A True Person

The man stood at the window, gazing up into the sky where Princess Luna was interacting with the moon with her magic.

He knew now that the story of the moon rising and lowering was just a myth. The moon and the sun moved according to their own laws, needing almost no help from the princesses. The sisters, Princesses Celestia and Luna, became guardians of the celestial bodies because of a magical cataclysm that happened long before they were born. This cataclysm disrupted the normal movement of the sun and moon, and at first the task of correcting the trajectories was taken on by groups of unicorns.

However, when the princesses came into the world, they began to protect and guide the celestial bodies with their magic.

The story of the magical disaster was not something confidential - all nobles and common ponies knew about it. Each of them had their own opinion about it. Some believed in the divine nature of princesses, considering them untouchable and omnipotent. Others considered it all fiction, myths created to embellish reality.

The sisters never answered these questions directly, preferring to keep the intrigue and mystery surrounding their destiny and magical powers. Many nobles from the old families knew the real story, which was now heard by man as well.

With each passing day, the sun and moon returned to their normal motion. Perhaps one day the sisters would no longer be needed?

"Beautiful, as always," the man praised as he gazed at the night sky.

Princess Luna, finishing her work, turned to the man with a smile.

Usually, he stayed at the princess' place late, but tonight he had to go.

"Good night, Luna," Alexei smiled warmly as he said goodbye to the princess.

"Leaving already? It's still only evening," the princess grumbled unhappily.

"You need to get your sleep routine back on track," Alexei flatly retorted, not giving in to the princess's pleas.

"You dare order a princess around?" Luna asked in a playful voice, trying to bring a smile to Alexei's face.

"I dare," Alexei smirked, walking up close to the princess.

They drilled each other with glances for a while, and then laughed in sync.

Princess Luna rose on her hind hooves and hugged Alexei tightly. Her hug was gentle and full of gratitude.

"Alright," Luna said in a quiet voice, savoring the warmth that came from Alexei. "And thank you again."

"You're welcome," Alexei replied easily and added sincerely. "I'm very happy to see you in a good mood."

Finally breaking the embrace, they said their goodbyes and the man left the room, leaving behind a smiling princess.

Her mood had really improved lately - Alexei had done his best. He mentally rolled his eyes, remembering a certain conversation with Luna. The princess had paid a generous compensation to all the dead and attended the funeral procession, but that was all. She hardly advertised her deed.

Alexei quickly corrected this assumption. He gave several interviews, wrote a touching speech for the princess and held a press conference to reveal all the good deeds Luna had done.

In her speech, Luna bowed her head and apologized to all of Canterlot for her weakness. Ah, if only she had been stronger - she would have been able to stop the escaped Nightmare Moon...

Technically, it was all true, but it still took Alexei a long time to convince Luna to say exactly that.

Immediately after temporarily arresting the Marquis, Alexei visited a bunch of minor nobles. He didn't even have to make a scene - his words, confidence, and a bit of threat were convincing in themselves.

He took advantage of their panic, due to the lack of information, and, with a little scare, forced them to make statements in support of Princess Luna. Now, even knowing the truth, they could only grit their teeth.

Wherever it was possible - Alexei trumpeted the heroic story of Princess Luna.

Judging by the conversations in the city, the people took the new information quite well. Slowly but steadily, Princess Luna's reputation was improving.

She was still feared, and there were still many doubters, but that was already a good thing. Alexei knew that every step in the right direction would improve the princess's standing. And the more stable the princess' position, the better for the man.

On the way out of the palace, Alexei ran into a group of nobles whispering among themselves, casting glances of hatred and despise at him. The man ignored them completely. All these foolish nobles were boasting of their status and thought they were somehow better than others.

To Alexei, all these titles meant nothing. A common pony, a baron or a marquis? What was the difference?

Without real strength, a title was just an empty sound.

Marquis Rose, for example. Did he realize that Alexei might as well have killed him that day?

"At this rate, one day all of Canterlot will hate you," Saada said cheerfully.

"So what?" laughed Alexei carelessly. "Even if I offend every living creature, so what?"

These words reflected his philosophical attitude toward life.

Alexei was a human being, a mortal being. Sooner or later he would die. Sooner or later this universe would die too. Everything he'd done, everything he'd felt, would crumble away like an illusion, leaving no trace of his existence.

So why should he care?

That's why man strove so fiercely for eternal life. He was looking for ways to preserve his existence, to make his life real.

But Alexei was not limited by these usual human existential fears. He had long ago accepted his death and lived every moment, enjoying the journey to his goal.

Would he achieve what he so desired? Who knows. Only one thing the man was sure of - he would have no regrets.

Saada fell silent, pondering his words and feeling the strong emotions pulsing through the man's mind.

Her gaze reflected some confusion as she always tried to peer into the depths of his thoughts. But with each passing day it became more and more difficult for her to get into his mind, forcing her to only guess at what was going on in his head.

Within days of the pact, the man had already figured out a way to hide some of his thoughts from her, drowning them out with a lot of chaotic information.
As time went on, he got better and better at it.

Recently, Princess Luna had taught him a new trick: mind splitting. It allowed him to think of two things at once, which was useful in both dream magic and alchemy. But Saada didn't like it. She couldn't read his mind at all now, and he didn't share many of his plans with her, as if playing with her curiosity.

"Whatever," the zebra finally said and added in a slightly annoyed voice. "So what are our plans for today?"

"Hmm?" came the reply from the human, lost in his thoughts. "We're going to stop by the house first, and then we're going for a walk."

Alexei ignored the zebra's follow-up questions, completely immersed in his own thoughts.

He thought about his previous plans to become a nightmare, and knew they had been overly ambitious. Reading Luna's books on dream magic had led him to realize that his scheme was doomed to fail. In order to become a nightmare, he needed ingredients from the depths of the Dreamworld.

But how to get into that world and take out the necessary ingredients from there? That question remained unanswered.

He could enter someone else's dream using alchemy, but there was no way to enter the Dreamworld itself. Taking the ingredients outside was also impossible for him.

It could be done by Luna, but there was a problem here as well.

Dreamworld was a parallel world where the dreams of all living beings in the universe floated. But this was just the tip of the iceberg. Dreamworld also had deeper layers. He happened to come across a passing mention of it in one of Luna's books.

The princess' gaze filled with horror when he asked her about it, but then she quickly regained her composure and refused to answer most of his questions. All she said was that it was a very dark and dangerous place where, already insane as it was, the laws of the Dreamworld turned into complete absurdity. She also warned him against trying to interact with it.

Alexei came up with a new plan - to create his own nightmare.

Earlier, back when he was still living in the forest, he had already worked on the idea of destroying the spirits' minds and binding them to himself, mimicking the effect of the contract with Saada. Back then he had only thought of elemental beings and ghosts, but now the alternative - nightmares - had opened up before him.

Alexei snorted as his thoughts turned to Luna again. The image of Nightmare Moon appeared before him, a grim example of such a failed interaction with the Dreamworld.

Alexei was confident in his venture, however, for several reasons.

Nightmares, he knew, fed off negative emotions - fear, anger, hatred, envy, and all that. And he, Alexei, had no negative feelings for anyone. His heart was filled with nothing but perseverance and determination to achieve his goal.

Even if Nightmare Moon herself targeted him, she would have to go hungry, for he would provide no food for her dark appetites.

Alexei didn't know the full backstory of Nightmare Moon, but he guessed that she was an expression of all the negativity that had accumulated in Luna. He didn't know if Nightmare Moon was a natural nightmare nurtured by Luna's desires, or if Luna herself had created her.

The questions he wanted to ask the princess remained unanswered. He realized that these questions might arouse suspicion and draw unwanted attention to him.

Another reason Alexei was confident in his plan was that he wanted to create a nightmare with an empty mind that would become a part of himself. Essentially, he would have an artificial soul in the form of a nightmare.

In the future, he could become one with it, turning into a nightmare himself, but that was still a long way off.

Back at home, Alexei changed from his usual clothes to loose-fitting hooded clothes. He stepped outside, plunging into the darkness of the night.

"Did you enjoy the fireworks, Blossom?" the unicorn said with a note of excitement in his voice, turning to his pegasus companion. "Of course, its beauty pales before yours."

"Quite," the mare replied politely. "Thanks, Jade."

"Shall we continue on to the restaurant?" the unicorn suggested with a smile. "I know a great place that matches you."

"I think I'd like to end the evening there," the pegasus declined, maintaining her polite smile. "I have to get up early tomorrow."

"A date tomorrow night then?" the unicorn asked, hoping for a positive answer. "You're new to Canterlot, so I'd like to help you get settled here."

"I'm not sure about my schedule," the pegasus replied, unfurling her wings. "I'll write to you."

"Wait!" the unicorn countered, unwilling to let the pegasus go. "Let me at least take you home. Canterlot can be dangerous at night."

"I'll make it in a few minutes," the pegasus smiled awkwardly, taking off into the air.

Suddenly, she turned her head, peering into the street to her left. It seemed to her that something had just flashed there.

"Probably some random pony," Ice Blossom thought indifferently as she flew towards her house.

The unicorn could only sigh as he watched the mare fly away. Lowering his head, he headed towards his home, replaying his date with the mare in his head.

"So why are you so indifferent to me, Blossom?" the unicorn muttered sadly, pushing some pebble in the road.

"Because you're acting too nice, like a pathetic suck-up," a voice behind him kindly suggested.

The unicorn frowned and turned to explain to the insolent one where he would shove his opinion.

However, he immediately received a powerful punch to the jaw and passed out, falling to the sidewalk. The hooded figure approached the unicorn and poured some potion into his mouth.

"Four-legged ones are hard to sneak up on," the man mentally sighed. "You have to call out every time to get them to turn around."

Covering the unicorn's body with a rag, the man pulled some powder from his pocket and walked back down the couple's trail, sprinkling it all around.

"You think they won't look for him?" the zebra asked, watching the man's actions.

"Have you forgotten what he peddles on the streets? Those go missing all the time," the man shrugged. "They'll write it off as a dealer showdown. The pegasus won't be looking for him, either."

Returning to the unicorn, the man wrapped him in a cloth and slung him over his shoulders. The horn was still sticking out, but at least from afar it was hard to tell what exactly he was carrying.

"Go ahead and turn your radar up to maximum,'" the man said mentally to Saada. "I don't want to run into any guards."

The man made his way around all the busy neighborhoods, slowly but surely approaching his home. Sometimes he would stop and wait for random passersby to pass, hiding in the shadows or behind others' fences. It was about a half hour walk to his house at a brisk pace, but now he'd been getting there for over four hours, looping all over the city.

Alexei returned to his cozy home, carrying the smell of fresh parchment and magical ingredients. Carefully, he placed the sleeping unicorn on the soft carpet and made his way to the massive cabinet that held many of his belongings.

Among them was a ring with a gemstone that he had slipped onto the unicorn's horn. This ring was special - it had the ability to suppress magic. The man smiled slightly as he remembered the backstory of these rings - he had bought this ring from a sex shop in the unicorn section.

Originally, the ring was extremely weak and wasn't capable of restraining a unicorn for long. But who was the man? He had already become a master in alchemy after gaining all of Saada's knowledge. Quickly figuring out the ring's device, he easily modified it, turning the sex toy into a reliable restraint tool.

Finishing his preparations, he hoisted the unicorn onto his shoulders and headed to the basement of the house, lit by magical lamps. There, four unicorns chained to the wall - three mares and one stallion - were already waiting for him. They widened their eyes fearfully at the sight of Alexei, but did not make a sound - they knew he appreciated silence.

A rat sat in the center of the room, vigilantly watching their every move and keeping them awake. It would be very embarrassing if Luna stumbled upon their dreams, so the human only allowed them to sleep during the day.

With a sad glance at the rat, the human chained the sleeping unicorn to the wall. Alice didn't have long to live - the first signs of insanity were already starting to appear. He had been feeding her a lot of expensive potions, but he couldn't completely suppress the process. Three more weeks, maybe four, and she would go insane.

Finished with the unicorn, Alexei climbed the stairs and headed for his alchemy table, littered with a pile of vials and tools. At the edge, on a magical stove, stood a brand new cauldron. All of this he had acquired, just after moving into the house.

The man had been robbing merchants for three years. Of course, he had a lot of money. But money was not his goal; he spent it only on ingredients and books, maintaining an ascetic lifestyle.

Alexei rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling the fatigue coming on. But he knew he had a long and sleepless night ahead of him.

Alexei finished his work when the sun had already reached its peak in the sky.

Three transparent crystals lay on the table in front of him, their brilliance reflected in his eyes. Next to them were four potions, each holding the dream magic. Taking two of the crystals, Alexei headed towards the massive wooden shelves, created in a rough natural style, on which stood many books.

Removing the books and pulling one of the shelves out of its frame, the man turned it around to face him. There was nothing appealing to the eye and the shelf looked like a rough piece of wood with cracks in it. Hooking the crack with a curved awl, the man slowly pulled out a hidden drawer.

Inside, in the notches in the wood, lay many of the same transparent crystals, but something black floated within them. As if noticing the man, these black blotches shrank and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.

The man grinned as he looked at the crystals. They were all nightmares he had caught.

After hiding the two empty crystals, Alexei put everything back in its place and headed to the basement.

There he woke one of the mares, unchained her, and led her upstairs. The mare was trembling with fear, but did not try to resist or run away. Some had already tried it - it didn't end well.

Taking two potions from the table, Alexei led the mare to the couch. He laid her down on it and made her drink the potions. Watching her, he watched as her eyes began to slip until she fell asleep. He made her comfortable on the couch and sat next to her himself, placing his hand on her neck, near her artery.

An hour flew by while Alexei pondered the diagram of the rune array in his hands.

He and Saada worked diligently, reworking the ritual to suit their needs. They used the old ritual as a basis, but made some changes and modifications to it. The essence of the ritual was to fuse different energies. Replacing the magical energy with mental energy was not a big problem.

Despite the fact that everything was ready, Alexei did not stop checking every detail. He couldn't afford to make even the slightest mistake. He realized that there was no point in testing the ritual on other creatures, as their physiology was too different from his own.

The first test subject was to be himself.

The ritual had been altered, and now he did not need the essence of darkness. Instead, he used nightmares and crystals of darkness. But he still needed phoenix tears and alicorn blood.

He glanced thoughtfully towards the palace, knowing that the phoenix tears were in the treasury.

As for the blood of an alicorn...

After the change of plan - any alicorn blood was no longer suitable. He needed the blood of a specific alicorn - the blood of the Luna. Alexei realized that he couldn't handle the alicorns with his own power. They were too powerful. Even if he raised a hundred unicorns to rebel - the alicorns would easily escape.

Who could handle an alicorn? Another alicorn, of course.

Originally, his plans included pitting the sisters against each other, playing on Luna's weaknesses and complexes.

But now things have changed. He went through a series of intrigues to get closer to Luna, and surprisingly everything went smoothly.

Even Alexei himself couldn't believe what he was about to do - just walk up to Luna and ask her for blood.

Blood was widely used in alchemy, so there was nothing too strange about the request and given their relationship, Luna was unlikely to refuse him. Not that he needed liters of her blood - a vial or two would suffice.

But if she did refuse, he'd have to go back to his old plans. He hoped that wouldn't happen. This whole thing was too much of a hassle.

He could also get the phoenix tears through Luna - she promised to get him any ingredient he wanted. The man frowned harder and harder as he pondered over this situation.

But suddenly his face relaxed, and a carefree laugh broke the silence of the room.

"I've faced failure and despair so many times that I can't believe in success," he thought smiling. "My own efforts have brought me here. I've done a good job."

Alexei was about to return to analyzing the array when he felt the mare's heart begin to pound frantically. He turned and saw that her face was contorted with fear. It seemed the mare was having a nightmare.

Without hesitation, he quickly took two potions from the table next to him and drank them in a gulp. Then he carefully tied the cloth-wrapped crystal to the mare's head.

Soon his eyes began to slip and he fell into a deep sleep next to the mare.

"Quite cliché," Alexei shook his head, looking at the abandoned hospital building.

"I think it's a little creepy," Saada replied lazily, looking quite alive and real, flesh and blood. Even more eye-catching was the zebra's wings and horns.

All because they were in a dream.

The man shrugged and walked slowly down the blood-stained hospital corridor, listening carefully to everything around him.

Because of the potion's specificity, every injury he received in this dream would manifest on his body in reality. He could easily die in this dream by stumbling into an overly intense nightmare. Even worse was the fact that he couldn't wake up on his own ahead of time. Zebra needed to come out of the dream and wake him up in reality. In that time, a strong nightmare could already turn him into mincemeat.

But Alexei had no other options anyway.

At least this rule did not apply to dream owners - otherwise a man would have to look for a new unicorn after every nightmare.

Hearing screams from a certain part of the hospital, Alexei and Saada looked at each other and headed that way, their footsteps echoing in the empty corridors.

When they reached the operating room, they opened the doors and entered.

Inside, they saw a scene straight out of a horror movie. The operating room was flooded with scarlet light, and on the iron table was firmly fixed a screaming mare - the owner of the dream. A bipedal figure hovered over her with a scalpel in his hand.

Hearing footsteps, the figure turned.

Alexei sighed, examining his own copy in a medical gown. Every time, in every dream, the nightmare was always him.

"Oh, I'm going to have so much fun tonight," Saada smirked, starting to circle the nightmare to the left.

Alexei mentally rolled his eyes upon hearing the zebra's words. She took a certain pleasure in tearing apart his copy in the form of a nightmare, getting back at him for his sarcastic behavior.

If it helped her relieve stress - he had nothing against it. Their job was to beat the nightmare to a pulp, after which the crystal would retract and seal it.

The man raised his hand and his familiar dagger materialized in it. The man began to circle the nightmare from the right.

The nightmare squinted and suddenly lunged at him, aiming the scalpel at his neck.

But Alexei was quick and agile, he easily intercepted the nightmare's arm and pulled him to him, delivering a hard headbutt to his face. The blade of the dagger swept down, slicing through his neck. This was followed by a powerful kick with his foot, sending the nightmare into the side of the zebra.

The nightmare's head, completely severed by the previous attack, instantly grew back. Nightmares were not material beings, and the concept of heads was foreign to them.

Saada joyfully began firing beams at the nightmare from her horn, clearly enjoying the battle.

The man only shook his head. Sure, in a dream he could also shoot all sorts of rays with lots of special effects, but all that stuff was tiring to the mind. He could do just fine with a single dagger.

Nightmare, who was furiously fending off the zebra's attacks, hissed and suddenly turned into a black cloud, taking his true form.

The nightmare trembled as if drawing in air, and the man, seeing this, immediately rushed behind the surgery table. In the same second thousands of black slimy threads pierced all around.

Several holes appeared on Alexei's body. His left leg, which he hadn't managed to hide, was especially affected, and it was literally shredded.

Saada, who didn't have time to react, was also covered in dozens of holes, though she didn't care much, because she was an immaterial entity. However, her energy was still not limitless.

This was a good time to counterattack, so the man jumped out from behind the table towards the nightmare. However, the nightmare wasn't done yet.

Suddenly, the nightmare's body stretched apart, revealing a pulsating white sphere inside.

Alexei's eyes widened in surprise, and his body tensed, preparing to dodge. At that moment, his injured leg finally snapped, and he barely kept his balance, barely avoiding a fall. This gave nightmare the perfect opportunity to strike. A powerful beam of energy pierced through Alexei's body, smashing him into the wall of the surgery.

The zebra roared, engaging and blocking further attacks from the nightmare.

"Are you still alive, fucker?" shouted Saada, turning to the man. "Should I wake you up?"

"Alive," the rising man wheezed, a huge charred crater visible on his chest. "No, it'll kill me in that time."

Saada roared even louder, continuing her battle with the nightmare. The battle had long since ceased to be fun. If Alexei died, Saada would not get the rest of her contract payment. He owed her another seven years of his lifespan.

The nightmare, realizing their desperate situation, attacked the wounded man with increasing frequency. Sometimes the man managed to dodge, but more often he had to rely on Saada's help.

Several times she blocked the nightmare's attacks with her own body, taking many wounds and even beginning to revert back to her translucent form.

Finally, the nightmare had taken enough damage and was dragged to the floor.

Zebra and human breathed a sigh of relief. This was the hardest battle they had ever fought together.

The zebra looked at the human with a wild look and silently disappeared.

After a few seconds, Alexei woke up to reality and began coughing violently. Coughing up blood from his nose that had gotten into his airways, he looked under his shirt and saw charred flesh. But he paid no attention to it. He knew it would heal in time.

"What are you doing, motherfucker?!" the zebra roared, glaring at him.

"Don't yell like that," the man grumbled, feeling his head still hurt. "You saw for yourself that it proved too strong. Yes, I admit it. I was careless, and it was able to catch me. Are you satisfied?"

"No," the zebra replied irritably. "I saved your pathetic ass and you owe me. I need potions to restore a spiritual body."

"Okay, okay," the man said tiredly. "There will be potions for you. Just let me catch my breath."

The zebra only snorted and dived into his body, slipping into slumber to preserve as much energy as possible.

Alexei sighed and leaned back on the back of the couch. A few minutes of rest was all he needed.