The pegasus remained steadfast in the face of Miles's challenge, seemingly unable to hear him. Its grip on the spear remained unwavering as Miles lowered his face toward its sharpened tip.

"Go ahead. Show me what you can do with that little stick." Miles's expression was calm, his eyes half-lidded and his smile subtle. After several more seconds of silence and not even the slightest movement from the stallion, Miles slowly reached out a finger towards the tip of the spear. Still, the stallion did not respond, rooted in place like a long-forgotten monument.

Miles flicked the tip of the spear with a snigger.

As though a switch were flicked, the dull stallion thrust the spear into Miles's face with blinding speed. He just barely managed to pull his head to the side in time, the weapon slicing across his cheek and immediately drawing blood. Miles pulled back upright and touched a hand to his face. Upon looking down at his blood-soaked fingers he began to chuckle, his eyes lighting up with a childlike glee. He almost felt disappointed that the injury had barely hurt in the slightest.

The stallion cleanly swivelled its spear across its withers using its wings before swiftly thrusting it towards Miles's stomach. The human grabbed the shaft of the spear without so much as moving the rest of his body an inch. He yanked the spear past his waist, pulling the stallion along with it. He then seized the husk stallion by the throat as it was yanked towards him.

The stallion began struggling in Miles's grip, kicking at his stomach in an attempt to continue existing. Miles was now laughing with exuberance, the thudding sensation the kicking sent through his belly exacerbating his high. "A valiant effort, little horse!" bleated Miles. The stallion's kicking began to weaken as it could no longer draw breath around Miles's hold, which dug deep into its neck and caused throbbing veins to swell beneath its hide.

"This may be a dream, but I won't let that lessen the satisfaction of watching that little light leave your eyes..." Miles hissed as he began breathing feverishly. His arms quaked with ecstasy. "You clearly do not deserve it..." Grinning, he then lifted the stallion several feet into the air, still holding it by its oxygen passage, before thrusting it down into the dirt with an almighty slam.

Miles felt the stallion's windpipe cave and tear between his fingers as its neck splintered and snapped upon impact. A brown, billowing cloud of dust whipped up around the two. The stallion's light briefly flickered and then died.

Miles rose back to a standing position, breathing hard, yet experiencing no exhaustion. "I must remember to thank Discord when I awaken - I assume this playground is his handiwork," he chuckled.

A fizzling sound resounded from over his shoulder. Upon turning, Miles found a group of five ponies, near identical to the one he had just snuffed out, charging him with various forms of weaponry. There were two pegasi, two earth ponies and one unicorn. Their expressions were lifeless and they made no vocalisations of any kind, yet their movements were determined and aggressive.

Miles widened his stance and crouched down a few inches, holding his vice-like appendages out to his sides. He charged at the group and stepped to his left moments before being skewered on the end of their weaponry. He grabbed the left-most pony with his right arm and threw it into the ground. The other four split up and circled him.

The pegasus he had just thrown dropped its weapon, yet swiftly scrambled to pick it up and climb back to its hooves. One of the earth ponies charged Miles with a sword, slicing at his calf. Miles grabbed the pony by its mane. Just as the other pegasus circled him from the air and dove in to strike, Miles slung the earth pony in his grasp at it, causing its spear to slide between the ribs of the earth pony with a squelching crunch; it made a deep gargling sound before quickly going limp.

The fresh meat sack knocked the pegasus from the air, the two crashing to the ground in a heap. The unicorn immediately freed the pegasus from beneath the earth pony corpse with its magic. Miles adjusted one of his cuffs. "You little bastards are tougher than you look - I'll give you that."

Miles began to feel weightless. As he looked around him, he noticed the ground grow gradually distant. The unicorn held him in the air; however, it appeared it could do little else other than hold him there as its face contorted in strain.

Miles growled in frustration as the other three drones charged him with their weapons in an attempt to brutalise him into a fleshy cactus. Miles quickly dug his hand into his pocket - nothing.

He instead deftly grasped the earth pony's spear once it reached him, stopping the pony in its tracks. His breath hitched as he felt a sword pierce the muscle of his shoulder, its parting blade tearing the sinew of his arm with a searing burn. He also caught the pegasus's spear just before it skewered his abdomen.

Miles's grip on the spears did not waver. He yanked the spear from the earth pony's grasp and violently thrust it into the spear wielding pegasus's eye. The husk's eyelids reflexively attempted to scrunch shut and protect the glowing eye, only to instead quiver and bleed against the sharp, cold steel of the spear. The pegasus dropped to the ground and began to violently shake in its death throes.

The remaining Earth pony began to withdraw its blade as the now spear-less pegasus scrambled to retrieve a weapon from its fallen comrades. Miles gripped the escaping sword with his hand, ignoring the slight tickling sensation when its blade sliced through the thick flesh of his hand. This slowed the earth pony long enough for him to look to the unicorn and take aim with his spear. After a fraction of a second, he let it soar with all his strength.

Time seemed to slow as the unicorn, deep in concentration from holding the 300 lb human in its magical grasp, made no attempt to dodge the incoming freight train.

The spear found its mark, slicing all the way through the stallion's neck and sticking half a dozen inches out the exit wound. Its razor-sharp tip steadily dripped blood onto the dirt. The stallion gurgled quietly as it fell backwards. It was left with its back arched unnaturally once the tip of the spear sank into the ground, suspending the pony's head above the dirt.

Miles dropped to the earth with a loud thud, landing on his feet. The two remaining ponies left him no time to recover as they now piled on top of him, attempting to jab their filthy weapons into his neck.

With adrenaline pumping unlike anything he had experienced in a while, all semblance of exhaustion departed Miles's body as he kicked the earth pony away, the miniature equine soaring a dozen feet before scraping to a halt in a tumble of limbs and rocky dirt. Miles then swung his fist into the muzzle of the pegasus, knocking it onto its side in a daze.

The grinning human quickly climbed to his feet and began stomping the pegasus into the dust, making sure to force his weight onto its chest until he felt its ribs crack and give way. The stallion made a sharp intake of breath as one of its ribs punctured a lung. All of its limbs shot out straight as though electrocuted, and crimson fluid pooled beneath its maw. Miles turned to the remaining Earth pony, leaving the pegasus to choke on its own blood and mucus.

Miles had not felt so alive in quite some time. These little ponies had given him a much better fight than the fat drunkard and his cronies some days ago. Rotating his arm a few times and being pleased to still find it functional, he approached the final survivor of the group.

The earth pony, sword gripped between its teeth, charged Miles once more in an attempt to gash the man's stomach. Miles chuckled and flung his right leg at the pony's head. With a clonk, the pony careened off to the left and its weapon slid several metres out of reach.

The stallion shakily attempted to climb to its hooves as Miles calmly sauntered over. Just as the stallion was about to make it upright, Miles delivered another solid kick, this time to its stomach. It jolted slightly into the air before crashing down into the dirt once more.

Miles laughed and said, "You know, as much as appearing in this prissy little equine land has been a pain in my backside, I think I can come to appreciate the little things like this..." Miles kicked the pony a few more times. It clutched at its stomach and curled into a ball in agony.

"Hmm..." Miles looked over at the five corpses sprawled across the dirt before making his way over to the unicorn. He roughly slid the spear from its throat with a wet schlick and dragged the cadaver over to the still cowering earth pony. He laughed and patted it on the head. "Well, it's been fun, but I'll be snuffing you out now. Goodbye."

The earth pony squirmed and kicked. Its muzzle was forced open. It then made a feverish snorting sound as the horn of its fallen comrade was thrust through the roof of its mouth and into its brain in one swift motion. Its eyes rolled into the back of its head and a broad tongue flopped uselessly over its teeth.

Miles stood up and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, feeling a raw satisfaction wash through his pleasantly aching muscles and seep into his gaping wounds as though dunking his head in a barrel of water after crossing the desert. He chuckled softly and said, "You know, it's not polite to attack people unprovoked, Discord. Although, I know this is a dream, so I suppose I can let it slide."

Miles sighed with satisfaction and dusted off his pants. "Well this was something, but would you mind telling me when I'm going to wake up...?"

Discord observed the scene below him with keen interest. The human had just flicked the tip of his phantom's spear and was now choking the 'life' out of it. There was a gentle fizzle by his side as Princess Luna popped into the dream once again.

"Discord! The realm of dreams is our domain!" shouted Luna. She pointed a hoof up at his face in accusation. Discord barely acknowledged her and simply continued to observe Miles. "We will not have thee simply snap thine appendages and take hold of our realm!"

The draconequus finally regarded Luna with a tired stare. After a few moments, he perked up as his eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! I do apologise, dear Luna. I had to have a word with Miles over here before he woke up, you see. I am truly sorry about throwing you out like that," Discord proclaimed with a dribble too much sarcasm for the princess of the night's liking.

Luna sighed and took a few deep breaths. "Please, do not do that again, Discord. We cannot have thee interfering with the dreams of our subjects..." They both turned to observe the scene below them. "What is going on here, spirit? The human was meant to awaken upon the end of my conversation with him."

Discord huffed and said, "Oh, Luna, must you really call me that? And he isn't your subject."

"We do not see the issue," Luna swiftly muttered as she lifted her muzzle and sat on her haunches with a near-silent hmph.

Discord sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine... Whatever." He gestured to Miles with his paw. "I'm judging Miles's combat strength at the moment. The realm of dreams just happens to be the perfect place for it. Sorry."

Luna gasped and said, "You cannot do such a thing, Discord. It would be of poor decorum!" Luna hastily pressed a silver-clad hoof to Discord's side. He moved away from her touch.

"What in Equestria is that supposed to mean? His situation in our world is surely stressful," Discord said, glaring at Luna. "What if he reaches a boiling point and lashes out at ponies when we're not around?" His eyes began to spark. "They'll have to restrain him, so I have to know how much damage we're risking here." He rested his claw across his brow and took a deep breath, that spark leaving his eyes as quickly as it came. "I'm sorry, Luna, but for now I'll have to remove your-"

Luna cut him off when Miles slammed the pony into the dirt. "-Discord, stop this at once! Let the human awaken!" She stepped towards Discord.

Discord did not respond.

Snap!

Several more phantom ponies appeared behind Miles and began charging him. Discord regarded Luna calmly. "Luna, these are merely puppets - they feel nothing."

Luna growled, "We were not referring to the ponies, spirit! We saw quite clearly that thine puppet attacked the human first!"

Discord held up a paw in response to her archaisms and said, "Hush, Luna, you're droning in ye-olde ponish again..."

"The human still feels some dulled form of pain in the dream world, Discord. We know thou art aware of this..." Luna began to charge her horn, facing the Lord of Chaos as though she could extinguish a forest file with a thimble.

With a quick snap, her horn was gone. The princess sputtered in protest.

As Miles was sliced by the ponies, Luna became enraged. "Thou'rt harming the human, Discord! Such barbarianism is unbecoming of thee!"

Discord snapped his head around to face her with a snarl. "One more word and I'll remove you from this dream! For your information, I dulled his sense of pain before doing this..." Discord took a breath and set his features. "I want you here to vouch for my findings. Don't make me change my mind..."

Luna dipped her head, ground her teeth and closed her eyes. However, her ears peaked as she heard an unexpected sound from below. The human was laughing. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"What in my sister's name...?" Luna stood to attention and peered down at the human, cringing slightly as the final pony was brutally slain. She was speechless.

Discord shook his head and said, "I knew it. What was that about 'harming' him?"

Luna stammered, "W-Well he is lucid right now. He is aware this is a dream and is simply playing around." She could not meet Discord's eyes. "We know the joy of combat from experience, too... Y-Yes..."

The two sat in silence for several moments. Eventually, Discord spoke up, his voice a null void. "Well, if he's enjoying himself... I suppose I'd better wake him up now."

Another snap.

All of the corpses and weapons disappeared, instead replaced by around twenty earth ponies that appeared before Miles, none of which were armed this time. Miles appeared ecstatic.

He briefly scanned the scattered weapons from his previous scuffle, before his sights rested upon a tool of great interest. To him, it seemed to glint in the light, and his grin reciprocated the sentiment.

As the group of stallions charged, Miles sauntered past the bloodied swords and spears and over to the fallen hammer. He picked it up with a flourish and a few taps to clear off any dirt. With his hammer now in hand, he turned to face the horde.

Luna gawked as they swarmed him.

For minutes he fought, bludgeoning the ponies into submission with his hammer and his limbs. Luna and Discord watched in silence, the princess of the night making no move to stop the senseless violence this time; she instead perched upon her royal rump in disgusted resignation.

Discord growled in frustration while creating ever more puppets to swamp Miles in an unstoppable tsunami of pony husks. For every marionette he crushed, two more would take its place. Miles continued to expertly punch, kick, hack and snap his way through over three dozen members of the horde, until eventually his limbs were pinned under the enormous sea of puppets.

Miles dropped his blood-soaked hammer - it slowly tumbled down the mass of lifeless limbs before eventually lying still, staining the dirt with its worth. He managed to grab several ponies with his hands and toss them away with a grunt, only for several more sets of stubby appendages to take their place in viciously halting the blood flow to his arms. His legs suffered much the same fate as the miniature equines struck at his flesh with all their might.

Luna closed her eyes and turned away with a bite of her lip. Discord folded his world-breakers and glared down at the carnage.

Miles cackled, his teeth sliding down into his lungs and his eyes weeping the syrupy essence of life. Eventually, he felt nothing as he grew closer to becoming another corpse swallowed by the mountain of flesh and bone.

His world faded to black.

Luna launched out of her slumber with a shout. Her crescent bed rocked as she pressed her hooves to her face. After several moments of silence, glistening droplets of shame began pattering over the linen sheets. Eventually, this pattering turned to sobs as the princess of the night let herself go.

She did not hear the creak of her jewel-encrusted door being pried open, yet did feel the soft embrace of a large, pure white wing wrap around her frame.

"Lulu..." an angelic, motherly voice whispered into her twitching ear. "Shh, Lulu... You're okay. It was but a dream..."

Luna's sobs lessened. "N-Nay, sister... T'was not..."

Celestia tightened her wing's cocooning of her little sister in concern, yet spoke not a word. Luna's sobs died down to sniffles.

"D-Discord... Took control of our realm... He h-harmed the human..."

Celestia bristled and furrowed her brow slightly. "Little Lulu, you know that one cannot truly be harmed within a dream," said Celestia. She pressed her muzzle to her sister's cheek. "Things may vaguely hurt in the moment, but you know better than I that he will awaken with little but the general memory of whatever it is he went through." Celestia climbed onto the bed with her sister. "I know you, Lulu." She blew a lock of her sister's mane.

"We know of this, Tia... Yet you know not of the extent to which Discord pushed the alien." Luna sniffled. "The poor creature... Not all pain is physical, sister. W-We... I imagine it is not something he shall soon forget..."

Celestia's gaze steeled over for a moment, her expression unreadable. "Lulu... I understand, and yet, I can see that there is more." Luna remained silent. She closed her eyes as she felt Celestia's wings shield her quivering muscles and her melodic breath warm her still soaking wet cheek.

Luna took several calming breaths of her own as she felt her heartbeat slow. "Discord took over my realm, sister..." She huddled closer into the curve of Celestia's long, warm neck. "He made me powerless as he dominated that which is mine." Her eyes now closed, her hooves grasping at Celestia's peytral, yet failing to make purchase. "I was... Helpless..."

Luna gasped and continued, "I was helpless to stop him. I was helpless to rescue the alien!"

Celestia sighed, "Oh, Lulu... You have known Discord long enough now to know that nothing is beyond his influence." She looked over at the opposite wall, her expression neutral. "Yet, whatever transpired tonight proves he still has a lot of learning to do."

Celestia lifted her sister's chin with a wing to meet a warm smile and said, "Lulu... You'd be surprised just how much he now cares for this world and the ponies within it."

She leaned in to nuzzle her little moonshine and said, "While I will have to give Discord a stern talking to, I am sure the human's memory will be hazy enough for this not to escalate further between the two of them." Luna opened her mouth to comment, but Celestia beat her to it. "If he truly held violent intent towards the alien, then poor Miles would already be long gone."

Luna did not respond, her eyes glued to the beautiful, hoof-stitched bed sheets she had hired a wandering noble of Manehattan to painstakingly craft for her. Its deep-blue waning crescent moon ever gravitated her swirling thoughts into a pool of warmth and comfort.

The night princess almost whined when her feathery blankets retracted to her sister's sides. Celestia hopped off the bed with a pep in her step. "Now enough about him, sister," she said. "You should try and get a couple more hours of sleep before you have to lower your moon." Luna pouted and Celestia chuckled with a motherly warmth. "I have to say, my little sister - I am always glad to see you slip into the modern tongue. You are adjusting quite nicely." Luna blushed as her elder winked.

Celestia trotted to the doorway, flinging it open with a sparkle of golden magic. "Now, if you'll excuse me - I have a cak- ergh -bundle of papers in my room with my name on them... G-Goodnight..." The door swiftly slammed shut; Luna heard her sister's hooves hurriedly scamper down the hall.

Luna fell back onto her silken pillow with a dull thud. She sighed softly and turned onto her side; her hind legs tucked towards her chest and her eyes drifted shut, the concerns of the day drawing further away - until a loud ping caused her to yelp and spark her horn to life. She sat up and scanned her bedroom in anger.

There, floating precariously close to her extremely expensive chandelier, was the chaotic being she and her sister had just finished discussing.

His expression appeared remorseful.

"I, uh... S-Sorry?" He held his paw and claw to his chest and cringed as he spoke, slightly shrinking in size.

Luna huffed with a quivering pout and hastily pulled the covers over her head, shoving her face into the pillow.

Discord sighed and tapped his digits together guiltily. He mumbled, "Oh, poo..."

Author's Note

16/10/2024 - touched up with some amendments.