the way of the next one. Halting my advance, I raised my sword, using the wide blade to shield myself from the incoming swords. Each time a weapon connected with mine, an audible clang sounded throughout the dreamscape.
Getting tired of defending myself, I moved into action. I felt everything slowing down as I increased my speeds.
"I have told thou about wasting thy power." Nightmare warned. "We cannot afford for thou to lose our strength. To do so would mean our certain defeat!"
"Trust me, Nightmare, I know what I'm doing," I assured. Trying to conserve energy, I accelerated my speed in small bursts, almost the time it takes to blink.
In one instant, I had passed a sword, and in the next, I was right in front of Luna. She was not surprised by this, and she held a spear in her magical grasp in defense. This spear was different from the ones she was throwing at me. It was made of actual metal and not just pure white. This metal had a dark blue tint with a crescent moon branded into the head of the spear. This spear's magnificent head sat upon a simple metal rod that made up the spear's base.
My sword came down upon this spear, and despite the size difference, her spear didn't break or even budge under the weight. She then tilted her spear at an angle, causing my sword to slide down the spear's pole and embed itself into the ground. This threw me off balance and gave her the chance to drive her spear directly at my chest.
Thinking quickly, I let go of Dragon Slayer and felt the sting of her spear along my chest as I barely avoided her attack. She wasn't finished. However, her spear jerked backward and was thrust at me again.
Four large red tentacles burst out from my lower spine and safely lifted my body off the ground above Luna's spear. Each tentacle was firmly planted into the ground, and I had full control of each one. Luna was at least six feet below me, and she was focused on the four tentacle-like appendages. Her spear bounced off the almost crystalline red tentacle, and she quickly shifted her gaze up to me. Then her spear changed directions and rocketed upwards at me. I quickly swatted it away with a tentacle and went on the offensive. Moving quickly, I retracted the red appendages to a reasonable length so I could stand on my own.
Each red appendage curved around my body and hung over me. They pulsed an ominous mixture of red and black, and they were more like a fox's tail and came down to a point at the end, making them quite dangerous.
Luna had her spear back into her grasp and held it defensively. I was a very unusual opponent, so she had to stay on her hooves if she wanted to keep up with me.
Then each tentacle shot forward. With impressive force, she slammed the first one down into the ground with her spear. Moving quickly, she dodged the next tentacle and hurled the spear in her telekinetic grip at me.
I quickly retracted all of the red appendages into my body as I narrowly avoided the thrown spear. They were too much to keep track of and used way too much magic to keep them hardened.
Luna charged ahead with a new spear in her magical grip and jammed it right into my chest.
I ignored the spear and lunged forward, which pushed the spear further into my body. With both arms outstretched, I reached both sides of Luna's head and gripped them tight. Her horn lost its magical glow as her concentration was cut off. Suddenly a flood of information rushed through me.
Thoughts and memories passed through me. Shreds of information just flew by. I couldn't possibly hope to take in all of the years of data stored within this mare. Some critical pieces of knowledge sort of stuck with me, but most of it went straight out of me. But I didn't care about what she knew or what her memories were. I was here to drop off some information of my own.
Luna violently thrashed against my tight grip but to no avail. I wasn't letting go, and I was putting every ounce of my strength to hold her in place. Despite how much she shook, struggled, and pushed against me, I wasn't moving. Her front hooves scraped against the ground over and over as she tried to force her way through me. She was furious and was almost growling at me as she continued to struggle.
I felt the spear passing through me as my body healed and closed its wound. I'm gonna have to thank Nightmare for that later.
"I got her, Nightmare! Hurry up and do what you gotta do!" my voice strained as I shouted, she was pretty intense, and I couldn't keep holding her forever.
"Leave it to us, Adam, we shall take care of the rest." Nightmare responded confidently.
I watched as my arms slowly turned back to their bleached white color as the black color of Nightmare flowed out of them and onto Luna's pure white coat. A blotch of inky black traveled all along her body, snuffing out any of the glowing white fur it touched.
Luna began to panic and doubled her efforts to escape my grip.
I grunted as she actually jerked my hands back as she flailed around, trying to find and exploit any kind of slack in my grip. Without Luna's fear fueling me, it was becoming tough to keep her in place.
But despite how she tossed and turned, the black, almost goo-like substance continued to meticulously cover every inch of her body. As more of Luna's fear covered her, I could feel her getting slightly sluggish. However, as more of her fear left me, I also got weaker, so it was a stalemate. The first one to let up would lose this conflict.
All that was left of her fear were tiny strands that silently flowed off my arms and streamed onto her head.
At that moment, Luna's horn activated and cast a powerful pulse that knocked me onto my back.
Now free, Luna raised her black forelegs off the ground and spread her now dark wings wide in a display of dominance and strength. She towered high above me and held a look of hatred that burned into my soul. Her eyes shined like a lighthouse warning oncoming ships of dangerous shores. Her horn shined bright, charged with some hazardous and likely painful spell. I felt that familiar tingling sensation come back in full force. I didn't want to die.
In some poor attempt to defend myself, I held my arms out and covered my head almost on instinct. All of my confidence and all of my ideas meant nothing at this moment because all of it would come to an end just like that. All of the ponies I had helped meant nothing; all of my hopes meant nothing, everyone I had ever met and cared for meant nothing. All that mattered right now was survival, yet all I could do was cower like a frightened infant. I was powerless to stop her because I was alone.
Gravity pulled Luna down; it pulled the front of her body back to the earth along with all of her might, and all of her malice, and all of her hatred, and all of her power directly onto me. It felt like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders to add some more pressure to her attack. This was it; this was where I was going to disappear forever.
I waited for the inevitable to come....but it never did. Luna just stopped moving, like she was frozen in time. Then I noticed her horn stopped glowing, and her eyes were no longer glowing white but were now black voids that seemed to go on forever.
I sat up from my position and carefully watched Luna's motionless body before sighing in relief. "We did it!!!" I cheered, "I can't believe we actually won!" I stood all the way up and approached Luna's body triumphantly.
I got right into her face, almost pressing my snout against hers, "That's what happens when you fuck with the Dream Team! The peeps with a plan! The Dreaming Scheme—AHHHHH"
A black droopy appendage launches out of the black pony mass and quickly pulls me into the heap of fear and Nightmare. I'm swallowed without any resistance and disappear.
Luna
I awoke with a jolt; I glanced around my dim room before calming down. The thoughts of what had transpired in the Dream Realm came back to me. I had failed again!
I had them both right where I wanted them, and I let them slip through my hooves! I should not have toyed with them; I should have just crushed them right then and there! I should have known that discarding my negative emotions would only make them stronger! What was I thinking?! And, of course, Nightmare Moon had a hoof in this. She's always been there, and she will always be a thorn in my side.
I pick up a nearby pillow and jam it into my face. I let out a muffled scream that held all of my pain into it, but it barely did anything to quell my anger. I picked up said pillow and hurled it into a wall. I growled in frustration and sat completely still in thought. My mind ran rampant with ideas of revenge and absolute hatred for that wretched creature.
I would have my revenge, that beast may have bested me this time, but next time I won't hold back. I will not stop until they are gone; I shall never let my pride get in the way of my duties to my subjects.
I let out a breath of dismay, "Which means I must swallow my pride and request help from my sister." I slowly stood up and made my way to my door. This was the only choice I had left; I can not trust myself to handle this independently.
Before I reached the door, I felt a feeling of extreme discomfort. My chest heaved as my breathing quickened, and my legs wobbled in complete fear. My body was telling me to run! To get as far away from here as possible, I ignored those signals and stayed perfectly still.
Clack...clack...clack...clack…
My ears swiveled to pinpoint the sound as the rest of my body refused to move. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and my breathing was out of control. I was utterly panicking, but why? I've never felt like this ever; I have never feared for my life so much.
Clack...clack...clack…
It was getting closer and closer with each step. Every slap of whatever creature was behind me sent shivers through my spine.
Clack...clack…..clack…….
Then, the sound ceased, and that sound was replaced with my ragged breaths. For a few agonizing seconds, I waited in silence; I waited for anything to happen. Still, I didn't dare to look behind.
A gentle rush of hot air tickled the hairs on the back of my head. Each strand that was touched by this creature's breath sent numbing arcs of electricity through my body.
"Turn around." It commanded eerily.
I recognized that voice and jolted when it spoke. Every fiber of my being feared this creature, yet despite that, my body followed its command. I didn't want to turn around. I didn't want to face this creature, not now. But, I couldn't control my own actions. I was a prisoner in my own body. I knew who it was, but I didn't want to look at him! I just couldn't look at him! Please don't make me look at him!
My body jerked around, and I was face to face with the monster I had been chasing in the Dream Realm. It was a creature made of bone that defies all laws of nature. This creature had no eyeballs to speak of, yet it stared at me with floating blue, glowing pupils. It had the skull of a large dog with a long snout, and it had the horns of a demon straight out of Tartarus.
We stared at each other motionless for a moment that dragged on forever. His eyes scanned my body or perhaps even further than that.
"Are you afraid?" he asked, looking deeply into my eyes.
Without even thinking, I lightly nodded my head. Unable to look anywhere else besides this creature's piercing gaze.
It's jaw morphed and deformed into a crooked smile that would give nightmares to anyone.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt you here," the creature assured before raising both of its skeletal hands to either side of my head. "You look tired; how about you have a good night's sleep."
My mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. I tried to scream as its hands got closer and closer, but I just couldn't. I felt both hands gently press against both sides of my head as I stared into those blue eyes before everything turned black.
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it realy is an unfair fight but is nightmare and the mc's plan to body snach luna? im confused on that part
new chapter
a cliffhanger ending
10625500
Next chapter everything will be clear
10625507
Not sure I understand what happened at the end. Guess I have to wait and see.
106
To put it simply, Adam showed up and put Luna to sleep
Well that's a Cliffhanger.
Oh cool, you're back!
I don't really know what just happened here...
Well its definitely AWESOME to see this again!xd
Thou to be honest I more or less had forgotten about it.
Oh snap a new chapter im gonna have to re read the whole story to rember whats going on
You know what would really break Lunq? Telling her she hadn't been fighting Nightmare Moon until recently. That at first she was just terrorizing some random person every night, until NMM came and helped them fight back.
10628086
I don't think she'd care, or understand that.
Ooh! I feel special - I'd just found this fic like, a month ago and was sad it seemed abandoned. Guess not!
Looking forward to see where you go with it.
Wow, that was boring.(-_-;)・・・
Things were going excessively complex and not logical.
(∩ᄑ_ᄑ)⊃━☆ﾟ*･｡*･:≡( ε:)
He was pierced, but then suddenly fine, then carpet bombardment, color changing, pacman and first mc and nm understand each other, then don't, plus unnecessary swearing, things don't work, but work a second later, then i fell asleep.
Σ(￣。￣ﾉ)
What the hell. (＠_＠)
And split the chapter more, it's too long. I don't even remember what i was thinking while reading beginning when finishing it.
┐('～`;)┌
10635213
I'll surely keep it in mind for the next chapters to help things flow easier. Also as for the pierced thing. He isn't a real creature hes a dream creature made of magic, literally a skeleton. So fatal wounds arent fatal, its only of matter of how much magic you have. Or if you strike their magic core. Also mc can ignore pain when he chooses to, hence when he numbed himself when he was turning into a deer in an earlier chapter. Everything is mental. Like how his hooves turned into feet without him knowing, or how he randomly had a tongue.
Well, im sorry to hear that. But thanks for your constructive criticism.
But i will admit, this chapter was kinda sloppy and I hope to improve it and my writing skills further.
I wanted to know how this is the top in ratings in displaced
Exciting and all, but this fight dragged on. I feel like the last two chapters could be combined, be thousands of words shorter, and not lose much of value. It kind of reached a point where I was skimming just waiting for something to happen.
This story is at its best when it does characterization and interactions. Every fight has felt incredibly contrived, and each new fight feels even more contrived because by now Fluttershy, Spike, or someone he's helped should have said something, so the fact that Luna is still like this is quickly destroying any semblance of suspension of disbelief.
Just please, to quote Monty Python, get on with it!
10765072
Sorry about that, I felt this was dragging on as well and I didn't really know how to push it forward. And to be honest, my quality sort of dropped for this chapter and im sorry for that. I'll do my best in the next one to keep the overall feeling of the story intact. This chapter was supposed to be fun, but it turned out half baked and corny. I wont ever drop my standards like that again.
Awesome!
That was some impressively written dream battling; the imagination and difference in tactics worksed great
This was an awesome chapter. And a pretty awesome story so far. I can't wait for more
Prey 2017 music kicks in
Pretty good fic. Hope it updates soon.
Why isn't there a horror and/or thriller tag?
This is good. Hope it continues
11084665
Well, actually, waffles are pancake squared.
Pancake squared= waffle.
.....And now it's time to beat the mind game.....
I am getting "nightfolk from Deep Sleep" vibes
-pokes you with a herb and cheese bread stick-
11392238
Herb and cheese you say?~
Beautiful written story i hope it gets continued :)
¿Cuál es la finalidad de esta historia?
What is the purpose of this story?
¿Eh?
Leí la mitad y hasta aquí me quedo, la historia simplemente no tiene sentido, como mencione en capitulos anteriores sabes escribir una historia, pero no un protagonista, co-protagonista y villano, apenas sabemos algo de los representantes de esta historia, no hay trasfondo, ni razones, ni motivaciones, ni nada, es un cascaron vacío, no hay forma alguna para identificarte o simplemente simpatizar con los personajes, fuera de una bonita escritura, no hay nada.
I read half of it and I'm staying here, the story simply doesn't make sense, as I mentioned in previous chapters you know how to write a story, but not a protagonist, co-protagonist and villain, we hardly know anything about the representatives of this story, there is no background No reasons, no motivations, nothing, it's an empty shell, there is no way to identify yourself or simply sympathize with the characters, outside of a beautiful writing, there is nothing.
Translated by Google.
Hello from 2022
Let's see if he realizes the trickery.