Alright. It is exactly the third hour of the night. I have already culled the Dreamscape of all nightmares. It is a wonder how the foals of Ponyville do not have more terrors of the night with such dangerous events that seem to take place every other week. Still, I'm glad that the ponies of Equestria are having such small problems during their resting hours.

"I do have a bit more time." I mumbled to myself as I traveled through the realm.

Taking an interest in a few dreams, I dove into those ones. The fantasies the minds come up with are truly amazing. A glorious battle to save Equestria. A wish fulfilled to ascend to the crown. Even just a simple scene such as asking your crush out on a date.

Some may be, evil, compared to the others. But those are no troubles as mostly fantasies and unlikely scenarios occur in this world.

"Harder!" I heard my sisters voice.

I hastily cover my eyes and escape as I continue my travelling.

Of course, there are quite, uh, embarrassing dreams, such as the one I just witnessed. Though, it's good material to tease Celestia with.

Eventually, I come to a stop as I land on the imaginary ground in front of three doors. A completely different setting than the others. One made of solid gold with the sun on the outside, a few stains of cake frosting covering it at random places. Another was a pure black door made with wood.

I had, at some point, moved these doors to this specific place. A corner where I put the dreams of ponies important to me basically. Celestia's door wasn't glowing though. She may be working at the moment. I'll have to speak to her about this.

Though, the one that concerned me was the last door.

It was made of different materials. Several cracks present on it as a single dagger was stabbed into it. Two beams of gray metal on the side. The top part was made of a dark crystal that just looked dangerous. Random scratches smeared the metal beams, evidence of hardship and battles. It gave off a dark feeling in general as a heavy scent of blood permeated from it.

Standing in place, I was getting more nervous by the second. I had done this every night ever since asking for help from him. Adding that on top of my promise to not invade his dreams anymore, I was jittery as I stared at the door.

As worrying as the state of him is, I have received his help for the better part of a month by now. So, I shall trust him.

Still, I can't but feel curious of his past. A mysterious pony with an even more unknown past. He had already faced hardships since young, so this door just makes him even more interesting.

Waking me from my thoughts, a shadowy aura started to leak out.

"What?" I muttered in confusion at the familiar presence.

Shadow magic.

Why is it leaking from his dreams? How is it leaking from his dreams?

Having already experienced what sort of effects such magic brought, I stood in confusion at the event. Those shadows, they bring out your darkest feelings and shove it in your face. It's powerful, but it is dangerous. A double edged sword.

As I was pondering whether I should go in or not, I was suddenly pushed back at the amount of magic emanating from it. It almost burst open from it as it started to make the area darken. Taking a few cautious steps back as the ground quickly darkened, I looked around. The darkness was spreading to the Dreamscape.

Several doors had already been infected as I felt the Dreamscape cry out in pain. Nightmares had been spontaneously created. If those ponies get injured by this, they may take damage to their minds.

Glancing at the door a few times, I gave a sigh.

"Apologies, Remedy. I intended to keep my promise, but I can't if it places the innocence in danger." I uttered a quick apology and slowly pushed in through the door.

A dark and cold sensation ran through me, making my body shiver slightly. The inside was, surprisingly well lit. I was in a house, quite cozy if I say so myself. A warm fire under the chimney. The angry shouting of ponies.

Wait what?

Quickly disguising myself, I turned to a raven bird and took flight. Phasing through a window, I followed the sound. Weaving through buildings I didn't recognize, I flew up high as I stared down.

A mob of ponies were all yelling angrily as they marched outside of their village. They all held torches and pitchforks as they walked as a single entity.

"Saddle Arabians?" I questioned and followed them.

"Hadha allaqit yajru ealaa muhajamat 'iilahna!" The pony at the very front yelled to the others. "Fakayf sanarudu ealaa hadha?!"

Unfortunately, I wasn't very well versed in the Arabic language.

"Sawf nahmi 'iilahna!" The entire crows shouted as they all suddenly started to run off.

Just what is happening?

Silently following the angry mob, I started to worry. A nightmare because of shadow magic, an angry mob, and at a range where neither Celestia nor I could've noticed. Whatever that has happened, it can't be good.

Remedy also must've actually witnessed this first, otherwise his dreams wouldn't conjure this scene. But, could I really assume that when shadow magic is involved?

Looking at the general direction the mob had headed, I flew faster as I overtook them. Silently traveling through the shadows, I eventually arrive in a small clearing surrounded by a forest.

Constant sounds of strikes and bangs rang out. A pure blast of star magic was shot out every now and then. The ground was carved with countless scars. A massive collection of magic was being collected in a single spot. It doesn't exactly feel like magic, but I've seen enough pegasi and earth pony dreams to know how one could feel magic without feeling them.

There was a missing friend of mine. Canis Major, the constellation of the dog. He fiercely swiped his paws, along with bites and magic blast, he seemed both desperate and wrathful.

Then there was her enemy. Remedy, wielding a dagger that shone coldly in the night, the same one that hung on his door. He wore a large robe that hid him completely as a sharp glare and an intense bloodlust came from him.

Turning to look at the gathering magic, I looked closer. It was a bell. A familiar one that was thought to have been lost to time.

"Grogar's Bell, where did he get it?" I mumbled and looked back at the fight.

Remedy was on the losing side with several injuries. Blood seemed to pour out of him like a fountain as his face was morphed in complete anger.

Canis suddenly roared to the sky. Grogar's Bell activated as the concentrated magic shot straight at her. Yet, it never hit her as Remedy appeared in front of her.

A dust cloud rose and I couldn't see it. Before it could settle, a sudden line of magic sliced through. Like a whip, it tore through almost everything as the dust cloud was interrupted.

I hitched a breath as I stared at the outcome. Remedy stood tall with a dead face. His dagger was shining brightly as the blood staining it slowly disintegrated.

I didn't know how to react to this. This was, unprecedented. I had long accepted that Canis had died, but to witness exactly how it happened. It's a different feeling.

Without a hint of emotion on his face, Remedy walked away from Canis, who laid cleaved in half on the ground. He grabbed the bell and started to walk away. At least, until he heard the angry mob.

"Aiqtalhu! Aliantiqam li'iilahina!"

There wasn't even a reaction as Remedy simply looked at them. As if they were just another obstacle for him. He effortlessly dodged the pitchforks thrown at him as he waited for the town folk to approach. Right as the first villager reached him, smoke blew up from inside his robe. Actually remembering to react this time, I pulled magic to my eyes and stared through.

That's, quite impressive in truth.

Inside the thick smoke, Remedy weaved through the hundreds of villagers managing to go through without touching a single one of them. He slowly walked through the smoke as he almost reached the trees. Then suddenly, he disappeared.

Huh?

I couldn't see him anymore, as if he just stopped existing.

"Mihla! ead 'iilaa huna!" A rather young voice shouted loudly, shortly followed by a pained scream from the same pony.

Quickly changing positions, I followed the sound and went over. Reaching the location as fast as I could, I landed on a tree branch as I looked over what had happened.

"Oh no." I mumbled the words as a scowl was placed on me.

A colt, hardly above eighteen years of age, lay dead with a massive gap in his throat as Remedy stood over him. An emotion was finally shown as he just stood there.

Fear and shock.

But, more importantly, guilt.

His hoof holding his dagger was trembling. His eyes were widened in terror. His body weak as if he was about to collapse. His breathing seemed to get harder.

Noticing his condition, I was about to finally intervene.

"DULA!" The pony that had rallied the mob at the start yelled out.

The ponies all calmed down as they all looked to where the chief was looking. Anger flared up amongst the mob as they started to give chase. I turned to look at Remedy, only to see him already gone.

"Al'ama!" The chief shouted out as he held the colt.

Following the general direction where mob went, I practically joined the search. Spreading out my magic, I searched through the forest with. As swiftly as I can, I scouted out the entire place in an efficient manner, until I finally found something.

It's a temple. What kind though?

In the time I've lived, I have not seen or heard of a temple such as this. Which god has this one been built for?

It had a long staircase that lead to an entrance. Flying into it, I turned my disguise into that of a cat. With much nimbler movements, I swiftly made my way in through the hallway of stone and moss.

Cleary somepony hasn't been cleaning this place.

Making my way through, I noticed myself going deeper and deeper into the ground. Having checked every door on the way, I finally arrived on the bottom floor. Spreading my magic around, I checked out the place. A pretty large area, hundreds and hundreds of chairs all lined up in front of a stand. A single podium on the stand with an extremely fancy looking stage. All kinds of different ornaments and such were decorating it. Countless offering were laid out in front of it. Looking at all these, I could only say one thing.

"Fuck"

No matter how I saw it, how many ways I could try to twist it, those are all things related to the moon. I still could've convinced myself it wasn't a cult of me, but the giant portrait of Nightmare Moon hanging above it all crushed that hope.

So, that's what it was. Remedy is from a thousand years ago, this I already knew. But his experience in killing, his ruthless efficiency and downright chill inducing demeanor was from this. He was fighting an army on his own. An army that was created because of me.

Looking at the shrine once more, I noticed something odd.

"There's a piece missing? Two pieces actually." I mumbled and walked closer.

A small pedestal, and a stand for a weapon.

Ok, so that's obvi-now just wait one second. Their plan was obviously simple. Use the bell to gather magic, and the knife was supposed to be ceremonial, I think. Then Remedy stole both of it, resulting in him fighting against Canis, who was also apparently part of this.

Then, who was in the cult? Who ran this place? Canis is intelligent, but she still can't speak with anypony.

A sudden scream of pain sounded behind me.

Quickly turning around, I spotted the village chief with a dagger through his chest. Oddly enough, there were countless dark lines running through his body, all starting from his heart.

Oh, no way. These cultists actually managed to obtain shadow magic? It's a wonder how they're able to survive, considering that shadow magic is forbidden, mainly because it killed the user. Still, questions won't be answered since Remedy seems to be hunting them down.

"Al'ama! You monster, you killed all those innocents! All those worshippers, who didn't even do anything! You're no more than a beast, an animal! You hear me! You're a chelb! A dog of the sun! Justice will fall upon you some day!" The chief kept yelling with more and more strength as the magic slowly climbed back inside, eventually disappearing altogether.

Seeing the end, I finally decided to make my move. A gentle appearance, and a calm explanation. That's all I need to do.

"Remedy?" I spoke up.

Although he didn't react, his ears rose and pointed at me. I took a step closer, hoping to diffuse the situation calmly. Then he ran off.

"Wha-Remedy! Wait! Come back!" I yelled and ran after him.

He turned several corridors and I followed after.

Getting annoyed with the chase, I finally used my dream magic as the corridors shortened in my view. Every turn was gone as only a straight hallway remained.

"What?" I spoke in confusion.

He wasn't there. Just, gone. No trace of him anywhere.

Activating my magic, I took a few steps forward as I tried to get a sense of the area. Until, I got pulled back.

Suddenly getting slammed into the wall, I still felt the pain as something metallic pressed onto my neck.

"You." Remedy spoke softly. "You're not, but, what? When did you even?" He was confused as he stepped back.

Getting released from his hold, I took a deep breath as my beating heart calmed down. Where even was he? It's a completely straight hallway with torches lighting up the entire way.

"Remedy, art thou in good condition?" I softly asked.

He took a long and hard look at me, lasting several long seconds. Eventually getting awkward, I was about to speak up.

"What sort of illusion is this?" He suddenly asked.

"Remedy, I assure thee, this is no illusion. It is simply thine dream, or rather, thine nightmare." I replied easily.

It's a response many have given before, mistaking a dream for an illusion before coming to their senses.

"That's a grand fucking lie, how are you here, if the ritual was never completed? You're not supposed to come back before your damn punishment ends! You're not supposed to be my problem anymore! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN MY LIFE, ANY LONGER!" He started screaming.

In response, I didn't say anything. It's the reason why I still have faith in him, despite seeing these sins being committed. He had already gone through many hardships by the time the fusion happened. And that, just, made it far worse for the stallion. It is in fact a positive outcome, considering he has not started a revolution against Equestria for my own mistake.

"I am sorry, Remedy." I could only give that as a response.

My voice was weak, my vision was blurry as I simply stood against his rage. A wrath of pure undiluted anger.

"No, no, if you're here. That means I failed, but I can't, I know I didn't. The bell is buried away. The cult is already purged. The fucking dagger, is in my hooves. Fucking Canis, a constellation that's as strong as other gods, I fucking cleaved in half! So, how the fuck are you here?!"

I couldn't reply, it wouldn't have done anything. This is a dream, and he is currently his younger self.

"Sorry." Was all I could say.

What else could I reply with?

As I, thought, a bit, a sudden burst of magic shattered the dream. We were transported to a realm of pure darkness.

Lighting up the area with my magic, I took a hold of Renedy as we began falling down.

"Remedy!" I yelled to get his attention.

He returned with a scowl.

"That's not my fucking name!" He replied with annoyance.

What?

"Then what is it?" I asked as we slowed down our descent.

He stayed silent for a few seconds as he stared around. He still hasn't regained his senses yet? He is pondering something.

"Green. Just, Green, that'll do." He finally replied, albeit begrudgingly.

A rather common name.

"Alright, Green. Does thou happen to know, what has happened here?"

"Why the hell would I know?"

"Well, at least thou art no longer attacking me." I mumbled as I stared at him.

He's so, aggressive. Like he's about to jump on me the moment I turn my back.

Realizing that I probably wouldn't gain an answer from him, I spread my magic around and try to control the dream. It's a, much harder process than usual.

The dream itself seems to have disappeared completely, leaving nothing but a shell of pure darkness. With that, I seeped my own into the innermost layer and try to change it.

Though, dropping me out of concentration, Remedy suddenly screamed and fell down.

"Remedy!" I shouted in worry and ran over.

"What the fuck did you do?" He asked through gritted teeth.

I didn't know what was happening. This was something I've never experienced before.

I need to take him out. The darkness, it's all shadow magic. He's practically drowning in it.

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as I thought up a plan. A ridiculous one at that. Something I haven't done before.

Focusing on the Dreamscape, the door finally appears with a single line connecting me to it. I grabbed Remedy, who tried to resist, and flew over to the door before slamming into it and leaving the dream.

Being randomly pulled back, I turned around as I saw several tendrils of shadows holding onto Remedy.

"Agh, no chance." I muttered as I struggled to pull him free.

"What the fuck?" Remedy seemed to wake up.

Though, physically, I couldn't see a single difference than his younger self.

"Oh, forget this." I finally said and let out magic.

The sky brightened up as I took over. Lightning started to crackle as it all gathered in one area. With a simple swing of my horn, the thunder stroke down, burning away the tentacles.

"Oof." I grunted as I felt Remedy ramming into me.

Shouldn't have pulled so hard I suppose.

"Luna? What's happening? Where are we?" He asked as he stood up.

Grabbing the hoof he extended, I stood up with a groan. "We're in the Dreamscape, a place nopony should be able to come." I explained to buy time.

"The Dreamscape? Oh shit, what happened? Why does this place look, infected?" He asked as I caught my breath.

Taking control of the entire Dreamscape to cast that lightning magic took quite a toll on me.

Looking around for a bit, I noticed the doors still being infected by the shadow magic.

"It's shadow magic, specifically from thine dream. Thou hadst been plagued by a nightmare, and it had somehow leaked to this realm." I explained as I looked around.

This is starting to worry. Although I went in with the purpose of stopping Remedy, even he may not know what the source of this all is."

"I see, I think got the gist of it." He calmly said as he took a step forward.

Standing completely still, his face was one of concentration as the area darkened. Shadow magic, he's using right now.

With a single tug of his hoof, the shadows were all pulled back as they all got absorbed into the door.

"Wow." I was simply amazed.

He had such great control over it.

"Well, I'm sorry for the trouble. I'll try to not let it happen again." He apologized before walking back into his door, the area becoming much greener as his camp became visible. "It's, Floral Green, by the way." He said as the door closed.

Looking at the door, I finally sat down on the ground with a sigh of relief. I guess he didn't mind it after all.

Before I could fully relax though, a spike in magic grabbed my attention. The doors that were infected, their owners are having nightmares now.

"Ugh." I physically groaned as I stood up once again.

I'm sleeping late tonight it seems.

Sneakiest fucker to ever exist. Hell yes.

I was talking to myselfas I managed to sneak out of Floral's grip. Having turned myself into a shadow to do that, I traveled up the giant ass tree and reached the top. Looking over the area, I scanned around as I saw towns and cities, plenty of different landmarks. A pretty beautiful sight actually.

"Won't be as good as the other one." I mumbled and started to gather the shadows.

Doing this during the day is basically impossible, but with the Moon's weaker light, it's pretty damn doable.

A pillar emerged from under me as I felt myself being lifted. Fuck yeah, it's working. Getting a bit faster, I was ascending without using my wings.

"Let's see, there's gotta be at least one." I mumbled as I searched the skies. "There you are." I said out loud and started a spell.

The cloud walking spell that the, uh, Prench mare taught me. I think her name was, Fleur, something, dis. Maybe.

Anyways, I imagined the spell, only changing certain aspects of it to fit my use of Nocturnal magic. A very thin coating of shadow covers my body. With slight nervousness, I place a hoof on the cloud.

"Huh, soft." I don't know what I was expecting, but I simply stepped harder.

Confirming that I can walk on it, I jumped on and jumped a few times.

"Yep, this'll work." I mumbled and jumped back onto the pillar before going down.

Softly landing down, I stop for a second to admire the roof. Pretty damn solid, but we'll finish the treehouse soon enough. Likely tomorrow.

Walking while masking the sound with magic, I climbed down from the roof and stepped on a log.

*Crack*

"Uph." I froze as I hung from the roof as the simple fence tilted to the side.

Glancing at Floral, I waited for a few seconds for him to move. Yet, he didn't.

Good.

Mission success.

Happily walking over, I stared down at Floral, who was tightly holding onto shadow me. Slithering into position, I took the spot of the clone before closing my eyes.

"Aaaaaand, done." Floral said as he put one last nail on.

"Fucking finally." I said, a bit excited as I stared at the finished product.

"Yeah, that took a lot longer than it should've." He replied with a proud smile.

He had the right. Fuck, even I'm pretty happy about this.

The big tree was still in the middle, but the floor goes all the way around. A total of forty eight support beams holding the structure from the ground. Connected to most of those, twenty four beams holding the roof up. A decently big hole on the roof leading up to the attic. A ladder wasn't needed since we both could easily jump up there. Inside the attic, there's eight pillars holding the top part up. A fence made with two logs circled around the entire floor, just for a little safety of sorts.

"Yep, fence is sturdy. This treehouse is probably one of the safest ones out there." Floral commented right under me as he pushed and pulled the fence.

"Agreed." I easily climbed on a pillar and hung upside down as I looked around.

We've slowly moved most of our stuff up here as time went on.

After the wooden ponies, we finally managed a week of silence to ourselves. Celestia still came every now and then, so had some other ponies. I'm kinda sad that Flutters doesn't come as often.

Then again, I really don't want her to go into the Everfree. What if she gets attacked on the way?

Weirdly enough though, purple hasn't come in a while. She was always annoying Floral about all kinds of stuff, even asking me about magic or whatever.

"So, should we celebrate?" I finally asked Floral as I let go and landed on the fence with my hooves.

"I suppose that's the right course of action, yeah." He answered and took on an expression of planning. "Was there any chicken in the supplies?"

"I think so?" I answered and stepped down to the floor.

"Alright, I think I got a plan then. Bring that and the whiskey." He commanded before jumping over the fence.

"Fuck yes!" I yelled in excitement and ran off for the whiskey.

Author's Note

Yo!

I can't believe this chapter actually reached 4000 words. I didn't think the first part would actually be that long. I guess rhat just happens if I keep on writing without really looking at it.

Anyways, I know I said I'd probably post these a lot slower, but right now, nothing's really happening. I only have a single assignment and that one is pretty much finished.

Well, it's a good thing I suppose.

And as always, thank thou for gazing upon these simple words!