The door clicked shut and Arthur let loose a held breath. He stood on the steps of Carousel Boutique for a moment as he replayed his encounter over in his head.

When she cracked him over the skull his only thought had been to kick and punch and scream; to fight. He was sure the pony’s reaction was almost the opposite. She looked guilty when he first grabbed her, like a child caught stealing a cookie. Even when he had been choking her, her eyes still looked… innocent? He wasn’t sure the proper word, but it was like she was shocked at the very concept of murder.

Why did she help him? After he broke into her home no less! What was this place? Back home there would have been screaming, threatening. More than a weak bash to his head, at least.

Was life really that peaceful here? Or could she tell he wasn’t going to hurt her? The whole situation sent shivers down his spine. Arthur shook the thoughts from his weary mind, finally forcing his body forward into the moonlight night.

The streets of the village were still vacant when he started away from Carousel Boutique. He was too tired to gawk anymore at the primitive thatch-roofed homes; too tired to even keep track of time. The only reminders he was still awake shifted between the distinct clip-clop his hooves made and the throbbing in his side from his injury. At least the bleeding had been stopped.

“Tch,” Arthur clicked his tongue as he glanced around. He was beginning to grow annoyed, his body ached like he had been in a battle and yet he couldn’t recall anything since the giant back home...

A cool breeze blew through Arthur that caused him to shudder. He shoved that particular memory to the furthest reaches of his mind.

His body recalled a battle his mind couldn’t. That worried him. Something about this sensation was familiar. His injury had been caused by some kind of blade, no claw would have left such a clean injury. Nor would it have sliced into his ribs as easily.

“Doesn’t do me any good to think about it,” Arthur grumbled as he looked up at a signpost to verify he was going the right way. He was heading to a place he had spotted on his way into town, a humble little farm on the outskirts of town. It had too many barns for the family of four that owned it to keep track of. There were plenty of places he could hide and rest and plenty of food he could eat.

Arthur’s steps grew harder as he pushed himself up the trail to the farm, Sweet Apple Acres if the sign was to be trusted. A yawn escaped his mouth as he entered the property, it wouldn’t be long now until he could finally get some sleep. He had been awake for at least two days, he wagered.

It took only a few minutes for Arthur to sneak into one of the lesser maintained barns on the property and find a decent place in the loft to lay down. The loft was a good place to sleep, his ‘bed’ wasn’t easy to spot and it gave him the high ground if anyone ever came inside.

Arthur laid down wIth an unceremonious flop. Tomorrow he would binge on apples.

A deep groaning began to fill the barn as the wooden walls started to warp. Arthur was on his hooves in a second and quickly squared his shoulders, molding his weary body into a fighting stance. A freezing wind howled through the barn, biting at Arthur’s very core as he watched the walls bend and twist against some outside force.

With a powerful kick, he jumped down from the loft and landed on the dirt floor. He wasn’t sure what was going on, some kind of tornado? Or perhaps this barn simply wasn’t as sturdy as he thought?

There was a tearing sound as the roof dissolved into dust. Outside was an obsidian black night. Not a single star twinkled in the sky, and no moon hovered lovingly over its earth. It was a sky of pure nothing.

What was it he read in school? Something about staring into the abyss? Arthur thought this was particularly apt when a pair of eyes opened in the sky and stared back into his. The eyes were somehow darker than the sky, like a pair of black holes that bore into his soul.

A chill ran through Arthur’s soul as a single realization flickered to the front of his mind.

It had found him.

“No… No!” Arthur shouted, wanting to deny what his own eyes saw. The subtle glow of power filled the barn and like rays of sunlight they cast long shadows onto the environment. The brilliant golden rays shone over the featureless form of the creature, once again searing it’s visage into Arthur’s mind.

A behemoth, easily forty feet in height towered over the barn. Its flesh was as non-existent as its eyes, only a blurry visage of nothingness where air and light should be. There was a scream; deep and throaty, it was a noise that only a mind fully subsumed in a primal rage could unleash.

The not-shape lifted it’s hand and reached into the barn. Arthur’s body tensed in response, his back hooves shifted as he raised his front legs to meet the hand, to block the impending attack bodily.

With a simple motion it flicked Arthur into the far wall of the barn. Wood splintered as farming implements rattled around his body. His ears rang from the tinny sound of the tools and the screaming. Slowly he came to realize that he was the one screaming, but now it wasn’t powered by anything as predictable as rage. Now pure terror filled his mind.

Arthur’s limbs moved in an uncoordinated mess as he ran for the door to the barn. He had to leave. He couldn’t handle this being, this monster. Last time he had fought it he had died. Last time he wasn’t strong enough to save anyone. Why would this time be any different?

The barn doors snapped against their hinges as Arthur ran into the asphalt streets of downtown Anchorage.

Everything was destroyed. Thick chunks of the road were missing from explosions while long divots showed where something had stood its ground. Storefronts and apartment buildings sagged on broken supports. Vehicles were overturned and strewn throughout the streets, he could see one dangling from the third floor of a building he passed under.

A booming sound followed him; footprints, his panicked mind realized. His hooves stung as he skidded around the corner. Arthur stumbled and fell after taking the corner too hard. He could feel a painful snap in his shoulder when he landed. He wasn’t sure if he had broken or dislocated his right arm, foreleg, whatever. He just knew he couldn’t get the limb to do anything anymore.

With a groan, he pushed himself back to his remaining three good hooves. A booming stomp from behind only drove him forward faster. Something struck him from behind and sent him flying down the street. A searing hot pain filled his chest, as though someone had decided to melt steel in his chest. He tried to move, to get away but found that he couldn’t.

A bloody length of rebar protruded from his chest, too slick with his own blood to pull himself off of. Something soft stirred behind him and he noticed he was sitting on a pair of human legs. Behind him, impaled on the same piece of rebar, was a man. The most notable feature, the feature that struck horror in Arthur, was the extra pair of arms the figure sported right below his normal armpits.

A new wave of terror washed over Arthur as he realized who he had landed on.

Himself.

A fist made of cosmic nothing came crashing down onto Arthur. He winced at the impending impact. A bright flash of blue light appeared in front of Arthur.

“Disperse, nightmare!” A regal female voice demanded, the tone made it obvious there was no alternative. The power of those words tore at the dream, quickly dissolving everything away into a black void until all that remained was Arthur and a new pony.

“Art thou well, my little pony?” the new voice asked. The pony across from Arthur was only an inch or two shorter than him. He noted her fur was a darker shade of blue than his. The horn was new, though. The wings too.

“‘Little pony?’” Arthur echoed incredulously as the fear of his mind fell away in large sheets. Who was this pony? Something his subconscious thought up to ‘protect’ him? He snorted at the thought.

“Indeed, thy guardian of dreams hath returned!” She paused in speaking to catch her breath, Arthur noted. “For I am Princess Luna!” Luna made a particular dramatic flair with her wings and, as if on cue, the dust swirled close before settling into the shape of a new location.

Arthur blinked. Was he dreaming?

The realization came quickly as the scene changed. His breaths still came heavy from all of his screams, and his heart still shuddered with the chest still heaved and his heart shuddered as the fear finally vanished from his mind.

He now found himself sitting on a stool inside of a simple trailer. Through the window, he could see the dark Alaskan night he had been raised in. The TV in the bedroom behind him was blaring coverage of a baseball game, Royals versus Giants from what he could tell. A thin layer of trash was strategically placed throughout the kitchen and adjoining living room, as though its owner was afraid of being too clean.

This was one of his favorite escapes, Arthur remembered. This was his uncle’s trailer. In the blink of an eye, the princess appeared across the counter from Arthur, seated on her own stool. Her metal raiment rattled as her head shifted, taking in the alien environment.

“Is this still the nightmare? Such a place seems… stifling.” Luna began before settling her gaze on Arthur. She looked at him expectantly, as though it was her birthday. Arthur only continued to stare back. That expectant look slowly melted away into indignation. Realization flashed across Arthur’s face, which seemed to make Luna happy until Arthur climbed off the stool and approached the fridge. If he noticed the shocked expression that Luna wore he didn’t show it.

Even if it was just a dream he was still hungry, and if this was his dream then there was a ham and pastrami with his name on it. His bet on finding something good to eat when he woke up was slim.

Luna’s face ran a gamut from curiosity, confusion, and anger before finally settling on ‘incensed’ when Arthur noisily sat on his stool with a freshly procured sandwich. He continued watching the princess as he ate the sandwich, loudly chewing each bite of the delicious meat.

Luna slammed her hooves down on the counter. “How darest thou! Thy princess visits and vanquishes a nightmare and we do not even receive so much as an utterance of thanks! And now you dare mock us!?”

Arthur simply shrugged, “What,-” He took a large bite of his sandwich, “- am I supposed to take you seriously?” he finished, deliberately spraying some crumbs in her direction. If this was his dream he was going to have some fun.

That seemed to only add fuel to the fire. Arthur thought it was entertaining when someone couldn’t keep their anger in check. He wondered if this dream-pony-princess had a berserk button; his subconscious would give it one, right?

“I am your princess! You would do well to address me as such!”

“Not my princess, I voted for the other candidate!” Arthur grinned as Luna sputtered. He went to take another bite of his sandwich but found a hoof racing into his face instead.

The side of the trailer warped outward as Arthur’s frame tore through the metal siding. A manic smile crossed his face as he sailed through the air, righting himself as he landed nearly forty feet away in a pile of snow. A realization came to the front of his mind.

“Oh, so you can fight?”

It was less a question asked of Luna and more a statement of fact. His smile only grew in size as he slipped into a low stance, preparing for a much-desired fight. He wondered what his subconscious was doing dreaming this pony princess up. Was it trying to come up with the perfect pony girlfriend? He scoffed at the idea, he wasn’t ready to give up on hands yet.

He did give his subconscious some credit, she did know how to throw a punch.

Luna flew over to where Arthur stood, landing just a few feet in front of him with a remorseful look on her face. Maybe if Arthur had been paying attention he would have realized she was trying to talk to him, but the only thing his mind registered was how open to attacks she was. She started to say something but Arthur never gave her the chance. Instead, a powerful roundhouse kick sent her tumbling across the snow in an undignified heap.

“Come on,” Arthur clicked his tongue again as he bounced between his four hooves, “It’s no fun if you don’t try to dodge!”

Luna lifted herself off of the snow and touched a hoof to her face. When she removed it she saw blood. If she had been real, Arthur was certain she’d feel that in the morning. Arthur watched from afar for a moment, waiting for her to recover. It wouldn’t be fun if he just wailed on her, at least if she wasn’t ready for it. She looked like she was thinking about something as she set herself into a stance.

A grunt of effort was all the warning Arthur got as Luna launched herself forward with one beat of her powerful wings. He found himself pushed off balance as her hoof found purchase in his sternum. With a growl, Arthur found his balance and returned the attack with one of his own. The two launched blow after blow at each other with neither one able to floor the other as surely as their first attacks did.

The fighting continued for several minutes as the two kicked up snow in the cold winter night. Eventually, they split apart. They sucked in deep breaths as they panted from the exertion of the fight.

Arthur’s face and sides were covered in bruises, some of which had already begun to swell. Across from him, Luna looked in much better shape though she was obviously more worn out than him. Her mane, once perfectly combed, was now a tattered mess from both sweat and close calls. Her crown had disappeared somewhere in the fight.

“What is thy name, sir? We wouldst know with whom we spar!” Luna called, a smile on her face that reflected Arthur’s own. He could tell she had needed a fight almost as bad as he had, it was always the best way to get his head straight after all.

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but a strange noise distracted him. The sound was a deep creaking, like a well-worn hinge that was being overworked.It didn’t take long for his mind to realize someone was approaching. That and a burst of adrenaline was all it took for the dream to fade away into full wakefulness.

The door to the barn was opening.

Author's Note

Sorry for there being such a huge gap between me releasing chapter 2. Some real life stuff happened that didn't allow for me to work on this, but I won't bore you with the details.

Originally Chapter 2 was going to involve Pinkie Pie (that's why she was originally tagged) but then I realized while writing it that a lot of the chapter made no sense without any context to back it up. So expect it to be a while before I stuff Pinkie in.

--- Update 12/10/16

This chapter was originally titled 'Luna and the Dawn' prior to a minor rewrite on 12/10/2016. Most of the changes were centered around changing the POV to just Arthur's POV, the chapter title change was done to reflect this. The ending scene was what was altered for this change, the old scene is left below for posterity's sake. It originally was placed when Arthur was tossed out of the trailer

The side of the trailer exploded outward as Arthur’s frame hurtled through the air. A manic smile crossed his face as he landed nearly forty feet away from the trailer in a pile of snow, a realization coming to the front of his mind.

“Oh, so you can fight.”

The words were less a question and more a statement of fact. The grin never left his face as he rose to his feet. He wondered what his subconscious was doing dreaming this pony princess up. Was it trying to come up with the perfect pony girlfriend? He scoffed at the idea, he wasn’t ready to give up on hands yet.

She did know how to throw a punch, though.

Luna flew over to where Arthur stood, a remorseful look on her face. She started to say something but Arthur never gave her a chance. She instead was struck with a powerful roundhouse kick that sent her tumbling across the snow.

“Come on,” Arthur clicked his tongue again as he bounced between his four hooves, “It’s no fun if you don’t try to dodge!”

Luna lifted herself off of the snow and touched a hoof to her face. When she removed it she saw blood. She wasn’t sure what to think. There was a point in the past that such impudence would lead to imprisonment. Perhaps her sister was right, it appeared their ponies had changed a lot in the last thousand years. What had Celestia said? Something about treating them ponies as something closer to equals rather than subjects.

A grunt of effort was all the warning the stranger got as Luna launched herself forward, her hoof finding purchase in his sternum. He barely staggered from the attack before returning with his own strike. The two launched blow after blow at each other with neither one able to do more than scratch the other. This continued for some time until they separated, both panting heavily.

“What is thy name, sir? We wouldst know with whom we spar!” Luna called, a smile on her face. She rarely had the chance to practice with another pony, all of her guards were too hesitant to fight like this.

The stranger opened his mouth to say something but before he could say it the dream vanished in a burst of smoke and Luna found herself sitting on her bed in Canterlot.

The dream had ended.