Mdala was the God of Nightmares. He wasn’t evil, nor was he very malicious. He left his sleepers hints in those nightmares, hints about their lives and what was troubling them. They couldn’t be told, as it was something they needed to learn for themselves. His nightmares could be very bad sometimes, but it wasn’t his job to control what the mortal saw, just what they needed to learn from it. It was important and imperative for their growth as a mortal. The young struggled the most, but they eventually got over them when older.

He was tall, black, and lean. Who needed physical strength when you had the power to infect the minds with the worst possible nightmare? He hadn’t needed to use such a power for eons, but it was why the other gods left him to do his job, which he did well. He didn’t enjoy it, but it was a necessary part of life. Mdala’s personal views of what he had to do didn’t matter. He had two demonic bat like wings tucked to his sides. He didn’t like the look of a unicorn horn, so he remained looking like a pegasus. His mane was a little dishevelled, but it looked deliberate. It swept upwards at the front with a few bangs over his eyes and curved around his ear and the tips lightly touching his chin and neck. His tail was long, but not enough to touch the ground. The colour was a mystic lavender with twinkling stars shining in them.

“Hm…” he hummed to himself, looking at a particularly sad mare. She was having a nightmare of a large number of wolves slowly tearing her apart. She regrew what she lost and had to deal with them tearing her apart again. Then the wolves became her children. She was poor, barely able to feed her very boisterous boys “She needs to relax, she fears that they’re going to take everything and come back for more.” It was interesting to get these nightmares where he let himself figure out the problem on his own. Then he'd see if she managed to figure out the problem. Sometimes they didn't, sometimes they did, it wasn't exactly bad if they failed to take the hints, but it was their loss.

His irises were a moderate cyan, his pupils slit like a cat and his sclera was a very pale misty blue. To a pony he’d be considered very handsome, but he wasn’t too concerned with looks. Opinions didn’t really affect him, he’d have to care about them first. Mdala governed the night, passing on nightmares and leaving those hints. In honesty Mdala loved lucid dreamers, they were fascinating and some even managed to find him in their nightmares and have a small conversation. Whether they remembered or not, it wasn't of his concern.

There was another side to this. The Goddess of Dreams. Gaajirus was very loving, giving many the dreams of what they wanted most. Sometimes they were lust filled and sexy, and others were about cute little bunnies. Gaajirus was short and slender, her fur a rocky grey. She had a two thestral wings and a pointy unicorn horn sticking from her head. Gaajirus’ ears had tufts of fur on the tips like a thestral, which she adored. Gaajirus’ irises were a honey orange and her pupils were normal, very different to Mdala. Her mane and tail started as a warm blue that gradient to a darker blue that also had starts twinkling within them. Unlike a lot of the other gods, she went out of her way to wear fancy clothing. She had a dusky purple tiara behind her horn.

She didn't see Mdala as the stallion he was. In her eyes, he was cruel, torturing her ponies with his horrid nightmares. He showed no care for them, sometimes finding entertainment in his cruelty. Oh Gaajirus new he was the God of Nightmares, but did he have to be so horrid about it? Couldn't he tone them down a little? It made her dreams harder to manufacture when they were trying to recover from his scarring.

"Mdala!" the stallion rolled his eyes as he heard Gaajirus. That mare really got on his nerves. Mdala was doing his job, and the other gods thought he was doing a great job. Tophet of the Underworld, Falrasil of Heaven, Raikoh of Earth, even Cadaver complimented his work, and that guy rarely complimented anyone! He and Gaajirus weren't very old compared to some of the other gods, but they weren't newbies either. He wasn't doing this out of the cruelness of his heart, far from it in fact.

For whatever reason Gaajirus just couldn't see that they were above the mortals, that they weren't supposed to have favourites or talk to them. Ever since the mistress killed Cosmo none of them dared to go to the mortal world. But, Gaajirus just trotted around making all this nice dreams. But that was another problem. Mdala didn't actually make them, he guided them. You can't create a new river but you can guide it, someone said to him a long time ago. They were from the mortals minds, what they feared and what they were afraid of. Gaajirus should be guiding the dreams to what the mortals wanted, but she made them all the same. A 'paradise'. The griffins found those more nightmarish than whatever he worked with.

"I do not have time to debate with you Gaajirus. Unlike you, i'm actually doing my job." she wanted them to be happy, he understood that, but it just wasn't how it should be done. She wasn't entirely in the wrong as he wasn't in the right. They weren't supposed to be after all. Mdala did sometimes go a little too far, he could admit that, and he learnt from his mistakes. He didn't want to cause others pain, but they brought it upon themselves, and Mdala gave them hints as to why they had these nightmares and what to do to stop them "Leave me," he demanded as he found a particularly bad one.

This one had been harmed by her father as a foal. It was uncommon, but he'd dealt with it enough times to know what to do. She'd yet to tell her mother about it, so he left hints that she should. Pictures of her mother hugging her, a couple faint memories of her mom promising her to always listen even if she never said that, just tiny things like that. The one doing this would be dealt with by Cadaver who'd send him to Tophet. They all worked together as a unit, each job connecting to another. It was getting hard with Cosmo's death, but they were managing. He didn't enjoy these, they made him feel a little unwell, but to have true good in the world you needed the bad.

Balance wasn't really a thing. There wasn't really a good and evil, just a moral grey. Different cultures saw different things as wrong after all. In reality, existence was like a spider web, carefully woven over time. You break a piece, and it'll be broken, but still together. But, if you keep breaking it, it would fall apart, collapsing in on itself. And yet, the web could be rebuilt, but would take longer than it would to repair a minor thing. A little complex, and the one who came up with the web idea was dead, so it mattered little. Cosmo had been the spider, being the god of creation. And they were the thread... Barely hanging together.

"I've had enough of this Mdala!" she was so childish it was insulting "I don't want to see anymore suffering, it's sickening!" someday Gaajirus would see it wasn't about her. Though the day that happened Cadaver wouldn't look like a malnourished corpse. These days Mdala believe he looked like that deliberately so nobody would bother him "And you enjoy it, you enjoy their pain, and you don't do a thing to stop their suffering! Some kill others and some kill themselves over your evil!"

"We gods are not evil, nor are we good. We're neutral entities that each have a domain they must govern to keep reality from crumbling in on it." balance was a better word, but it didn't fit "The only god close to evil is the mistress, and thats it. You must stop being such a child and take this job seriously. You're the one that is causing damage here Gaajirus!" he was annoyed now thanks to her always moaning at him "Dragons dream of war, they love battle and to skate on lava, not fluffy pink unicorns dancing on rainbows! Thats a nightmare for them!" Gaajirus glared, not willing to accept what he was saying. Mdala was the one in the wrong, he wasn't going to turn this on her!

"My point still stands, you're letting that little one endure the pain of that... THAT!" her bat wing pointed towards it, unable to watch the vileness. She shouldn't have to suffer, it's disgusting he'd allow this to go on. He could end nightmares, get rid of them so she could replace them with happiness "Why must they suffer!?"

"I do not create nightmares, that isn't something i've done for a long time. I do what i've stressed to the breaking point. I, Mdala of Nightmares, put in hints so they can learn the meaning behind their nightmares, and better themselves!" she wasn't having it. Mdala scowled at the childishness she was acting. Yes, it wasn't pleasant, but it was necessary "Without conflict they will not grow..." he sighed, watching the cogs in her mind stutter as she tried thinking of something to say "You need to take your job seriously. You see their desires, and make them happen in their dreams, not whatever crap you ram down their throats. Sometimes you let them run the dream that you guide, something you're supposed to do."

"But... But some dream about doing things like murder, they dream of rape, sometimes to offspring! How can i allow that!? It's wrong!" it was wrong, but again, not their domain. Cadaver was the judge, jury and executioner, and Tophet was the punisher. Mdala sometimes felt she was worser off than him, having to deal with dreams like that. But still, she was supposed to let it go on.

"It doesn't matter what you think Gaajirus, it matters what you do. I don't enjoy these nightmares, but, it's something i must do... Please leave, you're wasting my time." Gaajirus came up with many arguments in her head, but couldn't find the words. He thought she was going to take this lying down? No, hell no. Mdala could act all mighty, but he wasn't. He was her opposite, the nightmare to her dreams.

Perhaps she could change a little, but she couldn't ignore those dreams. Those vile fantasies that made her sick. The ones that made her cry and want to do Cadaver's job just to see their faces as she sent them to Tartarus! No, she'd take Tophet's job, and punish them herself! Magic built up in her body, divine energy wafting from her body that Mdala took immediate notice of. She wouldn't take this! She needed to find a way to stop them. Mdala could punish them, but he didn't, he barely paid them any mind. He didn't care about them, they meant nothing to him... She could change it. She could take over the nightmares, and then make everyone happy. She's gift the good with pleasant dreams, and curse the bad with nightmares. But one problem. Mdala was in her way.

"It isn't fair!" she screamed, tears coming from her eyes "I'm not going to let them enjoy the dreams of darkness! They shouldn't dream of killing, raping, exploiting, torturing... That evil, needs to be punished! You can punish them but you won't because it's not your job!" she yelled, magic bubbling around her horn. Caring for the dream realm was hard, you either absorbed it and made a shield from it, or it'd destroy you "If you won't do anything I WILL!" she fired a large amount of magic at the other god who leapt out of the way.

He knew she was angry, but not angry enough to attack him! She was nuts! Mdala opened his wings and took to the eternal skies of the dream realm, passing many dream and nightmare orbs along the way. Gaajirus followed, her heart dead set on taking his position to give justice! They were sick, they were evil, and couldn't be ignored! The stallion of the two continued to dodge very powerful magic blasts. They were inconsistent in strength, but she was a god, she had a large reservoir of power. And a large reservoir of emotions powering that magic to unstable heights.

Mdala flew backwards, holding his hooves close together. Green darkness started to swirl from around and concentrate within the small space, and released the ball of energy. It exploded into many black phantoms that resembled wendigo but were black and more menacing. The technique was capable of erasing a being's soul and their very existence, but he'd not used the spell in such a way, it was to stop her by sheer numbers alone. He flew further and further, his speed obviously better than hers. He never thought he'd be attacked by a fellow god, not even one as unstable as Gaajirus.

She didn't stay down as long as he'd hoped. This was her realm as well, she could control its power just as well as him, a lot better actually as she had a horn and he didn't. Mdala prepared another spell, he wasn't going to kill her but he might maim her. A little or a lot it didn't matter, as long as they both stayed alive. Mdala quickly gathered and released a large quantity of black air from his mouth in the form of a tornado-like blast. Similar to that of a dragon breathing fire.

Gaajirus was pushed back again with the force of a storm, in her mind trying her best to justify that she needed to do this. Her eyes were still watered, a voice in her mind telling her to stop, but she needed to. She couldn't justify those evil people! She could let them enjoy such disgusting fantasies and ignore them! How long before one of those sick beasts acted on a fantasy? How long! They needed to be scared so badly they went right to Tophet and begged to go to Tartarus! Mdala had that power, she needed it!

A lot of words were going through his mind. A lot of them NSFW, some mortals have never heard before. This was very new, and very scary, knowing he had a crazed goddess behind him aiming to end his life for doing his job. This is almost a literal feeling of a corrupt politician and its public. Out to end you for doing a good job they and to use it for their twisted purposes. Gaajirus charged an actual spell, and released it. Mdala prepared for an attack, crossing his hooves and wings to protect himself.

She'd expected him to do that, but she hadn't thought about how much power she put into the spell. It was loud, the explosion was blinding, and there was another sound she'd only recognised when peeking to what he was doing. But she hadn't heard it before, not when she was metres away... She watched her fellow divine equine crash right into the floor of the starry space they governed. It wasn't an actual floor, but it was the only solid space for when they got tired of flying... She landed on the 'ground' and looked at the damage she'd done.

Mdala had landed on his front, his normally straight face twisted in pain as blood left his back. The spell was designed to split apart before hitting the target and then attack from the behind. She could see how much damage she'd caused, she could see part of his spine! Gaajirus stepped back, shaking her head. She'd wanted this, she wanted it, but seeing what it took, she couldn't... But, could she? This way, she could control the nightmares and the dreams. Gaajirus slowly took steps forward, and put a hoof on his forehead.

"ENOUGH!" the mare was blasted backwards by a tremendous force far greater than anything Mdala gave her. She looked up, seeing Cadaver and Tophet. Tophet for some reason wanted to be a normal looking unicorn with a curved horn. His fur was a dead grey and looked very ominous in the dark. His mane was made of blue fire, the hottest there was in the mortal realm. Irises were blood red and his sclera were a mustard yellow and had dark patches under his eyes. He wore a black cape tied together by a dark silver skull, the ends of the cape twirled like an octopus made of black souls. For pretty much the smallest god, he was intimidating "I think it's good that we have a little chat, Gaajirus." Cadaver walked to Mdala, performing a strange healing magic she'd never seen.

Gaajirus' eyes were filled to the brink, and she broke down sobbing at what she'd done. She wanted to do justice, she wanted to do good! Cadaver was aware she was unstable and was struggling, but she never thought she'd go as far as to attempt to kill another. The death of Cosmo had affected them badly, but he doubted even Last Legacy could know this would happen. It was getting worse and worse with the divine world.

"I'll take him to Falrasil, he won't make it otherwise," Cadaver said, pulling the pega-god onto his back and watched the younger gods breathing. Tophet nodded, opening a portal for the god who walked through, blood staining his sickly coat. Gaajirus' cries were unintelligible, he couldn't understand them, and he was the god who tortured people as an occupation. He sighed, watching her. She tried to be the judge and executioner without thinking about what she was doing. Foolish foal.

"You're an idiot, you know that? You aren't the first to do this, and you unfortunately won't be the last... I get that you think its wrong, i get that you want justice, and i get that everything feels a lot. I used to be similar to you, you know." he looked up at her. Even when crying and in a mess he needed to look up. His height was deliberate. It was more intimidating when mortals were tortured by one their own size, for what reason he didn't know yet? "I didn't want to torture, i didn't want to bring pain. Falrasil kept saying i was doing my job, that it was my duty to do that crap... But then i learnt something. These were evil people, they were bad, they'd done nasty stuff and needed punishment! So, i took delight knowing i was doing justice. Their cries of pain soon became music, they faces of horror what put me to sleep when i took naps, and the insane mumblings became funny."

"It's wrong!" she cried "They want to dream such horrible things!" she said, Tophet raising a brow as if he was supposed to care "why do i have to suffer? Why is it so bad to make them dream of nice things!" he rolled his eyes, tired of Gaajirus' moans. They were sick yeah but they were fantasies, not real. If they became real, he'd deal with them. They had a system. Yes it was a bit hard with Cosmo gone, but they were doing their blood best.

"You listen to me and listen to me now," Tophet warned, his tone making her quiet down and look down. He scared her somehow, despite being a midget. His eyes peered deep into her soul, and literally "Mdala isn't the problem, you are. All you're meant to do it let them have 'nice' dreams, you don't have to sit and watch them like a theatre act. You don't need to do much at all really. There's no true wrong way to fantasise, it's only wrong if ACTED on!" he was scaring her more and more, the mare scooting backwards as he stamped towards her "You do NOT kill another god! Especially when he's doing a far better job than you are! It's Cadaver's job to pass judgement, NOT you! You dare try this again and you'll have to deal with ME!" his voice was distorted and demonic, his blue flames bursting like a volcano. he swallowed deeply, scowling with rage at Gaajirus "Cadaver is the only one keeping me from destroying you, but even he can only keep me back for so long..."

But they didn't know that Mdala's godly blood had seeped out into the mortal world. the drops of divine blood had fallen into a dream sphere, and from there, leaked into the world of mortals. the corrupted blood seeped from the sleeping form of a now deceased being, so decayed it was unrecognisable thanks to the blood sapping all its life away. The blood spread around, everything it touching slowly becoming decomposed.

A dragon walked into the cave, the stench choking her. where was her beloved hatchling? She looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere. The poor oblivious dragoness stepped into the godly goo, not knowing what evil she’d just unleashed onto the poor mortal realm. She cried and struggled as the slime started to run up her limbs. She fought, writhing against the ground as it continued to swarm her body.

“No! stop! Get off!!” she cried as she could feel it digging in past her scales into her body. it climbed up and up, getting to her neck, restricting her breathing “Help!” she cried again, fear and terror coursing through her body. had it taken her baby? Where was her hatchling? She cried even harder as it started to eat into her face, crawling into her mouth and going down her throat. she could feel the slime's hands, or whatever it used to move. she could feel herself slip away as it stabbed into her mind, trying to destroy her.

Her body became misty, her bright scales now dark grey. she was an in between, not truly physical and not truly a ghost. she looked to her new hands that swirled around, a grin growing unnaturally on the mutated body. her yellow eyes were now red from the explosion of blood vessels. she clenched and unclenched her fists, watching her new body. how had she come to be? how was she alive? how had she known she could take over this body?

"I... a body...?" she had a voice, something of her own. what would she do with this new power? what would she do with her new leash on life? "I, need a name. i need to be called something. what would me name be?" she looked through the memories of her host, finding a name she couldn't decipher. she'd call herself Bahamut. yes, that was her name. she would be called Bahamut. but, what was she? Bahamut was born from the blood of the nightmare god, so she'd be a nightmare.

Bahamut felt herself, accidentally pulling a piece off to her surprise. it warped, and became another little her? she was confused, but pleased. she could create more of her! she could make a whole race of her! Bahamut, the Nightmare Source! yes, that was what she was. her children would be the Nightmare Forces. Bahamut looked to the land outside of the cave, seeing a world that would be hers. the little force behind her turned its head as it felt existence, floating beside her.

"My... creator...?" said the small one, looking at its source who was smiling.

"We're going to take over this world, it'll be ours my little force... i will create more of us, we will have a land of nightmares. it'll be all ours, and then our god Mdala can come from the heavens to bring us home..." right? didn't he mean to create her? wasn't this supposed to be her purpose? to take over this world? she needed a purpose, something to do, she had to exist for a reason and this was it! Bahamut would rule the realm with her children of plenty! "Prepare the cave, this'll be my den where i shall birth more of us. the time of nightmares is upon us."

Author's Note

Origin of the Nightmare Forces. Obviously, inspired by the Medusa thing. for those who don't know, she was a gorgon and the gorgons head was cut off. when her blood hit the ground it created snakes! so, little mythology lesson for ya.