Chapter 2: Into The Dream Bubble

Twas the night before the verdict and all throughout the Canterlot Castle, not a single creatu-oh, wait. Nevermind….

Ah, silence. It was a natural sign of the presence of the night. Without it, how could anycreature sense any relief or hope to rest? And yet, the sounds of the night were far too familiar to those who trotted down those desolate halls.

The nighttime guards knew it all too well. They were used to it, after all. The thestrals that occupied most of the Lunar Guard protected the Canterlot Castle with keen eyes and excellent ears. Their sense of potential dangers was unequivocally unmatched by any within Equestria’s borders.

And without him, the Lunar Knights and Guards would have never been transformed into the juggernaut they represented. A timeless stallion from the past, long before the events of Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon, his rise through the ranks solidified his place among them.

And as Commander Shifting Sands made his way down those quiet halls to the throne room for Night Court, he couldn’t help but think about the past three weeks and what transpired. It had taken a substantial toll on everypony’s psyche, and trying to maintain his mental health at a stable level was troubling for the stalworth unicorn.

Shifting still couldn’t wrap his head around those events: a creature he once trusted and could spar with daily, one he thought he had figured out and known every detail. That human betrayed the promises he once made to them.

Magic was one thing, but humans couldn’t use it, let alone as powerful as the alicorns could. At least, that’s how those two described it. Fighting alongside them was another thing, as they could carry weapons of war to inflict damage and protect those around them.

No, that wasn’t the concern. Instead, it was the enchantment Alexander had called for to summon a devastating ball of magical energy, sending it away from him towards the lifeless golem known as Anonymous. As it slammed into Anon slowly, any semblance of that creature was gone, a blast as large as the buildings of the Canterlot streets wiping out both Anon and Greymane.

All that was left…was a pool of black tar-like substance, the product of the magic runes Anon had taught himself. It melted into the ground, dying off into the aether and burying itself in a shallow grave.

As for Alex, he was devastated and traumatized. After realizing what he did, the smoke cleared to reveal the by-product of his magic. I remember it vividly, watching the remaining human fall to his knees and lean back on his heels.

His shaky breaths vanished into the wind as the world fell silent. The blood soaked into the human’s fabric was weighing him down, as Alex had clutched the top of his shirt with both hands. The human that wielded the two axes covered his face with his shirt and…

`”NOOOOOO!!”`

It was a scream that rang into the atmosphere. A representation of what the man had done, but more importantly, what he had lost. The other human he could get along with, who was from the same species, and one he fondly got along with. It ended with a cry heard as far away as the Everfree Forest.

Nopony had any idea of what course of action needed to happen after those events. The Commander could only remember returning to his chambers with his marefriend, Princess Luna, and a knock accompanying the room’s air a few minutes later.

After opening the door, both Princess Luna and Commander Shifting were approached by Princess Celestia and told to come along. Along with Emperor Nacreous, the four of them ascended the tower that housed Alex’s room at the top.

It was Shifting’s observations that told him what was to happen as all four members of The Crown of Canterlot approached the thick, wooden door that kept Alex safe. The poor stallion guarding it was told to leave immediately, his face filled with gloom and sadness.

Princess Celestia, visibly upset, charged her horn and blasted the entrance to the human’s room open, revealing the human tending to his wounds on the bed. Then, after a verbal exchange between the two had occurred, Alex pointed his finger at each and every one of them, saying, “You could’ve left me alone, but you chose not to. You pried too far into my past, and now I can’t be trusted?!“

After a few seconds of silence, Alex shook his head and prepared to leave through his window. But, unfortunately, Princess Celestia saw this as the final straw and stopped the human.

Ordering the Commander to place Alex under arrest, the human was shocked and nearly broke down as the cuffs were snapped upon his wrists. Then, Alexander Walkerson was charged with high treason and conspiracy against The Crown of Canterlot and Equestria. Later on, the additional charges came: capital murder, the use of forbidden magic, destruction of property, and potential treason against The Crown of Canterlot.

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Since that day three weeks ago, a lot of paperwork had to be filled out, and Shifting had his fair share done. But, as the stallion arrived at the big doors protecting the spacious throne room, he couldn’t help but feel guilty for being a part of the council against Alexander Walkerson.

All 15 members had already voted on whether he was guilty or innocent, and he felt a pit in his stomach forming. Knowing Alex’s resistant nature, his choices would either be the use of the death penalty for the first time in centuries or permanent exile to the Great Ice Plateau. Shifting knew he wasn’t alone in feeling this way because Alex had also hurt a pony who believed him.

Trying to understand the human’s standards, honor code, and what made him behave in the manner that he did, the lunar alicorn princess had been attempting to crack what his nightmares meant for the past two years. Now, she was more determined to find out the answer.

Commander Shifting’s fiance Princess Luna was sitting on the throne for the Night Court tonight. The once calm and collected Princess of the Night was scrambling through reports and paperwork, sweating as the pile of papers near her had been hastily stacked and messy. It was customary for her to go through the numerous scrolls before the sessions of Night Court began, but this was too much.

But, tonight would be different, he mused, as he had an idea to help ease her mind and contribute a bit more for tonight’s session of Court. Using his magic, he cleaned up the pile and arranged it neatly, surprising the alicorn.

“Good evening, Luna,” Shifting called out as he approached the throne. “What are you doing?” Princess Luna looked up from her papers, and her eyes widened.

“Oh, that was you!” the Night Princess exclaimed. “Thank you, and good evening to you too, Shifting. Oh, it’s nothing…nothing but reports of citizens across Equestria experiencing horrible nightmares regarding the human’s continued presence.”

“Are they alright? Shouldn’t you be checking on them?” the Commander replied, sitting beside his special mare.

“I c-can’t,” Luna stammered. “Celestia and Nacreous have been bogged down with their paperwork, and it has been stressful managing the trial and hearing the evidence. But how about you, darling? How hast thou been as of late?”

sigh “Well, it has been taxing for all involved, including me,” Shifting replied. “It is hard to imagine why Alex needed to do what he did. On the other hoof, the guards seem to be dealing with the situation very well, unlike the Day Guards. I have been listening in on some of their conversations lately, and it seems they are mistreating him.”

“It’s unfair to Alex, certainly, but this is what his actions have towed,” the alicorn ruler replied, looking at the paper in her magical grip. “The consequences have been devastating, despite only a dozen or so casualties from that battle.”

“Have there been any revelations from his nightmares as of late?” the stallion asked, attempting to switch the topic. Princess Luna looked at him and shook her head.

“When Alex’s incarceration happened, he was understandably upset and took it out on himself. There were nights he outright refused to get even an hour of sleep. However, as of a couple of nights ago, the nightmares have started to recede in intensity, which makes me question whether I’ll have enough time to check if these complaints and reports are true.”

Shifting grinned to himself as Luna displayed an expression of worry. “Welllll…what if I took over Night Court tonight?” the stallion asked. “That way, you’ll have a chance to help those in your realm rest better.”

“Does thou think you will be able to handle these nobles and creatures?” Luna asked sincerely. “They always come forth with some sort of plight or situation that seems confusing, and it may feel tedious and boring being by yourself.”

“How much does thou trust your Commander, my dear?” Shifting responded with a smile on his face.

A noticeable blush crept its way onto Luna’s cheeks from those words. “Thank you for doing this, Shifting,” Luna replied. “You are too kind. I shall travel to the dream realm for a moment then. I should be back sooner than later.”

“It is my pleasure, Luna. Take care, and remember to be careful,” Commander Shifting said before giving the Princess of the Night a quick kiss.

giggle “Oh, I will be, my Commander. Hopefully, you can hold out waiting for my return. After all, a thousand years left you unscathed,” Luna slyly commented, the stallion’s ears perking. Then, a mad blush crept to his face as the alicorn princess giggled.

“That’s a first,” he whispered as he took the throne for the Night Court session. In the meantime, Luna sent the last bit of paperwork back to her room, ignited her horn, and vanished into the air.

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As Princess Luna entered her realm, she looked at all the little dream bubbles that floated around her, scanning them for any signs of a nightmare. Finding, nullifying, and overpowering them was a task, but something felt off.

For some reason, not only did her sister’s dream bubble seem fine, but all of the dream bubbles were fairly normal. It was as if nobody was experiencing a nightmare at all. In all of Equestria, on a night like tonight, all was peaceful. But how, she thought to herself. All the letters, concerns, and complaints. Surely this was a mistake, right?

Luna bounced through the dream bubbles to check manually, but no threat of a nightmare presented itself. Truly an odd night, Luna thought to herself as she exited the last bubble. How could there not be a single nightmare?

That question was answered immediately, as she had forgotten to check on one dream bubble. Flying across her dream realm, Luna knew why everything was how it was tonight.

Sitting in its usual spot, far from the shadows and the realm she patrolled, a familiar wooden door with two steps and the word ‘Alex’ loomed before her. When he first came to Equestria, the bubble appeared out of nowhere and perplexed the lunar princess. The dream bubble was massive, only accessible by the door.

At first, Luna didn’t know what to do, but her instinct told her to investigate, which gave her more questions. The dreams the human was experiencing were of personal pain, misfortune, perfectionism toward his craft through his rigorous physical and psychologically-damaging practice and the triumph and existential dread from his past memories.

It plagued him through the images of monsters, from giant spiders to undead zombies sprinting at full speed, terrifying clowns, and tiny astronauts that could split open and devour you whole. Out of everything he had thought up, the animatronic nightmares were hard to tackle since the robots came forward and physically attacked the human.

Bearing numerous sharp claws and large fangs, they attacked without notice, jumping out of nowhere and scaring the poor human to death. They resembled bears, foxes, bunnies, and various critters. From her perspective, Alex was putting up a good fight in his dream, using his assortment of weapons to defend himself, but the paranoia of WHEN they would strike kept him awake and unable to find peace with himself.

And then there were the psychological nightmares: those that dug into the memories of the human’s mind. They ranged from mild to middle-ground level, featuring memories of harassment, bullying, and constant blame for stuff he didn’t do.

However, what terrified Luna were the full-blown nightmares. Those nightmares were brutal to combat since it felt like Alex had implanted these thoughts into his head, and nothing would change his thinking. The environmental landscape of the nightmares physically attacked her, causing Luna to retreat on numerous occasions.

But it was puzzling as to why events of the future appeared. Like the time Alex correctly predicted Anon would escape and Alex would end up being responsible for killing him. It was truly baffling to her. Was this a form of superpower he had? Luna’s mind worried. To correctly make assumptions on what could occur and see it become a reality? How?

All would have to be answered later, as Princess Luna noticed the nightmare’s black tendrils leaking from the poorly built door. The entire bubble was, for a time, engulfed by a full-blown nightmare, and it was something Princess Luna needed to take care of. Now.

However, Luna paused before entering the bubble. Her thoughts ran wild, taking a deep breath and wondering whether or not she should proceed. Do I want what happened last time to happen again to me? Luna asked herself. He lashed out at me, nearly injuring me, and I had to retreat. I felt as though I had failed last time because ever since then, his anger, attitude, and further mistrust of us have made him feel isolated.

Luna shook her head, dispersing the negative thoughts. “Deep breath Luna,” she confidently told herself. “It will be fine. Just don’t spend an absorbent amount of time there.”

From there, Princess Luna opened the door that housed Alex’s nightmare and stepped into the dream bubble without another thought.

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She stopped in utter disbelief when she surfaced from the darkness into the nightmare. She was on a hilltop overlooking all of Equestria. She could see everything from the frozen Tundras of the South to the Northernmost section where the Crystal Empire resides. Even Mount Everhoof.

It was as if the entirety of Equestria had shrunk to the size of a single country. In front of her, hundreds of feet away, the human was crouched down, covering his ears…saying something. Luna knew she had to act fast and began galloping towards him.

“...don’t hold it against me…Don’t hold it against me….”

Luna stopped. It sounded like the voice of Alex at first, starting out soft and timid. But as the lunar alicorn neared him, it grew louder.

And louder.

And louder!

Her head began to hurt as she drew nearer, forcing her to grab at her head. The voice kept saying that one line over and over and over….

“Don’t hold it against me! Don’t Hold It Against Me! DON’T HOLD IT AGAINST ME!!”

As Luna looked up in terror, thousands of creatures’ unnerving, agonizing screams started to ring out on the horizon. The horizon produced a tidal wave of fire, too high for anyone to escape, which swept through the valley at a break-neck pace. The fire lashed out at those too slow to escape its fiery blaze.

The lower halves of Equestria were leveled, resulting in trees burning to the ground, buildings, and ruins reduced to nothingness, and memorials and monuments decimated. It was apparent it was approaching the both of them, but Luna felt like she couldn’t move. Still on the ground, doing her best to drown the screaming out, the alicorn couldn’t retreat.

The human, on the other hand, was not crouching down anymore. In fact, he was sitting down and seemed relatively calm. He had a neutral expression on his face, eyes closed as the wall of fire approached the hill they were on. The voices and screams grew even louder as the wall of flames surrounded the two.

As a voice started laughing without care, it kept getting louder and louder the more she fought it off. It seemed…familiar to her. A voice that she thought she had heard before.

Was it really her?

“This is only the start of it.”

Did the human just sa-

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The scene exploded away and knocked her down. As the lunar alicorn attempted to get up, she could not move. She was frozen in place, surrounded by a landscape of nothingness. All that remained were dusty, dark clouds and ash raining from above.

A dark scene, Luna mused as she tried to fight the feeling of fear. The previous scene was new, but this felt similar to a place in Equestria she once visited…wasn’t it south of Klugetown?

As she looked around, it was unbelievable: everything, all of Equestria, was gone. Eviscerated. All turned to ash. The human was nowhere to be seen, as if he had disappeared into the wind. She kept her guard up, realizing this could be a calculated attack by those monsters from before.

“Stay focused, Luna,” the Princess of the Night whispered. “You mustn’t let your guard down now.” The wind was quietly howling as Luna continued to keep her awareness up.

“...”

sniffle

Luna’s ears perked up. Did…did I hear that? She questioned herself. Is somecreature crying?

sob!

She thought it was her imagination, but the crying got louder. She tried to check herself to make sure she wasn’t the one sobbing, but nothing. It wasn’t coming from her, so she could only assume it was from the human.

As the crying got louder and louder, it was too much for her to bear. However, she was still frozen in place by some mysterious force, so she tried using her magic again.

No luck. Princess Luna, one of the two Royal Sisters, the alicorn princess of the Night, and one of the four crowns of Canterlot was powerless to stop it. She didn’t understand the problem, where it was, and how to fix it.

But then…it presented itself to her as if by pure happenstance. A lone creature surrounded by mountains of ash and bones came into view. It was an individual carrying…something.

‘Somecreature.’ A creature she had recognized before. As Alex the human finally appeared, he dropped to the ground and clung onto the body of Princess Skystar. The hippogriff princess was lifeless and brutally burned, stabbed, and strangled. Blood trails stained her once vibrant skin, and her mane hung wildly from her head.

It was a scene too horrific and gory that she tried to avert her eyes. It didn’t make sense. Out of all the nightmares she had encountered, this one perplexed her. A multi-scened nightmare? Luna’s thoughts rang out. Why was this the human’s dream? How could this be what he thinks?

“It is all my fault.”

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Luna opened her eyes and looked up. The scene had changed yet again, but it felt more morbid and grim this time.

She stood on top of a hill, surrounded by nothing but gravestones. Gravestones lined the lone hilltop, adorning the sides and all across the land that once was Equestria. As she looked out onto the horizon, it looked as if the graves were never-ending. But something else caught her attention.

As her focus returned to the hilltop she was on, Alex, the lone human resident of Equestria remaining, was kneeling between a flock of gravestones. In particular, he was looking at one, his trembling hands on one. No tears came from his eyes, but he was profoundly saddened and appeared to be suffering.

“I’m so, so sorry...I didn’t want you to go…It’s my fault you died….”

He was choking up, fumbling through his words. To Princess Luna, she couldn’t understand what was causing him to continue suffering like this scene was making him. But, much to her surprise, it did grant her the freedom of mobility. So, she quickly flew behind the human in a split second to observe the reason.

As she faced the scene from Alex’s perspective, she was utterly shocked as to why the human was grieving. The gravestones had engravings with some names she knew. Princess Twilight Sparkle. Queen Novo. Prince Haakim.

“Commander Shifting Sands…Emperor Nacreous…Princess Celestia…no,” Luna whispered under her breath. Even her name was present on one of the gravestones, causing her sides to shiver.

But there was one name that caught her attention. She had heard about that name, which answered all those mysteries surrounding the human.

‘Grandpa.’

Grandpa. Luna’s eyes widened. The scene finally made sense as the puzzle pieces finally started clicking into place.

If his nightmares can predict the future, she thoughtfully calculated, then why would he have such violent nightmarish scenes tormenting him while he idly sits by? He’s allowing it to happen because he feels he is responsible. Another cloud of mystery vanished.

But then that leaves another problem: the nightmares now are based upon memory, something he used to fear, Princess Luna questioned internally. The loss of a loved one that meant so much to him? It is the only reason as to why he is scared…scared?

Luna’s eyes closed as she took a shaky breath. Is this what he thinks will happen to Equestria? Loss of valuable individuals he cares about? Wait…’cares about.’

gasp! “That means….”

“What’s the most you’ve ever lost, Princess Luna?”

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Luna looked up and jumped back a bit. Her heart began to race as she was frighteningly startled because the human suddenly appeared directly before her, mere feet away.

She cocked her head to the side, confused by his demeanor. How? Why isn’t he crying? He’s sad about something. At this thought, Alex, the human, spoke up again.

“Let me ask you something, Luna,” the apparition of Alex asked. “How difficult it is to live while everyone you know is dead? I think you and I both know that feeling….”

Luna’s words were failing her. She had the answer, but Alex had said it for her. She knew the other three had experienced significant loss before, but if Alex already knew that, why would he ask that? Her mind couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Then, he spoke one final time.

“Can you imagine it?” Alex asked. “It hurts…so much…to know you couldn’t do anything to help. Couldn’t help those in need, those who trusted you, those who…needed you…it’s painful.”

“Then let me help you, Alex!” Luna pleaded solemnly. “Is there something you are trying to tell me? What are you going through, Alex? Stop hiding it from me!”

She was desperately trying to get him out of his shadow, but the human refused to yield. His response was him furrowing his brow down and shaking his head. He apparently had a secret he couldn’t reveal to them yet. It was mainly due to the trust that had been lost between them, and the aftermath of the battle versus Anonymous had been his breaking point.

Alex started to fizzle out of the nightmare. The wind picked up his ashes and floated away at a high velocity. As Princess Luna gazed up at them as they traveled through the sky, she realized where they were headed too late.

A tall, colossal dust storm was nearing her location, violently picking up the ash, dust, and land of Equestria. Whisking the debris around like cake batter in a whisker machine, Luna’s decision to get out of the bubble was justifiable.

As Luna scanned the dream for the exit, the door was nowhere to be found. Princess Luna did her best, flying upward into the atmosphere to avoid being sucked in by the dust vortex. The storm slowly swallowed her frame, whipping her around before shooting her out away from it.

She remained unrolled in the air and looked at where she was headed. The dream bubble’s exterior holding drew nearer and nearer, leaving her with little time to act. She braced herself as she plowed into the bottom of the dream bubble, popping out and onto the other side. The alicorn princess slammed hard onto the ground of her dream realm with a vicious thunk!

Pain suddenly filled her body. Clutching her side, she lay in a heap on the floor of her dream realm, grimacing from the pain. Then, the dream bubbles she once took care of started floating away from her.

Princess Luna stuck one of her hooves out, a plea for help that went unanswered. Unfortunately, she was unable to move and exhausted from the scene she had just witnessed and was caught up in. Her eyes started to close, but Luna knew she needed to return to the real world before it was too late.

As she tried to stand, legs shaking, a voice cried out.

“Princess Luna!”

As she tried to regain her sense of stability, the events that had just transpired had shaken the Lunar Princess. Uncontrollably, she cried, unable to understand the scene she had witnessed.

Then, the voice spoke up again.

“Princess Luna? Are you okay?”

Luna could not stand any longer, unable to bear the weight she was carrying. Finally, her legs gave out from underneath her as she collapsed, exhausted and broken down.

The dream realm around her vaporized into nothingness, and soon enough, she was back in the throne room. Sitting on the throne for Night Court, Commander Shifting Sands was surprised by the instant burst of light that initially greeted him. It then turned into a face of abject horror by what confronted him, causing him to drop everything and gallop down the throne room stairs.

“LUNA!”

Author's Note

Uh oh. That's not good...

Doesn't this feel...different? Like, all-powerful Lunar Princess vs Human Nightmare? And she loses? We will just need to wait and see what the response will be like in the next chapter then.

Would like to thank everyone who has been tuned in thus far. We still have a long way to go. But more on that later. I have to finish the next one. Bye! See ya next time!

-Harpy

Edit: I revised this chapter on May 23rd, 2023. Hopefully, the attitude and tone of this new version will satisfy the story's perspective from now on. And these revisions do not affect the storyline past chapter 7. It only is focused on correcting the tone it first gave off when initially released.