The Nightmare in the Corner

by MidnightChaos

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Tantabus, Random, Gore, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Human, Main 6, Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna, Original Character
Length: 2081

Dave, a young brony, has found himself wandering the dreams of children as a 'tantabus'.

Dave attended a local con and wanted to buy an amulet from the Merchant. As he went to buy it, the Merchant kept refusing before another man interrupted and gave him it, forcing him to swear a vow.
Now Dave is a 'tantabus' dwelling amongst the dreams of children and saving them from the nightmares that try to hurt them. Dave, the one with the power of dreams.

Published 2016-02-22 06:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-12-22 16:25:02 UTC

Dreamland

I was a brony, long time, so when I finally watched ‘Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep’, I was ecstatic. I could see my costume for the next con. I would be the humanoid tantabus. I would bring the nightmares to the land!

Ok maybe I wasn’t that dramatic, but still. I already had a deep blue body suit, don’t ask. So all I had to do all the ‘stars’ or whatever you want to call them. It should’ve been generally fantastic. When I look back now, it was a very bad idea.

And, I don’t mean that like, ‘it ended up terrible,’ no, I mean it in the eternally FUCKED way. Returning from the tangent, I finished the suit and it looked fantastic. The con was even more fun, at the beginning, when I first entered. The compliments made me very happy, especially when people requested pictures.

That was the first part of the most horrific ride of my life. I had been scanning the booths, particularly anything with Luna merchandise or anything similar. When I finally came across a necklace, the man at the booth frowned, “I can’t sell that, not to you that is.”

“Why not?” I asked him. It was weird, I was even offering a little more than he requested, and he still wasn’t going for it.

“It’s reserved for another customer,” the man said, frowning towards me. I raised an eyebrow before speaking again.

“I assume you have more?” I asked him, putting emphasis on the word more.

“Well, of course I do, but-“ he started, only to be cut off by another man, one who was dressed as Rumpelstiltskin from OUAT, stepping out and glaring at him.

“Why don’t you go ahead and sell it to him,” Rumpel said, smiling, “dearie.”

The man in the cloak flinched and nodded, “Alright. Go ahead,” he said stepping back for Rumpel to step forward and grab the amulet, a half sun and moon made in silver and gold. “Here you are dearie,” he held it forward, “But first. Do you vow to become who you must? To forge ahead with your power?”

I was puzzled and then I realized, they were roleplaying, “Of course. By the power of the sun and moon I vow.”

He passed the amulet to me and I put it on, fastening it around my neck. It fell to my chest softly and my words began echoing through my mind.

“By the power of the moon I vow,” I heard myself say, over and over again. Eventually, my vision went black all except for a moon and a sun which appeared before me. I saw something split from myself, a darker silhouette with dark orange sparks inside of him, and then I began falling towards the moon.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a strange land. A young looking foal, a young horse, was shivering backwards from something. It looked like a nightmare. The poor little filly was cornered by a weird shadowy creature.

I know that sounds vague, but that’s my best way to describe what I was seeing. A weird, rather large creature that had massive claws of shadow and tentacles out of its back. It lunged towards the pony, and I, on instinct, blocked it.

The filly screamed, but when the creature didn’t get her, she looked up. “Hiya kiddo!” I said to her, smiling, “Want me to get rid of the nightmare?” I asked, referencing the creature in front of me.

She nodded rapidly and I smiled again, “You got it.”

I turned around and started singing, “Bad dream, bad dream, go away. We don’t need you here today. Bad dream, bad dream, you sleep all day, so this time I’ll make you go away!” I sang as I grabbed it, and suddenly felt the world begin to change with the little filly’s laughter.

The beast shrunk down into my oddly colored hands, dark blue with specks. Interesting, though, I was more concerned with the filly at the time. She seemed a lot happier.

I grinned back at her as she pulled up a table, “Tea party?” She asked, getting a larger smile from me.

“Don’t mind if I do,” I said, grabbing one of the cups, “What kind might the tea be, miss?”

“It’s Zebrican Herbal, one of my favorites, just like my mommy,” she said, pouring some tea into the cup.

“Where is your mommy, little one?” I asked her, sipping at the tea.

“I’m not really sure,” the filly looked troubled, “But she’s gone.”

“Well, I could help you search for her!” I said, flexing my muscles, “I’m big and strong you know.”

She giggled happily, before shaking her head, “No, I can do it. Mommy told me I was special,” she said, puffing out her little chest. Downright adorable. She stopped, “So I have to do it with my dreams.”

“And you’re here for that?” I asked her, peeking past the tea cup, hiding my frown. Something was off for this poor little filly.

She nodded heftily, “Mhm. I was looking for mama when the monster came, but then you saved me!” She squealed.

I grinned and hugged her, “Well, I’ll be here then. If you ever need me, just shout, okay?”

The little filly nodded again, “Okay! But, who are you?”

I pondered for a minute, deciding to give her my real name, “I’m Dave.”

The filly smiled wide, “Okay Mr. Dave, I’ll call you if I need you.”

I smiled back, “So, who are you then?”

The filly began fading, “I’m Woona!” The filly said, before disappearing completely. I gaped as the world shifted once more. I had just met my favorite pony princess as a filly, and they were exceptionally adorable and fluffy.

I found myself deep in another nightmare, this time with a young colt. I pushed my thoughts about the Woona, and made my ways towards the young colt and the demonic nightmare in front of him.

Fearland

I was a brony, long time, so when I finally watched ‘Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep’, I was ecstatic. I could see my costume for the next con. I would be the humanoid tantabus. I would bring the nightmares to the land!

Ok maybe I wasn’t that dramatic, but still. I already had a deep blue body suit, don’t ask. So all I had to do all the ‘stars’ or whatever you want to call them. It should’ve been generally fantastic. When I look back now, it was a very bad idea.

And, I don’t mean that like, ‘it ended up terrible,’ no, I mean it in the eternally FUCKED way. Returning from the tangent, I finished the suit and it looked fantastic. The con was even more fun, at the beginning, when I first entered. The compliments made me very happy, especially when people requested pictures.

That was the first part of the most horrific ride of my life. I had been scanning the booths, particularly anything with Luna merchandise or anything similar. When I finally came across a necklace, the man at the booth frowned, “I can’t sell that, not to you that is.”

“Why not?” I asked him. It was weird, I was even offering a little more than he requested, and he still wasn’t going for it.

“It’s reserved for another customer,” the man said, frowning towards me. I raised an eyebrow before speaking again.

“I assume you have more?” I asked him, putting emphasis on the word more.

“Well, of course I do, but-“ he started, only to be cut off by another man, one who was dressed as Rumpelstiltskin from OUAT, stepping out and glaring at him.

“Why don’t you go ahead and sell it to him,” Rumpel said, smiling, “dearie.”

The man in the cloak flinched and nodded, “Alright. Go ahead,” he said stepping back for Rumpel to step forward and grab the amulet, a half sun and moon made in silver and gold. “Here you are dearie,” he held it forward, “But first. Do you vow to become who you must? To forge ahead with your power?”

I was puzzled and then I realized, they were roleplaying, “Of course. By the power of the sun and moon I vow.”

He passed the amulet to me and I put it on, fastening it around my neck. It fell to my chest softly and my words began echoing through my mind.

“By the power of the sun I vow,” I heard myself say, over and over again. Eventually, my vision went black all except for a moon and a sun which appeared before me. I saw something split from myself, a brighter silhouette with light blue sparks inside of him, and then I began falling towards the sun.

When I opened my eyes there was a great darkness before me. It burned me, it burned my very soul. I watched as creatures, young and old, were born and died. I watched great powers wander in this...this, Void. It was amazing. Eternity, and it would be in my grasp! I felt my face fall into a grin.

All I had to do was plunge Equestria into an eternal nightmare, to plunge it into fear! I grinned as I fell backwards, deep into the world once more, landing in the dream of a child. The poor young thing was having a wonderful dream about a land of sweets. I let out a slight d'aw and approached it.

"Hello child," I said, grinning wider, "Care to have some fun?"

The little thing seemed ignorant, as if it couldn't fear me. It didn't think I was dangerous! That I was just another part of its dream. Fantastic. I approached as the little thing looked up at me, sweet and innocent. "Do you want to play?" It asked.

"Of course," I said, grinning wildly, before holding out a hand, "Grab on."

Her hoof approached my hand and as it connected, I was given all her nightmares. My grin stayed as I let go, I looked down at her and bopped her on the nose. "Time to play~" I laughed as I released the nightmares forth, deep into the land of dreams, before looking to the little horse. She had backed away from the creature that had decided to go for her.

"Feast, my little nightmare, for we will plunge this world into a land of eternal fear!" I let another laugh loose before turning around and leaving to find another dream, another thing to torment. I left the dream, stepping into the torrent of nightmares and dreams that races across the world.

It wasn't long before I found another sweet little dream, this time, it was a creature much like myself, in fact, it was the very silhouette from before. He was sitting on the ground having a tea party with another child. This one seemed so powerful, incredibly strong. Her nightmares would have to become mine.

Except, that thing was still there. It was casually talking with the little horse, almost seeming to cheer it up. I watched, oh-so-closely, as he talked away her little nightmares. It was terrible, that thing got rid of the nightmares.

I grinned, "Oh, yes, a challenge!" I clapped eagerly before launching myself out into another dream, this time the child was laughing in a fair. With a simple snap, I changed the rides. The Ferris Wheel became an increasingly fast death ride, the blood of its victims spraying out.

The Merry-Go-'Round began warping into a spinning wheel of blades, slicing the horses nearby into little strips of meat. One by one, I changed the other rides into terrifying weapons of death and destruction. With a grin, I watched as the child ran screaming before she woke up.

After finding a spot, I stood up in front of the Ferris Wheel, and summoned my Nightmares. "HELLO, BESTIES! Isn't it an absolutely fantastic day? The sun is shining, the bodies are rotting," I took a deep breath, "and we are ready to rule. Oh, ho, ho, my wonderful friends, Jon, Andrew, Phil," I nodded to three different nightmares, "We are going to drive this land into darkness. Now, I'm certain you're wondering who I am. Yes, Phil, I know your wife enjoys chocolate but nows not the time. As I was saying, I, besties, am the Tantabus! And together, Equestria will be ours. Welcome to you, friends, to *Fearland*!"

Roodaka

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Shadows

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Moon

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Liber de Phantasiis

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Rain

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Master Plans

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Dark Magic

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