Protectors of the Dreamscape

"The battles ahead of you will be difficult. You will be tested. Both physically and emotionally."

~~~

A tiny part of Whisper was disappointed. There was no big 'congratulations, you summoned your weapon'... anything, really. Nopony seemed to think it was a huge deal. Most of the Dreamguard didn't really say anything about it, said a simple "good job", or (in Locket's case) they replied with an off-hoofed "That's nice, dear." Whisper knew that in the big scheme of things having a weapon in the Dreamguard was expected of her, but that didn't completely dispel the disappointment she felt about nopony really caring about it.

It wasn't all bad though. When she'd come back to base she'd been given her own 'room'. This turned out to be being taught how to create doorways leading to specific areas and imagining a room for herself. A place to go when she needed to rest or be alone. The advantage of this was that nopony could enter her room without her knowing as it was tied to her directly. Locket had described it as "retreating into a tiny slice of your mind."

Whisper had (unintentionally) created an exact replica of her room in Canterlot. It had the same posters on the wall, the same boxes of well-kept comic books, and the same dresser that had once belonged to her grandmother. It even had the same lumpy mattress she'd called a bed.

Whisper had spent her free time since the battle with the trogs in her room, playing with the deadly weapon that she wore as an accessory. She didn't really 'get' how the weapon worked, per se. Sure, she could control it to some extent, but she couldn't explain how. Maybe it was all her time reading comics growing up. Maybe it was just the way Whisper's mind worked. To her, there was a difference between using an object and knowing about how it worked. It was during one of her many little sessions of toying with her new weapon, which she'd have reminded fillies to not do at home had there been any present, when somepony knocked on her door.

"We got some more trogs popping up, lass. You're up." Lucky's distinct voice called from the other side.

"Coming." Whisper replied, carefully wrapping her scarf again.

I really need to find something better to call this. 'Scarf'  isn't exactly a heroic weapon name." She thought. "Excalispur and Maresil were awesome swords." Whisper made a mental note to think of something after taking care of the situation ahead.

~~~

The dream Whisper found herself in was shockingly different from the one she'd fought trogs in previously.

The world twisted and morphed, constantly shifting it's geometry. Stairs shifted into ramps before turning into hallways that twisted until you were walking on the ceiling. One moment the dream seemed to be made of nothing but marble, the next it was solid gold and encrusted with gems. Curtains shifted between a myriad of colors so quickly that it wasn't possible to process what color you were looking at before it was different.

"This is giving me a headache already." Whisper groaned. It was like a funhouse built by an indecisive clown.

"Stick close, now. Don't wanna get separated, now do we?" Lucky told the trio.

"Agreed." Came the reply from Sentinel. The unicorn had insisted on accompanying the two into the fight. Whisper didn't understand how yet, but Sentinel seemed certain that there would be more trogs than Lucky and Whisper could handle on their own.

"Where are the trogs?" Whisper asked as the three moved down a ramp that rapidly shifted into a stairwell heading upwards.

"Nearby." Sentinel gave another one word answer.

The three fell into silence as they moved. All of them were on edge, as if they could sense somepony watching them. Whisper stopped and spun around as she heard a clacking noise. There was nothing there.

Whisper turned back to follow her teammates, only to hit an impasse. More specifically, there was a wall in her path where there was once a hallway.

"Oh that's not good." Whisper said aloud. "All right, don't panic. Words to live by, there." A familiar growling came from behind her.

Turning again, the mare found herself facing three trogs. The stocky fish-creatures regarded her with a mix of curiosity and hunger. Whisper slipped her weapon from her neck and floated it nearby, readying herself for the imminent attack.

One of the trogs charged first, leaping through the air to close the gap. Whisper swirled her scarf to block the attack, already planning her counterattack. The trog struck from above, cutting the mare's side painfully. Whisper rolled reflexively, bringing her scarf up to her injured side.

Confusion set in quickly. "I saw it jump at me, how'd it get above me?" The answer turned out to be frustratingly simple. The terrain had shifted beneath Whisper's hooves, lowering the mare and opening a gap in her defenses.

The trog let out a screech and charged again, a second one joining the attack. Whisper felt the shifts in the terrain this time and was ready. The floor moved itself upwards again as the walls ballooned outwards, creating a circular courtyard. Grass sprouted from marble, and statues formed themselves out of swirling puddles of obsidian.

Whisper used the shift in terrain to her advantage. She lashed out with her weapon, slicing cleanly through the first trog as she moved upwards with the floor. The second trog came from the side, presumably thinking it had seen an opening. Whisper had expected the tandem attack, grabbing the end of her weapon in her teeth and spinning with a flourish. The scarf cracked like a whip, removing the top of the trog's head at the jaw.

Whisper ended the flourish facing the last trog. Make that four trogs. "Lucky wasn't kidding about the multiplying thing."

The cream-colored mare took a deep breath and charged.

~~~

"I told her to stick close." Sentinel pointed out dourly. "Now she is in peril."

"Relax, Sen. The lass is a natural. She'll take care o' any trogs in her way and find a way back." Lucky chuckled around the hilt of his sword.

"I do not wish to lose another comrade."

"Aye." Lucky's voice dropped into a more serious tone. "I don' either. But Whisper's got a good head on her shoulders. A few trogs shouldn't stop her."

Sentinel and Lucky were back-to-back, standing on their hind legs in the center of a horde of trogs. The two moved in synchronous fluidity, striking down any trog foolish enough to step within the radius of death the warriors had created. Lucky struck viciously at a trog, removing the poor creature's legs before a shimmering halberd swooped in at an angle, adding a new hole to the trog's face.

"It is not the trogs that make me fear for our newest recruit." Sentinel said coolly before slamming the butt of his weapon into another trog with a sickening crack.

~~~

Whisper panted heavily, now standing in an empty street where the courtyard had been. It had taken what seemed like forever to take down every trog that attacked.

"It's official. I hate trogs." The mare huffed as she flopped back onto her rump. "Too many of the darn things, if you ask me." Whisper took a moment to take stock of her injuries. A few cuts and scratches, but nothing major. "Right then, off to find the others. I hope they're all right."

Whisper set off down the street, which seemed to be having difficulty deciding if it was going to be made of dirt, gravel, or paved. It seemed to find a careful balance after a few moments, settling on a bizarre patchwork amalgam of all three options.

"Somepony's got weird dreams." Whisper pointed out to nopony in particular. "I wonder whose dream I'm in, anyway."

Whisper let her mind wander a bit, thinking back to cool weapon names while she kept an eye out for trogs and the others. Whisper preferred to find Lucky and Sentinel first.

Once she got used to the constantly changing world, Whisper had to admit that it was rather pretty, in it's own way. The colors of the sky swirled together, creating an aurora of colors Whisper had never seen before. Small patches of starlight could be seen peeking through the swirls overhead.

Hoofsteps from up ahead pulled Whisper's attention from the sky. She quickened her pace, glad to have somehow caught up to her companions.

"I'm so glad I found you guys before I-" Whisper stopped mid-sentence, staring at a horror only the most twisted of minds could conceive.

~~~

"Ya know something, Sen? We're fuckin' good at this!" Lucky laughed heartily as he caught his breath.

"Indeed. But we have no time to rest. Whisper is separated from us." Sentinel reminded Lucky. "We should get moving. She is this way." He began to move, refusing to stop when Lucky called after him.

The area around them had shifted dramatically. The pair found themselves walking on a wall, with chairs stuck to what should be the floor on their right, and a chandelier 'hanging' sideways on their left. They paid no mind to the bizarre world around them.

Sentinel was constantly scanning the room for the first signs of trogs. He could feel that there were more around, though he couldn't tell exactly where. The gray-blue unicorn furrowed his brow as he focused.

"Ya keep frownin' like that and your face will freeze that way." Lucky jabbed playfully at Sentinel.

"We do not have time for jokes. We need to finish off these trogs and find Whisper." Sentinel said evenly as he walked up a slide. "I am eager to finish our work here."

"Aye, I can't argue that." Lucky conceded. The two fell into silence as Sentinel lead the way.

A large double door formed on a wall just ahead of the two, swinging open with a loud groan. Behind it was probably the most comfortable-looking room Lucky had ever seen.

The floor was carpeted with a violet velvet rug. Furniture dotted the room in various hues of white. A large painting of a purple-maned, white mare hung over a softly crackling fire. A pony that matched the painting was sitting at a small workstation, flinging bolts of fabric about and murmuring to herself.

"Looks like we found tonight's dreamer," Lucky whispered to Sentinel. "and she's a cute one."

The mare in question hadn't noticed the two of them. As they approached, Lucky and Sentinel could hear swearing and complaining as her fabrics were deemed insufficient in some way or another.

"No, much too obtrusive. This would clash horribly with the skirt. Ew, no. Just no." The mare complained. "Oh, this is simply too much!"

"Excuse me, lass." Lucky interrupted the mare. "Can I ask ya what you're doin'?"

The mare spun about on her stool, her eyes wide with shock. She quickly surveyed the two stallions before her and composed herself expertly.

"Hello, there. I'm simply trying to find a new design for one of my dresses. I am Rarity. Might I ask your name?"

"Well, my friend here is Sentinel. He's the strong silent type, if you're into that sort o' thing. My name's Lucky Charm. If you'd like I could be your lucky charm for the night." He introduced himself with a smirk and a wink. Sentinel nudged his friend with an admonishing look.

"Sorry, 'bout that." Lucky apologized with a chuckle. "Anyway, we're lookin' for a friend. Have ya seen her?"

"Terribly sorry darling, but I haven't seen anypony else here. Now, if you don't mind I really need to get back to my work." Rarity dismissed the two as politely as she could.

"Right, well... Carry on then, lass." Lucky started walking away. "If ya need us for anything, and I do mean anything, you just let me know."

"Mhmm..." Rarity dismissed Lucky with a wave of her hoof. She was clearly looking for something else in her dream.

"Let us go, Lucky." Sentinel said sternly as he began moving again.

"All right, let's move then." Lucky pouted.

~~~

Whisper's voice caught in her throat. The creature she was staring at could have been called a spider, if spiders were about the size of a carriage. And had two extra legs,ten in total, all of which ended in hooves. And of course, if spiders had the front half of a unicorn mare sticking out of their head.

"Well, hello there." The mare part of spider-thing spoke after a long silence. "Are you lost, little morsel?"

Whisper made an attempt to reply, but only managed to let out a small squeak of fear at the sight of spider-thing.

"Oh, don't be like that, little morsel. I don't plan on eating you today." Spider-thing slowly circled Whisper, slowly looking the mare up and down. Whisper rotated as spider-thing did so, making sure to keep her eyes on it while it moved.

"Wh-what are you?" Whisper finally found words to say. Spider-thing stopped and tapped a foreleg to her chin.

"Well, that's an interesting question. What am I? Maybe I'm just part of this dream. A figment of somepony's imagination. Or maybe I'm something wicked, here to feast upon anypony who I deem fit to eat." Spider-thing tilted her head in thought. "Truthfully, I am here to watch and nothing more. You may call me Somnia, little morsel. To answer your question, I am an observer."

"Of what?" Whisper asked, finally getting over her shock.

"Everthing. The ponies that dream, your princesses, the ponies that call themselves Dreamguard. Even you, little morsel, will be watched." Somnia grinned mischievously. "What are you called?"

"Whisper." The mare replied, straightening just a bit.

"Well, little Whisper, I must bid you farewell for now. Your friends approach, and I don't care to meet them. Enjoy your hunting." Somnia brushed past Whisper and stepped into the shadows, stopping for a split second and looking over her shoulder. "The trogs you seek are that way." She pointed in the direction she claimed the trogs were. "Ta ta for now."

Somnia melted into the shadows of a wall that had not been there when she'd first started speaking with Whisper.

Whisper stared intently at the shadows, as if Somnia would jump out and surprise her. Nopony came from the shadows.

"Whisper? Are ya all right, lass?" The mare jumped in surprise and whirled around to see Lucky and Sentinel giving her worried expressions.

"I, um... uh," Whisper stammered, losing her train of thought. "Um, what?"

"I asked if you're all right. You look like ya just seen a ghost." Lucky placed a hoof on her shoulder, looking deeply into Whisper's eyes.

"I'm fine I just saw... something weird in the dream." Whisper replied. Even as she answered Whisper wondered why she wasn't saying everything.

"Well all right then, let's go hunt some trogs." Lucky grinned and started walking in the direction that wasn't where Whisper was told the trogs were at.

"Wait! They're this way." Whisper blurted out.

"How do you know that?" Sentinel finally spoke up, eyeing Whisper.

"I... saw one run off that way." Whisper lied, silently kicking herself for not just being honest. "Dammit, Whisper!" The mare mentally berated herself.

"Let us get moving then. The longer we wait the more trogs we must battle." Sentinel eyes lingered on Whisper for a moment longer, like he was looking for something. He finally seemed to give up and began trotting off in the direction Whisper had indicated. Whisper and Lucky followed close behind.

~~~

Whisper stared down at the remaining trogs in shock. She'd thought there had been a lot of trogs when she'd learned to summon her weapon. Now she realized that that was nothing compared to the scene before her.

The trogs had gathered en masse at the bottom of a patchwork hill. They seemed to be just milling about, shrieking and groaning at each other. A few hundred scaly creatures pressed against each other, oddly reminding Whisper of the time she'd been to a Countess Coloratura concert. They writhed and shoved each other, vying for space in the tightly compacted mass The very air around them seemed to shimmer and crack with silvery-white energy.

"What do we do?" Whisper asked, keeping her voice low.

"We fight." Sentinel bluntly replied. "You see those white glowing spots? Those are cracks forming in the Dreamscape."

"That's bad, right?" Whisper flattened her ears to her head.

"Aye. That's why we're here, though. To stop it." Lucky grinned in excitement. "Tell ya what lass, I'll let you get the ugly ones and I'll take care of the pretty ones."

"But they're all ugly- Hey!" Whisper shot a look at Lucky.

"Then you got your work cut out for you. We'll be right alongside ya, though." Lucky smirked.

Sentinel said nothing, opting to simply summon his weapon. A long glowing halberd with a sun etched into the head of the axe portion of the weapon. Lucky picked up on Sentinel's cue and his own sword shimmered into existence.

"All right, now! Let's go!" Lucky charged headlong into the horde, letting out a cry as he plunged into the ranks of trogs.

It was a bloodbath. Lucky cleaved through the trog ranks like they were butter. Whisper skirted the edges of the horde, striking at anything that came within her strike radius. Sentinel waded into the horde, a rock against the tide of foes that surged towards him. Trogs fell by the dozens, too stupid to come up with any real plan of attack beyond 'kill pony.'

Whisper lost herself to the cadence of battle. She whirled and spun, creating an enchanting ballet of death for any trog that dared try to close the gap. Her scarf twirled and pirouetted through the air cutting deeply into the flesh of Whisper's enemies, an extension of her will. Whisper allowed herself the tiniest of smiles.

'This is why I said yes to Luna. This is why I joined the Dreamguard. I'm like one of the heroes from my comics. No, I am a hero. This is how I'll protect Equestria!' Whisper thought to herself. She lost track of Lucky and Sentinel. As far as she knew, there was nopony else here. Not even herself. There was only this moment. This battle. A small laugh escaped Whisper as she fought harder, slipping into an almost instinctual trance.

Whisper's focus was broken. In an instant, her momentum was halted as pain shot through one of her hind legs. She looked down to see a trog biting deeply into her flesh.

The rest of the trogs nearby wasted no time, swarming over the mare in the blink of an eye. They tore and scratched at her, biting wherever they could reach. Whisper tried focusing on her weapon through the pain, but to no avail. There were too many trogs for her weapon to be effective. Whisper could hear a shriek of terror from somewhere.

The scream was hers.

Just as suddenly as the trogs had overwhelmed Whisper, they were gone. Blown to dust in a blast of golden light. Whisper looked up to see Sentinel staring down at her with contempt. Whisper felt herself trembling, wanting to shrink away from sight.

"Get up." Sentinel commanded the mare. "Fight."

Whisper stood shakily, trying her best to ignore the pain she felt. Sentinel turned away and waded back into the thinning ranks of the trogs. Whisper took up her weapon again, but her heart wasn't in the fight any more. She spent her time picking off trogs that wandered too far from their comrades for the rest of the fight. After what felt like hours, the last of the trogs fell to Lucky's blade, dispersing in a cloud of black smog.

"Hell of a fight, eh Whisper?" Lucky called out to the shaken mare. Whisper didn't respond. Instead, she broke down into tears. The terror she felt at being overwhelmed finally flooding over her in force. "Was it something I said?"

"Let's get back. The cracks are fading and I'm not sensing any more trogs." Sentinel brushed past the others, summoning a door to take them back home. Whisper followed, her head hanging low.

~~~

"Aw, don't be like that Sen. She's not got the same experience as us." Lucky tried placating the angry stallion. Whisper merely sat nearby, unable to tear her eyes from her hooves.

"Exactly! She does not have the same experience we do. She should have stayed back and learned something." Sentinel snapped back.

The others were nowhere to be found. Presumably they were off on a mission of their own. Whisper was grateful for their absence.

"How do ya expect the lass to learn anything by watchin'?" Lucky asked. "It's not how I learned to fight. I can't imagine it's how you learned either."

"That's exactly how I learned to fight. I watched my superiors and learned everything from them." Sentinel replied sharply before looking to Whisper. "And it's how you're going to learn, too. Next mission I go on you are to follow and observe, nothing more. Understand?"

Whisper nodded silently. Sentinel seemed to accept the answer, as he chose to walk away. He quickly summoned up another door and stepped through, slamming it shut before it faded from view.

Whisper's stomach was somewhere near her hooves. Her brush with death had left her feeling terrified and ashamed. She looked up as she felt a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about him, lass. He means well." Lucky smiled softly. "He just can't show how scared he was for ya. Part o' bein' a royal guard and all that."

"Sentinel was a guard?" Whisper sniffled, curiosity clawing it's way over the other emotions she felt.

"Aye. Spent years as part of Luna's night guard. When he retired, she offered him a chance at the Dreamguard. You should ask him about it some time."

Whisper nodded.

"I guess I'll have plenty of time to ask when he goes on his next mission, huh?" Whisper smiled weakly.

"That's the spirit, lass. We'll make a warrior outta you yet." Lucky smirked, making Whisper's own smile widen.

"Thanks Lucky." Whisper stood and gave the stallion a quick hug before retiring to her own room.