**Author’s Note** Hello all. So I am giving a content warning here because things do get pretty dark. It’s not for violence per se as no pony actually gets hurt, but Luna does succeed in penetrating into Rayne’s dreams, or in this case his nightmares.

Now as a reminder, Rayne was a human who mysteriously woke up as a pony in Equestria. As such, his nightmares would be as a human would. So it’s possible that many readers might find this chapter frightening to read. You can skip the nightmare if you wish, just stop when Luna enters the Dream Realm. For all others, I hope you enjoy it! **

The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Chapter 123 - When Darkness Shines like Light

“Luna?!” Celestia yelled out. “Where is she?! Where is my sister?!”

It was early in the morning, moments still before the stark white alicorn was due to uplift the sun. Happiness was far from the expression that was worn on her face as she stormed out from the castle into the garden path while a Canterlot guard stationed at the entrance pointed around the bend upon her command.

Stepping with urgency, the irritated mare rounded down the path. “Luna?!” She shouted before finally spotting her sister, but was surprised to see she wasn’t alone. Looking back over her shoulder in surprise, Luna was sitting with a pegasus who had a burnt amber coat. The two of them looked up while sitting hoof-in-hoof and it was immediately apparent from the lipstick on Magnus’ face that they had been kissing. “Oh, well! That’s just great! EXCUSE ME for interrupting!” Celestia spat.

Magnus just leaned back, not quite knowing what to say as Luna wiped the saliva from her lips with a hoof before scowling. “Good morning to you too, dear sister. And what pray tell has thee so vexed this morning? Surely I am not late as of yet for lowering the moon?” She asked while giving no acknowledgment to what she had been doing.

Stomping a hoof to her younger sister, Celestia shouted, “YOU ARRESTED HIM?!” Her eyes were fixated upon Luna and her nostrils flared at seeing no more than a blasé attitude in return.

“I merely did what I felt I had to once I had learned the secret he was keeping from me.” She stated as if feeling completely indifferent to the actions she had taken. Then the dispassionate alicorn looked back up saying, “Worry not, he is only on a temporary hold which is well within my legal rights to do. Rayne is not guilty of any crime, yet. However, by the end of tonight, we shall see if that remains true.”

Growling discontentedly, Celestia replied, “Luna, please listen. I agree that it comes as a shock to find that Rayne has been taking Disdream Elixir. However, I-”

“Celestia, he LIED TO ME!” Luna shouted, enraged before her sister could even begin. “Do NOT attempt to mitigate this or to downplay his actions!” She spat angrily.

Celestia fell silent as she recognized that impassioned look in Luna’s eyes. It was the same look she’d had a thousand years ago whilst trying to convey her unhappiness about being overshadowed. Not wanting a repeat of past events, Celestia simply folded her wings and allowed her younger sister to continue.

“Twilight and our friends had suspected him of Equestria’s mysterious deeds long ago!” Luna bellowed as if that were an acceptable excuse for her actions. “Many mysteries still remain unsolved! And in hindsight of being lenient due to him being injured at the time, perhaps we were too quick to overlook his deeds?! He may know things which could give us answers, or worse yet be AWARE of actions he may be hiding from us!”

The older sister gave a deep sigh for she knew that Luna wasn’t wrong, but it was unclear who exactly Luna had been trying to convince. “Yes, I do understand all that.” Celestia acknowledged. “But Lu… It’s Rayne. He’s not just some stranger off the street who we don’t know. And he cares for you, deeply! Are you sure that throwing him in a dungeon was really the best way to handle this?”

However, Luna cast her gaze to the ground as she could no longer look her sister in the eye. Her face scrunched up in frustration, which in turn built up to anger, all before she roared, “He knew! He knew that I was the princess who governs dreams and yet he still decided to date me! He decided to date me while actively hiding his dreams from me, and he did so on purpose!”

“Then be mad at him!” Celestia finally shouted in rebuttal. “Yell at him, Luna! But atleast… yell AT him! Talk to him about this! Have you even bothered to listen to his side of the story?!” Then lowering to a softer tone Celestia said, “Luna, I AM on your side here for this! But I just don’t want to see you hurt yourself over a misunderstanding. I really thought that Rayne meant more to you than this… than how you are treating him now.” She consoled while placing a hoof upon her shoulder.

Luna wanted to pull away, but she knew this was not Celestia’s fault. Turning her face away while attempting to remain strong, Luna grimaced as her voice still began to crack. “It matters not. Rayne may hath taken me on many sublime dates that indeed were wonderful. But I have a fine pony in my life who seeks my hoof already!” She half shouted, half cried while she pointed to the stallion who sat there listening without interrupting. “He is kind, and he is handsome, and he comes from a respectable background! And whether he always has the ’perfect’ line to drop on me or not, he tries! He really tries to do right by me and it shows! And I have not been meeting him with fair respect in return!”

“Luna…” Celestia gasped in surprise, now realizing there may actually be more to this possibility than just her sister’s hurt emotions.

“But I don’t have to worry about the background of his character!” Luna suddenly screamed. “Flash Magnus is a good stallion! His demeanor has been proven time and again both a thousand years ago and here since! With as Rayne, however,… How can we really know? He isn’t from here, by his own admission he isn’t even from Equestria! He could be a criminal running from crimes committed elsewhere for all we know!”

“Luna, you don’t mean that…” Celestia sighed sadly.

Now leaning back away from her sister and picking up the pegasi’s hoof into her own, she said, “What I mean is that Magnus is a fine stallion that any mare would be lucky to stand with. Moreover, I can trust him and know that I can be safe with him.” Then she turned from her sister and spoke aloud while looking at him. “This may be a bit rocky due to our political positions, but no relationship needs to be perfect. I feel that I could be happy with him.” She said finally before turning back to Celestia.

“Well, sister… if that is what you have decided.” Celestia said uneasily, before turning and stepping away from them both.

• A Few Minutes Later -

Two guards stationed inside the dungeons suddenly snapped to attention as a trotting of hooves echoed down the staircase. As the visitor strode past them without a word, she gazed through the bars into the cold and dreary cell. There she saw its lone inhabitant, a stallion slouching upon the ground against the wall. From where he sat, only a single blue eye stared up at her from the otherwise lax expression he had taken.

“Hello, Princess,” Rayne spoke out cordially, even though his poor posture pressured his voice into a lower tone than he meant for. “You do this prisoner an honor, coming down to pay me a visit. And yet despite this being your castle, I cannot help but feel that you do not belong down here.”

“THAT I DON’T BELONG?!” Celestia shouted furiously at him. “Rayne?! What is the meaning of this?! Why did you allow my sister to just imprison you without a word?!” She shouted before growling in frustration at the bars as she tried to get a better look at him in the darkroom. “Oh, for pony’s sake, will one of you two open this door?!” She ordered and looked toward the two guards.

“Oh, right away your majesty.” One of them shouted but the stallion inside made no attempts to move, even as the iron-barred door swung away.

Standing in the doorway now Celestia softened her tone and said, “Rayne, from what I have been told, Luna has only imprisoned you under the pretense that you might have committed a crime. But not only does she not have any proof, but I have also been told that you simply allowed for this to happen without speaking so much as a word in your defense. Will you please just tell me what is going on?” She pleaded with him.

Giving a scoff, Rayne didn’t even look Celestia in the eye. “It would be my assumption that I am here while we are waiting.”

“Waiting for what?” She asked him.

With a smirk toward the floor, he answered, “For the Disdream Elixir that I’ve been drinking every day for the last five months to finally wear off.”

“So it’s true,” She whispered softly. “You really have been hiding your dreams then.”

“That’s one way of putting it.” He sassed.

“Well, what would be a different way of putting it, because believe me, Rayne, I would very VERY much like to know!” She scowled and then even though she was frustrated she tried to implore him again. “If you know you are guilty of something then you can save us all the wait by telling me right now. However, if this is just some misconstrued notion of entertaining my sister’s fury because you have feelings for her, then please stop this! If it was Luna's intention to simply keep an eye on you until nightfall then that could just as easily be done up in the castle where ‘I’ could look after you. There is no reason for you to just sit here in this dungeon all day long until nightfall!”

At this, the stallion pursed his lips and nodded a bit to her suggestion. But after rolling his shoulders he finally looked up to her from the ground and said, “I thank you for your offer, but you just don’t get it.”

Giving in to a scowl of defeat, she sighed but still looked to him and asked, “Then if you will not accept my offer for hospitality, could you at least explain to me why?” Softening her gaze once more she looked to the guards and then back to Rayne. “You are an able-bodied stallion, I’m sure you would have no trouble attempting to muscle your way out of here. And you are also a unicorn who I see has not been adorned with a spellbinding ring. Yet you have not teleported yourself out either. Why is your heart so set on remaining here?”

“It’s because,” he stated slowly while giving her a soulful expression. “This is where she wants me to be. And it’s that simple for me.” He answered. “Even without the elixir mishap, should Luna have wished that I cross a volcano for her, I would do it. Then if she were to tell me to battle a mighty five-headed dragon, I would do that too. And if she were to tell me to prove my love for her by rotting away in a jail cell until she returned for me, then by my dried and dusty bones, even after a thousand years they would still be here for her.” He responded emphatically. “It’s not sitting in this jail cell that frightens me. It’s the risk of disappointing her should she return and I not be here.”

“And should I order to have you removed?” Celestia asked while stepping out from the doorway to leave the exit open for him.

“Then, as you stated, this able-bodied stallion would muscle his way to stay.”

“And should I have these guards grab you and drag you forcefully from this cell against your will?”

“Then I shall indeed teleport as you suggested, right back to this cell once more.”

There was a silence between them now as Rayne and Celestia stared stoically at one another while the guards shifted uneasily, not knowing whether they should be removing the prisoner or not. However, with another sigh, Celestia just looked toward the dark stallion and nodded. “Very well then, Rayne. Believe it or not, I too have been in love before and while I think you are currently being a fool, I understand how passionately desire to be with another can cause one to act.” Then stepping out from the cell, she turned her back to him while leaving the door wide open.

“If I could ask for just one thing…” Rayne quickly spoke up, stopping Celestia where she stood.

First turning over her shoulder and then stepping back to face him once more, she asked, “Yes?”

Looking up with a solemn expression he said, “Just be there for her tonight?” He asked with a desperation to his voice that Celestia found almost unnerving. “After she visits my dreams, you may think of me what you wish. But when she sees what I have no doubt she will come to regret finding within my mind, just please, be there for your sister and do not leave her to have to face that alone.”

The pause from the alicorn was brief as she nervously trotted in place from his cryptic message. However, a moment later she looked at him and said, “I will always be there for my sister, Rayne.” And with that she turned from him, leaving him sitting alone in the open cell.

• That Night -

“What is going on here?! What is the meaning of this?” Luna shouted angrily as she walked down into the dungeon. “You there, guard. Why is this cell door opened?!” However, she did not appear prepared for the answer that was given.

“Celestia had ordered it to be opened… this morning.” Said one of the two soldiers who had both volunteered to remain on duty for an additional shift, just for the sole purpose of relaying what had happened to the princess. “She arrived and beckoned the stallion with some force to leave his cell and remain under her personal supervision in the castle instead.”

“Oh? Then why isn’t he?” Luna asked while staring at the guardpony.

“He refused to go.” The other guard answered. “He told her that he didn’t want to disappoint you by not being here when you returned. So she just left him here, and with the door open.”

“And he has made no attempts to escape?” Luna asked, looking over and seeing a tray of food sitting on the ground that didn’t look as if it had been touched.

“No, your majesty. In fact, he hasn’t said a word. I don’t think he’s moved from that spot since he was brought here.”

Stepping over to the cell, Luna first looked around the open doorway and then to the stallion who sat patiently on the floor. She could see he was awake as his bright blue eyes looked up at her. But he didn’t say a thing as she approached and she noticed he looked as if there were shame written all over his face. “Rayne?”

‘Princess.” He addressed her cordially before licking his lips which had run dry and then giving her a bow that looked stiff and uncomfortable.

“You understand why I am here?” She asked him and he just nodded. “Rayne, you look… exhausted.” She said with surprise, as even being angry with him did not dissuade the care she still felt toward the stallion.

“I waited for you…” He said to her drearily. “I know it is my dreams you seek. So I stayed awake in this cell, all last night, and today, so as to not rob you of what you are after. I wanted to be properly in need of rest for you when you arrived.” He said to her dryly as his eyes stared half-lidded towards the princess.

“Oh, Rayne.” She said to him softly before walking slowly into the cell. “Must everything always be so dramatic with you? Even this?” She asked before kneeling down beside him and stretching her hooves around him. She could feel how stiff his muscles felt as she leaned him against her chest. “Easy there, it is time to rest and relax now, Rayne.” She whispered to him tenderly as she began stroking his mane.

At the touch of her embrace, Rayne almost felt as if he were falling apart from how swiftly his muscles relaxed. But what really startled her was when he whispered in such a way that his message seemed painful for him to admit. “I didn’t want you in here… But I know I cannot apologize for what I assume you are going to see.” He told her while gesturing up to his head.

“Rayne… are you confessing?” She asked him curiously, but while never removing her hooves from around him.

He didn’t exactly shake his head, so much as he sort of quivered in disagreement instead. “What I mean is that I failed you… and all that I want, for now, is one last chance to see you looking at me as you currently do, and not as you will when all this is over.” He said while staring at her as if it were the last time he would ever get to again.

Luna didn’t know how to respond to that, nor could she comprehend how to process just how foreboding the stallion was behaving with her. But pushing past her sudden doubts she just pulled his face down into her lap and stroked his mane again while whispering for the comfort of them both. “Shh, shhh now… It is time to rest. Cast your fears aside and just lay with me. Lay, and sleep until-” But she stopped as she realized his exhaustion had overtaken him that quickly after feeling the mere comfort of his touch. Now while he lay in a heavily unconscious state, she leaned in and closed her eyes to join him.

• In the Dream Realm -

A moment later Luna opened her eyes but was confused because she seemed to be right back in the prison cell where Rayne’s body currently resided. But she quickly began to recognize the differences, as the cell door was closed and for some reason, Rayne himself did not appear to be in view. “I… I don’t understand.” Luna said quietly to herself. “This is most definitely Rayne’s dream, but where is the manifestation of his own self-image?” She questioned, finding the situation to be peculiar.

“Heh, heh, heh… yooouuu knnneeeewwww! Hehehe.” A disembodied voice suddenly called out, startling Luna as it did. ‘You knew that this would happen.” The voice snickered, currently sounding cold and high in pitch. However, it seemed strange to Luna, as if the words were spoken by a great many voices which shifted by the syllable for dominance in Rayne’s mind. “You kneeeew, hehehaha. You always knew this would happen.” It cackled as if being that of an old crone. Now Luna crept slowly toward the bars, peering out curiously before jumping back in fright as the voice changed to a male tone and shouted. “YOU KNEW!”

“Stop this! That is not Rayne’s voice I hear, I demand to know who is speaking inside of his dreams!” The princess commanded. However, the constantly gender-swapping tone seemed to pay no mind to her calls.

“You knew that you would hurt her.” A hissing and echoey voice seemed to swirl around like wind in the prison cell. Then Luna saw a visualization of herself walk up in front of the bars outside the cell. Her face looked to be scowling in utter contempt and with such ferocity that the real Luna was certain she had never looked at anyone with that much disdain in her life. “Annnnd you deserrrrrve thissss…” The hissy echoey voice continued.

“What?! What doth Rayne deserve?! Who are you?!” Luna shouted but her dream double just looked right through her into the empty cell.

“Rot in here until you die, Rayne.” The dream Luna spat disparagingly.

‘N-now I NEVER said such a thing to- AAAHHH!!!” The real Luna screamed as behind her there was finally an image of Rayne laying upon the floor, where after a lightning flash despite there not being a window, his body turned to a molded skeleton before flashing back to himself again.

Before the princess could react further, the entire room then began to feel very hot. The vision within the room blurred as if the air were marred by heat. Then the corners of the stone cell somehow began to burn before the entirety of the room fell away to total blackness and it was as if the scene began to change.

“What does she want from you?” The hissy masculine voice echoed out as a light in the darkness began to appear before then jarringly fast pulling itself forward into view. A swirl of visions melted from the Everfree Forest, to Ponyville, to Canterlot, and then finally the Crystal Empire swirled back and forth.

Taking a more feminine but gruff and scratchy tone now, the old crone dream voice whispered, “She wants to know why you betrayed her. She wants to know why you are responsible for hurting her, Rayne.” When the blurry background finally came into focus, Luna saw herself at the base of the Crystal Empire Castle. “She knows, you know…” The dream voice taunted menacingly. “She knows all about you really.”

The real Luna jumped when a dark hoof stretched out right in front of her and placed itself firmly against the wall near the staircase leading up to the castle. Taking a step back Luna breathed a sigh of relief as finally, it appeared as if she had found Rayne’s mental self-image. However, she brought her hooves up to her lips in shock after seeing that his eyes looked sunken and his voice was labored and shivering.

“I’m exhausted…” He lamented to himself while stepping dizzily and fumbling about. “I am FREEZING! I had completely forgotten... wait, how long have I... it feels like my bones are ice.” Suddenly Rayne's balance started to fail him as if a pain ripped through his forehead. “My ears are ringing all of a sudden and this headache is killing me!” He grit his teeth in pain. Luna watched as the stallion reached out for help, stretching desperately, as if for anyone. But then his vertigo seemed to shift as his head bent sideways before he collapsed onto the floor.

“Oh, Rayne.” Luna sobbed quietly. “Was this what happened to you back in the Crystal Empire?” But then she looked up in confusion when he was suddenly back on his hoofs, only to fall again. “What’s this?” She asked herself, taking another step back.

What she witnessed was his mind appearing to be caught in a loop. It was just Rayne striking the ground from his fall, over and over again. After having just about enough of witnessing this, she stood in the way to catch him but strangely he seemed to glitch through her hooves and hit the ground anyway. Next, she attempted to use her magic to levitate him and even tried screaming at him after that. But nothing seemed to stop this scene from repeating.

After minutes of this going on, Luna screamed while raising her hooves in an attempt to cover her ears. But the sound of Rayne’s skull impacting against the stone floor seemed to be the nightmare’s focus. However after looping nearly a dozen more times, Luna’s eyes shot open wide as she realized the sound did not match the visual. Looking back at Rayne, she recalled that she knew that sound, but it had been from Canterlot, not the Crystal Empire.

Then she noticed that snow wasn’t falling around the castle but instead it was raining plumes of black smoke. With no warning, Rayne’s body seemed to burst into flames which also spread to burn away the scene. And as soon as the smoke had cleared, it gave way to the Canterlot Castle courtyard where the body of a black stallion already lay unmoving.

Luna’s throat tightened up at having to see this grievous scene again. But what she suddenly found odd was seeing her dream self flying through the air with a second dream Rayne falling from above. Luna watched because within her heart she hoped that somehow she would see herself catch Rayne this time. But her eyes went wide in disbelief as her dream self smiled and purposefully stopped short of catching him.

“Nnooooo!!!” Luna cried at having to once more hear the thud of Rayne hitting the ground. But to her dismay, her dream self just floated in the air watching as a third Rayne appeared and fell. Then her dream self floated down to the ground and sat, seemingly happily, as a fourth Rayne impacted the dirt.

The real Luna thought she might vomit as before her eyes half a dozen different bodies of Rayne lay collapsed and more continued to fall. But after seeing her dream self start laughing at this in amusement, she could take no more and blasted her fictional counterpart out of the dream.

That was when the scene changed with an alarming snap to Rayne laying in bed in the castle with Luna looking over him as he slept. But instead of remorse, there was anger on her dream self’s face. “Pathetic.” Luna heard her dream self say. “So weak.” Suddenly back in the Crystal Empire, the dream Luna said while looking down at Rayne’s body laying outside, “Never before have I seen such a pathetic stallion.” Back in Canterlot. “Why do I have to be subjected to this sight every time this simpleton cannot keep himself out of trouble?” Again back to outside the Crystal Castle.

“No, I do NOT feel that way!” The real Luna bellowed but then she looked on as she now found them on that fateful night outside the warehouse in Canterlot where she had yelled at him.

"What are thou DOING HERE, RAYNE?!" Her dream self said, just as she had that night. However, it brought tears to Luna’s eyes to see herself like that because she honestly had not understood until now just how angry she had looked back then. "How many times?! Why does thou ALWAYS seem to be at the center of things when there is trouble brewing, Rayne?!"

It wasn’t surprising to see Magnus or any other pony missing from the dream. But what did shock Luna was when her dream self began to say things she absolutely knew she did not say back then.

“Why must I have your WEAKNESS always displayed in front of me?!” The real Luna almost stumbled in anger, wanting to slap her dream self for speaking to Rayne in such a manner. “Tell me if it isn’t true, that I have now seen you more times asleep on your back than awake on your hooves! Just how puny and incapable ARE you, Rayne?! You disgust me!” Then in almost the same breath the dream of Luna levitated Rayne up off his hooves and threw him full-bodied into the raging fire of the warehouse just in time for the roof to collapse in on top of him.

“NO! NOOO!!!” The real Luna cried out, forgetting for a moment that this was a dream from the shock of what she had just witnessed. However, as she was trying to shake it off a moment later, she became disturbed after realizing her dream self was staring right at her when she was supposed to be invisible within the dream unless she wished otherwise. Although, not a moment later, the fire from the warehouse burned out the scene from the dream, returning Luna to the empty blackness to wait for the next scene to appear.

What manifested first was the dream voice as it spoke out, “You have lost her, as you have seen, for simply not being good enough. But then that’s it then, isn’t it? You were never good enough.” The voice said, ever-changing between the male hissy tone that echoed and the scratchy craggily feminine pitch. “You think that she wants you? Really?! I’ll show you what it is that she wants.”

When imagery returned to the dream again, Luna was surprised to find herself in her own bedroom. Although, she immediately blushed at hearing a lewd erotic moan coming from her mattress in the form of her own figure. Feeling embarrassed but also trying to remind herself that there was nothing unhealthy about stallions having erotic dreams depicting mares they cared about, she was stricken motionless by witnessing the very last thing she would have expected to see.

Kneeling upon the floor while looking downtrodden and heartbroken, Rayne stared up at the bed to where Luna’s face was groaning in ecstasy. In an instant, the bedsheet which had been over her body lifted and another stallion with a red mane was revealed to be on top of her instead. With the sheet gone, Flash Magnus was seen over an open-legged Luna, barreling himself in and out of her loins while her hooves fawned over him in pleasure.

“You see this?” The voice returned and seemed to circle around Rayne’s head while he watched the dream Luna scream that no other stallion had ever given her such pleasure before. “This is what she wants, this is what she needs. But you are in the waaaay! Can’t you see that? All you do is disgust Luna with your weakness and hold her back from the happiness that she’d receive… if only you had never existed in the first place.”

The last word had barely been uttered before the dream Magnus and Luna were both shattered by a powerful magic blast and the disembodied voice was blown away by a gust of wind. “I decide what I want and who is worthy of my happiness,” Luna said proudly while walking up to reveal herself and offer comfort to Rayne.

However, before she could, she panicked at seeing a crooked stone fireplace monstrously open itself up along the wall. Then a long snake-like arm with black and white worms for fingers grabbed a hold of her. “You are in the way!” The dream voice shouted angrily and then threw Luna clear outside through her balcony window. By the time her wings regained control over her momentum, she looked back to see her entire tower disappear down into the ground. Then without delay, she dove into the hole chasing after where Rayne’s consciousness was taken.

“Finally, something that I understand!” Luna shouted as she recognized that she was going beyond Rayne’s dreamscape and was penetrating into his subconscious.

When she again found light, she was surprised to see what looked like a child’s playground. There was green grass and the sun was shining. There were various jungle gym bars for children, even though no actual children were filled in amidst the childlike laughter.

“Well… this is lovely, but where is Rayne?” Luna asked herself before realizing there was some unmarked building behind her.

At that moment, she saw a figure she could not believe. Hiding in the shadow of the building from the sun was a cowering fleshy figure. It had little to no hair all along its body and its physical shape seemed to be misshapen, crossing the amalgamation between that of a stallion and something else entirely, but while still having four limbs at least.

‘Oh… oh no, Rayne, no.” She said softly as she approached. “If what I saw before were only your memories, as well as your fears… Then does that mean that this… is your self-image, Rayne? Ohh please no.” She gasped heartbrokenly while staring at the mutated little creature. However, as it recoiled and clawed against the wall, Luna quickly realized that it wasn’t her that Rayne was scrambling away from.

Looking down, the shadow from the building was getting noticeably thinner. As the sun now moved at an unnaturally fast pace, the figure shrieked in abject terror and Luna stood watching, not knowing what to do. Then to her disbelief, when the shadow was gone, Rayne’s mutated form screamed and then started bleeding from every pore of his skin. Before Luna could understand, his entire figure became engulfed in fire as he cried out while burning under the sun.

Slowly, however, it was as if the scene receded as the sun was moved away and a cool moon was lifted into the air instead. “Easy now, be at peace Rayne, for the sun can hurt you no more. Not while I am here.” Luna eased to him while the mutant looked up at her with them suddenly being inside the building she assumed they had been next to.

Although without her knowing why, he suddenly shoved her away so hard that she fell onto her back before there came the sound of a whoosh followed by a metallic thud. When she opened up her eyes she screamed as before her was the full-figured body of a horse but it was cut sectionally into pieces by thick glass slabs which seemed to have fallen from the ceiling. Stepping away from the horrific scene where she could still see the horse’s insides beating and attempting to function, she saw an open doorway in the back which she quickly ran through after realizing Rayne was gone.

Once through the doorway, she found herself in a dirt tunnel lit by an eerie yellow and green glow. Just behind her was a wall where she seemed to be at a dead-end to the path, while a few paces ahead of her was another figure. It stood upright on two legs and had very pale skin. It was emaciated, showing its ribs and most of its bones. But on its hairless bald face, there were no eyes or even eye sockets at all. It did have a mouth with loose gibbering skin, but its nose holes were too high on its skull to be natural.

“H-hello?” Luna called out, not knowing what else to do, and immediately, the creature twitched before turning her way. It outstretched a hand, showing long fingertips that were marred black and ended in sharp-looking tips. But when its grip opened up, there was a single eye located in the palm of its hand. Luna screamed as it seemed to stare at her with both palms before charging at her with those sharp, grotesque-looking fingertips. She turned to run but was forcefully reminded she stood at a dead end with nowhere to turn. And in her fright she screamed before sparking her horn to expel herself from Rayne’s dream.

When she opened her eyes, she was in what looked to be a hospital room with medical equipment beeping throughout the room. She was strapped down to a gurney with medical restraints and then a figure walked by but it was not quite there. It wore a medical coat like a doctor and had a stethoscope around where the neck would be, but the body of the individual was missing entirely.

‘What?! What is this?! Am I still in Rayne’s mind? But I thought to expel myself from his dream!”

“Now, now. Settle down.” The invisible doctor spoke directly to her. “It’s just time for your therapy session, that is all.”

“Therapy?! I am not crazy, what is this?! Release me at once!” She shouted while pulling on her bonds.

The figure seemed to pause in place as if confused. “What? Come on, we’ve done this enough times now for you to know what to expect.

Suddenly a likewise invisible nurse jabbed a needle connected to a tube into her arm. Fluid began flowing into her vein as Luna screamed, “What is that?! What are you injecting into me?!”

“Calm down, Rayne. It is only painkillers, you know that.” The doctor urged while wheeling over a cart with equipment on it.

“R-Rayne? I… I am sitting in Rayne’s own place in his dream? B-but that has never happened before.” She said to herself in panic. “W-why would, ahem, for what reason would I need painkillers?” Luna asked the doctor.

She couldn’t see it but somehow she knew that the doctor had smiled. “So we can test them of course. I’m going to see how much of you I can break before you start to feel the pain.” Then in one motion, he brought a large mechanical device covered in drills that looked built to stab and crush and split right over the end of her hoove that was held in place by the restraints. Luna screamed as she saw the arm of the labcoat reach toward what looked like an ‘on’ switch. Then before it could be flipped, she used her magic to attempt to break free of Rayne’s mind again.

“Ooohhhh…” Luna groaned wearily as she looked around and noticed she had most assuredly note scaped, due to the hellish red glow that was all around her. She struggled once more as she realized that again she could not move. Pulling on her bonds and becoming angry now, Luna’s breath caught in her throat when she finally thought to look around.

She was outdoors, and from how dark it was, it was clearly night. But the land was bathed in red by a light source she could not identify. Her lip trembled and her hooves curled as she realized there were dead bodies everywhere as if she were above the remnants of some gruesome warzone. She could not even see the ground amidst the corpses while blood appeared to be literally raining down from the sky. Looking higher she realized that every twenty yards or so there were crossed pikes that were staked into the ground, all stretching upwards while some had bodies that were crudely tied to hang above those down below. That was when she realized she herself was tied to one of these stakes with her arms stretched outward to her sides.

“You’ve forgotten how little you’re worth.” The dream voice suddenly spoke up again. “You’ve allowed yourself to become deluded into thinking that you are an individual. You are a plague, Rayne. And you had to be reminded of your helplessness. You’re scum, and scum does not know happiness. A virus does not deserve to receive love. You have only one purpose for your existence, and I shall remind you.” Then as a figure appeared beside her, Luna’s eyes bulged and she screamed at the top of her lungs, never having been so afraid in all her life.

“An existence of pleasure and pain.” A deep monstrous voice said as a tall pale individual appeared. The figure stood upright and wore an outfit of shiny black leather. There were holes in the chest of the garment where the skin was sewn into the fabric. And up above the head had large needles embedded, driven into the face and all around its cranium. “I will remind you of a world with pleasure and pain indivisible from one another.”

“WHAT IN ALL THE WORLD?!” Luna screamed as she squirmed and twisted against the ropes that kept her bound.

Then the figure leaned forward, almost stabbing her in the face with the needles in its own skull, and said, “Do I look like someone who cares about what the world thinks?” Luna thought her heart was going to scream out of her throat as the monster reached out, caressing her down along her stomach. “No tears, please. It’s a waste of good suffering. I have such sights to show you. So, shall we begin?” Then Luna screamed over and over watching a series of chains appear from the darkness. They rained down upon the ground, growing nearer and nearer to her as she wailed, until suddenly her horn sparked again.

• -

The two guards stationed at Rayne’s cell gasped as the screaming princess suddenly reappeared, with her horn furiously sparking magic again and again.

“Princess! Princess Luna! Are you alright?!” They each shouted while shaking her as she held her eyes closed.

When she finally opened up her eyes, she looked up to the two guards shouting, “Am I out?! Did I make it back out?! Please, please tell me that I’m out!” Then in a panic, she whirled around checking to make sure the sleeping body of the stallion lay on the ground and that it was not still missing. After seeing Rayne laying there unconscious, her heartbroken and fear-driven mind made her scream out for the only thing she could think of. “TIA!!!!!!!!!”

Author's Note

Okaaay, so hopefully I didn't just lose a bunch of readers from how dark this chapter got. I most certainly have a detailed chapter review written 'here' for those of you who want a specific explanation for all the nuances and details. But here is the generalized chapter review.

So the entire Canterlot Guard obviously knows who Rayne is by this point so I feel that of course Celestia is going to hear about him being arrested the very moment that she wakes up. And she's not actually trying to take sides between Rayne and Magnus because this is Luna's decision, but she can tell when her sister is overreacting to something. What she didn't expect though was that it would seem this business with the Disdream Elixir has broken Luna's trust in Rayne and has driven her into Magnus' arms even though she had been fully prepared to choose Rayne before this happened.

Although Rayne is not without his own character flaws and he can be just as stubborn as Luna. And for as strong as he pretends to be, he has plenty of self doubt.

Okay now I want to state it clearly that Rayne had no idea what Luna would see in his dreams. One can't normally control what their dreams are about so he only feared what he imagined she might see. But if you want the details then you can read the review blog linked above. Here I will just state the references that need to be made.

First of all, I did make several references to my own story. The scene in the Crystal Empire was directly taken from ch 32 right before he collapsed from the first time Rayne used Hope's healing powers. Then of course the scene of him falling in Canterlot was from ch 39, where Rayne blacked out again for the same reason. And it wasn't too long ago when we had the warehouse scene in ch 114. Now the fire that transitioned in between each dream scene will be explained in story during the next chapter.

-If you want to have a reference for what I imagined the dream voice sounding like, the masculine hissing voice was based upon Voldemort from the Harry Potter films while the old crone voice was based on the Mad Madam Mim from Walt Disney's 1963 film The Sword in the Stone.
-The monstrous crooked fireplace was a reference to the 1988 Beetlejuice movie.
-Rayne's mutated self image was supposed to just be a metaphor for him not seeing himself as human anymore but not truly seeing himself as a pony; and it was not based on but could be interpreted as close to how Sméagol looked in The Lord of the Rings.
-When Rayne shoved Luna out of the way before the horse body was sliced into by glass panes, that was a reference to the Jennifer Lopez movie from 2000 titled The Cell.
-After that, the monster in the dirty tunnel was "The Pale Man" from the 2006 movie Pan's Labyrinth.
-Near the end, the hellscape full of bodies could be related to any old WWII movie, you take your pick. But the creature wearing black leather with pins in his head is a reference to the Hellraiser movie series. Most of the things that he had to say were quotes taken from those movies directly.

Alright so at the end, after meeting Hellraiser you can bet that Luna just shut her eyes and spam casted her spell to escape from the dream realm repeatedly without end until she finally made it out. And once she was sure that she was free, the only thing she could think of was to call out for her big sister for support because Luna was terrified.

Before I end this, I want to point out a couple of things that I think are important to mention. While this is traumatizing, I'm not going to change Luna's base character by making her go crazy after experiencing Rayne's nightmares. Also, Rayne was not in control of his dreams. He did not torture Luna on purpose, and also the fact that Luna didn't happen to stumble upon any dreams to reveal that Rayne was once a human was purely random dumb luck. Each scene linked to the next for a reason, but for that you need to read the review. So while you can expect Luna to be shaken in the next chapter, it is not going to ultimately destroy her character. Furthermore, ch 124 will be the expected end to the current story arc.