This story is a sequel to The Visiting Team -- Part II
Princess Luna wants to return her nightmare guards to the dark realm from whence they were summoned. And there's just one pony who can help her with that: Trixie Luna Moon. With her Advanced Projects team, of course...
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Since it's been a while, here's a quick recap for those new to the Advanced Projects series:
On an alternate branch of the G4 timeline, Twilight Sparkle never left Canterlot and is now an Acting Princess, with a very different group of close friends: Tempest Shadow, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Luna Moon, Sunset Shimmer, and Moondancer -- plus Cheese Sandwich as their on-call party pony. And each of these has had a very different past, as a result of meeting Twilight Sparkle so early.
In particular, Trixie was once the Great and Powerful student and protégé of Princess Luna... while she was Nightmare Moon. Which has its consequences...
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For more of this series, start with: A Canterlot Engagement.
Also, check out the entire series, beginning with Not Exactly Friends.
Oh hey, this looks really neat.
Aww, that's really sweet! So, if I understand correctly, the "portal" just led their minds into Luna's dream, while their bodies remained behind and fell asleep? Either that, or you just pulled some kind of "it was all a dream" shenanigans that I didn't follow...
That's an interesting lore for the creation of the nightmare ponies. I like it.
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It wouldn't be a story about dreams and dream-walking without at least one disorienting "wait, what just happened" moment like that. It was definitely not all a dream, the ponies did cross through the portal and visit the dream-realm. The question is when that happened: that is, how much of the story as we see it took place in Luna's dreamworld...
Awww. A very well-written story with a very sweet ending! I approve!
FINALLY!
Liked and favourited, i am sure it is justified.
Will read when i get a moment to do so <.<
God I love this series so much; it's so sweet and well-written. And some more plothooks, whee!! I do so wonder what that palace is all about. Surely it is not at all important. (... Is this, perhaps, where the Crystal Empire ended up? Or at least the capital; I can't imagine that an "empire" was not originally much larger... but that's a thought for another day...)
Something else that I find very interesting: Luna's Night Guards, thus dubbed "nightmares" in this fic regardless of sex (certainly an interesting take on naming them- refreshingly simple and convention-flouting), are an entirely separate species to bat ponies, the latter of whom seem... uncivilized, at best. Softer and cuter, but more feral, with undetermined intelligence. Will we ever see them or other denizens of the City of Nightmares and surrounding environs, out in the waking world? Perhaps some have already crossed this divide?
And what all else lives in this realm? (Gonna hazard a guess, based on Luna's observations, and say that it is Not Good.) Certainly the Nightmares aren't very happy to live there... though that could have just been because of the "Watcher", and fear of their Mistress... (Which turned out to be one and the same, heehoo!) I wonder what those feral little bat ponies think of it? Honestly I'd really like to see either one of them again, and in more capacities than merely Luna's guard. Perhaps expanded parts of her retinue at first, ladies in waiting, seneschals, things like that, at least at first. Then maybe integrating into larger pony society. (Do they come in colors besides just gray with golden eyes/blue with red eyes, in your AU?)
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Thanks much! This story is my attempt at a ponified Lord Dunsany "dream-quest" tale (as hinted by Luna's comment "I had barely to consider the subject of my dream..."). It also reflects other authors who've touched on the land of dreams, or of night, in particular Lovecraft's "Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", and at least the beginning of Hodgson's "The Night Land", where he describes a dying Earth far into the future after the Sun has gone dark. Both of those inform the description of the lands beyond the City.
In particular, one strong Dunsany influence is "How One Came, As Was Foretold, to the City Of Never", which speaks of a hero's visit to a grand city of twilight, beyond the mortal realm. Which ends with the suggestion that no matter how high one climbs, no matter how grand the achievement, there's always something beyond, overshadowing it, that one will never reach, never accomplish. Though in the case of the pony-world's Shadow realm, it's because one does not want to. And yes, there's a connection here with the Crystal Empire (more than one, actually -- did you notice the stairs?)
The nightmares are basically my "take" on Luna's Night Guard, since there's already been so much really creative work done with batponies which I couldn't hope to encompass here. I did want to acknowledge that work, however, so I brought the batponies in as one of the Things that the nightmares have to dread, living in their dream-world city. (Or nightmare-world, given this is Nightmare Moon's old stomping grounds...)
And it's not entirely coincidental that now seemed to be a good time to put this one up, given the approach of Nightmare Night. (Though that was really more fortune of timing here.)
Thanks so much for your detailed feedback. It's encouraging to hear this works so well for you!
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I kind of notice the stairs, now that you bring them up... it's the bit where Trixie falls through a part of the wall, right?
Also, I am sad to say that I am utterly unfamiliar with any of those works you've mentioned, lmao; I don't really read books much anymore, and was always kind of picky about what I liked to read to begin with. Conceptually it's interesting, if a little over my head, what you've done here.
So, are the batponies not sapient? Are they basically just mindless vampires (the red eyes plus some other popular depictions of the in-universe myth of batponies makes me think of vampirism in particular)? I'm just kind of interested in all of these concepts, and wondering if they'll ever show up again. (The nods to the Empire make me think that at least some things will be expanded upon, especially as I'm pretty sure you've borrowed from the comics before, and Sombra, shall we say, is a very interesting case.)
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Earlier, when they enter the tower, and see stairs... lots and lots of stairs...
Luna's a part of all this, which is one reason I needed to add this "episode" to the series. So more than likely she and her dream-realm will play a part in things to come...
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shfjkdsa it's been years since I saw that episode, only watched it once. And I guess I wasn't paying that much attention, bc the stairs memes never really made sense to me? ofc I wasn't really in brony circles back then; still not, really, as a matter of choice. Plenty are lovely, largely normal people, but as I'm sure you've seen, having an account on FiMFiction, plenty are decidedly Not.
Anywho, I would love to see more Nightmares, and your take on batponies, while slightly dim, sound really cute. Nevermind that they could probably take my face off. Plus the super-enticing mystery for which you've laid the groundwork, bc that sort of thing is always cool!
Saw this and went Yay more from the advanced projects group. Love this series and seeing more put a smile on my face. Good inclusion to the rest of the stories you've written. Looking forward to what comes next.
Obligatory rainbow
Your stories never get the respect they deserve.
I think you are an author of Great skill, and I look forward every time I see you posting a new story in the knowledge I will be thoroughly entertained again.
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Thanks! It's comforting to know I have a core audience of interested readers like you. Many thanks for reading, and for commenting!
That was a good story.
This was an interesting story... Nice to see more of Luna. Also Great And Powerful Trixie!
Hah, that sounds like my sister's complaints about her job. They need more pickers on the floor, the ones they have are overworked (she's technically a part-time worker, but she frequently has overtime), but they're still understaffed.
Not a big fan of "the Great and Powerful Trixie", myself, but I do like Luna. Maybe "Humble Trixie", from the Reflections universe and the Gameloft game, too... Don't recommend the latter, by the way, unless you use dollar bills as kindling.
As i had expected, it of course lives up to my expectations of your writing.
This was excellent and showed Trixie to basically be the C3-P0 of the Group.
Pony-Sorceror Relations.
Great story!
Let's GOOOO
More of APGverse!
I'm so annoyed with myself that I took a break from fimfiction and missed this when it came out! I've loved this whole series but particularly the teacher/maternal relationship between Trixie and Luna. I'm a bit sad that she didn't get formally adopted as Luna's family at the end but I'm still really happy for them both that they found the structure that worked for them.