65- Janus
Luna materialized as a billowing cloud of black and blue nebulous smoke, which quickly dissipated and revealed her form. It was quite fitting, considering that we were currently floating in front of the Pillars of Creation.
She had an impossibly smug grin on her face as she walked up to me. Once again, there was no surface beneath us but I let us walk on nothing all the same. When she stopped next to me, her grin only widened.
“Good evening Phasma.”
“Hi Luna.”
“Tell me, did you perchance see our night sky?”
“Nah, I went to bed early.”
“You are smiling.”
“Nuh.”
“I can see it.”
“No you can’t.”
“Did you like my message?”
“What message? I didn’t receive any mail today.”
“I told you there was no chance of me losing the bet.”
“That’s strange considering you lost it.”
“I hope you have an apology prepared.”
“I mean, technically you didn’t prove that you moved the moon, so that means I won.”
“Oh no it does not! You saw an example of my power. You know that what I say is truthful.”
“I’ll tell you what, we can call it a draw.”
“Concede! You lost!”
“Best two out of three?”
“I will write ‘Phasma Lost’ in the stars themselves if you do not acknowledge our victory!”
“Hahaha okay okay... there’s a small possibility you won. A very small possibility. Negligible, even.”
“Charlatan!” She yelled before tackling me.
As we tumbled, I turned off gravity and removed the surface beneath us, sending us spinning through space. In order to not be flung away, Luna wrapped her forelegs around my chest as we spun.
“Admit defeat!” She yelled, but she was smiling.
“Sorry what was that? I can't hear you over the sound of the laws of physics actually working.”
“You lost, you insufferable knave!” She poked me in the chest, trying to keep a straight face.
“Maybe I did, but I’ll never admit that.”
“Then I suppose I’ll just leave you here. Your stubbornness and ego shall keep you company.”
I sighed and stopped our spin. Luna relaxed her grip but otherwise still held onto me.
“Alright fine, I didn’t win. You… didn’t lose– what did you tell Daybreaker about the message? I imagine she would have wanted an explanation, if only for the fact that she controls the presses now.”
Luna rolled her eyes when I refused to admit defeat. She let go of me and gave me a tired glare.
“That after dealing with yet another troublesome foal, I grew tired of proving that I could indeed manipulate the night sky. You have done nothing to dissuade that notion, you overgrown colt. Still, without even telling you, you knew of an altercation between us. I could really use your experience with all this secretive nonsense.”
“How does your solar system even work then? It shouldn’t be possible nor necessary for you to ‘move’ the sun or moon but I guess with magic, anything’s possible.”
“Give me autonomy over the Dreamscape and I shall show you.”
“I can do that? How? No wait, why didn’t you ask me to do that earlier?”
“... Having to weave together Dreamscapes gets boring and tiresome after a while. To relax and let you do the work has led to many enjoyable moments.”
“I get that, it’s hard work having an imagination. How do I give some control over to you?”
“Let this be the first lesson in Dreamwalking. There is no magic in here. Not unicorn’s, alicorn’s, changeling’s or any other.”
“I figured as much. The fact that I can’t ever sense your emotions in here hinted at that.”
“Changelings sense emotions?”
“Yeah. We feed on love as that’s the best one, but we can sense and consume any emotion for the most part. Many specific emotions are considered facets of the major ones, though. Boredom is a lack of excitement, excitement is just happiness, so therefore we only sense the presence of happiness or lack thereof, and so on.”
“Only broad emotions, that is very interesting…”
“Don’t tell–”
“I will keep it a secret. You should know by now that I would not reveal your existence, directly or indirectly.”
“Sorry, it’s just…”
“I know. Though how long your powers remain a secret remains to be seen. Daybreaker will soon start interrogating captives. I have convinced her to start taking prisoners, but this means there is a need to feed them. They were forthcoming only with dietary needs, and Daybreaker has sent ponies that have slighted her to be cocooned and allowed access to by Daybreaker’s prisoners. In exchange, she intends to learn more about changelings’ transformative abilities. But I have gotten far off topic. I was about to instruct you on the magic of Dreamwalking, was I not?”
I set us down on an invisible plane once again.
“Something like that.”
“Each dream is a reflection of the mind and soul. You will the formless Dreamscape to take form, and it does so. But to give control of it over to somepony else is to let someone into your own mind, to give them control over your own subconscious. For a Nightmare to take hold of its victim, the victim must submit themselves willingly. Before then, a Nightmare’s influence is limited.”
“Not limited enough…”
“No. They can inflict physical pain and change what the dream looks like, but only to a certain extent. They are powerful apparitions of evil but even they have limits. Likely, what manipulation you saw and pain you felt was the ultimate extent of that specific Nightmare’s power. Most Nightmares are too weak to even penetrate the subconscious protections each dreamer creates around themselves. To manifest itself before the victim is a feat of great skill and strength.”
“Skill and strength in what? You said there’s no magic in the Dreamscape.”
“No magic in the conventional sense. In the waking world, we interact with magic as everypony only ever has. By tapping into our connections– and the connections in the world around us– to the magical plane, we draw strength. In the Dreamscape, you must draw strength from one’s own self. If it were possible for physical beings such as us to naturally draw power from the Dreamscape, all that would do is open up the portcullis and invite invasion.”
“So I must draw power from myself? That sounds like I’m exposing my soul or something.”
“That is precisely what you must do.”
“That sounds like the worst idea anyone has ever had in the history of ideas.”
“Dreamwalking has always been a dangerous profession. Those gifted in its abilities will not survive without tutorship.”
“But if drawing in power lowers my defenses, how does exposing what needs to be defended any better?”
“The best defense is a strong offense. Further, by controlling your innate strength, you change it from being a vulnerability to being a weapon. There is truth in what you say, however. To rush into battle using your life as a weapon is inherently dangerous and foolish. This is why Dreamwalking must be done as clandestinely as possible. To never be seen by the hordes of shadows that lie outside the protection of a dream is the mainstay of a Dreamwalker’s arsenal.”
“So hide at all times, and rush into battle when exposed?”
“That is the simplistic view of it. To abscond the protective cover of a dream is to plunge oneself into the heart of a forest fire. To weaponize one’s inner strength is to turn one’s greatest weakness into a potent weapon. Be prepared to fight, but avoid conflict at all times. Leave behind the complicated structures and formulas of modern spells, Dreamwalking is much more… primal.”
“Okay. Then how do you go between dreams? Or even see them in the first place?”
“You must expand your senses without leaving the protection of the dream. To leave the dream without leaving the dream is a paradoxical task that must be surmounted by the nascent Dreamwalker. That will be another lesson. First you will… On second thought, giving me control over your dream is a bad idea.”
“Why?”
“It is something I have always wanted to do, however my personal desires caused me to forget how dangerous and… intimate it is. It has to do with the requirements that allow me control. Perhaps one day in the future, but not today. Instead, I shall instruct you how to tap into your strength... As well as advise you on the structure of Equu’s solar system.”
“Okay. Inner strength. How do I do that?”
“Close your eyes. Clear your mind. You must focus solely on a memory. It must hold significant value to you. Remember this specific memory, as it will be your key. You may at later dates change what this key memory is, but for now choose a specific one. Got it? Do not tell me what it is. Do not tell anypony. Now, focus on why this memory is important to you. Keep that importance in mind and imagine pulling on it. Pull it up from the core of your being, up to the surface. While holding the importance at your surface, imagine the process of casting a spell. You channel energy through your horn to cast the spell. I want you to channel energy from this importance to the importance itself, forming a loop. Now, slow the energy feed into your strength. More. There, that’s how much you need to keep moving. Any more than that is wasteful. ”
“... Now what?”
“Keep feeding it energy, and open your eyes.”
Luna was still before me, only she was lit up in a white light. Looking down, I realized that the light was coming from my chest.
“That was… easy. Also a bit cliche.”
"There's a glow because you expected there to be one. The process has no physical signs, Phasma."
The light died away.
"Oh…"
“That was just bringing your strength to the surface, the first step in Dreamwalking or dispelling Nightmares.”
“... Brings a new meaning to a positive feedback loop.”
“Indeed. Now, discussion about the solar system can wait. Your next lesson will be expanding your sight beyond the confines around it. Foolish fops in the waking world like to imagine they can do such a thing there in the material plane. We are going to do the real thing here. I will be right here next to you, so do not worry about anything going wrong. You must find your connection to the Dreamscape. When the energy goes through your soul, it also ebbs into the surroundings. You must find that pulse.”
After a few moments, I found what seemed like a leak of energy.
“I think I got it.”
“Follow that pulse. Feed it energy as it goes.”
I did as instructed, only to shutter in surprise. I had to close my eyes to prevent myself from throwing up. I was seeing everything twice. It was like trying to look through three-hundred-sixty degree vision.
“Whoah.”
“Yes?”
“This is like echolocation. I can see behind and around me, that’s extremely disorientating.”
“You will get used to it. Now, do you see where the ripple changes? It should be out a ways.”
“It sort of… wobbles?”
“That is it hitting the barrier of your dream, beyond the physical manifestation summoned. Push energy into the wave right before the distortion starts. You want to empower it and speed it up so that it can break through.”
Once the energy did break the envelope of the dream, I felt it expand out into nothingness. Then, with the next wave of energy, I felt pings that lit up as the wave hit them
“I broke through and I think I see other dreams.”
“Excellent! You should only be able to sense the dreams nearby, as your methods are all inexperienced. With time and practice, you will be able to sense dreams halfway across Equus. Now to visualize all of this, you must mentally map out where each dream is, with yours in the center. Imagine projecting this map around you, with white dots marking each one's location.”
As I did so, an orange circle appeared in front of me.
‘My dream.’
Surrounding it, being revealed in an expanding wave, several other points of light appeared at varying spots in a three dimensional scatter.
‘The dreams of others. Looks kinda like stars.’
“Looks like stars,” I voiced my thoughts out loud.
“I led you to visualize them as I was taught. In truth, one can view them in any fashion they desire. However, I prefer this one. Eventually I shall teach you how to feel each dream, getting a sense of their emotional state. This will come out as color coding for each star before you.”
“Got it. What’s next?”
“Traveling between dreams. The target dream that we shall head to is close to me, but far from you. I shall provide the exact location.”
Luna flapped her wings and rose above me. Eventually, she stopped at a point and pointed a hoof straight out.
“Place a star at the end of my hoof.”
I placed a glowing white dot there. After a few adjustments, Luna was satisfied with its final location.
“Now to travel. Every dream in the Dreamscape is connected. Like the synapses of a nervous system, each one is tethered to the next. This lets us travel between the otherwise impossible to find islands of sanctity in the Dreamscape. The connection goes both ways, however. Maladies such as Nightmares or other Dreamscape hazards plague the connections like a disease. It is up to us Dreamwalkers to safeguard the Dreamscape.”
“So how do we use these connections to travel?”
“You must pulse your energy along the connections, revealing the path all the way to your destination.”
I directed the outward waves in the direction of the star Luna had me place. Though I revealed a number of dreams in between here and the target, no matter how much energy I put in, I could not reach her designated destination.
“I can’t reach that far.”
“I suspected not. Then listen carefully to my next words as I prepare to bring both of us together. First, you must wrap up those who you wish to travel with. Clutch them close to your soul.”
Luna closed the distance between us and hugged me, wrapping her wings around my back.
“It is especially helpful to do this physically, for it makes it less of a leap of logic. Then, as you pulse the network of dreams, you must see the path you will take from here to there in your mind’s eye. Then, with all your might, push your party through the network along the path you chose–”
In a flash of blue, the entire dream vanished. For a split second, I couldn’t see anything outside of roiling blue clouds that enveloped us. Then, we appeared in a very fancy bedroom. Gone was the field of stars and orange and yellow nebula, replaced by marble checkerboard floors, arched windows, and fancy wood paneling. Maroon curtains and stretches of fabric brought color to the faded room, and though there was some materials on a desk and wardrobe, the most colorful object in the room was the other occupant. I had only seen her once before.
“– and just like that, you arrive at your destination,” Luna finished. She then let go of me and turned towards Princess Cadence. “Good evening, niece. Are you well?”
The pink alicorn was currently wielding a sabre in her magic, thrusting it towards a mannequin placed in front of a pillar that separated two vaulted windows at one side of the room. The mannequin on the receiving end of the brutal attack looked quite similar to…
‘Ah fuck me, this is going to be bad.’
With one final lunge, Cadence plunged the metal sabre into my heart and sighed.
“As well as I can be, Luna. I am happy to see you, we so rarely hang out at ni–”
Cadence turned around and froze up when she saw me standing next to Luna.
“Auntie Luna… The target Aunt Day provided was realistic enough…”
“I agree. You already suffer from hesitation when striking. Do you remember what I told you earlier today?”
‘Spilled the secret of my existence before the bet was even won. I’ll remember that, Luna.’
“That you would be bringing a visitor with you. One who I should meet, despite our first meeting going poorly. Luna, you didn’t say it was him.”
She plucked the sword out from the faux Dread Prince and brought it over to her side, never even taking her eyes off me.
"You should be dead."
“Hello Princess Cadence. It’s… nice to see you again.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.029 seconds
Total duration
776 users online
531,169 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Nice.
Also, how are you naming these chapters? Is
anusa greek thing or something?*Janus. MOTHER FUCKING AUTOCORRECT!
Good thing the Princess of Food never bothered mastering magic, or was even aware how her talent could affect changelings. Because an alicorn with mastery over emotions could potentially drown an army of bugs with anger, sorrow and their facets.
Yeah, this is getting from bad to worse with Luna here, she is getting a huge head right now and its making a LOT of bad decisions Phasma is so going to get her for all of this, either the mother of all earful or something else because she is the one acting like a little girl only wishing to make things her way and nobody else
Well... I expect Phasma to be stabbed in the next chapter at least once.
10744276
anus, Don't you mean Janus?
10744276
anus, Don't you mean Janus?
10744293
Yes
10744276
Janus is the Roman god of doorways, I think. Usually depicted with two faces, which is fitting since Phasma is gonna be apologising for invading Canterlot and committing war crimes, basically.
10744276
In ancient Roman religion and myth Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. It is conventionally thought that the month of is named for Janus, but according to ancient Roman farmers' almanacs Juno was the tutelary deity of the month
Phasma, you are in the deep end now!
10744276
If your autocorrect instantly chooses anus, I wonder what’s on your search history...
Well this is going to interesting to say at least. If Phasma doesn't explain himself well enough, Cadence my very well tell Daybreaker that he is alive and Luna has been in contact with him.
“That after dealing with yet another troublesome foal, I grew tired of proving that I could indeed manipulate the night sky. You have done nothing to dissuade that notion, you overgrown colt. Still, without even telling you, you knew of an altercation between us. I could really use your experience with all this secretive nonsense.”
Should be her, she knew.
Nice chapter. Here's hoping Phasma manages to roll high on his apologetic diplomacy check. He can technically claim to having only been following orders.
Well, I certainly don't envy Phasma in this situation. He's about to not have a good time, I'd wager. And after that a promised apology to Shining. This is going to be an eventful night.
10744276
Whoah, wait for the third date before you start busting out that stuff.
10744299
Glad you caught the hidden meaning!
10744334
Good soldiers follow orders.
Interesting chapter. Luna plays dangerous, a bit retarded game, that can turn ugly at any moment. Cadance can easily rat them out and just think of Shining, I positive he would do it without a second thought. On the other hand, sometimes things that elude human logic go along with equestrian/harmonic/cartoon logic, so it can turn out well in the end
10744276
In addition to what others have said, it's worth mentioning due to your specific wording that Janus doesn't have a Greek equivalent.
10744334
Let's just hope ponies never heard of Nuremberg, cause that excuse didn't work so well back then.
10744343
*Childish laughter*
10744361
actually, that's a common misconception about the trials.
If it was valid, it WAS taken as an excuse. The thing is, they were trying germans with especially high positions or bad track records at nuremberg, and most willingly participated in some way. but a few DID get off completely scot free, like Hjalmar Schacht, who despite being a very staunch loyalist of Hitler disagreed with his war efforts vocally and thus was pardoned, and Hans Fritzsche, who immediately surrendered to the allied powers upon coming into power and further being viewed as nowhere near as serious a criminal as the other german officials, being that he never actually DID anything. And then there were the subsequent nuremberg trials, in which several heavy players were pardoned for either nonaction or active resistance.
10744343
It isn’t a genocide if no one is left alive!
10744388
Huh, TIL. Thanks for that.
10744403
Anytime, ya boy loves history
Phasma is up shit creek without a boat
Should be an interesting chapter if nothing else
Are we all just going to ignore that Daybreaker is now actively investigating changelings? And that she's also using political prisoners as changeling food? Actually, just the fact that Daybreaker has started arresting those that "have slighted her" should be massively concerning for Luna and friends. How is it that she thinks such information is only worth a mention in passing?
"Yeah, I hear that a LOT..."
I can almost FEEL him saying that
10744334
10744343
No! Stop! Cease! No Order 66ing the unicorns!
But yeah, I don't think claiming to 'just be following orders' is going to generate a lot of sympathy given that the orders in question were to enslave an entire nation. Sure, it's technically true, but emotions often don't really care about technicalities.
Better to start of with a genuine apology, followed by explaining the reason for the invasion. Sure, Cadance is more likely than not going to nail him for how the changelings didn't even bother with diplomacy first, but the story of how his entire people were on the verge of total starvation is the most likely to generate at least some sympathy.
10744440
Know your enemy, simple as that actually, as for the rest, is her starting to 'Showing her fangs' so to speak.
10744440
Not careful enough wording on my part and lots of stuff is happening at once, leaving little time for discussion. You're right, that is a huge plot point, one I will have to reveal and talk about much more.
10744282
…that been said, I'm happy Phasma took the high road and concede defeat…sort of and has an open mind into learning how this world works with a grain of salt as to not going crazy trying to find it logic
(Jeje it will be funny if later on he think Pinkie is the most reasonable pony he has ever met and to him Luna and Celestia are the weird ones. )
But for now this is it Phasma time to put his ambassadors and dialogue skills to test. He doesn't have to lie much because hey his species was on the freaking brick of extinction! Cadence has her right to be mad and call on him saying he went to far but he has a justification, it was either that or extinction and she can't say 'you could had come ask help' he will rebuttable with how that will sentence them with submission in the best case and slavery in the worse. So no, it wasn't an easy fix either.
Is not so much if Cadence will forgive him or not because she will not, but rather for her to see that A) he was only doing what he did, because he was thinking of his people and their well been, in a desperate situation.
and B) he already has lost everything, friends, never had a family perse, is alone, chase, and hated by everyone so she doing anything else will be kicking a man that is already down.
He will have to put all that in light, and hope Cadence is not that deep set on 'he is the bad guy, a monster and will never believe a single word he says' or he and Luna will be screw and is back to running away.
10744451
It was in his plans on that, but he had to complete her 'task' of submission first, Phasma wanted to try a different approach with the ponies, but, in order to do that, he has to complete the invasion AND defeat her mother, and THEN that for last, he never liked the invasion or what he had to do in order to complete the objective, but with the odds, and the hunger on his shoulder, he needed to complete it as a leader, not only as a soldier
Phasma: "so... It's like the Internet?"
Good to see Cadance isn't completely hardened. Let's gain another ally!
10744472
Frankly, the "but if we'd asked for help the only result would have been slavery" just gives Cadance an excuse to whack him with the "is that what you think we would do, or what you would have done?" rebuttal. Even a casual report on Equestrian culture would show that Equestria isn't big on slavery, and has several different species with different wants and needs living in harmony (three tribes of ponies, cows, donkeys, griffons, minotaurs), so for him to conclude is was either conquer Equestria or be enslaved by it based on... less than nothing is unlikely to make Cadance think much better of him.
10744480
Phasma himself believes it's a bit late for that, though. His initial conversation with Luna was almost entirely about how he has absolutely no reason to believe that after an invasion with the intent to enslave and eat the entire populace there's much room in the way of diplomacy left.
10744540
The zebra situation, the way they exclude the pronounce 'everypony' probably reports of discrimination. The evidence is there, and it will be vicious cycles of he says she says. Honestly it will all be reduce to 'you would be reduce to a leap of faith and a gamble, that could have gone either way.
And if she ask exactly that Phasma without missing a bit would say 'what I KNOW would happen using nice words instead of colonization, because that would be what happen we would be complete at your mercy, no matter how you spin it that would be the final result'
Cadence saying that would mean nothing. Because Phasma would be saying 'we were starving! We were virtually dying! We were desperately and need the food now! What you are saying means you don't know your own kingdom either and lived on a fantasy world' pointing at Luna 'Not even knowing of Nightmare Moon is prove enough of that' so yeah I wouldn't had mind risking my life on a bet but I wouldn't risk the existence of my entire people on 'what if' because if I was wrong it will spell the doom of all of us.
Honestly it would be moo point if Cadence start to argue that option.
10744553
The zebra situation, unless massively misreported, would just reinforce the lack of discrimination. Zecora got accepted within a day of actual conversation starting. Phasma especially, being familiar through our world with just how hard it is to make actual discrimination go away, would be baffled by how accepting that is. Heck, at one point during the invasion he actually was baffled by how trusting ponies are, and how easy that made his army's advancement.
The starvation part might generate some sympathy, but it's kinda hard for that to override the other half of not even trying diplomacy, and just going straight for enslavement. Also the torture of a foal (which is ultimately what he's there to apologize for in the first place). That's kinda going to be a big roadblock for Phasma convincing Cadance he was doing what he did with noble intentions.
10744568
I wouldn't say noble and more like a combination of fear, determination to save his people and kind of drunk of the heat of war, but yeah it will be the hardest part.
Honestly I bet he is going there expecting her not to forgive him and mostly just gain some sympathy, enough to agree to help. But yeah because of his origin he really had the mind set of paranoia and unable to trust anyone, which can't be blame really not even his own mother was to be trusted.
What would be baffling to him is that Cadence actually accept his apology, like 'yeah I think you are going to far lady'
'you…don't want me to accept your apology?'
'No! You need to be wary of me! That is the logical thing, we agree into an agreement we settle the dust, find some kind of middle ground and then we both go our separate way! That is how things work, you can't just keep trusting blindly on others! Can't you see? That is what cause this mess in the first place! Look why don't we just settle on just form an alliance and forget all this thing about friendship and love nonsense. That way we stop with the pretend of not trust strangers blindly'
'So you are trying to protect me from harm, and want me to trust you…in not trusting you?'
'yes!No! Aught! Why do you keep making thing so complicate!"
Awkward, this is.
Dreams are a Battlefield. Be thrifting in showing your strength when not ready for the final blow.
Strong will to survive is a must!
Oh yes. It is so niiiiiiiiice to see you again.
I wonder if Cadence will end up stabbing him like she already demostrated.
10744540
To be fair, iirc, Phasma's knowledge of Equestria before the invasion was nonexistent, which was mostly Chrysalis' fault.
Also, he never intended to actually torture the foal which should give him some credit. Yes, Cadence will have to take his word for it, but since Luna is vouching for his character I think she'll end up believing him.
Phasma: "So, Luna. Not a soul, right?
Luna dramatically lifting her hooves, covering her cheeky grin," Oops. "
wonder if Phasma has whiplash from how his life went from plotting a coup and invading equestria to date nights with Luna
10744540
True, but the invasion wasn't his choice, Chrysalis had absolute power over that,no diplomacy, only war, and to assure he would be focused on that, I believe she brought the 'starvation problem', the whole invasion is not on his shoulders, though to the ponies it doesn't matter that fact, but he is open-minded that the invasion WAS a mistake to take.
10744618
Exactly, it was more of a misfortune of events than anything else.
amazing this is going to be a good meting compared to shiny hiney.
"Hello, Monster"
"Hello, Food"
Dramatic stare off intensifies
Luna and Phasma are just too cute.
10744282
Perhaps I didn't convey the tone of the scene, so I added in a little detail to the beginning. Luna is having fun, too. She's not throwing a tantrum, she's just playing the straight-man.
But the whole blabbing to others thing? Yeah that's on her.