Nightmares Eternal
“I still get nightmares. In fact, I get them so often I should be used to them by now. I'm not. No one ever really gets used to nightmares.” -Mark Z. Danielewski
Equestria Directory:
Pg. 716
Codex-Nightmares
'With a fist of knives, and sullen drives,
a gift that intrudes, and a form that deludes,
sleep without strive once the moon arrives,
for what he'll steer is toward your greatest fear.'
-Eternal nursery rhyme
Nightfall: Equestria's quietest hour. When the day's chores are completed, and its benevolent residents return home, they take an expanse of several hours for some r&r. In the looming darkness, the only creatures active are Princess Luna and her fellow creatures of the night. While the Princess raises the moon and guards the skies, denizens of the dark attend to their duties as well. Gargoyles, nasty creatures with a taste for gems, guard the wealthiest of Canterlot. Mountain trolls indirectly keep the Everfree's more serious threats at bay, and even the smallest likes of crickets provide residents with a peaceful tune to abide by.
There are, of course, beings in charge of Equestria's more elemental burdens. One of these lesser gods is none other than Discord's third cousin, Eternal, the God of Nightmares. Before the rule of the two sisters, at the time of Discord's rule, his younger cousin took great pleasure in making the ponies' greatest fears become a reality.
'The Devil that Never Sleeps' is what they called him. In recent millennia, they simply referred to him as 'The Boogeyman'.
The demon's fun was short lived, however, as he inadvertently caused the usurpation of Discord's throne. How? In a friendly attempt to play a prank on his cousin, it turns out that Discord's greatest fear is the one thing stronger than him: Defeat. And from this nightmare came the birth of the greatest tools known to ponykind: The Elements of Harmony.
For inadvertently stopping Discord, Princesses Celestia and Luna, still in a bitter state of mind after the torment the God of Chaos had bestowed upon the land, gave the naive spirit one option.
A curse shall be cast upon Eternal, shackling him to the blackest pits of Tartarus. Only at night is he able to roam the land freely, though interaction with the living world is drastically limited.
It was either that, or be encased in stone like Discord and his followers. Eternal accepted without hesitation.
Decades rolled by. Eternal grew from a fun-loving though dark-humored spirit into a vengeful, tormentuous demon. Tartarus is a miserable place. Sure, its residents are somewhat alive but only enough to feel the pain the fiery wasteland endures. No one 'deserves' to be there, but the land of Tartarus has been law since 'The Before Time', in which Queen Solianna and King Artemis ruled.
Eternal relished the nights he was free, away from that accursed place.
When Nightmare Moon came to be, and Celestia was forced to banish her own sister, the Princess of the Night's power vanished as well. Half of the curse was subsequently lifted. Eternal, though not one with the mortal world, still had enough power to make a difference.
He learned to become one with a dormant mind, to become part of a dream. He soon mastered this ability, able to dig into a pony's deepest and most intimate thoughts and twist them into horrific nightmares.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out Celestia was his first victim. He tortured her for weeks on end in dawn of Luna's banishment, forcing her to relive that unforgettable night over and over again. Eternal, being the artist that he is, wanted to change things up for the dear princess. So he dug deeper into her deluded mind, forcing her to experience such traumatic nightmares such as death, the mass annihilation of Equestria, and the return of a vengeful Nightmare Moon. It was a time Princess Celestia will never forget.
This traumatic period of six weeks came to be known in history as 'The Boogeyman's Return.'
Princess Celestia would have gone down to Tartarus and eliminate Eternal's spirit, but it’s by Equestrian law that not a single living soul enter the fields of Tartarus, for fear it might unleash the masses of angered spirits. All it takes is one vengeful soul to escape and re-open the gates.
So the Princess decreed that on the twelfth day of the sixth month in the thirteenth century, the God of Nightmares has returned. As expected, there was a panic. But the loving ruler told her subjects that he cannot hurt them. They are simply nightmares made to scare, nothing more.
Over the years, nightmares became a normality in Equestria. Ponies grew resilient, other developed techniques at repelling the spirit. But always remember the most important rule:
The Boogeyman can't hurt you.
"That was the biggest load of crap I've ever read," Glados stated as she chucked her thousand-bit copy of the Equestria Directory across the room like a piece of junk mail.
Just as she slipped into a deep slumber, she reassured herself, I don't get nightmares...
Above the calm stillness of Ponyville, a faint wisp of smoke descended from the clouds, invisible to the naked eye. The vapor settled on the cool, cobblestone center of Ponyville plaza, beside the well. Flanking this seemingly innocuous build of smoke was a darkened Sugarcube Corner, the post office, and Town Hall.
With apparent effort, the vapor sluggishly took form. Crooked, blistered canine legs fabricated from the bottom, connected to a rigid, stone-like pelvis. What appeared to be a tail, but was actually an outer-extension of the abomination's spine, extended into an extra appendage that was topped with three razor-sharp talons.
As the creature's build grew, it became painfully clear that the spirit was just as tall as his distant cousin. From the being's begrimed and scaled torso erected a pair of grotesquely muscular arms, eerily resembling a minotaur's. From the surface of his black skin, a perpetual dark mist oozed from its pores. A rather menacing gauntlet clothed the beast's left hand, plated bronze, and each finger tapered to a very fine point—sharp enough to slice through even the most durable of minds. Accompanying the demon's already nightmarish appearance was a set of patchwork wings, with one being almost drake-like and the other a griffon's.
Latched around the entity's neck was a unique slave collar forged from the most durable substance found in Equestria: Frost Diamond, bewitched with the infamous soul-binding curse preventing the god from ever physically leaving Tartarus. As cold and merciless as the mineral it was forged from, the very image of this collar was considered taboo by many.
Adorning the monster's head was a set of buck antlers, but twisted and burnt with the hems severely scorched. These demonic antlers were carved with numerous symbols that glowed a sinister ember, like they were filled with lava. Hypnotic red eyes and a shard-filled smile was the last thing any pony, old or young, would see before awakening from a nightmare.
This was the Boogeyman. This was Eternal, the God of Nightmares, standing in the middle of Ponyville Town Square with nothing to hide, as if beckoning someone to go out and challenge him.
'Ah,' he sighed in a distinct, spine-tingling purr, 'Ponyville. I haven't been here in quite a while. Isn't this where little Tia and Lu-lu's faithful student lives? Hmph, another night. She's probably been tracking my movements, knows I'm here tonight. I'll throw her off, force her to sleep with one eye open.' Eternal's voice, seldom heard in a pony's dreams, was always a subject of debate. Some describe his voice as one speaking in a cave, always echoing into oblivion.
He didn't allow the misfortune of avoiding the Elements to ruin his whole evening. Besides, their fears were as interesting as watching the grass grow. Eternal's glowering, red eyes scanned the area, judging which residency would be the perfect spot for his first victim of the night. His eyes brightened up at the sight of Scratch's Vinyl Emporium. 'Yes, this seems to be a good spot. The punk brutes are always the easiest to scare.'
Eternal slowly made his way towards the record store, taking no time to rush it. He had all night, after all. Each step left a ghastly paw-print smoldering in ground, then dissipate only seconds later. Every step brought Eternal closer to his target; his unnaturally white smile grew. He clicked his bronze-plated gauntlets in anticipation.
'I can just smell the fear emanating from this one. What is it? Failure? Becoming a burnout? The possibilities are endless.' The demon's transparent body pushed through the locked door as if it wasn't even there.
Eternal sensed his target—no, targets—growing ever nearer. 'A two-in-one bundle. It's been a long time since I've had one of those.'
The Boogeyman's form seeped through the back door, behind the counter. The backroom looked split in half down the middle. One side was rather clean and organized, with stacks of classical records organized into neat piles on the shelves. A light-grey earth pony occupied its bed space.
The other half was... not even a bedroom. A pale unicorn with quite possibly the worst hairstyle Eternal has ever seen in his existence took up the sofa. Strewn around the area were several bottles of emptied 'Wild Pegasus Whiskey'.
Eternal smirked and approached the passed-out D.J. He raised his gauntlet, reeling back for a moment when Vinyl stirred in her sleep. Very carefully, like a surgeon at work, the demon dragged an stiffened index finger across the mare's forehead, creating a metaphorical 'rip' into her mind.
Once the incision was complete, Eternal abstracted from his current form into a cloud of dark mist like the one he arrived in. The mist seeped into the rip, invading Vinyl Scratch's most intimate and darkest of dreams and fears. The tear mended itself in seconds, vanishing from the face of existence.
A figment of Vinyl Scratch's imagination, the Purgatorial Nightclub: a dusky, humid, dank little club situated in the middle of nowhere. Hypnotizing neon lights, irresistibly fetching music, and a sense of belonging was but a somnolent buzz of the popular joint. Patrons flocked in every night to have the honor of partying with the one and only D.J. Pon-3.
Upon entering the nightclub, intermingled scents of sweat and smoke would assault a newcomer's nostrils. The rhythmic techno beats provided as a backdrop for the clamorous chatter of friends and ex-lovers. The dance floor blinked alternating, checkered lights of green, purple, blue and red. Churning LSD colors projected from the walls surrounding the dance floor. Bright neon signs advertising alcoholic beverages stood out against the darkened walls, illuminating various knick-knacks and decor cluttering the space.
The one loner in the club, a black unicorn stallion with a gelled, midnight-blue mane, found his way to an empty bar stool in the corner. He motioned a hoof to the bartender and mouthed, 'I'll take a sonic tonic.' The bartender nodded and literally melted away into the cries of thirsty ponies, like he was an apparition all along.
The stallion flicked his tail when a clumsy mare brushed past him. His skin bristled at the touch, raising the small hairs on his back despite the club's relentless humidity. 'This place is my worst nightmare...' he muttered to himself, despising physical contact with dreamland denizens. A crowded nightclub setting certainly doesn't fare well with the claustrophobic demon.
At a moment's notice, the bartender suddenly materialized in front of Eternal with his drink levitating on a tray. The dark unicorn took it in his own red glow and brought the icy beverage to his lips. Tart, yet a little tangy. 'Disgusting,' he muttered, though his gripe was lost within the drone-like chatter of fellow patrons.
Minutes later, the music abruptly died down, and the ponies dropped whatever they were doing. They turned to face a lone balcony suspended over the dance floor. From the imminent darkness, an energetic voice called out, "Fillies and gentlecolts! Are you ready to party like it's heaven?"
"No!" the crowd screamed in eerily perfect unison.
"No?" the female asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "Then how's about we raise some hell?'
Once again, the crowd screamed 'No!' with building enthusiasm.
"No? What the hay's wrong with you- Oh, I get it, I get it. We aren't like those other clubs, are we?"
"No!" the drones cried.
"That's right! No other club's got our dedication, or the 'Master of Records'," she purred in a low, sultry tone, "Isn't that right, my little fillies?"
"Yeah!" they replied without hesitation.
From no visible source, dark red smoke began to pour from the balcony, onto the crowd below. They showed no reaction aside from the disturbing, unblinking stares filled with excitement and anxiety. "And no other club parties like we do! Because in Purgatory, we party all day and all night!" Vinyl Scratch finally emerged from the darkness, looking no different than she does in reality: hastily cut mane, juggling an electric and turquoise-blue pallet, purple sunglasses despite the fact that she's indoors, and the iconic, crowd-pleasing smile.
The disk jockey, just another pony in Equestria, was worshiped like a god in her fantasies. The very appearance resulted in her followers bursting into resonant cheers. She jumped from the balcony, landing in the center of the dance floor with immaculate precision.
Recovering from her landing, Vinyl shot her head up and hollered with exuberance, "Now let's get this party started!" The abounding techno arose, channeling heavy vibrations throughout the nightclub with every 'whoop' of the bass.
Eternal downed the rest of his 'sonic tonic' before muttering, 'That's my cue.' With the whiskey glass still in hoof, Eternal made his way to the dance floor.
Pushing through the throngs of dancing ponies, he sensed the one 'living' mare growing ever so closer. The distance between the two lessened with every step until he finally had her in his sights. Vinyl Scratch, leaning against the wall, simply bobbed her head to the beat of the song. She took no acknowledgement of the spirit's presence. To her, he just registered as another fellow dancer.
Eternal walked right up to the white unicorn, holding the whiskey glass near her face. Vinyl snapped out of a supposed trance, shooting a cheap grin at the black stallion glaring at her with cold, piercing, red eyes.
"Hey pal, what's up?" she asked casually.
Eternal didn't respond. Without a word, he reeled his foreleg back, ready to strike. Vinyl, being the laid-back pony she is, rose hers as well and exchanged a high-hoof with the God of Nightmares. "Enjoyin' the party?"
Eternal's face contorted into a grimace. His still-suspended hoof was brought down with inhumane force, smashing the whiskey glass against Vinyl's face. With little resistance or perseverance, she dropped like a sack of flour.
The dazed pony groaned in simulated pain, "Wh-What's your beef?"
Eternal pressed a hoof onto the D.J.'s throat, resonating in a sickening gag. A struggled lack of oxygen contorted Vinyl's face into a flushed shade of purple. The demon's face began to morph, starting with his horn splitting like cheap firewood into twisted, mutilated antlers. His eyes squeezed shut, then burst open to reveal a set of demonic red orbs. Eternal's mouth hung open, displaying rows of long, carnivorous incisors. Vinyl released a mangled scream as the fantasy around her began to collapse, the ponies around her disintegrating into hazes of sand. Their remains spread across the darkened dance floor like a vast, sandy carpet. Holes punched into the drywall revealed only a blinding, white backdrop; nothing but oblivion.
"Wh-Who are you!?" she managed to croak, trying to push the demon away using her own underdeveloped magic with little success. Meanwhile, the dream neared total decimation, with the club's roof now torn off and ascending in broken pieces toward sheer nothingness. The walls were in the process of breaking down, board by board.
The abomination held up his free hoof, now swelled like an overripe grape. The hoof popped in a repugnant discharge of pus and slime, revealing an auric gauntlet conjoined with a set of five aciculated fingers. At this point, the only thing that was a part of Vinyl's erratic state of mind was her, Eternal, and a hazardously small fraction of the nightclub's hardwood floor.
Even with the gale imitations howling through Eternal's ears, he could still hear Vinyl Scratch's frantic heartbeat. He pulled the girl's bewildered face closer to his and whispered, 'I'm your worst nightmare.' The gauntlet's claws sank deep into her skull, piercing it with boundless ease.
Vinyl Scratch awoke with a start, panting heavily and heart pumping adrenaline. She rubbed her eyes, trying to overcome apparent tiredness. The unicorn froze like a watchdog, sensing something was out of place. Like a detective at work, she analyzed her surroundings.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Case full of trophies in the corner, framed diplomas and scholarships hung from the walls, a notable lack of Octavia, her garage-sized bedroom appeared to be in refined condition. Yup, everything seemed to be in order. Vinyl looked outside her window, taking in the breathtaking view of Neighagara Falls endlessly pouring into the Destiny River from Canterlot Castle's royal ponds.
"Yeah," Vinyl murmured, positive this was real, "This ain't no dream."
The D.J. slid off her queen-sized bed and made her way to the mirror. Upon seeing her reflection, a startled mix between a gasp and a shriek nearly put Vinyl in a coma. "Wh-What the hay's wrong with me!?"
The mare seen in the reflection was definitely not Vinyl Scratch. Her coat was a glowing white, stark-free of any scum or grime. Her unnaturally sloven mane was actually combed, and tied back into a hair bun. The cyan highlights were gone, now rendering her color a boring, uninspired, cobalt-blue. The most horrific change of all, her eyes were a gorgeous shade of magenta rather than their normal, spitfire crimson.
Vinyl leaned closer into the mirror, "And my eyelashes are curled! Ew!"
The unicorn tried bringing a hoof up to her face, positive this was a mask, but was too paralyzed with her dorkified appearance to do so. Vinyl's attention, previously tasked with finding a pair of scissors to butcher her mane, was caught by a picture sitting on the edge of the bureau. It was a high school class photo, of... of...
"Of the chess club!?" Vinyl screeched, "Naw... naw this can't be right! This ain't me!" In the picture, second row on the far left, was the same pony she saw in the reflection. That impostor.
Vinyl backed up at a frantic pace until her rump hit the wall. "This... this ain't real." she muttered in denial, "This is... this is some kinda-"
'Nightmare?' a spine-tingling voice taunted in a faint whisper.
Outside, a stallion with a refined accent called from outside the door, "Darling? Are you up yet?"
Vinyl Scratch recognized it with both relief and terror, "Dad?!"
The addressed unicorn entered the door, and sure enough, it was Fancypants, wearing his usual attire of a dress shirt and monocle. Vinyl's mother, the beautiful Fleur De Lis, trailed in from behind.
"How's our little over-achiever?" she cooed.
Vinyl shuddered at the very phrase 'over-achiever'. "Ugh, ma! Please! I'm no achiever! I'm dumb! Dumb as a brick!"
Fancypants laughed, "Oh, that's our daughter! Always the modest one."
The slender unicorn approached her daughter with grace and warmth. "Oh Vanilla, you're so-"
"Vanilla!?" Vinyl screeched, "What'd you just call me!?"
Fleur stepped back, raising a brow. "Vanilla Scratchington Fancypants, what in Equestria has gotten into you?"
The younger mare just wanted to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment, "Mom! You haven't called me 'Vanilla Scratchington' since I was three years old! The name's Vinyl Scratch!" To prove a point, Vinyl tore the velvet ribbon from her mane, undoing the hair bun. Her mane, fashioned in beautiful waves that would fill even Rarity with envy, fell around her shoulders. Unfortunately, cute wavy hair was not the look Vinyl was hoping for; it’s just not nearly as effective as her usual sloven and tomboyish style.
Swallowing her nightmarish haircut with pride, Vinyl continued ranting, not with the attitude of a rebellious mare, but the tenacity of a startled pigeon, "And... and I'm not some scholarship... winning... pony." She cleared her throat of any remaining pride and dignity.
Fleur approached her daughter with an amused yet saddened look, "Oh, is my wittle sugarplum having a bad day?"
Vinyl's head shot up, mouth agape and face red in embarrassment, "Ma! Did you seriously call me 'sugarplum'!? I'm D.J. Pon-3! The queen of wubs! The master of records! The... the... martyr of... music?" The D.J. slapped herself in the forehead, "Ugh, I've gotta get out more."
Her elders exchanged bewildered glances, "Uh, Vanilla?" Fancypants addressed, "I'm not really one with the music industry, but I'm pretty sure there's no such genre called, uh, 'wubs'."
Vinyl's whole world came crashing down around her, "What!? No!" Tragically, the horrors didn't end there. Vinyl's greatest fear, greater than being an egghead, or her favorite music being nonexistent, was about to come true.
"And guess what, my little superstar?" Fleur harmonized, completely disregarding the conversation that had just transpired, "You're going to college!"
"NO!"
Vinyl Scratch awoke with a snort. She smacked her lips, ponderously glancing around the darkened bedroom. Everything was in its rightful place, and she was, thank heavens, still a burnout. But there was one last thing she had to be 100% sure of. One last vital detail that would put the mare's troubled mind at ease.
She hopped off the couch and made her way towards her bed, currently occupied by Octavia. She noisily kicked the empty whiskey bottles out of the way in a curt attempt to awaken her cousin.
Vinyl's crude efforts failed, as the earth pony slept like a rock. But Vinyl wouldn't relent that easily. She pressed a hoof against her pompous cousin's cheek and drilled with voice-cracking annoyance, "Octi?"
The Canterlot pony grumbled under her breath, batting Vinyl's probed hoof aside. The unicorn, lip furrowed, began to vigorously prod her cousin's composed facade whilst continuously droning, "Octi? Octi? Octi? Octi? Octi? Octi?"
Within seconds, the tormented earth pony snapped, "Shut UP, Vinyl!" Octavia took another pillow and sandwiched her head between the two.
Vinyl took a deep breath and yelled in rhythmic sequence, "Octi-Octi-Octi-Octi-Octi!" Octavia compressed the pillows firmly against her ears. In retaliation, the insufferable D.J. climbed atop the bedspread and began jumping on her forsaken cousin whilst singing in teeth-grinding unison, "Oc-ti Oc-ti Oc-ti Oc-ti Oc-ti-"
"WHAT!?" Octavia hollered. The sheer force of her outburst knocked Vinyl on her rump. "What in Equestria could be so important that you have to wake me at..." she turned to look at the novelty wall-mounted clock, with the hands tastelessly resembling a silhouetted stallion performing a split. "...Eleven o' clock! Why'd you wake me at eleven o' clock!?"
"I had a nightmare!" she whined like a filly.
Octavia ran a gray hoof through her tangled, bedridden mane, "So... you're saying Eternal visited you?"
"Mm-hmm."
"And he's probably in this room right now? Waiting for me to go to sleep?"
"Mm-hmm."
The orchestral mare rubbed her eyes and sighed, "I hate you so much..." she looked up at her dimwitted relative, still sitting on the other end of the bed. Her eager smile somehow gave Octavia the crazed idea that she knew this whole thing was downright hilarious. "What do you want?" she muttered in a tone mixed with exhaustion and anger.
Vinyl took up a rather serious guise. Her crimson gaze shone with such usurped innocence, "Am I an idiot?"
Octavia's eyelid twitched, her face drawn to a blank. She just couldn't decide whether to cry or strangle the life out of her beloved cousin. "Vinyl, deary," she began with gentle bliss, "It doesn't matter what anypony says about you, or your family. To me, in my heart, in my eyes, you will always be deemed a full-fledged moron. Now go back to bed while cousin Octi gets some sleep." With that, Octavia softly settled her head onto the fluffed pillow; her eyes gently fluttered to sleep.
Vinyl was about to return to her spot on the couch before asking, "Hey Octi, I forgot to wish you a Happy Birthda-"
"BED! NOW!" Octavia sat upright instantaneously, pointing a shaken hoof at the couch.
Not wanting to suffer the wrath of Octavia, not since her convincingly legitimate encounter with Pinkie Pie, Vinyl Scratch's sudden jolt of terror resulted in her untapped magical abilities to flourish, thus teleporting her in a pathetic little poof to the couch.
Octavia's fantasy was quite different from, well, anypony's to be exact. Some may think she'd want to be the most talented cello player in Equestria, loved by millions. Close friends might think she fantasized about a nice, quiet life. Away from Vinyl Scratch. As a matter of fact, it was the exact opposite.
Octavia dreamed about doing whatever the hell she wanted, no consequences or rules to abide by. No worries, no laws of physics. Just her and this endless playground.
Knowing her time was limited before Eternal would show up, Octavia had to make the most of it. She walked through the streets of Canterlot at the speed of light, weaving through the catacomb streets with unsurpassed precision. She came to a comedic stop at the sight of him.
"Hey! Prince Blueblood!" Octavia yelled with pent up energy.
The normally genteel stallion turned with a goofy, buck-toothed smile, "Durr... yeah?" He sounded no more intelligent than the common blockhead.
Octavia moon-jumped into the animal sanctuary, landing right beside Blueblood at the water fountain, and said with uncharacteristic giddiness, "Remember when you slapped my flank at the Grand Galloping Gala?"
"Guh-huh, yeah! Dat sure wuz funneh!" A buffoonish laughter escaped the chubby prince's huge gullet. His jowls jiggled and joggled all over the place.
Octavia smirked, "Yeah, it was. And so is this!" With little effort, the earth-pony's over-exaggerated strength unleashed in the form of a heroic punch to the face. His head had knocked clean off and sent spiraling into the distance. There was no blood or anything of the sort, just a white stump where his swelled head used to be. It detonated in a colorful blast of fireworks.
There really were no rules in Octavia's dreamland. She could make herself queen of the universe and it'd happen. As a matter of fact...
"I now declare myself queen of the universe!" In a snap, Octavia stood at the peak of a Mayan-esque pyramid, overlooking millions of loyal subjects.
The grey pony adorned herself in a green cape and gold helmet, complete with a set of bullhorns. "I order you all to kneel!" she decreed, holding up a spear-like scepter. The ponies did so without question. Her hunger for power unsatisfied, Octavia repeated with bipolar-fury, "I said-" she slammed the butt of the spear on the ground and hollered, "-KNNNEEAAAUUULLLL!" The ponies all stood up and knelt down again.
Octavia stood on her hind legs, forelegs outspread with grace. She took a long, relaxing inhale, then sighed.
This is what she always wanted, to live without fears, or rules. No 'social classes' or 'standards' shackling her like a caged animal. In here, in her sleep, she was truly a free spirit.
Of course, all good things must come to an end. One stallion, donning familiar colors of black and blue, was the only pony bold enough to stray from the masses and travel up the staircase. His dark-rose eyes glistened with determination and hunger.
Octavia knew this was inevitable. She threw her head back in a gout of groans and said with ham-fisted sarcasm, "Oh, gee. A black unicorn with a dark blue mane who is the only one not doing what I say. Good goddess, I wonder who it will be."
Eternal stood face-to-face with Octavia. She stared back with a placid, half-lidded stare. "You may have fooled my stupid cousin, but you didn't fool me."
The dark stallion gave a forced chuckle, 'Are you ready to face your greatest fears, Octavviius Von Fancypants?'
The formally addressed mare rolled her violet eyes and tossed the scepter aside. She removed her horned helmet and sent it bouncing down the stairs. "Yeah yeah, let's get a move on."
Eternal, with his false hoof throbbing like a meat-filled water balloon, frowned, 'You're not really afraid, are you?'
Octavia tore away from her hypnotic spectate of a butterfly and grunted. "Huh? Wha? I'm terribly sorry, did you say something?"
An awkward silence was short lived when broken by Eternal's hoof erupting in a contained blast of pus and slime, revealing his infamous gauntlet coated in the putrid mixture. 'Well,' he began, like when one talks to a rarely seen neighbor for the first time in a while, 'This is awkward.'
"No, not awkward." Octavia assured with a quip of thought, "Just... sad, really, that you're being outsmarted by a 'posh, low-brow, Canterlot pony’. Honestly, I expected more than... this from a mildly-feared god."
Eternal's face sulked into a devastated frown, 'So you're not even going to ask?'
"Ask wha-"
'Grah I'm your worst nightmare! Nyah!' Lashing out with the speed of a cobra, Eternal sank his claws deep into Octavia's throat.
Octavia's eyes opened in a slow, but gradual manner. Her entire underside was wet from resting on the damp, recently showered streets of Canterlot. The mare analyzed her surroundings, able to conclude from living in Canterlot that she was in a recreation of the Wind-Hollow District. Its gothic yet charming architecture was unmistakable. Though the area was laid thick in a heavy fog, she could tell it was certainly nightfall.
From the swirling mist, all around the vicinity, the god's disembodied whisper inclined, 'Oh dear Octavia,' he said with mocking amusement, 'My how you've grown. I remember when you were afraid of that monster under your bed.'
"I grew up," she stated with smug perception. "Come on, Eternal. Impress me. Not trying to brag, but my greatest 'fear' is something so trivial that it doesn't even bother me at this point."
The demon took a long, seethed pause. Octavia's grating audacity was beginning to wear thin. 'I usually force ponies to endure only their greatest fear. Very rarely do I have them experience lesser fears, or a few at once. But you? I've never encountered such a conceited imbecile in all my life. Well, you're not the first by any means. Do you know what I did to them?'
Octavia couldn't help but laugh at the spirit's failed attempts at being menacing, "What, you do nothing but the same because you aren't nearly as threatening or sporadic as your cousin, Discord?"
'Ponies like you are the reason why I do this. They need to be taught a lesson. So, like the ignorant foals that prefaced your existence, I shall play the Giver, and grant you with the gift of facing the fears locked up in your deluded mind.' Trying to compress his rage, Eternal's exceedingly leveled tone was a dead giveaway. Octavia knew it was only a matter of time before those restrained emotions sprang out, like a champagne bottle ready to pop. He took a moment to remind Octavia of a special day tomorrow, 'Think of it as a birthday present. It's the least I could do.'
Instead of showing alarm for what's to come, she gave a long, cynical, whistle and turned on her heels, "O-kay. You go do that. I'll be here when you're ready."
Seconds rolled by, then minutes. Octavia, sensing Eternal's constant follow, mockingly held up her foreleg and pointed to it as if she wore a wristwatch. "Let's go, Boogeyman. The night is certainly not getting any younger."
Ignoring her statement, the spirit's chilling presence returned, bringing only disaster with him. 'Your fears are certainly not commonplace, Ms. Octavia.' Her ears perked up at the anonymous remark. 'You seem to be afraid of... stallions? Why is that, Ms. Octavia?'
If it wasn't for the shrouding darkness, her reddened face would've been painfully noticeable, "Wait, what!? H-How, huh? No I'm not! What made you think that!?"
The spirit's resulting snigger echoed into the dark, ceaseless duplicate of Canterlot. 'Well, it's pretty obvious if one would pay attention. Not to mention the fact that you're constantly... ogled by other stallions. Some even get physical, treating you like an object.'
By instinct, Octavia's tail flicked at the thought, the distasteful memories. "Y-You wouldn't dare," she whimpered, her self-righteous outlook now bent under the complete mercy of Eternal.
The sudden change was clearly evident, even to God of Nightmares. 'As the old saying goes: all bark, no bite.'
"N-No! P-Please!" she begged, curling up into a pathetic ball. Her long, combed tail wrapped around her shivering form tighter than a knot.
'I'm going to make you suffer, Ms. Octavia.’ Following the terrorizing comment was an unexpected horror.
An earth pony, with a forest-green coat and a greasy amber mane, emerged from the mist into the arena-like circle Octavia was trapped in. His eyes were nothing to speak of. Just blank voids of nothingness. The milky orbs seemed to be discretely analyzing every curve of Octavia's body, just as the womanizing stallions have done in the past. His sickly-green tongue rolled out, flicking with surges of excitement.
Very slowly, Octavia rose to her hooves, never prying her widened stare from the stallion's erected... "Oh... oh Celestia, no. This is- I can't..." Broken, intelligible sentences were all the horrified earth pony could utter under her frosted breath.
The stallion stepped forward, exhaling a disgusting, lustful sigh. Octavia took a timid step back.
'What's wrong, Octavia?' Eternal sneered with false confusion, 'I thought you said this wasn't even real, and that your greatest fear was so trivial it didn't matter. Oh, my mistake. That was just becoming a burnout like your idiot cousin. Speaking of her...'
"Eternal!?" Octavia yelled into the sky, where his voice was last heard. He didn't respond, but the stallion did. He broke out into a sprint, paddling one hoof after the other over the concrete road.
The mare, always trying to maintain a calm demeanor, broke away from this tripe facade. She screamed in horror, turned, and ran into the fog. The world around her became a blur. She resisted the compelling urge to look behind, remembering that she was sprinting through a thicket of fog. Octavia's eyes remained on the one thing she could still see in the blinding mist, the ground. She remained focused on watching her step without managing to trip.
But one terrifying fact reigned true: no matter how far, or how fast, she ran, that repulsive, desiring pig of a stallion would remain in hot pursuit. He was designed to keep up and, even worse, be a little faster.
Misery befell Octavia when she tripped, skidding to a painful stop on her belly. Within seconds the earth pony threw himself on top of her, his breath reeked of perverse lust.
"No! Get off me!" Octavia shrieked, fruitlessly struggling under the stallion's weight. She felt the crushing mass getting into position. She snapped when her tail was felt being pushed aside. "I said: Get OFF!"
Blindly, Octavia's hind leg sprang forth. Her hoof smashed into the stallion's erect member within the first strike. The regal mare didn't care for what she did, but the stallion falling back in an overflow of groans and whines was a large enough window for her escape.
Octavia kept running, never looking back. She was, however, stopped by a familiar face standing in the middle of the road.
"Vinyl?"
The silhouette did not respond. Without even thinking, she approached the frozen pony in a flurry of panting gasps. "Wh-What in the wide world of Equestria are you doing here?" The doppelganger responded with a low growl. "Vinyl? What's wrong?"
'Vinyl' stepped forward, though Octavia did not retreat, she did flinch. The unicorn's piercing stare grew to be unnerving.
"Y-You're not Vinyl!"
When the realization came, so did Eternal's sneering laughter. 'And you call your cousin the moron? Yes, this isn't her. This is but another one of your deepest, lingering fears. This one actually took some digging, but I've come to realize that you actually fear that gullible oaf! Not right now, of course.'
Octavia analyzed Vinyl's darkened features. Her coat, eyes, and even her vibrant blue mane were bleaker, colder shades of their respective colors. Not to mention her entire presence was simply discouraging. "Then how do you now I'm afraid of her? I mean-"
'You aren't afraid of her now, I know. But secretly, almost unknowingly, you're awaiting the fateful day where lovable Vinyl Scratch just... snaps. How many times have you berated her? Ten? Twenty? Called her names, an idiot, and a moron? If you were actually smart, then you'd know she's far too dumb and carefree to go berserk, but you think she'll just lose it.' As Eternal bombarded Octavia with these painful facts, Vinyl Scratch's ferocity grew. 'And now... here she is. The manifest of every insult, every scrap of envy, compressed into one little pony. It's what you always thought of your cousin, an animal. Nothing more, and nothing less.'
Octavia stepped back when her cousin bared her unnaturally sharp teeth. "Don't you dare..." she warned when the D.J. rose a hoof, preparing to strike.
Reasoning was pointless. The 'old Vinyl' was long gone by now. Now there was only this hate-filled shell of a mare, stuck on autopilot with the intent desire to kill her far-more successful cousin. She swung as hard as she could, nailing Octavia across the jaw. The sheer force of the hit was enough to throw the lightweight earth pony off her hooves. She slid against the coarse stone path, coming to a stop beside an old, beaten-down espresso cart.
Octavia tried standing, ignoring the burning pain traveling along her side. Before she was allowed to even do so, Vinyl landed a powerful kick in the mare's stomach. She dropped like a stone, engulfed in a coughing fit.
"How's it feel?" the doppelganger growled, "Knowing you're the reason why I'm like... this?" Not even giving her the time to answer, Vinyl stood up on her hind legs and brought both hooves down onto Octavia's cowering face. She stamped the fragile earth pony for, what seemed like an eternity, ten seconds, with each stomp progressively harder than the last.
The enraged unicorn took a step back, admiring her work. Octavia lied in a quivering mess, her coat engraved with scratches and scars. She lied on the ground, unmoving, allowing her underside to grow damp and cold. Her face, the defining feature of the once-gorgeous mare, was now a battered and beaten mess with one eye bruised shut.
"Pathetic," Vinyl spat, "So tell me, how does it feel knowing this is all your fault?"
The confronted equine turned her head and looked at the furious mare right in the eye. "How does it feel... dear cousin? To stoop so low as to handle your problems physically?" To Eternal, it looks as if Octavia has finally lost it. In fact, she probably has. But she felt she knew what she was doing. Thanks to the boastful god, this was one fear she'd think to be capable of conquering.
She couldn't be more wrong.
Vinyl skipped forward and channeled the momentum into a powerful kick to Octavia's jaw. In a swift, flawless motion, the typically sluggish D.J. broke into a sprint and carried Octavia with her before her chin even hit the ground. The pair smashed into the wall of a coffee shop, forming a dented crack in the store window.
Octavia vainly struggled against her cousin's unparalleled strength, resulting in Vinyl slamming her foreleg into the earth pony's neck and holding it. "Poor little Octi," she derided with scorn, "Always in denial, unaware of the real world turning around her, just like Princess Celestia." The last comment was, for reasons unknown, added by Eternal.
But Octavia did not dwell on this. Trying to ignore her cousin's lout comments, she focused all her strength in breaking free of the unicorn's iron grip. Breathing became labored, almost impossible. She was going to 'die' right here and finally awaken from this nightmare safe and sound with her real cousin.
Or at least, that's what would've happened had Octavia not antagonized the dream-morphing god. Right as she felt her neck about to snap, Vinyl Scratched vanished. There was no flash or puff of smoke. She was just... gone. Octavia dropped to her stomach, as low as the tables of the outdoor cafe. A sinister laugh wafted through the air.
With substantial effort, she managed to croak, "H-Hello?"
From the dense fog, a tall creature emerged. Eternal, introduced in his true, nightmarish form: wings of colossal beasts completely dwarfing his older cousin's, as well as those skin-crawling, blistered hound legs, arms bloated with muscle, and rattling of the infamous slave collar were only a few features of the demon's unnatural appearance.
As he drew closer, Octavia's heartbeat quickened. Even with all the pain she's received, the horrors she had to endure tonight, Octavia still found the spirit to remain defiant of the commonly feared demon. With a knowing smirk, she said, "Are you done yet?"
Eternal got down on one knee so that he was eye-level with the beaten pony. 'Punishment.' Octavia tried looking away, but the spirit's gloved hand clamped its bladed index finger and thumb around her face. The keened fingers drew small trickles of blood that ran down her cheeks.
Octavia lowered her brows, "I'm not afraid of you," she whispered.
'I'm not asking for fear,' he hissed, his bared teeth clicked with every syllable, 'Only satisfaction. I took pleasure in watching you squirm, trying to overcome fear. Remember this, dear Octavia: you're nothing to me. Just another pestilence of society, a cog in the Equestrian machine... or a mindless drone always willing to lick the boots of Princess Celestia. I've had fun tonight, but I must go. Fear not, my ignorant little pony, I shall be leaving you with a parting gift.'
His red eyes, though void of any features, seem to shift to the right. Octavia's gaze followed to find the evil Vinyl Scratch, huffing and snorting like an enraged bull, and the same dark stallion with his engorged proboscis twitching with eager.
'And now, for the grand finale. The showstopper.' Eternal hissed with a small chuckle.
Beside Vinyl Scratch, an elderly mare emerged from the fog balancing on a walking cane. Her coat was a pale neon-pink, layered with folds and wrinkles. Her silvery mane, tied back into a hair bun, still held hints of their once natural-lavender color.
The restrained earth pony couldn't believe her eyes. "Grammy?"
A nasty glare was all the elder could do in return. Octavia's glance went to and fro between the trio of nightmares and their supplier.
Eternal explained with unrestrained pleasure, 'And when you're washed up, abandoned by everyone you love, the one you look up to the most would just sit and watch. As if a secret phrase was uttered, Vinyl and the stallion took a menacing step forward, followed by another, and another. Grammy, however, just stayed and watched, glaring at her granddaughter with shame and contempt.
Octavia couldn't find her voice, but she wanted to scream. She wanted to scream until her voice gave out.
Eternal saw that cowardly look in her eye and smiled. 'Happy Birthday, Ms. Octavia.'
In her dreams, Octavia couldn't find the voice to scream. In reality, thankfully, she was able to scream just fine. Bloodcurdling cries of terror filled the room, scaring Vinyl out of her sluggish rest.
Without haste, Vinyl dragged her tired form off the sofa and rushed over to her cousin's aid. "Octi! Octi, wake up!" she nudged the sleeping mare's shoulder, only to be pushed away by flailing hooves.
The D.J. frowned and grabbed the howling pony by the shoulder. "Octi! Wake UP!" For good measure, she smacked Octavia across the face. "Wake up, darn it!" She smacked the earth pony across the face in succession.
Octavia's screams ended with her eyes springing open and perspiration dripping down her forehead. "Vinyl?" she muttered, panting like she had just tried to outrun a stampede of cattle.
"It's okay, Octi, you were just having a nightmare," said Vinyl, punctuating it with yet another resounding slap across the face.
Octavia rubbed her stinging cheek, staring at her cousin in outraged puzzlement. "What the hay was that for!?"
"Don't scare me like that again!" Vinyl implored, "I mean, jeez 'Tavi!" she sighed in surrender, "Ugh, who cares? I'm going back to bed."
"Wait!" Octavia piped, hoping she didn't sound too needy. Vinyl turned, her body outlined by the moonlight beaming through the window. "Um... can you stay here? With... me?" she hid under the covers, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Well," Vinyl began with her usual troublesome cackle, "Considering this is my house, that's my bed, and you're my guest, I could just outright give you a fat-out 'no'."
"Flat-out," the still hidden pony corrected, "And apologies if your logic is completely lost on me, Vinyl."
"Whatever. But I'm not going to say that, because you're also my cousin." Octavia emerged from the covers and gave her younger relative a weak smile. "Come on, Oct. You're pretty much the only family I ever talk to... Aside from Mom, and Dad, and Grammy..." She shook her head, getting back on track. "Besides, I can tell everypony that 'wittle Octi got scared and she asked Vinyl to sweep in her bed wike when we were fiwwies."
"Just shut up and get to bed," Octavia snapped, jokingly, and shifted to the right to make room for Vinyl.
The immature mare complied, leaping into the air and crashing onto her bed. But she didn't land on her side. She seemed pretty comfortable sleeping on Octavia. "Hey, you're pretty comfy."
"Get-off," the crushed pony mumbled.
"Nah, I'm good." Vinyl ensued a string of undeniably fake snores.
Octavia sighed, knowing arguing was going to end up nowhere. She was about to insult her dimwitted cousin, but decided not to. Instead, she said something she hasn't said to Vinyl since they were fillies. With another defeated sigh, she said in all honest resonance, "Goodnight, Vinyl. I love you."
Vinyl's eyes popped open. Instead of an argument, as expected, she got... something weird. It was strange, almost alien. Funny thing is, she didn't want to argue. "Um... I guess I love you too, Octavia."
Seconds later, the makeshift mattress asked, "Vinyl?"
"Yeah?"
"Please get off. This is really weird."
"Sure thing, cuz." With little effort, Vinyl rolled to her side of the bed and slipped into a much needed rest.
While Eternal made a hasty exit from Scratch's Vinyl Emporium, he embarked on the search of yet another victim. The last one definitely quenched his thirst for vengeance, knocking one so high and mighty down a peg. But now he was on the lookout for a poorer soul, a pony who's down on their luck and just wants a good night sleep.
But as Eternal put most of his attention scouting the houses below, he just couldn't push that disgusting display out of his mind. 'Gag. No wonder cousin Discord just sat there like a statue,' he paused, realizing what he just said. 'Oh, the irony. Maybe next time the fool won't have such a swelled head.'
After making some lighthearted banter, the demon sensed a strong wave of emotions coming from a single house, located at the edge of town. He dropped like a stone, landing in a kneeling position before slowly straightening up. He stood at the edge of the path to the front door, the gateway to a modest suburban home.
Of course, he wasn't interested at the architecture, or even the powerful sense of emotions emanating from its residency. What Eternal was far more engrossed in was the note attached to the door.
'Oh, this is just beautiful,' he said with building laughter.
The sheet read in bold letters 'Eviction Notice'.
Eternal made a quick-paced march to the front door and began reading the note's accompanied paragraph under his breath, 'Let's see... Mrs. Doo, we regret to inform you that the date for pay has long since passed, blah-blah-blah, you have until the end of the month to remove your belongings, blah-blah, hope good fortune is bestowed upon you. Signed your's truly, the Canterlot Royal Court.'
Eternal felt his shriveled, black heart skip a beat. A pony who's being evicted and, for whatever reason, is in such a vulnerable state at the same time?
It must be Hearth's Warming Eve.
Eternal's transparent form pushed through the door with little effort, driven like a compass to the source of these vagrant fears. He paid no mind to the framed picture on the mantle, displaying a gray, wall-eyed pegasus, a small unicorn filly, and a light-brown stallion poised before this very house. The scratched hardwood floors could use a good polishing, and the windows weren't even there. Its owner seemed to be using cardboard, rather than glass. One window, in the kitchen off to the right, was the only one that had glass; thought it hardly mattered due to the fact that it was covered in a thick layer of grime.
'The owners must not be very bright.' Eternal's voice, even in a faint whisper, seemed to echo off the darkened walls and into the foreboding darkness of this dreary abode. 'Surprised they weren't kicked out sooner.'
Eternal made a left, down a hall ending in a doorway. Either side were accompanied by a door each. One was open, revealing its purpose to be nothing more than a bathroom. The second was closed, though it seemed to belong to a 'Dinky Doo', as indicated by a poorly written sign.
Eternal found himself disappointed when he realized the trail wasn't coming from the filly's room. In fact, it almost seemed dead inside. Not a soul in there. Then again, the god wasn't even expecting this train-wreck of a home to be housing an entire family. 'I think I know what's going on here.' Eternal always found it amazing with what you could learn just by piecing the clues together.
Nevertheless, he continued toward his relentless hunger for misery. The night's next supposed victim was located at the end of the hall, respectively. Eternal walked through the door and came to an unexpected surprise.
There she was, sleeping soundly on the right side of a bed made for two.
Eternal couldn't believe his burning eyes. This was truly a sight to behold! A mare, alone, in this broken-down home, about to be evicted. 'And she's a widow. This just gets better and better.'
The demon tiptoed toward the mare, watching her covered form rise up and go back down in a steady rhythm. He rose his gloved hand and ran an index finger along her forehead, creating the gateway into her fragile mind.
'Well this is... different.' Eternal couldn't help but stare in awe like a half-witted colt at the sheer setting of Ditzy Doo's dreamland.
The entity found himself inside a palace. The entrance hall, to be exact. Of course, palaces were a norm amongst ponies. But it was what this place was made of that made it unique.
The walls, the plants, the stairs; virtually everything was made out of muffins. Or muffin batter. Eternal never quite knew whether to classify a muffin as a bread or a type of cake.
'I think this mare really likes muffins.' He gave a light chuckle. 'She has good tastes. Far superior to that mule of a dressmaker who's breakfast consists of a celery stalk.'
Eternal continued to gape at the muffin-forged palace, drawing parallels with the party-pony's 'Candyland' of a dream. Everything was simply immaculate, with doors on both sides of the main staircase made out of golden, cinnamon-swirl muffins. Immense chandeliers, one of the few things in the foyer made of steel, suspended from the delectable ceiling in rows of two. Each row led up to the staircase and split off at the top, channeling into the hallways splitting off on either side.
In genuine respect, a rare phenomenon with Eternal, he told himself with much surprise, 'This mare's certainly the creative type. I like it.'
The rest was just eye candy, literally. The borders along the roof and glossy tiled floors were intricate little runes written with chocolate chips. Each rune was the old-Equestrian symbols for 'family', 'love', and 'unity.'
'All crap Celestia regurgitates from the Old Equestrian Scriptures to brainwash her subjects,' the demon sneered, his stomach turning at the very thought.
Returning to the matter at hand, Eternal took his first step in the quest for finding Ditzy Doo. He turned, analyzing the immense front door constructed from real gold. The glare from the candles suspended above gave it an extra glow, further emphasizing its sublimity. Engraved into each door was a unicorn filly on one, the mare on the other, and at the top, divided by the entry's opening, was what appeared to be a muffin; complete with a halo and a set of angelic wings.
'I do believe I'll need to douse my eyes in extra acid when I get back to Tartarus.' the god muttered in bitterness, now growing weary of Ditzy Doo's eerie complex for muffins.
Eternal, rejecting the detestable sensation of physical contact, shuddered when he felt something brush past his legs. He looked down to see a puny grey filly scuttle by, wearing a battle helmet concealing her messy blonde mane and horn. She pushed the surprisingly lightweight doors open with both nerve and a childlike clumsiness, almost tripping when she squeezed through the narrow opening.
Intrigued, Eternal followed the filly outside. The front steps were nothing spectacular. In fact, they were pretty ordinary. The god turned and was surprised to discover that the outside looked exactly like Ditzy's home in the waking world.
'It's bigger on the inside...' he muttered in amazement.
"Dinky!" a voice ripped through the tranquil silence, "Dinky Doo, where are you!?"
Eternal quit gawking and turned to the direction of the yelling. He saw the same filly from earlier running into a small watchtower shaped in the form of a mailbox.
Making his way toward them, Eternal shook his head at the sheer weirdness of this pony's dream. 'This night just gets weirder and weirder.'
From the bottom level of the tower, he heard Ditzy yell from above, "Dinky, what took you so long?" followed by the quickened patter of hoofsteps scuttle their way up the stairs.
"Sorry mommy! I was just getting my-"
Listening in, Eternal heard the anguish in the mother's voice, "I told you not to travel outside alone, especially after dark! You'd get lost and..." she paused, her anger reverted to pain, "...and get hurt."
His hoofsteps muffled to a faint thump, Eternal made a sprint up the stairs to end this absurd display. He heard Dinky, hurt by her mother's words, try and say sorry, "I'm sorry mommy..." she squeaked, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.
After hearing the pain and torment in little Dinky Doo's voice, Eternal came to a screeching halt halfway up the tower. 'Why is she dreaming about this?' he asked, completely lost, 'A dream is meant to be a fantasy. If this is what the mare fantasizes about then that means...' Eternal slapped himself in the forehead and groaned at his own idiocy. He ran a hoof along the length of his angular face and chuckled, 'It all makes sense now.' Always an avid fan of drama, Eternal awaited to see where this conversation would lead. He didn't even care if the host arouse from her slumber, pulling him out of the dream world.
To be quite frank, she was already in a nightmare. All's he needed was a hammer to break the ice.
After a tense silence of the two ponies locked in a supposed embrace, Ditzy finally said, "I-... I'm so sorry." she whispered, her voice quaked with guilt and sorrow.
"It's okay mommy, you tried your best."
"No! It's not okay!" the normally bubbly pegasus bawled, "I should have been faster! I got the whole town and-"
A small grey hoof pursed the mother's lips. "Mommy, it's okay. There was nothing you could've done to change what happened in the forest."
A pregnant silence lasted enough to allow Eternal's quickened ascension up the tower. As he made a fast yet silent ascent, the rigid calm was broken in the form of a raspy whisper, "I could've been a better mother." Ditzy failed to keep a level-headed tone.
When he encountered the rooftop entrance, it was nothing but a rectangular blaze of white light. Eternal squeezed his eyes shut and ran blindly into the conduit. The tower's peak turned out to be something the god never expected. The top of the fortress resembled a swamp, with plant and foliage littered about a circular plane of dirt and mud. His eyes, adjusting to the sudden darkness, fell upon the grey pegasus caressing her mud-clad daughter in a fragile embrace.
No one said a word. The only sound in the air were the crickets in the distance, chirping happily in betrayal toward the tragic display. Eternal just stared, his black form blending in with the shrouding nightfall. He took notice in Dinky's hind leg bent at an abnormal angle, possibly broken. That and the fact her coat was damp, coated in mud, gave the impression that she was just fished out of a lake.
"Mommy?" she croaked, water escaping her throat in between syllables.
Even through her tears, Ditzy found the spirit to give her daughter a comforting, albeit weak, smile. "I'm here, my little muffin."
Dinky sniffled, "I'm..." she heaved another gout of water, "I'm cold."
Taking it as a joke, the narrow-minded pony gave a lighthearted chuckle, "Dinky, it's like, a hundred degrees out here." Ditzy couldn't even recognize her own daughter slipping away, becoming one with the afterlife. Instead, she combed her daughter's sodden mane to the side and lied through her teeth, "You're gonna be fine," she gave lopsided grin, "We're gonna get you to the hospital, patch you up, go home, make some warm muffins-"
"Why are you doing this, Mommy?" the filly croaked, sputtering through another discharge of water. "You know it's too late..." As if the reality wasn't unbearable enough, Dinky started crying. The sight of her child crying, too much for the free-spirited pony to bear, brought forth a well of tears. "Mommy? Ha-Have you forgiven yourself yet?" she asked in between gasped sobs.
Ditzy buried her face into the filly's stomach and cried. Without even giving it a thought, she shook her head and answered with a heartbreaking, "No."
"Why not?" the unicorn squeaked.
Ditzy picked her head up, her abnormal eyes irritated and puffy. "Because... because I failed you as a mother, I failed you as a friend," as she listed her own shortcomings, Dinky shook her head to each one muttering a faint 'No.'
"You didn't even get your cutie mark," she moaned, about to collapse into tears once more.
"Accidents happen, Mommy." the smudgy filly whispered, gasping on her last breaths, "Sure, you're clumsy, reckless, and a little... different. But-" Dinky turned to the side and discharged another lung-full of swamp water, "But you're the best mommy in the world, and I love you no matter what."
The weeping pegasus swallowed a moan of despair and gave an unconvincing smile. She leaned over and laid a gentle kiss on her daughter's forehead, "I'm so sorry, my little Dinky..."
The filly remained expressionless just as her breathing began to slow. With her last breaths she asked, "Mommy? For my last wish, can you please just accept what happened and live your life?"
Just as the night before, and the one before that and so-on, Ditzy gave the same, pathetic answer: "I can't."
Eternal felt the moist ground beneath his hooves begin to rumble. He knew what that meant. 'Looks like the dear is waking up.'
The god held a hoof to his mouth, trying prevent his cover from being blown and his humility to falter. 'That's rich. My oh my, that was just... wow.' He couldn't help giggle like a child at Ditzy's inner torment. As he walked away from the broken mare, he remarked with a hint of disappointment, 'Oh do I want to give her a nightmare she'll never forget. But-' he groaned in self-submission, 'But even I have my limits. And putting her through that might cause her to, well, I don't want to think about that.'
The moment Eternal's spirit escaped Ditzy's mind, he took off with a static 'fwoosh' and never looked back. 'Well, that was different. Always nice when the ponies do my work for me. It's like watching a movie, actually.'
Levitating high above Ponyville with his wings beating in a powerful rhythm, Eternal noticed the pastel orange border peak above the eastern night sky, an indicator for the inevitable return to Tartarus, where he will be forced to shovel coal for another twelve hours until Luna's night would come once more.
The god scanned the humble town below, 'I believe there's time for one more scare. But who?'
He set his sights on a simple little home set on the far edge of Ponyville. It looked about the same as any ordinary home, with a hay roof and sturdy adobe walls, but what set it apart from the rest was the massive telescope jutting out from the attic's rear window. To the biased specter, this obviously meant a lonely bookworm lived in that house.
Eternal twiddled his fingers in delight, 'Ah, a science pony. Oh how I love to scare them, the way they cry and beg for their mommies.' The god made his descent, completely unaware of the danger he entered.
He infiltrated through the ceiling, landing on one knee inside the home's living room. He looked aside, where a couch stood adjacent to the fireplace still flickering with the occasional pop of embers. The coffee table fixed between the two had sheets of crumpled up scratch paper piled on it.
'Oh yeah, this one's definitely a humongous nerd.' Eternal huffed with a simper. He brought his gaze up to the doorway at the end of the room, quarantined with a closed door. Hanging from said door was a novelty 'Do Not Enter' sign imprinted with a silhouette of a Changeling below the bold phrase.
Of course, the ignorant demon overlooked the warning as an insignificant prop. His hollow form slowly crept in, through the door without any distortion or noise. The god leeched back at the unexpected surprise of a massive, stuffed Cockatrice set in the corner. He rubbed his pointed chin and randomly stated, 'Hmm, let's see... the Great Dogmatic Cockatrice, distant relative of the common Everfree Cockatrice; found mainly in the arctic regions of Northern Equestria; carnivorous and highly aggressive.' He analyzed the beast's hunched posture and grinned knowingly, 'So what're you doing way out here?'
The two sets of piercing red eyes locked for a short spell until Eternal gave an impetuous snort, 'A big game hunter, are we?' he sneered, glancing around the resident's collection of books, trinkets, and some strange device organized on the bookshelf.
His wrenching gaze ebbed away from the monster, and onto the rising mass of blanket on the bed. A tangled ball of ebony hair rested on the stock feather-repleted pillow, emanating a series of rather obnoxious snores.
An evil grin shaped Eternal's chapped lips. He took a sultry approach toward the resting pony, like some sort of deranged guardian angel. Just as he rose his glove, ready to strike, the mare's snoring ceased and she flipped on her other side.
Eternal's hand reeled back, taking a moment to try and recognize the mysterious pony's face. Even when sleeping, her expression remained stern, brows straightened in humorless sedation. She had a fine, simple complexion. Nothing really stood out to the ancient spirit; just another pretty face.
His evil grin returning, Eternal brushed the back of his hand down her cheek, 'What fears are buried in your deluded little mind, new pony?'
With a dozen or so questions in mind, the god traced his index finger along the pony's snowy-white forehead.
Eternal's dreamworld disguise, a black steed, seemed a bit... out of place for this particular world. He awakened to find himself in a long hallway of a contrasting pastel white. The floor was a cold checkerboard of light and dark grey, giving the overall appearance of this unnatural corridor a strange atmospheric sense of isolation.
What kind of dreamworld is this? That was the million bit question, right there. Even stranger than anything Eternal has seen in all his years of doing this was the end of the hall. Instead of a normal, open/close door, it was a mechanical nightmare compiled of plates, pistons, and lights. Each layer alternated between the colors of black and white, giving the pallet an almost target-like appearance.
'This is...' Eternal couldn't find his voice, nor the words, to describe this. This was unlike anything he's seen before.
With curiosity and a slight timidity, the spirit exited his ponified form, returning to the grotesque abomination he called his own. He took a slow walk down the corridor, leaving the traditional wisps of black vapor and temporal paw-prints in his wake. His clawed tail swayed to and fro, creating a faint rap whenever it'd brush against the wall.
When Eternal entered within a two foot radius of the door, the red light in the center flashed to green. The center plate turned clockwise, then the larger plate behind turned counter-clockwise. The top and bottom halves of the doors were unlocked, shifting into their respective slots with a mechanical hiss. What greeted Eternal next nearly gave him a panic attack.
The room was hardly anything to speak of; just a bland white space with plate in the center, possibly leading to another part of this bizarre facility. What did stand out was a giant metal construct suspended from the ceiling. And it was moving, softly humming a lighthearted tune through authenticated electronic vocals.
Its 'back' was turned on the dwarfed god, revealing to him in large grey print the word 'GLaDOS'.
'This must be her...' Eternal breathed, still recovering from the shock of this unnatural being. Who in Equestria would even conceive something so... unnatural?
Out of nowhere, a male voice spoke from a hidden source in the ceiling, "Central Core, test results have just been tallied!" it announced with automated jubilee.
A tuned, female voice resonating from the suspended creature asked, "And?" Her tone, though lifeless, had a faint hint of cruel sarcasm and cynicism.
The A.I. replied with, "-Mr. Gestove- has passed the -Mass and Velocity- testing track in just -five minutes!- As well as -Mrs. Dempsy- who completed the -Weighted Companion Cube- circuit with no remorse, making up for his-or-her best time of -three seconds!-"
The construct's chassis seemed to almost 'nod', and gave a brief pause before saying, "Good. The humans have once again proved to me that they are more than just drooling neanderthals. I'm so glad to be working with such capable lifeforms, it almost makes me not want to kill them."
"Where would you like to send -Mr. Gestove- and -Mrs. Dempsy?-" There was a short silence of pending white noise, "Would you like A) the acid pools, B) the incinerator, C) Cake, or D) Freedom?"
GLaDOS answered within a millisecond, "Give the filthy wretches the usual."
"Excellent choice!" he droned with fake enthusiasm, "Option 'B' selected. Have a wonderful and productive day!"
Eternal promptly smacked himself across the face, just to double check if he was the one having a nightmare. After doing so, the central core spoke directly to the puny god, "I know you’ve been here this whole time, moron. I have cameras everywhere."
The god puffed his chest out and snarled, 'You dare make a mockery of me? Me? Eternal, the God of Nightmares!? I have no idea what sort of twisted fantasies you live in, but I am ending them right now!'
As the machine's chassis slowly turned to face him, it said, "Such big words coming from a little- Oh GOD you're ugly!" As soon as both lifeforms made 'eye' contact, they did a simultaneous wrech in the other direction.
Eternal shuddered at the machine's stagecoach-sized 'head'—an angular sort of box with a hair-raising yellow optic in an array of wires and shingled plates. His eyes trailed up her gargantuan frame, jaw progressively slacking at the machine’s complicated bits breaking off into three massive scaffolds connecting into a rotating gyro.
'You're one to talk,' he hissed, trying to maintain his nerve and composure, 'Now, I have no idea what you are, or what all this is, but-'
"Honestly though," she cut in without even regarding what the demon had said, "it looks like you've been beat-down with the ugly stick—No, bombarded with an ugly nuke. That's much more fitting. But seriously, what in the name of Darwin are you? The remaining body parts of Dr. Frankenstein's recycling bin?"
Eternal flared his nostrils and decreed with rising anger, 'I will be sure to make you suffer!'
GLaDOS scoffed, her chassis leeching back in fear, "Oh god, Frankenstein's leftover is getting angry! Security! Help!"
‘I am no 'Frankenstein'! I AM YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!' the demon bellowed with unbridled fury.
Just as the demon lunged into the air, taking off with a powerful launch of his wings, the sound of a tape rewinding filled the room. "Wait, this is how dumb you sou-" GLaDOS never got to finish her sentence; Eternal sank his claws into the machine's casing.
Then the whole world went dark.
GLaDOS' nightmares were in complete chaos; Eternal couldn't even make out what half of this was supposed to be. He just wadded through a typhoon of shadows with nothing but the roaring winds and occasional insults blending in with the impetuous gales.
"Another failure!"
"Failed again!"
"Why can't this infernal machine WORK!?"
"Lousy piece of junk!"
"All that time and money, just for another failure."
"Old man Johnson was just chasing geese. There was no way this thing'd take off."
After minutes of hearing nothing but brutal remarks, Eternal finally arrived at a clearing in the middle of the storm. But what he found was something that'd stay in his mind forever. In fact, he'd rather go back out to the storm in a heartbeat.
Hanging from a tremendous black cloud was, presumably, the same machine he encountered in the facility. It was hard to tell, considering the dozen or so spheres attached to the structure covered most of its defining features. Nearly every square-inch was concealed with another core, some even looked unnaturally wedged in; each sphere was differentiated by an colored eye, making it look like some bizarre Christmas tree. Eternal was able to find GLaDOS' head, protruding from the bottom of the core-cocoon.
From the thundercloud overhead, a man's voice barked, "Should we add another core? I don't think we have full control just yet."
"Please, no more." GLaDOS mumbled, just barely audible to Eternal's ear, "All these voices... I can't think straight. They're all telling me what to do, things I don't want to do. Please... just delete me. Please."
Eternal didn't know whether to scream in terror or laugh at another high and mighty pony that has fallen by his hand. Just as he was about to come to a conclusion, the world entered darkness once more.
Eternal was thrown against the wall with unrelenting force, forming an indentation in the pale concrete wall. He pried his eyes open to see find the same, gentle, black and white pony he had encountered in the real world. Only this time, he could see the unchecked berserk rage that glistened in those heart-stopping yellow eyes.
Utterly confused, the god could only mutter a cracked, 'H-How...? How did you-?'
Glados, pacing left and right with a pale mist circling the backdrop behind her, said with spiked disparage, "Didn't you learn to never go poking around in other people's business? That's how you find trouble."
Eternal grunted, 'Huh, of course you're talking big now that you've beaten me. But how? Nopony's ever been able to conquer my spell.'
Glados shrugged, "I honestly don't know for sure. It could be for a number of reasons. Maybe I have a stronger mind than the other inhabitants, or maybe it's because my greatest fear is something so trivial it doesn't even cross my mind. Or, perhaps, it has to do with the fact that I'm not from around here."
Eternal looked as confused as ever, his chapped lips parted with a complex stare.
The albino pony walked over the spirit's legs and sat on his lap. She leaned in, nearly pressing her face against his. "Ah, I've seen that stare before. The horror, the confusion." She got up on all fours and stepped aside. "Yes, what you saw back there, that was real. I'm from an alternate universe where things actually made half a pint of sense."
The God of Nightmares broke into a wheezed laughter, his charred antlers preventing him from throwing his head back.
The Aperture branded earth pony shrugged again, "Yeah, laugh. I know it sounds crazy. But-" Her gaze fell upon the god's bladed gauntlet, "But one thing's for certain."
'And what's that?' the wraith asked sarcastically.
"I am not someone you want to make enemies with." With the speed of a cobra, Glados lashed out and wrapped her hooves around the demon's wrist and brought the intrusive bladed fingers up to his face. Eternal attempted at resisting, but it was futile. As this was Glados' dream, she could do anything she wanted.
And she wanted that glove.
When he felt the cold metal of bladed fingers brush against his chin, Eternal snarled through gritted teeth, 'Who in Tartarus are you!?'
Glados leaned in with a forceful push, "I’m your worst nightmare." She leaned her full body weight into one final thrust, successfully jamming the monster's own weapon into his muscled gullet. His mouth opened in a still scream, looking into Glados' eyes with pure terror.
And the whole world went black.
Eternal couldn't tell where he was. The whole room was pitch black and, for reasons unknown, he was restrained to a table. His only source of light was the relentless, sapphire glow of the slave collar, illuminating only the rugged featured of his face and chest. He tried wriggling his tail, only to find it was somehow immobile. 'Where am I!? What's going on!?' he demanded, not with fear, but rage.
"You're in your own consciousness, Mr. Eternal." Glados called from the shadows.
'I demand you to release me at once!' The god struggled against his bonds to no avail.
"Why?" the psychopath insisted, "Aren't you interested in learning what your greatest fear is?"
Eternal stopped fighting his restraints and laughed, 'I fear nothing! You're wasting your time.'
"It would be best not to lie to me," she scolded with coy, "I'm in control now."
'Lies!' the god cried, his anger mimicked into the empty darkness.
"Do you really want to go there?" Glados challenged, her tone making it sound as if she was smiling, "Your greatest fear is Princess Celestia and that freak of nature Discord. But-" she paused and gave a spine-tingling snicker that would make even a god quiver with fear, "But as of now, you're afraid of me. Terrified, actually. Interesting."
Eternal felt as though the collar around his neck tightened. 'So... so what're you going to do? Keep me here until you wake up?'
"Oh, you immortal types always overestimate yourselves." Glados remarked with a hint of glee to her words, "I've always wondered what'd happen if I'd kill a real person in their dream. Let's see here..." What sounded like a staged page turn echoed throughout the murk environment. "Dissection tools: Check. Complete control: Check. Powerless test subje-oops, my bad. Powerless god: Check."
'What in Equestria are you!?' the specter hissed, tugging at his wrists in an attempt to break free of the restraints.
A set of hooves began to patter towards Eternal, followed by a blinding light activating overhead. The powerful ray illuminated a perfect circle around the red doctor's chair the specter was bound to. He turned his head in the direction of the pony. There she was, emerging from the darkness with an eerily genial smile played across her lips.
'You can't kill me!' Eternal roared, failing to instill intimidation in Glados. To her, he was a complete and utter joke at this point. Now he's just embarrassing himself.
Ignoring the god's comment, Glados derisively ran a hoof down the length of his muscled arm. He immediately reacted to the unpleasant sense of touch with a sharp wince. 'You'll just wake up in an hour. The sun is coming up soon.' Eternal's growing vexation completely took over his playful and devious persona.
Glados stepped back, her smile growing distressingly wider. She turned and made a slow approach back into the shadows; her tail, for whatever reason, flicked with every step. "I don't think I'll be waking up any time soon. You see, I'm pretty comfortable, back in reality. All warm and wrapped up in my bed," she stopped, "That's the one thing I like about you organics. Sleep is definitely my favorite past time." She continued her slow amble into the darkness, "Besides, I had a nice glass of warm milk before going to bed, read a good book, and I'm a very heavy sleeper. Top that with the fact that Twilight and her annoying friends are out of town, and you've got a rest that could last well into the afternoon."
By now, Glados' entire form was shrouded in darkness, save for the faded hoofsteps leaving Eternal's earshot. Now genuinely terrified, the wraith lashed out in defiance, 'You can't kill me! I am a god you outlandish cow!'
Ignoring his insult, Glados lowered a complex machine from the brilliant light above. The device was in the shape of a sphere, steel plated, with three extensions curved out like arms. Each 'arm' ended with either a blowtorch, a circular saw, or a set of razor-sharp tweezers. Eternal tried leeching away from the saw positioned uncomfortably close to his heart.
"Ah, I see you're already getting acquainted with my little friend here." the mare sneered from the shadows, possibly watching this display as she spoke, "At first I called him Mister Gutsy, then Mister Handy, and then I realized naming robots is stupid. You know," she added, "I think you're about to become the God of Stupid Plans. But unfortunately, that's already taken by someone I know. So you're just going to become a big, fat nobody." The psychotic pony laughed at her own bad joke.
'You're insane! Oh Celestia, HELP ME!'
Glados shot a cruel snicker at Eternal's plighted cries, "Celestia can't save you now, Meatbag. Not her, nor anyone else. Now without further ado, let the testing begin."
For the first time since she got here, Glados awoke on her own accord. She sat up, a dopey smile stretched across her face. Glancing to the side, she discovered it was four o' clock in the afternoon.
"Wow," she muttered, stretching her forelegs until a resounding 'pop' was heard, "That lasted for about... twelve hours, maybe? He sure screamed a lot." As the well-rested mare was about to swing her hind legs onto the floor, she felt something bump against her thigh.
Curious, she reached under the covers expecting another one of Topsy Turvy's, the town prankster, lame gags. No, it wasn't one of those. Just Eternal's legendary gold-plated gauntlet, infamous for intruding another pony's dreams at a whim through the use of enchanted prehensile fingers.
"Looks like someone has an extended stay in the fiery pits of Tartarus." Glados held the massive glove in her forelegs, giving it a long, contemplating stare. She knew that she did the ponies a favor by disabling Eternal. He certainly won't be tampering with anyone's dreams for a while, that's for sure.
For a brief moment, Glados considered wearing it but then pushed the thought away. "No, I don't need this stupid baseball mitt to learn Pinkie Pie fears the laws of physics." She slid from her bed, landing on the floor, and dragged the thousand-bit artifact to its rightful place: A dusty old shelf.
She threw it on the shelf just below the portal gun's. Its sheer length took up the entire space. Exiting her room with last night's dream still fresh in mind, Glados murmured, "Puny god." within a breath.
Next Time: Part 1 Finale: The Bearer of, Well, Nothing Good: Princess Celestia - As part 1 of 'My Little GLaDOS' draws to a close, the Princess of the Sun delivers troubling news that hurts Glados' mind and spirit.
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To all the future comments on this chapter who say:
"This is getting WAY too dark for a comedy."
"I find the lack of Glados in this chapter disturbing."
"This chapter wasn't that funny..."
"This chapter should've been split into 2 parts."
I have two words for you: Character Development. Well, aside from that last reason. I didn't want to split it because then people would be more upset at how Glados wasn't in it at all. On a side note, the next chapter will be the finale for Part 1: The Bearer of, Well, Nothing Good: Princess Celestia.
YES EET UPDATEED!
*reading*
1754013
And I have ten words for you: "It's YOUR story. Readers are just here for the ride."
And I'm loving it.
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG UPDATTTEE
So many words... but my bed is calling to me... Eh, I'll read it on my phone tomorrow in math. I CAN'T WAIT!
so many words... so much time to proofread... such a great chapter...
1754013 Well I thought it WAS funny, but it was dark at the same time and yet you pulled it off quite well. The humour was played excellently (Pinkie afraid of the laws of physics, LOL) and at the end, we can all agree Eternal got what he deserved pretty darn well. (Puny God) :D
Wait... you're not going to bash Celestia the next chapter are you?
LOOOVE THE AVENGER REFERENCE :)
Huzzah! An update. Impressive length, too.
I believe the term is "pastime".
GLaDOS at her finest.
[youtube=youtube.com/watch?v=mUeqYg-EQUo]
Are you kidding me? NOT COMEDY? I was giggling like a mass-murderer who just got a full-time job as a butcher with excellent benefits next to a run-down orphanage in the inner city where no one cares if a few or ten orphans go missing
1754013 Is it bad if I still found humor in this?
Vinyl Scratch's nightmare killed me.
Best chapter. I liked the whole Aperture dream sequence with 'ol Gladdy. And the torture of Eternal was awesome.
1754052
Gah. "It's YOU ARE story."?
Sorry, not a grammar nazi for most words, but the your/you're thing always irritates me.
"I'll leave you crying like a bitch," GLaDOS laughed.
'Yeah right,' Eternal scoffed.
*twenty minuets later*
'NO MORE PLEASE!!!!!!!!'
"I told you. Like. A. Bitch."
Dammit! I gotta go to bed and this is such a long chapters! Why must you tease me so much...
Love the reference to the Avengers movie!
1754279
My how nit picky of you, but understandable.
Title Attained: God Rapist.
1754013 What do you mean by finale for part 1?
Whatever it is I know I'm going to like it.
heheheheHAHAHAHAHAHA that dream sequence at the end... beautiful, awe inspiring. just perfect
so.. what gave you the idea to make freddy kuger glado's bitch?
This is indeed getting very dark for a comedy.
MOAR.
I'm glad eternal didn't make Ditzy and Dinky suffer any more than they already were.
This chapter was a bit dull. The ending was ok, but other than that, not satisfactory.
After reading this chapter, I have only one thought about it.
You have an army. We have a GLaDOS.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Dark comedy ftw!
She beat Eternal the God of Nightmare? She is getting dangerous. Just hope she wont find a way to get into pony's dream.
That was awesome. No more words are needed.
GLaDOS pulled off the most excellent mental revolt in the history of excellent mental revolts. This is why I love her.
-Plyxe
"Puny god"
Hulk reference
Puny God.
fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/135/7/a/avengers__puny_god_by_darkkenjie-d4zvcgn.gif
HOOOOOOOLLLLLLYYYY SHHHHHEEEEEEETTTTT!
Thaaat was awesome!
Best chapter yet. And I saw those two references, HK was, and still is, the greatest assassin droid ever.
The Very ending...
deviantart.com/download/301579972/puny_god_by_thepenciler-d4zjwlg.jpg
1754420
But she can. She has that special glove to go inside pony's minds. Just doesn't feel like it though.
I have no complaints Dark humor and GladOs go so well together.
Oh my, this chapter is definitely one of my favorites.
1754450 Pfft.
Oh yessss! this chapter was the best!
1754513 Oh Dear Luna. Quick! Someone take it from her!
At first i was confused, wondering why most of the stuff was about side characters..(poor Ditzy) then came GlaDos's turn with Eternal.
That was.. very satisfying. That long buildup led to a nice.. release...
oh god.
A character is introduced, explained, and defeated all in one chapter. For the first 3 nightmares, I was wondering when GLaDOS would appear and beat Eternal. I was not disappointed. Personally, I'd like to see Eternal's trip into GLaDOS's dream in more detail. Especially what she did to him. Maybe she could have kept his head alive on a battery in a fridge with a few hearts for company.
I know of another villainous character with the name Eternal who got defeated in the very same thing he was introduced in (a movie related to a tv show): Kamen Rider Eternal
gundammodelkits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/SIC-Custom-Kamen-Rider-Eternal-By-Kenosyokutaku-01.jpg
Oh god GLADOS can now test on ponies in THEIR DREAMS!!!
Somebody say something depressing! I think I'm gooing to die of happiness, the new chapter is out!
ARGHH! Happy ATTACK!
1754471 HK as in from KotOR?
I approve of this.
fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/304/5/5/hk_47_demotivational_by_seekerarmada-d5jkv2g.jpg
I would love Twilight to ask GLaDOS what they missed
"oh, nothing much, I slept, ate, experimented and dissected the god of nightmares in his own domain, nothing big."
(Twilight) "oh ok GLaDOS, wait... WHAT!?"
Whoa, had to slap myself to stop me from crying over at Ditzy's there. Glados, how'd I know you would seriously buck someone up sooner or later? Makes me wonder what all she found within that there body of his. One more note: Hallelujah a great story updated! A Second Final Note: On The Box(featured) again? Congrats.
1754602
The single greatest droid ever. It's too bad you had to destroy him in The Old Republic if you were on the Sith side
You know, I quite honestly had to double check I was reading the right fic.
Then it became awesome.
I'm just wondering why GLaDOS appeared as a pony in her own dream when she was dissecting Eternal, instead of her real robot body.
bro, I love you.