-<>~--*--~<>-<

Forge knocks on the door to Luna's room, steeling himself for what comes next. The anticipation and uncertainty doing a number on his nerves, his composure hanging by a thread. Suddenly, a small wave of navy blue magic pulses outward, engulfing Forge completely, before dissipating.

"You may enter, Forge." Luna says from within, the door unlocking.

Forge enters, closing the door behind him, which Luna proceeds to lock. "To what do we- I, owe this visit?" Luna asks, still working on her vernacular.

Forge takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. "I was wondering, if maybe, you'd want to go to the Grand Galloping Gala with me, as my plus one?"

Luna freezes up for a moment, a veritable wave of emotions bombarding Forge's senses. Joy, sorrow... regret...

"I'm... flattered, really. Unfortunately, I still have my nightly duties to attend to, and the Gala begins after the sun sets. I cannot attend."

"I... see. I uh, won't continue to bother you about it then. Goodnight." Forge says, his tone keeping eerily steady.

Without another word, Forge teleports to his room, and drops his disguise. "I'll have to tell Rarity I'm not going then, so she won't need to make that suit. I should've known better than to presume on Luna and I's friendship."

Aurelic climbs into his bed, reconsidering some of his original notions. "Maybe Luna's isn't the only friendship I've been presumptuous of. The royal smiths are my work friends, sure, but I almost never hang out with them outside of work. And just because I was there when the Mane Six officially became the Elements of Harmony, doesn't mean I'm necessarily a real friend of theirs... If anything, I've mostly been inserting myself into what's supposed to be their good times. And when I'm not doing that, I'm just working on projects that never seem to end. Can I really consider anyone I've met as a proper friend? Hell, I'm practically mooching off of Celestia's kindness, staying here in the castle like this. I didn't earn this, it was given to me. And then there's my anger issues, which I have to pop a bunch of dopamine pills to counteract, like bad acid reflux or something... Am I even worthy of any of this? My entire existence here was just to prevent a future where Nightmare wins, and Discord dies. He got free like usual, and the major beats leading to his second defeat were almost exactly the same. Now that that's over... what's my purpose? Why am I here?" These thoughts plague Aurelic's mind as he tries to sleep, his heart weighing heavily on him.

-<>~--*--~<>-<

Aurelic explores his dreamscape. Unfortunately, this was one of the rare times he's stuck in the infinite building. A location in his dreamscape where it's completely unknown how it connects to the rest of the locations he usually ends up in. There are no windows to the outside. Fluorescent white lights occasionally flicker and dim, some even being completely out. The tiled floors are cold, have slight dirt and wear, and cause all footsteps to echo in the barren halls. The walls are blank and featureless, save for the semi-roughness from the off-white paint, doorways, and windows into the various rooms. Each room has a desk and desktop computer within, some with people, some empty. Some doors are open, some ajar, and some shut. Various personnel all dressed in pure white labcoats mill about, mumbling things that can never quite be made out. Then, there are the specialized rooms, looking to house various different things ranging from machinery, to a monster of some kind. Those rooms have dark, dingy metallic grating for their floors and inner walls, with pipes in odd places. None of the creatures are recognizable, even to Aurelic himself. Like his own, twisted version of an SCP complex, though the layout is nothing like the games. The same general rules apply to every floor, whether the stairs or elevators are taken. There are no floor numbers. This is why he calls it infinite. There is no ground floor. There is no roof. There is no escape. A place where no matter how many floors there are, it will always be claustrophobic.

Every time, it starts in a state of complacency. Everything is running smoothly, the personnel are calm. But the peace never lasts. He knows this, and can never relax during this time, always wondering what's going to go wrong first, trying to stay close to whichever elevator or stairwell is closest. Despite the facility-like state of the building, alarms never go off when things go wrong. The only warning anyone ever has, is when the screams start, and the blood spatters.

This, is that time. Aurelic quickly descends the nearby stairwell, narrowly avoiding the sight of a rampaging beast he didn't care to even look at. The stairwells have a similar decor to the specialized rooms, comprised of the same dingy metal with all manner of pipes leading up and down to who knows where. And on the next floor, the lights are significantly dimmer already, the previously sterile walls lined with swaths of browned blood stains. Occasionally, he sees a dead labcoat wearer sprawled on the ground. Now, the nightmare has truly begun. Aurelic must carefully navigate the floors to avoid the monsters. And more likely than not, if it can be seen, it's not long until it spots him either. The open rooms make optimal spots to hide in, usually behind the desks, until he hears the creature pass by. He never dares enter the specialized rooms, as those not only make for terrible hiding spots, but the creatures usually pass through them shortly after he gets in there. What's worse, nothing useful is actually ever in them to begin with. The constant tension and hounding never affords him the opportunity to read any functioning monitors. Unlike any game, there is no safe way to pause and read whatever bullshit his brain makes up about these terrors.

These dreams only ever end in two ways. In the beginning, he had to learn the rules of this particular dream the hard way, being "killed" and waking up in a cold sweat. Having since learned to navigate and survive, the other way it ends is simply when he wakes up. Everything just cuts off in an instant. No fanfare or victory to be had.

Only now, it's two-player. Luna enters the room Aurelic is currently crouching in. Her entrance is loud, bright, and everything Aurelic didn't want to happen. He grabs Luna immediately, holds one hoof over her mouth, and shushes with his own. Before she has a chance to say anything, the creature pokes its head into the room, black tentacles presumably attached somewhere on its body slither in along the floor. Aurelic adjusts his legs as the appendages slowly move around, having to step carefully over them. Luna copies his actions, avoiding the tentacles. Finding nothing, the creature goes back to meandering the halls.

"What the FUCK are you doing in here!?" Aurelic whispers, a fair hint of venom in his tone.

"We- I sensed you were having a terrible nightmare, but this is beyond even my level of understanding. Let me try something." Before Aurelic can protest, Luna ignites her horn.

Nothing happens. That is, except for Luna's face showing abject terror. "M-my magic, why is it not working!?"

The silence broken in the same room, the monster won't be fooled twice. It comes barreling in, breaking the doorframe as its broad, knobbed shoulders barge through. It grabs both Aurelic and Luna, letting out a blood-curdling shriek.

Abruptly, the scene is ripped away. The monster, the building, even... Luna... Aurelic floats there in the void of space, the actual Luna entering for real this time. Briefly, he sees a hint of something below. A parking lot. That's when something clicks back into place. The first time he'd ever encountered this place was from the outside, having rushed in with a small group of others he didn't immediately remember. He'd come to this place to do something, but whatever it was, he can't remember either. Now he knows there's a goal, however vague it may be.

"In all of my years, I have never seen such a horrifying, dread-laden nightmare. What makes it even worse, you somehow got me to be involved. Perhaps your mind going to the worst-case scenario?" Luna asks, a solemn look on her face.

"M-maybe... I honestly couldn't tell it wasn't really you, which terrifies me even more. It's not just my body that's changed whenever I dream. I'm not even sure I'll be able to tell what's real and what isn't anymore, with your dreamwalking." Aurelic admits.

"That is... worrisome. Fear not, for as long as I draw breath, I shall quell the nightmares of my subjects. You needn't worry any longer." Luna assures.

Aurelic looks down. "Sure, you might be able to stop the nightmares themselves, but... That's not going to stop them from happening. Not unless you can solve the problem at the root."

"Indeed, which is why I'm still here. Tell me, what is it that troubles you?" Luna asks, genuine concern on her features.

Aurelic looks back up to Luna, his voice catching in his throat for a moment. "I... can't say."

"Can't, or won't? You know you can trust me." Luna tries to reassure him.

However, it seems the dream itself has other plans, the starry void becoming blurrier fast.

Aurelic begins to panic. "That's just it. I-

The dream cuts out.

Author's Note

Some changes have been made. Hopefully, I shouldn't have to keep making them.