A Mere Bad Dream

Chapters

The Nightmares Await
Inner Demons
Tormentia
Curses of Insight
Bloodlust

The Nightmares Await

Celestia has lowered the sun. Equestria is now flooded by gracious darkness, propelling nightmarish dreams and malice thoughts. But none affected the dark Regal Sister, as she stood upon the highest balcony in Canterlot Castle.

She knew that out there, were the minds of foals, fillies and even adults conjuring up the darkest of fears and torment.

And Princess Luna knew she could liberate their plagued dreams with her holy intervention.

She stared up at the, now illuminating moon, with sorrowful eyes. As Luna had seen millennia beforehand, the night, the shadows and the burning brilliance of the moon was enough to stir the fibres within the darkest recesses of minds.

"Praise our moon." She spoke softly, bowing gently as the moon continued to bestow her presence with its light.

She raised her head slowly and retreated back into her domain that sits atop of the highest tower.

Her royal bed was neatly made, blessed with the finest cotton and synthetic fibres ever to exist within Equestria.

Using her magical power, she slowly closed the doors leading to her balcony, plunging the room she occupied into complete darkness.

Luna felt a rush of power as the moonlight was vanquished from her presence and was replaced with a flood of darkness.

She inhaled deeply, letting the euphoric feeling rebound across her body with more freedom, completing the action with a long exhale.

She needed not to whisper words to herself, as she had no demons to conspire with.

She was a Pureblood.

She had completely mapped the entire layout of her relaxation room within her mind and navigated her way carefully to the softly blessed bed.

She climbed on her bed cautiously, making sure that she didn't stir any of the delicately placed bedding.

Once she was in the comfy position upon all fours, like she had done many times before, she closed her eyes.

All she saw now, was the utter brilliance of complete darkness that no shadow could replicate.

After a few moments of absorbing the beauty presented before her, she reawakened in her familiar relaxation room.

But this time, there was a twilight-orange light which was seeping through a slight crack in the doors.

She slowly rose from her comfortable laying position and walked towards the doors. She could hear the eerie whispers of wind and thoughts echoing in the outside world.

She used her magic and slowly opened the doors, revealing an all too-familiar sight.

A perfect lunar eclipse, presenting an orange corona that shimmered in harmony with the brilliant moonlight.

Luna stared upon the extremely-rare sight and exhaled deeply.

"Nightmares, thou are about to be hunted." She proclaimed no louder than a gentle whisper.

She walked back inside the relaxation room and saw that the fireplace that had laid dormant for generations had been now blessed with fire.

Luna now knew, that there was work to be done.

Using her untapped power, she opened her wardrobe containing her Regal Wear, revealing it no longer held her Regal Wear.

But possessed something more hard wearing. Something that would present order, control and stability.

Something that a hunter would wear, during a long and bloody hunt.

After a few moments of wearing the powerful outfit known as her Hunter Attire, Luna turned to the metallic cabinet in the corner that has never been opened since when the sun first scorched the earthly soil.

She could feel the raw power emanating from within. This did not scare her, nor corrupt her with malice thoughts.

Luna trotted over and slowly unlocked the heavy locks within the metallic cabinet.

Taking a deep breath, Luna opened the cabinet doors, waiting for the shimmering reflection coming from the Arcanium Wing Blades which hang within.

She placed them along her eagerly awaiting wings and let the blades lock themselves in place.

Luna was now ready, and departed through the door that leads to the inner sanctums of the castle.

However, once opened, Luna was greeted with a matrix of doorways, all with variants of colours, styles and even materials.

Luna entered the Doorway Matrix and saw that the further she looked down, the more grotesque and malformed the doors became.

To her left, was a dark grey door, accompanied with a pulsating vein interwoven into the wooden grain.

And to her right, was a simple pink door. But the door was slowly oozing a dark and thick liquid onto the frame and the Matrix floor.

A pony with a weak stomach or a tendency to be squeamish could not undergo such a hunt without the aid of foreign techniques, which were looked down upon or even sometimes, considered beastly.

Something inside Luna told her that she was more needed within the oozing pink door, and she agreed with the feeling.

She steeled herself for the fears and harrowing nightmare she had entered, and walked though the door.

She was blinded by the darkness, until she saw the forgotten sands drift across her vision on a breeze that was not welcome.

The sands drifted across all surfaces in the eternal darkness surrounding Luna until they formed a small corridor ending with a small circular room at the end, accompanied by a small lantern on a pedestal.

She cautiously trotted towards the pedestal and using the simplest of fire spells, lit the lantern.

The striking light emanating from the lantern caused all sand and decay to burn away, resulting in a perfectly preserved ancient chamber.

The now eradicated sands, revealed a previously smothered doorway, sealed by a steel door.

Luna used her magic softly, and raised the door to its highest point. Due to ancient mechanisms, the door remained open and Luna was free to return to the cleansed chamber.

The ensuing corridor after the door was plagued by the same black ooze that had infested the Matrix Door.

This made Luna choose her delicate steps more cautiously and made sure that she didn't rush into anything.

She knew traps were common in harrowing nightmares, and would like to avoid previous situations.

Luna continued to walk down the narrowing corridor until her senses spiked, causing her to do a tactical roll, ensuring she was out of harms way for a few moments.

She turned to see a large stallion, with scars on his face with a snarl present that any pony could remember.

Luna drew her Wing Blades in a defensive stance and continued to stare at the dark brown pony that was now blocking her from continuing.

The pony's dark snarl grew darker and he resulted in balling his hooves so that he could attack.

Luna has no idea what he could do, and ended up suffering a small flurry of attacks.

She could feel the burning sensation as she was attacked and tried to escape the painful situation. Tactically rolling backwards again, she waited for the flurry attack again.

This time, as he was committed to flowing through his attack, Luna stepped back and avoided the first two swings of the attack.

Luna used this moment of opportunity and retaliated with a sweeping attack of bringing her Wing Blades over her head and crossing them over, crushing and slicing the target in front of her.

Blood splatters could be heard throughout the entire corridor and was shortly followed by the screams of agony of the dark brown pony as it fell to it's haunches and keeled over.

Instead of simply passing away, the corpse evaporated into black smoke and drifted down the corridor further, suggesting that he was not the real one, or that there is much more pain and suffering awaiting her within the deeper bowels of this nightmare.

Luna however, feared no beast nor no pony, and pushed onwards, careless that her famed Hunters Attire was now soaked in thick pony blood.

Author's Note

Character: Princess Luna

Origin: The Final Pureblood
As the final Pureblood to run through the Equestrian descendants, you feel that your raw magical abilities and physical finesse are much higher than you would anticipate. Still not as strong as some other hunters, you are still a force to be reckoned with.

Stats:
Level; 5
Blood Echoes; 0
Vitality; 8
Strength; 6
Endurance; 11
Skill; 13
Bloodtinge; 4
Arcane; 10

Inner Demons

Luna did not let the bizarre clumps of sand that solidified against the cold, thick blood from her earlier adversary obstruct her path to the deeper bowels of the nightmare she currently inhabited.

She continued to cautiously trot forwards, now armed with her Arcanium Blades.

Luna did not care for mercy now, as all other atrocities will now wish to exact their malice thoughts upon Luna's persistent, but still vulnerable body.

She had felt the cold embrace of death within a nightmare before, and she did not care for it.

One of the more chilling feelings a mortal being can have the unfortunate odds of experiencing, no matter what made them reach that state.

Where it be scorched unto the earth like a careless ash, or savagely torn limb from limb by a foul beast, they all shared the same ending.

The cold embrace of death, rushing from the tips of your limbs, paralysing you as the cold progresses until it consumes the brain.

Once consumed, the brain feels nothing, and all vision, fades.

Only to awaken once more, within the sanctuary of her Relaxation Room, chilled by her harrowing experience of death.

She only praised the Moon that death was not final, during her Hunts.

She navigated various corridors and rooms before seeing her next foe.

It was a shadow of the previous pony that had assaulted her, but was more grotesquely disfigured, sporting two half-heads and charred flesh.

The scream that resonated from the beast's vocal chords was not something that mortal ears should not have to befall.

Luna, however, resisted the attempt to daze her and charged at the beast.

The beast raised it's hooves, revealing sharp and rusted blades, imbedded into the rear of the forelegs.

But before the beast could bring down the harrowing experience of being sliced from above, Luna used the momentum of the charge and pirouetted, Arcanium Blades fully extended as she flew through the air.

She felt two harsh impacts upon her blades as blood splattered over the walls and Luna could feel the warm, thick substance splash against her bare fur.

This awakened a darker side of Luna that she wished to keep suppressed, as it was considered beastly to cause the deepest of cuts and bathe in the spurting shower of warm blood from their victims.

But overcome by euphoria and the driving instinct to cause more, she proceeded to flurry her blades with deadly precision, connecting every slash and resulting in another rush of adrenaline.

Once the beast had fallen in front of Luna, she stood upright, gasping for clean air. She knew that it was a darker side and loathed herself for enjoying the experience.

After a final exhale, she decided on a cleaner style of fighting, keeping class and order in her posture.

Luna raised her wings and collided them end-to-end, combining the Arcanuim Blades into a single Greatsword, capable of powerful thrust attacks.

After combining the blades and unlocking them off of her, now blood soaked wings, Luna rested the blade on her right shoulder and supported the hilt and blade, with her Arcane abilities.

In the same room, she discovered another shadow of the same disfigurement, hiding by remaining on the floor, remaining docile until Luna had passed.

These beasts enjoyed ambushing their pray and didn't care for hunting fairly or with honour.

Before the beast could awaken, Luna had leaped into the air, Arcanium Blade ready. She drove the blade into the ground, cutting the beastly shadow into two halves, emitting a death gargle as it's life force faded.

This time, Luna did not feel corrupted by the Beasthood that resided deep within her, as it does within all Hunters.

To some unfortunate Hunters, the Beasthood overcomes the mind, as well as the body and harbours a dark and grisly transformation when enraged enough.

Luna navigated more dusty and abandoned corridors and chambers, slaughtering more of the ghastly beast shadows that approached her.

Oddly enough, once she had vanquished the life force that had possessed these beasts, she felt herself absorbing some sort of energy into the fibres of her being.

Luna had to guess that once she was back in the solace of her Relaxation Room, she could meditate upon this newly gained energy and possibly, focus it into her existing abilities.

After unlocking one final golden gate, Luna approached a figure that was sat on her haunches, staring into the doorway with no emotion.

Luna hesitated this time, as any particular beast would have either blessed her ears with a deafening war cry, or charged at her with all of it's might.

But this pony had sorrow within its eyes, and remained motionless.

Careful to now lower her weapon, Luna approached the mare slowly.

Noticing the sudden and passive presence before it, the mare awoken, and stood up slowly.

"It's not her fault, you know." The mare whispered.

Luna decided to remain quiet, as to let the mare continue with whatever information she contained.

"He was always a damaged one. Never a stallion to raise a family with. I just wish my death was later, so I could save her from this nightmare." The mare continued on.

After finishing her statement, the mare slowly approached Luna and raised her empty right hoof, in a passive manner.

Luna allowed whatever was to happen next, as she knew that this fragile mare could not do anything that placed her in immediate danger.

The mare's hoof made contact with Luna's head, just below her horn and caused Luna's vision to cascade, causing a bright flash.

A few short moments of regaining her vigilant vision later, she refocused on the chamber she approached the mare within.

However this time, Luna was noticing objects and beings that were not present before.

Slight insects on the chamber floor and small flying insects that were drifting on the dusty winds that inhabited this nightmare.

The black ooze was much more abundant now too, and Luna noticed that she was now, stood in a puddle that was mildly deep.

If Luna had to guess, the mare's ghost had granted her insight, which was the ability to see, without eyes and ascend towards the Great Ones, like she had a millennia ago.

But due to the great power that comes with the knowledge, her sister had no other choice, than to banish her to the Paleblood Moon.

The reminder of those sore memories, sent a chilling shiver though Luna's spine.

This time however, the insight seemed much more harmonious, and worked with her current mind, rather than trying to overcome her mind with a new host.

And this, Luna was eternally grateful for.

Luna looked to her right and saw two heavy stone doors, symbolised by two blind statues adorning dim lanterns.

She trotted towards the doors and, using her raw strength, pushed the doors open slowly, sending a loud, reverberating rumble throughout the chamber.

She looked before her and within this mildly large round arena, was a single dark brown pony, armed with that familiar snarl.

The closer she looked, she could also see a young filly, sobbing against the furthest wall.

This brown pony must have been tormenting this filly's dreams for a while now, and Luna knew that it was to cease, immediately.

Luna decided that order was not needed here, and split her Arcanium Greatsword into two wing blades once again.

The sound of the splitting and grinding metal, alerted the stallion and he turned towards Luna's direction.

"Somepony been naughty again?" He muttered, filth and disgust plaguing every syllable that he spoke.

Luna remained silent, as such a beastly memory should not deserve attention of that caliber.

The snarl on the beast grew larger, as Luna's stoicism remained.

Until Luna charged at the beast with all her might, pirouetting again and landing both hits.

Whilst the stallion was stunned, Luna engaged another flurry, drawing all of her stamina into the attack.

With the flurry furthering, her speed increased, as the Beasthood within Luna fed greatly upon the blood that was splashing all over her face and body.

Before she had dangerously ran out of stamina, Luna jumped back and took a few seconds to regain it once again.

As Luna stepped back, the stallion tried a series of attacks, all of which were not close enough to even strike Luna once.

Once his attacks had ended, winding himself, Luna stepped in once again, attacking him twice. But the stallion retrieved a second wind, and leapt into the air, to stomp on Luna from above.

Using her quick thinking, Luna fired a bolt of Blood Magic at her foe, and the stallion quickly keeled over for a few moments.

Seizing this rare opportunity, Luna drove both of her blades into the stallion and proceeded to look him in the eyes, as she pulled them apart, whist still embedded within his torso.

From the brute force of the attack, the stallion flew back from Luna and keeled on the floor once again, however unable to stand once again.

Luna approached the now, crippled stallion and stood above him.

Not a word was said, as both of their actions had conversed for them.

Luna observed as the stallion exhaled it's last breath, and proceeded to watch the fabric of the nightmare erode the corpse away.

The nightmare presented Luna with a gift for vanquishing the source; a lantern.

Luna lit this lantern and watched as all the black ooze and dust was eradicated from the arena, leaving the filly still sobbing in the corner.

Luna noticed and walked towards the filly, removing her Hunter's Mask.

"You need not to worry anymore, my little pony. The nightmare is gone." Luna spoke, softly, looking lightly at the filly.

"P-Princess Luna...?" The filly muttered in disbelief.

Luna nodded regally and watched as this nightmare started to collapse.

"You will now awaken, no longer followed by your painful memories. Enjoy your slumber, little one." Luna spoke once again.

The entire surrounding was black once again, with the filly vanishing in a flash of light.

Luna decided to close her eyes, and focused hard, remembering her Relaxation Room, she reawakened under the eclipsed sun.

She had liberated another poor soul.

But there was much more to be done during tonight's Hunt.

Tormentia

Luna spared precious moments, meditating and focusing the rare and powerful energy that she had harnessed from the previous encounter.

It felt as if she could enter the fibres of her abilities, and warp them with the energy she has in abundance.

Since Luna knew what she could meditate with, she pulled and tugged at certain fibres, draining that precious energy at a rapid rate, but not without making sure that they were utilised properly.

She slowly opened her eyes, finding herself on her haunches, bowing towards the warm and comforting fireplace that had been struck with life.

Glancing at the Arcanium Blades mounted on her graceful wings, she realised that she could wield them more efficiently, enhancing speed, reducing stamina consumption and most important of all; cause deeper lacerations with delicate slices and increasing exerted force with a much heavier attack.

She felt more ready then when she had drawn herself into the presence of the Paleblood Eclipse.

Inhaling deeply and releasing the breath sharply, Luna arose and opened the enchanted door that led her to the Doorway Matrix and quickly realised that the pink door that was relinquishing black ooze was now vacant.

She glanced to the other direction to realise that the door with the malformed vain embedded within was now pulsating with a faster rate.

Her insight had guessed that the Nightmare behind that door had worsened, and she was needed urgently, or else the poor soul would be subjected to yet another, sleepless and tormented night.

Luna enveloped the circular doorknob within her magic and unlocked the tumblers within the lock.

Only to have the door be ripped from her magical grip and swing open to its hinges fullest extent, feeling air rush past her.

It was like that behind that door, was similar sensation of being in a vacuum that she desperately tried not to dwell on.

Making sure her Arcanium Blades were secured and in her possession, she placed one hoof within the doorframe, not expecting to be pulled in forcefully by the same unknown force that was harboured within this harrowing Nightmare.

Ominously gliding to a halt, Luna could not envision a single entity from where she stood in the perfectly dark abyss.

But she knew that if one sense is rendered near useless, she can focus intense concentration into her other senses such as; heightening hearing sensitivity, awakening unique smell identifiers and increasing her spatial awareness without vision.

All of her harmonic paths of concentration were abruptly shattered by the bloodcurdling shriek of an unknown and terrifying source. All of Luna's mental strength came crashing down and caused her to wince harshly, subconsciously shutting her eyes tight.

It was a few moments until the petrifying echoes of the shriek had faded away from Luna's perception of audio, but the memories of the shriek were still fresh, replaying continuously in Luna's mind, chilling her to a slight degree.

Once she had stopped reliving the horrid memory, Luna opened her eyes and was immediately greeted by a dry and slightly encumbered forest.

Tilting her head upward, she was blessed by the presence of the Paleblood Moon, which graced the forest with it's brilliant moonlight and signature white hue.

Luna's pride returned in unspeakable amounts and she no longer had to worry, as the moonlight was her ally and her greatest advantage.

It was now abundant to Luna that whatever dreadful entity that had cursed this nightmare was inhabiting this section of the flourishing forest.

She glanced around, looking for some sort of way to enlighten her direction and give her a path to follow.

She noticed a small pair of tracks trailing through a tight path in some large Oak trees to the left of her.

But once Luna had set her perception on following the tracks, a small hissing sound alerted her from her right.

Immediately drawing her Arcanium Blades and propelling herself backward with a forward wing-thrust, she saw a large snake with three heads and elongated fangs narrowly miss it's target; Luna's neck.

Thinking quickly, Luna seized the opportunity to slash upwards whilst the snake was still in mid-air, recoiling from it's missed attack.

The contact with the blade was flawless, and all three heads where severed at their individual bases, causing the rest of the body to fall limp as it crashed to the ground awkwardly.

Luna watched as the heads also fell before her, but once she looked up, she realised that the forest's path with the tracks, had mirrored.

The tracks were now leading to her right and no longer on the left. Luna thought that it must be a psychological tactic used by the snakes to trick their pray.

Luna made note of this and continued along the tracks, navigating between trees and awkward bush formations.

After making careful adjustments to her path, she approached another small clearing, where the tracks trailed off slightly to the right.

Luna lined herself up with the tracks and immediately rotated so that the tracks were behind her and she saw another snake, awaiting silently on the ground.

Luna struck first, alerting the snake to try and fight back, but after three precise slices, the snake fell limp again after a few quivering moments as the life force left it's now, eviscerated body.

After the snake faded away, the tracks slowly phased back into her vision, showing her that this was the true way to go.

While following the next set of tracks, Luna heard that horrible shriek again, causing her to wince once more, but kept her eyes slightly open, making sure that she wasn't prone to surprise attacks.

This time, the shriek sounded louder, so Luna knew that whatever was causing that dreadful sound, she would be in its presence soon enough.

Once more, she approached a clearing with tracks leading off directly in front of her. Utilising her previous tactic, she pivoted around and scanned for the familiar snake, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Luna suddenly felt a scarily sharp sensation penetrate her neck and begin to draw blood quickly, coating her neck and shoulders.

The snake had succeeded in luring Luna into turning her back and was rewarded with an opportunity to strike.

Luna struggled, squirmed and bucked carelessly in all attempt to get the disgusting snake to release it's grip before it became dangerous.

After bucking and thrashing around enough, the snake lost grip and fell to the ground in front of her, hissing and lunging multiple times.

Dodging all attempts, she combined her blades as she charged forwards, driving her Great Arcanium Blade into the ground where the snake had laid.

Pinning the snake down partially with the blade, Luna brung the blade directly upward, slicing the snake once again into two halves.

After causing large mortal wounds to the snake, Luna felt some of her lost life vitality return to her.

Feeling stronger, Luna forced the blade downwards with all the strength she could muster and successfully managed to cut the snake's one half directly in half again, quartering the snake's head.

Luna smirked as the snake didn't go limp or quiver before it's death, as it just fell to it's sides lifelessly.

Luna turned around once again and was surprised to see that the tracks had not moved, indicating that the snakes had learnt to manipulate Luna's tactics, catching her out.

Following one last set of tracks, Luna approached a large clearing that lead to an apparent hill that the Moon was visible over, accompanied by a single dead tree.

Utilising her incredible hearing, Luna heard slight galloping sounds from over the hill and quickly realised that they were approaching rapidly.

It was not long until Luna saw what had manifested within this Nightmare and it was extremely apparent that she had seen this Nightmare before.

A large stallion stood tall at the peak of the hill, but did not have the characteristics of a head. This stallion, was head-less.

Looking up at the moon, the Headless Horse shrieked loudly from the orifice it had obtained on it's neck, confirming that this was the beast omitting that dreadful sound.

Luna drew her Arcanium Blades into their duel-form again and took on a fighting stance.

Luna had subconsciously realised that this Headless Horse was much more malformed and terrifying than the one she destroyed in Scootaloo's Nightmare, many moons ago.

The Headless Horse was continually bleeding from its neck, some of the hoof bones were showing from behind the rotted and scabbing flesh and it maintained a much more stronger posture.

No filly could imagine gore and horror this intimately, so this belonged to an adult somewhere and Luna knew that this one would be more of a challenge.

The Headless Horse charged down the hill, gaining significant and was heading in Luna's general direction.

Luna panicked, unsure whether to attack mid-charge, or completely omit the attack by executing a dodge.

But clouded by panic, the Headless Horse connected with Luna, sending her a few feet in the air and crashed clumsily, causing her to lose some of her vitality.

Luna leapt to her hooves with precision and rearmed her Blades, staring the Horse down. The Headless Horse simply shrieked back, charging once again.

This time, Luna had decided on an attack and dodged the charge at the last moment, letting the Horse slow down after missing it's target.

Seizing these few seconds, Luna did a charge of her own and pirouetted, followed by a short slicing combo before backing away again to avoid a harsh downward slam attack caused by the Horse's front hooves.

Luna strafed to the right as the Horse charged again, but she soon learnt that the Horse's trajectory was slightly curving, following Luna's movements.

Just before the Horse connected, Luna suddenly dodged to the left, throwing off her tracks and retaliated with a roundhouse slice attack that struck the Horse three times.

This once again, enraged the Horse and caused it to slam the ground again. But before it could follow through the attack, Luna cast a Blood Bolt at the Horse, catching him at the perfect time.

The Horse collapsed to it's haunches for a few moments and Luna was able to rush over and complete a Visceral Attack.

Luna leapt into the air and drove both of her blades downwards into the neck of the Horse and pulled them apart viciously, heavily damaging the Horse and was accompanied by even more profuse bleeding from the Horse's open neck wound.

Thick blood was now easily visible from the ground that Luna and The Headless Horse had been fighting in.

The Horse gave another shriek, before charging once again, but at a much faster pace.

Luna realised an opportunity with this and combined her Blades and made her Greatsword once again, charging a large attack as the Horse grew closer.

Luna was physically straining as she channeled all her stamina into her next attack and had to wait until the perfect time to execute the attack.

Once the Horse was twenty feet away, Luna thrusted forward with the Greatsword, timing it perfectly and catching the tip on the Horse, causing him to recoil a few feet backwards, with his gaping neck wound directly facing Luna.

Luna saw another chance and leapt into the air and once she had gained enough altitude, drove the Greatsword downwards. As she neared closer, the Horse rose it's head and was now presenting the neck wound upwards.

The Horse could no longer see Luna's positing and began to shriek once again, before it was cut violently short by Luna's Greatsword being driven through the neck wound, all the way through it's neck and torso until it created an exit wound and struck the ground.

The Horse's shriek quickly got quietly and turned into gargles and coughs from the orifice that Luna had driven straight into.

Thick horse blood was hacked and choked onto Luna's face and front hooves that held her Greatswords' hilt as she supported the Horse upright as it slowly died in front of her.

After the death gargles and choking had gone quiet, Luna forcefully removed the Greatsword the Horse, leaving a large wound that completely impaled the Horse's neck and torso.

After the Greatsword was removed, the Horse simply fell onto it's side and continued to bleed onto the ground, accompanied by a few occasional short spurts.

After vanquishing the much more dangerous beast, Luna was distracted by the rustling of trees and pivoted to see the source of the sound.

To her surprise, she saw Ponyville inhabitant Bulk Biceps desperately clinging to branches with a look of utter terror on his face.

But Luna returned the look with assurance and calmness, as she was here to liberate poor victims, not mentally scar them.

"It's okay. I am here to help you." Luna said softly.

Bulk Biceps looked less spooked and started to climb down the tree, landing with shaken legs.

"Did somepony tell you this dreadful story?" Luna asked, looking at Bulk Biceps directly in the eyes with a comforting look.

"Y-yeah. My friends from work. They said it was a silly filly story..." Biceps trailed off, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Do not worry, such things do not exist. And do not be concerned about such things scaring you. I have seen things much less scary that can torment ponies." Luna assured Biceps quietly.

"Now, leave this place and get some well earned rest." Luna spoke before the forest began to fade away like her previous vanquished nightmare until there was just Luna, stood in a never ending abyss.

Closing her eyes and focusing on her Relaxation Room, Luna felt a breeze rush past her until all became still.

She opened her eyes once again and awoken underneath the Paleblood Eclipse.

Another Nightmare had been eliminated, and another poor soul liberated.

Curses of Insight

After banishing the previous Nightmare, Luna felt herself observing the delicate and dynamic environment around her with new perspectives.

Entities that were not present beforehand, were now terrifyingly visible, and it was clear that they had existed the entire time.

Fireflies were now flying ominously in demented patterns above the Relaxation Room balcony and the aurora emanating from the Paleblood Eclipse was now wavering and fluctuating as it once stood still, in the pitch black sky.

And once Luna was stood at the edge of the balcony, she could see all of the dark echoes of Nightmares being emitted from the minds of inhabitants and flowing freely from dwelling to dwelling, as if there were a devious and magical fog that was encroaching Canterlot.

Luna had not gained this much Insight before and the thought of it was quite chilling, as she felt as if she had only absorbed this Insight approximately five times.

Luna took time to observe the Nightmare echoes flowing from dwelling to dwelling, even witnessing it completely envelope sections of Canterlot Castle. And it was astounding, that Luna had only just realised the amount of Nightmares that were caused by Luna's glorious nightfall.

After taking in yet another discovery, Luna realised that she had absorbed a great amount of the powerful energy that she had encountered before her previous nightmare.

Luna slowly approached her bed and knelt down, beginning her meditation and process for harnessing this rare energy. She had decided to name this energy Nightmare Echoes, as they were all that remained of vanquished Nightmares.

Luna knew she had a great amount of Echoes, so she wanted to further increase efficiency with the Arcanium Blades and increase stagger time that was caused by her Blood Bolt spell.

Spending careful time manipulating and intertwining specific fibres of her skills, Luna had managed to make herself master rapid combo attacks with her Arcanium Blades, as well as furthering stagger time by half a second.

Luna knew this did not sound like a lot of time, but the investment could literally mean the difference between a fatal visceral attack, or a missed opportunity and a cruel audience with Death itself.

Satisfied with her choices, Luna reorganised her inventory, cleaned her Arcanium Blades and Hunter Attire before she set out to hunt the next Nightmare.

Feeling rejuvenated, Luna sharply exhaled and opened the enchanted door, granting her access to the Doorway Matrix once again. But what surprised Luna, was that one of the available doors that led to Nightmares, was not even a door.

Squinting, Luna approached the odd looking object in the distance, slowing recognising parts of the object until it was dead obvious what the object was.

It was another doorway towards another harrowing Nightmare, but not in the universe that Luna was familiar with. For what she had discovered, was the Reality Mirror that is kept under close observation by Princess Twilight Sparkle.

The beings within that universe too, also experience Nightmares and it seemed that the Echoes of this Nightmare were so vivid, that they were crossing the bridge between the two realities and were included within the events of the Paleblood Eclipse.

Luna had only heard of the Friendship Reports and rumours from within this universe and she was quite chilled to discover that there was the ability to enter a new reality whilst Dreamwalking.

But what frightened Luna the most, is that once the traveller has entered the other reality, their bodies are converted by the Mirror's magic so that their anatomy is identical to theirs.

And according to Princess Twilight Sparkle said regarding her previous adventures within this reality, is that they are bipedal beings, with opposing thumbs but are not capable of flight or magical abilities.

Could Luna take the risk? If her body is converted, all of her accuracy and even simple motor functions will cease to be the same and she'll have to take time to learn how to walk, let alone wield, utilise and master her Arcanium Blades once again.

But then again, Luna is in her own dream, so by using oneirology, she can manipulate some degree of the dream to her will, which could include her own physical anatomy.

And once again, the Mirror had only just became visible to Luna's naked vision due to the level of Insight she had been bestowed with.

Luna approached the mirror slowly until she was mere feet from the frame and stared deeply into the intriguing patterns that were being projected from the glass surface.

Looking all around the edges and even behind, Luna did not discover any other secrets regarding this mirror. It was present in her Doorway Matrix and it was yet another, metaphorical doorway to walk through.

Luna decided that regardless of disadvantages that may be present, those ponies or otherwise docile beings are experiencing Nightmares that are truly horrifying.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, Luna stepped forward and touched the Mirror's surface with a single hoof. She discovered that the Mirror did not bend or ripple, but felt as if the glass material itself was being torn apart by Luna's touch.

Steeling herself, Luna decided to not loiter and completely forced herself through the odd feeling of transversing the Mirror's material into the unknown world that this Nightmare had manifested.

As Luna crossed the realities before her, she watched as many vibrant colours were warped and bent around a cylindrical shape that seemed to manifest the wormhole.

But as the colours grew brighter for Luna, her vision began to fade away, and her body became numb. Her head began to feel light and direction was no longer an option.

Luna started to feel her body and consciousness awaken after an unknown amount of time. She was confused to begin with, but the memories of her entrance to the new reality became evident quickly and Luna rushed to open her eyes, scared for what her vision may bestow to her.

Opening her eyes, Luna discovered her vision was blurred and disorientated, unable to focus on a single entity just yet. After a few moments of adaptation, her vision became clear once more and Luna immediately checked her anatomy, fearing the worst.

Four hooves, dark blue fur, blackened and thick Hunter Attire. Luna was still an Alicorn and she could not express how thankful she was that she could retain her natural form, as this made fighting the Nightmare much more easy.

Looking around her nearby environment, it was exactly how Princess Twilight Sparkle described on earlier instances. Luna was led on her barrel in front of a stone statue that was mounted on a large base, one of the walls seems to be the exit to the Reality Bridge.

Behind her was the infamous Canterlot High School, but the finer details were even more chilling, even to Luna's standards.

There were evident signs of battle that surrounded the areas outside of the building and there also seemed to be more conflict within the school building. Blood splatters and thick pools of blood were abundant and the bodies that were either the obvious source of the blood pool or the splatters, were massacred in beastly ways.

These bodies were the bi-pedal beings that Princess Twilight Sparkle spoke of, and they had a much higher capacity of gore. Their bodies seemed much more frail and less resistant to lacerations.

Checking for her Arcanium Blades, that were still locked into her wings, Luna got up and started to progress into the school building to search for the source of the nightmare.

But as Luna edges closer, the bodies of the victims that were still in one piece, albeit deep lacerations and lowered bodily functions, started to reanimate and raised to their feet, moaning from the throat with a mystical green tint to their eyes.

They proceeded to shamble towards Luna's direction, fixated on her with every move. Luna counted no more than seven bodies now trying to block her direction, as Luna had no idea if these beings withheld malice intentions.

Letting one of the beings approach Luna within a metre resulted in bad judgement as the body lunged at her, trying to swing with all of the strength the rotting corpse could possibly summon.

Fortunately for Luna, she was much faster than them and took a quickstep back, drawing her Arcanuim Blades into an offensive stance as the body continued to shuffle towards her.

Slicing upwards, the corpse staggered and took a step back out of instinct, but Luna sensed that the stagger was not caused by pain, but by the momentum caused by the slash.

The corpse was now bleedingv heavily from the chest, towards the facial region that Luna managed to lacerate, but did not back down and continued its assault on Luna's personal space with no regard for blood loss or the intense pain that a laceration that deep and large would cause.

Leaving Luna no choice, she proceeded to initiate a deadly combo that she had learned by manipulating the Echoes from the previous Nightmare, causing the corpse to keel over and cease movement altogether.

Luna looked up to see the other six corpses advancing on her position and decided that a crowd-controlling technique would be most effective in this situation.

Using her powerful pirouette attack, Luna managed to mortally wound four of the corpses, but not without sustaining a slight amount of damaged from a conveniently timed attack from one of the corpses.

Stepping back and allowing herself some space, Luna glanced at the heavily bruised area that she sustained the blunt attack. Convinced that she could do nothing about the injury, Luna continued to engage the corpses.

But when Luna looked into one of their dark green eyes, she saw evidence of a trapped soul that was forced to endure the reanimations many times.

Feeling sorry for the victims, Luna proceeded to put the corpses to rest once more, not knowing whether if they shall return to their bodies again.

Standing over the now dead bodies, Luna felt the Echoes being absorbed into her body, being stored away until she could manipulate them into her fibres after this Nightmare had been vanquished.

It was then, that Luna heard a scream that felt welcoming for once. It was a scream from a young female that didn't sound beastly in any shape or form.

Coming from inside the school building, Luna decided to investigate further, as this could be the Nightmare's dreamer and could lead to the end of another tormented soul.

Entering the building, Luna saw more corpses that had been freshly laid to rest scattered all over the lobby, accompanied by foreign entrails, thick blood splatters and even missing limbs.

Luna's stomach was strong, but the stench was extremely foul, causing her to wrinkle her snout in disgust.

Looking down one of the few corridors presented to Luna, she saw shadows of corpses that were shambling around ominously, as if they were attracted to a sound or a sudden movement nearby.

Luna travelled down that corridor, passing various empty but otherwise bloodied classrooms on the way down. To think that some Nightmares take place in a sanctuary optimised for learning was twisted, even to Luna.

Approaching the corner of the corridor, Luna heard the shuffling sounds of corpses grow much louder, indicating that there was a magnitude of them around that very corner.

Making sure to not draw attention to herself, Luna looked around the corner and saw at least twenty-five corpses shambling in this tight corridor or scratching at a locked and fortified door that belonged to another classroom.

Focusing on her hearing and not her vision, Luna could distinct a slight cry coming from behind the locked door, explaining the reason for the mass gathering of enemies outside the door.

Luna needed to help that poor soul that was trapped, before the mass began to buckle the door and force their entrance. So Luna took it upon herself to combine her Blades and use the Greatsword in an efficient crowd controlling manner.

Walking calmly behind the corpses seemed to not disturb them and granted Luna the powerful element of surprise and she planned to use it to the greatest extent.

Utilising the powerful thrust move that she executed on the Headless Horse in a previous Nightmare, Luna thrusted the Greatsword in the densest population of corpses, maximising damaging and requiring less finesse to finish off a larger number of adversaries.

Immediately after causing a multitude of corpses to keel over, Luna brought the Greatsword back and swung with a sweeping attack at chest height, which happened to kill at least five corpses outright and damaging a further three.

Luna clearly had the upper hand, as corpses were either recoiling from the thrust attack, damaged from the sweep attack, already dead or haven't even noticed her assault yet.

Not relenting her attack or running out of stamina, Luna converted back to her Blades and proceeded to complete a flurry of attacks that locked the corpses in a state of recoil that could not be escaped unless Luna had exhausted herself.

After the last corpse had fallen, Luna inhaled deeply and let the Echoes overflow her body and enter her bloodstream, granting her a feeling of euphoria.

The fur on the back of her neck stood up and she could feel her heartbeat throughout her body.

After regaining control of her senses, Luna knocked on the classroom's window three times in an orderly fashion to signal that the corpses had been taken care of.

"Hello..?" A shaky female voice muttered from behind the barricaded door.

"The beasts are gone. You are free." Luna spoke regally, expecting the same Nightmare collapse she knew all too well.

But no collapse came. The Nightmare remained still.

"You... You killed all of those people?" The voice spoke, expressing clear fear.

"They are no longer people. They are beasts. Everything you once knew about these people is no longer apparent." Luna expressed clearly, occasionally glancing over her shoulder.

"How can I trust you then?" The voice said, suddenly going stern.

"Because I am the Ruler of the Night." Luna replied simply.

"Ruler of the Night... Lu-Luna? Is that you?" The voice spoke, sounding surprised.

"It is me, Princess Luna of Castle Canterlot. How do you know of me?" Luna asked cautiously.

The question was quickly followed by the sound of collapsing furniture and the multiple unlocks of tumblers within the door. The door was pulled open by a bi-pedal being on the other side.

The being presented a fiery red and yellow hairstyle and was accompanied by turquoise eyes. Distinctly female, she was sporting a crude gym kit that looked to be used within sporting events that take place within this reality, but seemed an option due to the extra padding and protection that was granted by the outfit.

"Oh my.. Luna! It's a pleasure to finally meet you!" The female spoke, kneeling before Luna.

"Thank you, but such pleasantries are not required within Nightmares. And your name is?" Luna asked, scanning her surroundings as she spoke.

"Sunset Shimmer, your highness." Sunset replied promptly.

"Ahh yes, you were the infiltrator when Princess Twilight Sparkle's Element of Magic was stolen back in The Crystal Empire." Luna spoke with disappointment.

"Yeah.. But I have turned a new leaf! I am living a great new life, until I am stuck in this dream every night." Sunset said sorrowfully, looking down.

"Is there anyway you could suggest that would bring this Nightmare to a swift end?" Luna questioned.

"I did have an argument with a friend of mine before I started to have this dream. It was in the Gym Hall. Perhaps we should start there?" Sunset replied, drawing her defensive weapon.

It looked to be a crudely sharpened rapier with a crossbow mechanism attached by a sticky substance that was grey in colour, but no bows were evident.

"You positive that you can use your... Weapon... Efficiently?" Luna questioned, still inspecting the homemade weapon from afar.

"It has handled everything so far, and all of the sharper weapons are in the Gym. But there has been far too many of those people to get through." Sunset added.

"Then let us make haste." Luna added before making her way to the source of the Nightmare.

After a few corridors were transversed, the entrance to the Gym Hall was evident, but before the door was a mass horde of corpses before the double doors.

Luna immediately drew her Blades and engaged in crowd controlling tactics while Sunset tackled one or two corpses at a time. Usually ending in Sunset activating the strange object attached to her rapier, which was very loud and aggravated all corpses towards Sunset, granting Luna more opportunities to strike.

Utilising this tactic, Luna and Sunset eventually dispatched all corpses that were loitering besides the entrance, granting them full access to the Gym Hall.

Opening the door, Luna and Sunset saw one figure in the middle of the hall, sporting an attire similar to Luna's, but was extremely bloodied. They also were sporting an Siderite Scythe, alongside a sheathed Saw Cleaver.

Noticing their presence, the figure rotated and stared down the duo, brandishing the Scythe with high skill before taking on an offensive stance.

"Pinkie... Is that you...?"

Author's Note

Conclusion chapter coming very soon indeed.

Bloodlust

Pinkamena Diane Pie stood strong within the Gym Hall, equipped with the spoils of war from her previous encounter. Facial expressions unwavering from nothing more than a stoic scowl, expressing emotions through body language.

Luna could feel the power that was emanating from the foe that stood before her in a threatening manner, and she knew that the Element of Laughter would not behave in such an animalistic and savage way.

Maintaining eye contact, Luna began to circle the invader to the left, as Sunset began to circle to the right, presenting an opportunity once she was distracted from the other adversary that was stood behind her.

Glancing towards the blood stained gym walls and bleachers that were littered with entrails, Luna deducted that this waste of skin was the cause of the massacre within the supposed safe haven for eager students.

Constantly facing Luna, Pinkie Pie paid no attention towards Sunset and gave her no opportunity to strike for when Sunset began her charge to impale and fire the device, Pinkie sensed the sudden rush of movement and brush of wind and charged directly forward, inverting the Siderite Scythe for a deadly upward slash intended for Luna.

Luna preformed a well timed roll just before Pinkie swung upward, granting an opportunity for light damage as Luna sliced at her legs as Sunset continued her own charge to thrust her small weapon into Pinkie's back.

Causing a light stagger, Luna had bought time for Sunset to complete her charge from behind and drove her blade into Pinkie's lower back, clearly making sure that the sharp and rusty blade protruded from the exit wound the blade created. Taking a pivoting step back, Sunset lifted Pinkie up slightly with her strong arm and fired the mechanism that was attached to the blade, causing the careless hunter to be flailed forward, crashing onto her front.

Sensing an opportunity, Luna charged but calculated timing wrong and was greeted by a brutal impact of the butt of the Scythe staff to the side of the head, causing a stagger of her own. Utilising the stagger, Pinkie wielded the Scythe and brought it down with incredible speed, causing a deep laceration in Luna's barrel.

An agonising gasp escaped Luna's lips as she left her attire and flesh rip at will from the downward slash.

As Pinkie was recoiling from the fierce slash, Sunset caught eye of another firearm that was loosely clattering at Pinkie's side and would be easy to quickly disarm her. Pinkie took pride in giving her prey the sense of helplessness and began to raise her Scythe again, intending to drive the blade through Luna's skull, granting her a quick, but painful death.

As the blade was reaching the apex of the downward swing, Sunset seized the moment and drove her blade into Pinkie's gut from behind, causing Pinkie to emit a beastly gurgle as the short blade tore through her innards. Using her free hand, Sunset grabbed the other firearm and used her right leg to kick away Pinkie as she twisted and ripped the blade out from within her side.

After quickly climbing to her feet and after noticing that she felt something was missing, Pinkie patted her sides and quickly saw that Sunset was now wielding two firearms.

Growing a smirk, Pinkie leapt into the air, sweeping the Scythe through the air as she roared. Clicking her newly acquired weaponry with a loaded round, Sunset rose her aim and fired a shot directly into Pinkie's chest, causing her to drop all momentum and crash to her knees, dropping her Siderite Scythe.

As Luna recovered from her harsh laceration to the barrel, she noticed the shot that are projected into Pinkie and began sprinting towards them both, wielding her Arcanium Blades strongly as she has just witnessed a perfect mid-air parry, bringing Pinkie to her knees.

Driving all her momentum into her blades, Luna immediately drove them into Pinkie as soon as she impacted the floor, leaving no chances of redemption and began twisting the blades violently, before ripping them out of Pinkie in opposite directions, causing very large and deep lacerations that causes Pinkie to keel over with her injuries.

A subtle nod was given from Luna to Sunset to appreciate the vital opportunity that was presented to her that could have very well, saved their lives. Noticing the discarded Scythe on the gym floor, Luna levitated the blade, folded it back into a convenient posture and clipped it comfortably to her Hunter Attire, before turning her attention to Pinkie, who had since recovered from her devastating visceral attack.

Struggling to stand straight due to the many wounds that she had sustained, Pinkie grabbed the sheathed Saw Cleaver in her right hand, and snapped it into the position that would benefit from substantial centrifugal force.

Luna was the first to charge, emitting a loud cry of anger as she brought her blades up high. Due to witnessing the first move, Pinkie was quick to dodge the oncoming onslaught of attacks and swung her Saw Cleaver, ripping through the fur and flesh of Luna's right hind-leg, causing mild bleeding.

Luna was quick to react, slashing horizontally in retaliation and catching Pinkie across the torso, causing both to stagger and assess their situations. What Pinkie did not expect, was Sunset silently driving her blade directly into her neck, emitting horrid gargles and splutters before Pinkie had a chance to register what had just occurred.

Luna limped quickly, catching distance and pirouetted into Pinkie's space, causing a stagger as Sunset withdrew her blade, following a spout of blood to spill onto the floor.

Feeling the rage grow within, Luna began to slash at Pinkie's increasingly lifeless body, laceration after laceration, not letting her stamina stop her unending flurry of deadly attacks as they gradually sped up in velocity.

After all of her stamina had been drained so that Luna could barely stand, Pinkie's sliced and bloody body keeled over into a worthless pile, spilling blood in the pints. Pinkie had fallen, and Luna had to maintain her nerves, as the beasthood within her had grasped many fibres of her being.

Luna considered it revenge for the massacre that this horrid Nightmare had caused to this unwilling victim.

Taking long breaths, Luna sheathed her blades and stood over the now lifeless body. Luna knew that this was her most formidable challenge, and through the assistance of another, she also fell to her demise.

"May you find your worth in the waking world." Luna muttered before using her precise magic to close Pinkie's eyelids, granting her peace at last. With her back to Sunset, she closed her eyes and took a deep inhale before thanking Sunset for her valiant efforts.

"I would like to thank you for assistance in defeating the source of this nightma-" Luna spoke only to be interrupted.

She felt a sudden shortness of breath. A warm liquid began trickling down her matted fur and dripped onto the floor, quickly creating a pool of thick, dark blood. Luna's eyes widened as she started to feel the pain of impalement, cutting off her ability to think rationally.

Looking behind her accompanied by extreme agony, Luna saw the source of the pain. Sunset had driven the Saw Cleaver that Pinkie wielded in the previous battle right through Luna's barrel, ripping apart flesh, destroying innards and crushing bones until the blade protruded from the other side.

Twisting the blade violently, Sunset ripped the blade out of the mortal wound, leaving Luna to collapse in pain, not able to tend to the large amounts of blood she was losing quickly.

As Luna writhed in pain, feeling the familiar clutches of death enveloping her, Sunset stood above her, with a smug smile on her face.

"Thanks for getting rid of her for me, she was difficult for me. But due to you being such a narrow minded fool, I have bested you as well. This nightmare is mine to rule, and I shall see that you have no intervention inside of it. Sweet dreams, Princess Luna." Sunset spoke proudly, snapping the Saw Cleaver back into a compact position before leaving Luna to be encompassed by the familiar numbness of death.

Oh, you may think of it all, as a mere, bad dream.

Luna awakened within her Relaxation Room, immediately greeted by a further disturbingly warped Paleblood Eclipse. Luna stood slowly, feeling the familiarity of a healthy and untainted body.

However, her thoughts were far from untainted. Luna felt the rage from the betrayal from Sunset Shimmer radiate from her body, causing her to visibly shake with anger.

Turning and looking into the cracked bedside mirror, Luna stared at her twisted reflection that possessed fangs, red eyes and a thirst for blood. Luna was witnessing the beasthood within her, but this was not for euphoric purposes.

Luna wanted revenge. Sunset Shimmer would be slain by her blade, and no honour shall be blessed upon the ensuing battle.

Author's Note

Sorry that this story hadn't received much attention these past few weeks, I have been dealing with the platinum completion of Bloodborne, college starting, personal issues and even the production of another story.

If you are wondering where Pinkie Pie fought her first battle, read this story; http://www.fimfiction.net/story/271126/the-hunter-and-the-prey