Soul Saga: Catching Dreams

"Well...THAT was certainly both unexpected and unethical." Not Dream Catcher chided, half amused as he looked on from a vacant corner of the room.

Dream spun around rapidly, his newest counterpart appearing as if out of thin air. Such things were to be expected in the realm of the dreamscape...but this? This didn't make any sense.

"I thought my part of the agreement was that Soul Weaver didn't interact with the Dreamscape for a month?" Dream asked, just as confused as he was becoming angry.

"Oh, you're quite right. Mr. Weaver is banned from meddling in the affairs of ponies dreams for an entire month. Not that he's too happy about it mind you. To be honest, he's quite irate."

"But then how are you here? He brought you into existence...you shouldn't be able to inhabit this world either."

Not-Dream Catcher scoffed, flaring his wings momentarily to seat them into a more comfortable position.

"My dear boy...just because he called me here...doesn't mean he created me. I've been here all along," he appeared to pause and think on that for a moment as he feigned studying one hoof. "Well...at least as long as you've been here anyway."

Dream could only retreat to his haunches, sitting down slowly while trying to process the information he'd just received. He gazed long and hard at the other pony...a perfect mirror image of himself, if disproportionate in some ways. Larger wings, a slightly more built physique; this pony was him and again it wasn't.

"So what do you mean, unethical?" Dream dared to hazard a further question.

"Well, it's obvious that you tricked him. That little show you put on surprised even me, to be honest. I didn't think such a young pony could pull off such powerful magic, let alone succeed in it. There will be repercussions, obviously...but that's to be seen at a later date. For now...enjoy yourself. You've won." Not-Dream Catcher smiled genuinely. "Even if you cheated."

Dream sprung to his hooves, puffing himself up in sheer anger.

"I did NOT cheat!"

Not-Dream, not for lack of trying to hold it in, burst out in uproarious laughter at that.

"Clearly! If I do remember, the rules of the game explicitly stated that you could only use things present in the room to create your 'dream'." He quirked a cocky eyebrow at Dream.

"And I did. The magic was there to begin with. I just used it." Dream nodded flatly.

"Ah...but there's the catch. The magic didn't just exist inside the room. It exists everywhere. So by technicality...you used a resource that is not allowable by the rules of the game, for the Magic is not something simply confined to this space."

Dream started to protest, only to find that he had no viable argument.

"Still, I judged you the winner. Nothing to be done about that. All that's left now is the consequences for cheating."

"Consequences..." Dream's mind began to spin, wondering just what might happen. He could almost feel the room around him spinning as it began to fade from sight, the darkness that had hid in the corners now leaving its confines to encroach further upon his safe haven.

"Good luck, brother!" Not-Dream called jovially as he too faded from sight. "I'd wish you a safe trip...but that won't happen...so instead, I'll say this: have fun!"

"Wait! What's going on?" Dream leaped for the other pony, only to hit hardwood floor at the edge of the pervasive shadows where the colt had previously stood. Not-Dream was gone.

Dream bolted to his hooves, turning in circles to watch the shadows creep up around him from all sides now. It was a slow crawl of portending doom; one that there would be no escape from. Out in the darkness of the night, the hollow call of a warning siren lit the skies aflame in a cry so fierce and terrible that it seemed it would shake the very house to its core foundation and quake it to pieces.

Just as he was about to bolt for the door, a brilliant flash of light tore up from the floor where he stood, surrounding Dream in a vortex of etheric energy and a torrent of wind. Shutting his eyes against the light, he found he couldn't move when he tried to escape it; his hooves were rooted to the hardwood that was slowly rotting and decaying away beneath him while the same spell circuit he'd used to tie himself back to his dream-walking abilities began to trace its way onto the planks. As it continued, Dream felt himself being pulled down toward it as though gravity had been kicked into overdrive. Struggle as he might, he found he just couldn't bear the strength to even make himself stand upright. He'd been forced to his belly now and yet the pressure still gripped him tightly, pressing down from above and pulling from below, like whatever it was had the idea to try and rip him through the floor.

When at last the siren had ceased its wailing cry and all was quiet, Dream opened his eyes again.

The world around him was no longer reminiscent of anything he'd ever known. No faded memories of his room stood nearby. His brother was gone. The house itself had vanished; in its place stood a wrecked ruin of some building he'd never laid eyes on before. The very land he stood on appeared to be nothing more than a simple outcropping of rock set adrift a massive sea of black. The sound of waves crashing at its shores only helped to solidify the idea that Dream wasn't in Ponyville anymore.

"So, how do you like the new scenery?"

Dream nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the sing-song question that came from just over his shoulder. Spinning around, he came muzzle to muzzle with Not-Dream again, the other colt sporting a semi-amused look while he tried to make himself busy by checking the cured state of one of his hooves.

"What is this place?" Was all the young pegasus could manage.

"This? Why, this is none other than the edge of Tartarus!" Not-Dream suddenly sprung into animation, leaping to Dream's side and wrapping an arm around Dream's shoulders. "Really nice part of it too. I hear this is one of the best neighborhoods in the area."

"Tartarus? You mean..."

"Precisely! You, my good counterpart...emphasis on good..." Not-Dream made a small retching sound and motion to accompany that statement..." have just become a permanent denizen of Hell! We here at Dark and Stormy Realty would like to thank you for your patronage and do so hope you enjoy your stay!"

"Wait...you mean I'm dead?!" Dream jumped back away from his shadow, turning in all directions to see if there was some way out.

"Well...not quite. Close though! And may I say you gave it a damn good effort in trying! But no. You're still...alive, I suppose you could call it. After all, one doesn't need to be dead to end up here." Not-Dream caught up to him and again wrapped a hoof around his shoulder, guiding him towards the shoreline.

Dream stared in awe as the shadow pony rambled on and on while pointing out the various things of interest he thought were relevant to the situation, the young colt's mind on the verge of complete collapse. He was in Tartarus...but not dead? How did that work? Was it even possible? Sure...there were old mare's tales of creatures that lived on the borders of the Celestia forsaken realm...but of anything that could actually live inside of it? It was almost unthinkable.

"So, to put it bluntly, that's how you got here. You're not dead, you're merely stuck in limbo brother. That little Dream-Walking spell you pulled off was quite the piece of work. However...if you'd have payed any attention to the ramifications that the book was mere moments away from outlining to you before you bounded off into this half-cocked plan of yours...you'd have known that the success rate for any kind of spell of that magnitude is next to zero without some backlash."

"Is there...any way to get back?" Dream asked, barely above a whisper.

Not-Dream began to speak, but then stumbled upon his own words. His hoof held aloft as it to say something, the shadow pony stood there for a few seconds with his mouth open wide, ready to talk...before putting his hoof back down.

"Honestly? No clue brother. You're guess is as good as mine. Right now, you're in a world of subconscious reality, much like when you sleep. The big catch though? You are actually here. This isn't some dream. As it is, you are physically existing, right here...right now."

"So wait...if I'm here, what happens to me in the waking world?"

The other pony shrugged with an almost gleeful smile.

"You vanish."