The Sleeper
The dreams, they would never end. The Sleeper knew not his name, neither did he even know who or what he dreamt about. Dreams of paradise, of bliss unending. Dreams of happiness and warm summer days flitted by. Loves gained and loves spurned stood out, then faded away. What was and what could have been mingled until the truth could not discern itself from self told lies. Dreams of godliness, of great and mighty self being were reflected by dreams of pain and lowliness.
And then the nightmares. Nightmares of lands cloaked in shadow. Of monsters of the flesh and of the mind rending his body and soul until he begged for death. Demons flickering just beyond his sight in the mists of fear. Entire worlds ablaze, seas of blood and pain beyond that of comprehension. And then there were the nightmares of her.
The dark one. The evil one who tortured him while she laughed at her own madness. The one who made him less than a dog and threatened to kill him like one. She who had come in his moment of victory and thrown his species into the ditch. She who degraded his very being into that of a despised parasite. The dark one that swore to murder him and everyone he loved. He hated her, more than anything. And he also feared her with every fiber of his being. The one loved by his enemy, whom they called Princess Luna.
The Sleeper struggled in his eternal rest, but a voice reached out from across the abyss. A voice of neither man nor woman, child or adult.
Calm my child, soon.
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Twilight
A voice not attached to anything whispered to Twilight Sparkle in her sleep. The unicorn shifted in her rest, knowing this to be a dream, and nothing more. But something seemed to tap into her subconscious, cutting away the unpleasant dreams which consumed her.
Wake up, Twilight.
She awoke with a start, looking for the whisperer. Not seeing anypony besides her still sleeping friends, she assumed it to be a dream. Standing from her bed of rough travel blankets she stretched the soreness from her muscles. They had taken shelter from the storm in the ruined fortress of what they assumed to be Stronghold. From what she saw, the place had none of the answers she sought.
Twilight cantered over to the wagon which they had pulled into the broken building, rummaging around she grabbed an apple and some hay. Eating quietly she wondered what to do next as her friends gradually woke up.
Applejack yawned from her blanket, standing up and walking stiffly over to the wagon. "Mornin', sugarcube."
"Good morning, Applejack." Twilight sighed as she greeted Applejack, melancholia permeating her voice.
The farm mare felt her disappointment, placing a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Hey, don't feel that way, hon. We got here in one piece, we're probably the first ponies ta ever set hoof in here. That's something in itself."
Twilight looked around to the cracked walls, the shattered windows and the piles of rust which used to be furniture. "This place is a dump, Applejack. It's a wonder the demons even bothered to build it. There is nothing here worth our time."
"I wouldn't say that yet. We haven't even checked out this buildin' yet."
The two were joined by an overly energetic and positive Rainbow Dash. "Mornin' squares."
"Good morning Rainbow."
"So what's the game plan? Gonna find some treasure, fight some baddies, save the day?" Dash pantomimed boxing with some opponents, obviously winning.
"We're going to look over the ruins, then leave this magic forsaken hole before dusk," Twilight replied.
Rainbow Dash settled down, her smile turning to a frown. "Okay then, sounds like a plan." The blue pegasus grabbed some hay and started eating breakfast.
Later after everypony had eaten and stretched the stress out of their bodies, they began their search.
Twilight gathered the assembled ponies, holding a lantern with her magic and a saddlebag full of exploration supplies. "Okay girls, we are going to stick together, no splitting up for this one. If one of us gets in trouble, the rest of us are there. First, let's hit those stairs."
The group climbed the staircase up higher into the ruined building, finding artifacts beyond their knowledge. Glass shards littered the second floor along with lumps of rusted metal and the same dead foliage that had worked its way in. None of it functioned and none of it was worth picking up. The third floor had collapsed centuries before, and so was inaccessible. They had seen a staircase going downward, so they decided to go that way.
As they took the first tentative steps into the darkened stairwell, Twilight felt something tingle on the back of her neck.
Twilight
The mysterious voice again! Twilight looked around in alarm, but none of her friends had heard anything.
Twilight Sparkle, seek the Sleeper.
This place really was haunted. Twilight desperately searched for any sign of a ghost or other phantasm. But the only thing present was her own friends and the rustle of wind through the ruins. "Can anypony else hear this?!"
"Hear what Twilight?" said Pinkie Pie. Pinkie seized up, holding stiff and working her face like she was preparing to sneeze. The sneeze came, in the form of a sudden and violent upward jerk of her head. "My Pinkie Sense!" she shouted.
"Whats a head jerk upward mean?" asked Twilight hopefully.
"That there is something hidden! Something nopony wants you to find is nearby."
"Your sense started when we went down the stairs! We have to keep going down!" Carefully they kept descending into the dark. Rarity's horn lit the way when the sun no longer touched the darkness. Pinkie's twitches became more violent as they went further. Downward they went, into the bowels of the earth.
Not much farther Twilight.
"We have to keep going! Something important is down here!" At last the stairs ended in a massive room, at the end stood what looked like a gigantic metal door. "This is it. Behind that door lies the key."
Rainbow Dash smirked at Twilight. "What's that Miss Doom and Gloom, 'there's nothing here'?" Twilight blushed for her earlier pessimism, but pressed onward to the door. It was easily forty feet wide and twenty feet tall. Off to one side sat some kind of console. She blew the dust off, and to her surprise it came to life with internal light. The lighted box had words inside, and Twilight squinted through the dust and grime at the box.
Words flashed across the glass screen, words that seemed too perfect, yet alien in their form. "Identification? I don't have any identification. Wait, Rainbow Dash! Where is that card you had at the dig?"
"In my saddlebag, why?"
"Give it to me!" Rainbow rummaged through her bags, pulling out the card on a simple chain. She tossed it to Twilight, who awkwardly swept it through a slot just the right size for the card. The screen read "error".
"Error? How?" asked the unicorn as she swept it again.
Spike decided it was his time to shine, pushing past the ponies to stand with Twilight. "I think it's upside down, Twilight. Here, I'll get it." Grabbing the card in his claw he swiped it the correct way. This time the box took a second, then read, "Greetings Dr. Smith. Please enter entry password below." A separate box slid out from the wall, containing several buttons which had letters and numbers on them.
"A password! Aw for hay's sake," Spike swore, wondering why in his time to shine he had been cast down by a simple sequence of numbers.
"Maybe I can help!" Pinkie bounced to the forefront, determined to be useful.
"How?" asked Spike.
"With my Pinkie Sense, duh. Whenever you put your claw over the wrong one, I'll get a twitch!" Spike shrugged, willing to try anything. The idea seemed to work, Pinkie did a lot of shaking over the next few minutes, pausing occasionally at what they guessed was the right letter or number. After a while she shook over every button.
"What's wrong, Pinkie?"
Pinkie swooned, her eyes spinning from the overuse of her Pinkie Sense. "I think that's all you needed. Now what do we do?"
Spike looked at the keyboard, spotting a key he hoped would do the trick. "Why didn't we think of this before! What we wanted to do was 'Enter'." He pressed the key, at first nothing happened. Then the screen read out a new message. "Welcome to Project Lazarus, Dr. Smith. Please be wary of nitrogen decompression."
A loud, metallic clank and boom startled everypony. The entire room shook as the door began to scrape its way open, folding into the walls. A wall of a strange mist hit them, colder than the top of a mountain, only the pegasi able to even stand against it. The mist eventually cleared, everypony coughing her lungs up from the strange mist.
As soon as the door to the Vault opened, the glow of a pale blue light brought their attention inside. "What is this place, Twilight?"
"I don't know, Fluttershy." Before them stood an otherworldly sight, thousands upon thousands of standing tubes stretching as far as the eye could see, condensation making it impossible to see what was inside. Silent as a graveyard, their very heartbeats making it sound like they intruded. The light came from the tubes themselves, illuminated from the inside by some strange machinery.
Rarity tried to count how many of the standing tubes that her horn illuminated. "There must be thousands, tens of thousands. Possibly hundreds of thousands."
Twilight walked to a tube, feeling drawn to one in particular in the front row of tubes. Using her hoof she wiped the condensation off the glass. She stumbled backwards, gasping for breath and holding her chest after the miniature heart attack she had.
"There's creatures in there!" she gasped, pointing to the glass.
"That simply cannot be! Let me look." Rarity peered beyond the glass, inside stood a tall creature wearing white clothing, hairless except for a short crop of brown hair atop its head. His eyes were closed and the creature's chest did not move. Rarity backed away, too shocked to speak immediately.
"What the buck is this place!? Some kind of sick museum!? Is that an actual demon?!?"
Fluttershy wiped away more condensation with her wing, peering inside. "It can't be. This creature doesn't look like it could hurt a fly, much less conquer the world."
The others looked into the tube now, judging for themselves whether this thing was the demon, the hunter, the bloodthirsty monster legend made it into. Rainbow Dash and Applejack muttered something to each other, agreeing on a course of action. They both walked over to Twilight, who still tried to catch her breath on the floor.
"Twilight, Rainbow and I think we should crack this walnut open. We came here for evidence of the demons, and we sure as shoot found it."
"Something tells me that is a horribly bad idea, Applejack. What if that thing is still alive?"
"Can't be, it ain't breathin'," she said as she trotted over to the tube, turning her back hooves to the glass tube. Rearing forward she kicked with every ounce of strength.
"APPLEJACK NO!!!" Too late, in slow motion the farm mare's hooves made contact with the glass. At first nothing happened and Twilight thought they were safe, but cracks appeared and spread. All in one, the glass fell away, the demon now exposed.
"See, no harm done." They all looked back at the demon. And to their horror, the eyes shot open. The creature opened its mouth and let forth the most horrendous scream any of them had ever heard.
**********************************************************************************
It was a town meeting, all of Ponyville was in attendance that day. There were multiple issues, like the disappearance of Twilight Sparkle and her friends as well as the arrest of Doctor Whooves and the destruction of his findings. The Mayor delivered a heart felt speech to all of those who missed a family member. The Apple family sat in the middle of the hall, Granny Smith asleep as usual, oblivious to the missing Applejack.
Something touched the ancient mare's mind, and she woke screaming.
"The Sleeper has awoken! Demon fires will burn again! He has come forth from eternal slumber to change our world forever! Even now he screams his triumph over death and his rebirth to the world! Lucifer shall once again harvest souls! THE SLEEPER HAS AWOKEN!!"
Everypony in the hall looked at Granny Smith with fear on their faces. "Granny Smith?" asked the Mayor. Granny Smith appeared to fall back to sleep, then snapped to.
"Yeah? What's that yeh said there, Mayor?"
**************************************************************************************
Across Equestria, inside of Canterlot Castle, Princess Luna slept. A scream penetrated her dreams, a primal shout from the depths of hell. She saw his face, contorted into a scream of terror, fear, and triumph over death. She awoke, not bathed in sweat as usual, but feeling ready for a fight. "So, have you finally decided to try again, you monster?" she said to the empty room.
***************************************************************************************
The demon finished his scream. He fainted, dropping to his knees and then slumping over onto the glass covered floor.
"Is it dead?" whispered Rainbow as she took a step closer to the creature, wings spread to fight if this was some kind of a trick.
"Not on my watch it isn't!" shouted Fluttershy. She sprang to the demon's side, placing her ear to his chest. "Damn, he's not breathing." She lifted a hoof high above her head and brought it crashing down on the demon's chest. She punched him in the chest several times, then listened again. "Breathe, damn you!" She continued to punch, the demon's body convulsing every time she struck. Building her rage, she gathered both hooves over her head and slammed the creature. It coughed and gasped, its chest beginning to rise and fall.
The creature remained unconscious, Fluttershy sat down to catch her breath, completely winded from her effort.
"Fluttershy...that was amazing! You saved that creature, even though it's a demon!" exclaimed Twilight.
"Element of Kindness, had to try something," Fluttershy panted.
Pinkie crept close and delicately nudged it with a hoof. It remained unresponsive except for his rasping breath. "Well what do we do with Mr Shoutypants over here? He'll wake up soon or later, and the old stories all say they ate meat!"
"Calm down Pinkie, it doesn't look built to eat meat. Where are the fangs, the claws, and everything else?" Twilight looked back at the unconscious demon. Spike stood next to it, holding his claws next to the creature's clawless fingers, like the fingers of a minotaur. Looking at it now, the demon seemed kind of harmless to Twilight, not really built for anything in particular. A hissing noise emerged from the floor as a box rose up from the ground, it opened with a similar rush of gas to the massive door. Inside was clothing and what looked like personal effects.
"I think we better get out of here. We're taking the demon and his things with us. If he can speak, he will be a better source of information than any library."
*******************************************************************************************
The Sleeper awoke to see reality for the first time in two thousand years, though he did not know how long it had been. Sighting an entire coterie of his technicolored nightmares, he screamed. It was mostly involuntary, the lack of oxygen made it so that he had to re-expand his lungs after centuries of disuse. Nonetheless, he fainted of his own accord, hoping the monsters would just let him die. But a great pain came to his chest, again and again until sweet air filled his lungs. Apparently they had plans for him, and wouldn't let him slip away just yet.
*******************************************************************************************
"Careful!" Twilight shouted as Rainbow Dash and Applejack banged the demon's head on yet another step as they carried him out of the Vault. The two strongest ponies took no pleasure in hurting the thing, but they had to admit that somepony made some design flaws with this creature.
"If he wasn't so awkward this wouldn't happen so much," growled Rainbow Dash as she stopped to throw the demon's long arm on her back for the third time.
"How are we even sure this critter is a he? Maybe it's a filly."
"Not likely, it just doesn't have a female look to it. Besides, are you going to be the one to check?" Twilight indicated his pants with a hoof.
"Heck no!" Applejack got back to carrying, she had the legs draped over her back. Down below, the massive door to the Vault scraped and groaned as it slowly shut. No turning back now, they were stuck with their sleeping charge.
Without surprise Fluttershy had taken on the role of nursemaid to the unconscious demon, and once they reached their camping area on the first floor she started to examine the creature. "Couldn't you all have been a little gentler with him? The poor baby is going to have so many bruises."
"Baby?! That thing is six feet tall Fluttershy!" Rarity hissed as she rummaged through the demon's possessions. "This thing has to have something valuable. Where's the jewels, damn it!"
"I don't think he would appreciate you digging through his things, Avant Garde." Fluttershy added with a bit of venom.
Rarity recoiled from the box like it was a viper. "Sorry, I just remember the promise of treasure from a certain book worm." She glanced in Twilight's direction.
Twilight simply stared at the demon of legend that lay out cold on her blanket. "Well, I say we rest, then leave here tomorrow morning. We got fresh artifacts for Doctor Whooves, with him as a bonus. PINKIE! GET OUT OF THERE!"
Pinkie Pie now had her face plunged into the demon's possessions, rummaging through his things like she would with anypony else's. "MMmmmm, his things smell sssssooooooo GOOD! And his clothes smell kind of like some of those colognes the stallions wear around Hearts and Hooves Day! OOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Pinkie squealed as she found something, probably shiny, in the demon's stuff.
"What is it, JEWELS!?"
"Nope! Just another weapon!" She whipped out her head with a demon weapon in her teeth. "Ggggrrrrr! I'm a scary demon!"
Twilight shrunk back as Pinkie waved the weapon her direction. "Put that down before you hurt somepony! We don't know what it could do!"
"Awww." Pinkie dropped the weapon. As it hit the ground, a thunderous bang! shattered the quiet of the ruined building. Everypony took cover, shivering in fear of the thunder weapon. Pinkie peered out from behind the wagon, trembling slightly. "Is it safe yet?"
Twilight very carefully grabbed the weapon with her magic and placed it back with the rest of his possessions. "That is why we do not touch his things girls. Only his kind are meant to handle them." They decided unanimously to stop examining the demon and his artifacts and go to sleep for the night. Today had been tougher than their whole journey, and wasn't a thing they wanted to continue without some rest.
The next morning their guest was still out cold, taking the opportunity they all grabbed some food from the wagon, emptying as much space as they could for their 'cargo'. Unceremoniously they dumped him inside, leaving Spike to sit with him.
Fluttershy left him with explicit instructions. "Now Spike, he is very fragile, so make sure to pad him good for the bumpy road. And if he wakes up, don't be alarmed, just call one of us. He hasn't drank anything at all, so dribble just a little water in his mouth every few hours, not too much or he could choke."
"Alright, I get it!"
"Okay, just make sure he is fine. And Twilight says not to touch his things."
The group marched out of Stronghold, taking the same path they had used to get there originally. It cut back on the effort needed to fight the brush, and soon they left the magic devoid Demon Lands, returning to the plains and desert of the buffalo. Their escorts were long gone, their tribal suspicions of the Hunter's fortress preventing them from staying long.
Progress was slow for the day, and the group decided to make camp near a small plains oasis late that afternoon. The demon still showed no signs of waking up. They laid out on the warm sands near the banks of the pond, munching on fresh grass. Twilight sat next to Spike as he watched the demon.
"How do you both do it?" she asked the dragon.
"What do you mean both of us?"
"You and the demon. What is your angle on life? You have to realize that you are the most like him Spike."
"How is that possible? He is a monster out of legend, I'm a dragon." Spike pointed out.
"You both walk on two legs, he has claws like you, and I'm going to assume you both have the same way of moving. I just want to know the way he thinks, the way he sees the world. You are the closest we have to him talking to us, and I just wanted to see things from his angle."
As always Twilight had seen with logic, and Spike calmed. "Oh. Well, walking on two legs is pretty good I guess, and being able to grip things without my mouth is pretty cool. I don't know Twilight, I just never had to look at myself this way before."
"It's okay Spike, I just wish he would wake up and talk to us, prove he isn't a monster. These desert nights can get cold, we might need a fire tonight, want to help out?"
"Sure, as long as Mr. Shuteye here doesn't have anything to say about it." He waited for the unconscious creature to voice his opinion.
**************************************************************************
The night came without storm or wind, the sky filled with more stars than anypony could count in a lifetime. The campfire crackled gently and brought warmth to the tired ponies who shared it. They had draped a couple of blankets over The Sleeper, who still languished in his dreams. Talk was small, and mainly about their unconscious companion.
Fluttershy's gaze drifted back over to the wagon, concern in her eyes. "I wonder if he'll ever wake up. I'm starting to worry for him."
"Don't feel bad about it Fluttershy, you did what you could. Maybe it's natural for his species to sleep for days on end, like a dragon."
"Why do I doubt that Twilight? He hasn't moved and all he does is moan and groan once in a while," said Rainbow Dash.
"This is most likely our fault Rainbow, maybe we did something wrong when we let him out."
The group went silent once more, the only noise the crackle of the campfire and the chorus of crickets and bugs in the bush.
Rainbow Dash reclined in the warm sand, staring up at the night sky. "Hey guys, I wonder if we'll be heroes or something. We found a map to a lost city, braved the frontier, found said lost city, and then brought a demon back to life."
"That last one doesn't quite sound like hero material Rainbow Dash. Besides, we've already saved the world twice! How much more can everypony think of us as heroes?"
"I don't know, but I want to find out."
Everypony seemed calm and relaxed, but something wasn't right, Spike could smell strange ponies around.
"Guys, I think...." The baby dragon was cut off by a lasso tightening around his neck. The mares all stood, but ropes swished in from the darkness, some propelled by magic, to ensnare the six friends. Whoops and hollers could be heard from beyond the campfire's light. Bandits had found them.
They entered the campsite, keeping strong grips on their ropes. The strange ponies all looked unwashed and downright foul. "Yeehaw! We gots us a good load hyar boss!"
The boss entered, his golden armor flickering blood red in the firelight.
Rarity gasped, "You! From the borderhouse!"
"We lost you there for a while Miss 'Avant Garde'. Luckily Spit Shine spotted your campfire or we would have missed you completely. Where's your gem caravan? Or was that a lie to get past little old me without too much notice?"
"Why? You are a Royal Guard! Why would you do this to us?"
"Oldest reason ever, money. I pretend to make a big deal out of letting ponies cross the border, then when they tell me where they are going with what, I have my gang ambush them. All the better when the Princess thinks the buffalo have been ransacking her Royal caravans." The guard smirked at the bound mares, the unicorn's horns being held to prevent any attempts to escape magically.
"There are no jewels you monster! There is nothing here worth your time!"
"Oh, you will do better than any wagon full of worthless gems, ain't that right boys?" The bandits all whistled through what teeth they had left at their prize of six fine mares. He got close to Rarity, "I think I'll have you first," he said with a wicked grin. Rarity spit in his face and he fell back onto his haunches. "You little bitch! I'll make good use of that whore mouth of yours!" From within the wagon, the blankets began to shift.
The boss began to remove his armor for easier access when something tackled him broadside like a truck. He shook himself off, looking to see what had attacked him. Standing over the ensnared Rarity was a nightmarish monster, standing on two legs like some kind of demon from his mother's foalhood stories. The creature cracked the joints in its neck, staring at the guard. The guard could only say three words, "KILL THAT THING!"
A bandit pony rushed at the new attacker, only to be dodged and have the back of his neck sliced open with a knife the demon had drawn. Another rushed with a spear, the demon grabbed it with his hands and twisted it from the pony's mouth, bringing it crashing down upon the bandit's spine, snapping it. Several more tried ropes, but he simply threw them off. Then the demon reached into a holster on his side, bringing out his black thunder weapon, downing a bandit with every lightning report. A rogue unicorn tried to use his magic, but a single long bound brought the demon's arms around his neck. With an elbow he broke the horn off the unicorn, who ran after being let go.
The remaining bandits fled into the night, the only one left standing was the corrupt guard, who shook in fear, a puddle of urine soaking his hooves. The demon walked to him, knife in one hand, thunder weapon in the other. The monster raised the thunder weapon, aiming it straight at the golden armored pegasus' forehead. He thumbed back the hammer with a click.
"NO!" shouted one of the bound ponies. The demon hesitated, lowering his weapon, instead raising his knife to slice through one of the guard's eyes in one fluid motion. Grabbing ahold of the pegasus by his mane, he directed him to the darkness, and with a humiliating slap on the rump sent him flying into the desert night.
He turned back to the bound mares, who at this point were certain he would kill them next. He sheathed his thunder weapon, walking towards the ponies with his knife raised. He first stopped at Twilight Sparkle, Twilight closed her eyes, awaiting the killing blow. But it never came, a quick cut and the ropes around her grew slack. She opened her eyes to see the demon doing the same for every one of her friends. And then he stood before her again. "Are you alright?"
Twilight fainted.
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So...a little violent in his rescue but he has already proven he;s not a villain.
It also appears that 'The Sleeper' isn't the doc, it's the Godslayer. I can't imagine the doc being anywhere near as effective in combat.
GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!
MOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
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258139
I concur. MOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
MY ASS! IT HUNGERS, FOR MOAR!
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257814 it has to be him cause it was the doc that shoot Luna with Lucifer
DUDE, YOU SHOULD TOTALY HAVE THE HUMANS CRASH THE GRAND GALLOPING GALA IF POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!
258807 I love the sh** out of that idea! I'll see if I can't work it in!
258891 if you did that would make my day beyond beilif. also i can't wait to see luna and celstia reactions
258891
Do eet! This story needs moar recognition.
Excellent good sir, I see it fit that you acquire a copious amount of currency.