Sideralis found himself in a body not his own. This was happening a lot as of late, just about every time he fell asleep. This body was female, small, young, a filly. She was paralysed, unable to move, her eye was closed, but her hearing still worked. She was laying on her back. There was a slurping, sloshing sound coming from somewhere. The air was cold, it felt like being in a freezer. Something beeped in the background.

Pain blossomed in the filly’s stomach, Sideralis felt it, something pierced the skin near the unfamiliar feeling female sex organs and then made its way upwards, opening the stomach.

NO! NO! NO!

Sideralis could hear the thoughts in the filly’s mind, he felt it all, her pain, her emotion, her horror, there was nothing that could be done to stop what was happening. Something made a high pitched whine and then there was a new pain, hot pain, the feeling of a bonesaw opening up ribs that were no longer normal bone. There was a strange feeling of pressure, of pain, the heat increased until it felt as though the filly was on fire. The stench of burning meat filled the air and Sideralis tried to scream.

NO! NO! NO!

He could feel the filly’s insides, his insides, the line of reality was blurred, he could feel stuff being tugged upon, pulled, things were moving inside of him. Something squelched. There was a wet sounding schlick followed by a heavy splattering. Sideralis had memories of the garden hose pouring water down upon the sidewalk during the summer when he would help Wisteria water the flowers in front of the house. Something inside tore and then was pulled out. He could feel his organs being shoved around, moved, and something as cold as ice was inserted into his barrel. There was an arcing crackle of electricity and he felt his whole body tensing. The stench of burned flesh grew even stronger.

OH LUNA PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! CELESTIA MAKE IT STOP! I’LL BE A GOOD FILLY, JUST MAKE THE HURTING STOP!

There was a wet sucking sound and then the worst pain that Sideralis had ever experienced began. He had no idea what was going on, but the agonising pain was electric. It traveled through the body he was trapped in, throbbing through him in torturous pulses, sapping his will, and for a moment, Sideralis believed that if this continued, he might go mad. He wanted the pain to end as much as the filly. This was worse than going to the dentist and having a root canal, he had suffered nightmares for months afterwards.

Only the dentist trip wasn’t real. This was.

There was a high pitched mechanical whine, it sounded like a drill, the smell of hot metal on metal and smoke filled the air. He could feel some kind of pressure on the pelvis he was sharing. He wanted to kick, he wanted to scream, he wanted to tell these ponies doing this to stop, but he was powerless, trapped in this body.

“We’ve mounted the foundations for the hydraulic rams to her pelvis and installed the fluid pressure regulator. Unzip and open up her legs, we need to connect the mounting brackets to the rest of her skeleton and reinforce the leg joints.”

Something was shoved into his groin and the pain was like having the most powerful kick to the balls over, only worse. The drilling sound continued, the sound of metal squealing against metal, it sounded like the school’s metal shop during a busy class.

Sideralis begged for this to end, he couldn’t bear it anymore. He knew this was Mustang, he just knew it without knowing how he knew it. He wondered how she had lived with this. No wonder she had tried to kill herself, having this memory, having this knowledge in her mind, Sideralis wondered how he was going to live with this in his memory.

The pain became too much to bear and Sideralis’ awareness exploded into a billion stars.

“Do you see what was done?”

Sideralis blinked—he was standing on nothingness, a black void. Billions and billions of stars twinkled around him. Luna, his mother, was standing nearby, gazing at the stars. For a moment, Sideralis thought he might puke, but then realised that his stomach was empty, this was a dream.

No, this was a nightmare.

He gagged a few times, recovered himself, and looked at his mother. She was weeping, and with each tear that fell, it dropped away and became a new star, blazing bright. He sucked in a deep breath but felt nothing filling his lungs. Air it seemed, was not a necessity here.

“You must help them… there are ponies in trouble and you must help them.”

Sideralis gulped. “But I don’t know anything… what do I do? Do I get rid of the inhibitors? How do I convince others that they are safe? How do I keep everypony happy? How do I fix everything that is broken? I know so very little and I feel that so much is expected of me.”

“I cannot and will not tell you what to do… this is your task, the means by which you prove yourself.”

“By keeping me ignorant, I feel like you are setting me up to fail!” Sideralis saw Luna turn her head and look at him, giving him a cool, detached stare. “How am I supposed to help them… I know next to nothing… right now I can’t even help myself.”

“Nevertheless, you must find a way.” Luna’s eyes narrowed, changed, becoming black voids filled with glowing stars. “The place to start is with Twilight. She must be made to see that she has made an error.”

“How do I do that?” Sideralis asked.

“Easy,” Luna replied, “the guilt calls out to us, and we are compelled to answer. Your power to move through dreams is but a mere grain of sand compared to my own. You are but a single star in this blackness you see all around you. But you can go into dreams. You can be a messenger. The message you bring is up to you.”

“What would you have me do?” Sideralis blinked a few times, feeling the burning sting of tears welling up in his eyes. “Who am I to judge Twilight? Or anypony else for that matter?”

“The guilt calls and we are made to answer… it is our function. You are the flesh of my flesh. While a different destiny is being woven for you, you have inherited some parts of me, both good and bad. We are bound by duty. We drive little ponies back into the light. And Twilight has strayed from the light without the guidance of her friends. She is in danger of losing herself. I am tasking you with driving her back into the light and making her see reason, to restore her to goodness… by any means necessary. A Princess of Equestria she might be, but even she is not immune to our nightly visits. She must be made aware of her failings.”

“But what do I do? How do I help? Where do I even begin?” Sideralis looked at his mother, his expression pleading, and he felt a lump growing in this throat.

“Everything that I feared has come to pass. Twilight Sparkle has opened the door and now others have ventured into the strange new world beyond. Beneath the research facility where all of this started is a secret vault. You already know of it. I have seen to it that the door will open for you… you are to enter that place with Twilight and you will understand the enormity of your task.” Luna’s starry eyes did not blink, her eyelids did not move, and the stars within her eyes began to swirl around.

“How is it that things keep happening at the sound of my voice?” Sideralis took a step closer to his mother, wanting to run to her, wanting comfort, but not certain if there was any comfort to be had. “I speak and things happen, like with Mustang.”

“In time, you will know more. Your magic, and specifically, your talent, is derivative of mine. I have seen it written in the stars. You walk through dreams, just as I do. Your talent is subtle, but will be of great use in the struggle to come.” Luna gestured at the stars around her, her hoof moving in a wide circle.

Sideralis looked at the stars; he had no knowledge of how to read them. If there were answers to be had, he was blind to them. He might be the starry one, but he was illiterate when it came to reading his namesake.

“Become like them, Sideralis. Know their pain. Know their struggle. Lead them. Your power, while only a mere fraction of mine, is enough to mind your own tribe. You will go into their dreams, you will heal them, you will herd them into the light. You will be their alicorn, their guide, their moral magnetic north. If you and your tribe prove worthy… a reward beyond your imagining awaits.”

“So I am to be their inhibitor?” Sideralis asked.

“You see and understand so little… to put something so complex into such base terms. I suppose that is one way of looking at it. Surely you can keep five mares upon the straight and narrow—”

“Five?” Sideralis blinked. “But there are others… others who have been enhanced.”

“The others do not struggle as these do, the others will not fight to secure Equestria as your companions will. Yes, you will rule over them all, and in time, your tribe will grow, but those five mares, your companions, will pave the way.”

“How do I start? Where do I start?” Sideralis took another step closer to Luna, wanting to touch her, but her strange, star-filled eyes were not welcoming.

“Help Mustang Salvation to heal. Help Creamy Stout save lives. Show Mjölna that her loyalty was worth it. Help Apple Bloom find her place. Be the pony that Scootaloo believes you to be.” Luna tilted her head down and her horn glowed. Streams of silver flowed from its length and one star began to change, becoming Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark. It glowed, magenta, pulsing, almost as if it had a heartbeat. “Sideralis, in the dream you were just having, I gave you a gift—”

“THAT WAS A GIFT?” Sideralis’ mouth fell open and he stared at his mother, feeling angry, confused, and hurt. “Do you know what I endured? I thought I was going to lose my mind. I wanted to go insane… it was easier than dealing with the feeling of being trapped in that body when everything happened.”

“Sideralis, my precious colt… it has been burned into your memory. You know what happened. You have Mustang’s memory of the event.” Luna’s horn glowed even brighter and the glowing star cutie mark of Twilight Sparkle became a door standing upon nothing, just floating in the void. “As an old dear friend named Pinkie Pie once said, ‘sharing is caring.’ Go forth my son, and do what you must do. Twilight must be made to see reason. She sleeps in a fitful state of rest, her guilt consuming her. Soon, her guilt will be too much to bear. It is like diseased flesh… you must carve it away if you want to save her. It will not be pleasant.”

“You… you… you want… you want me to share the dream I just had with her, don’t you?” Sideralis stammered.

“The guilt calls us, and we must answer,” Luna replied, a sad expression clouding her face. “If you love Twilight, if you wish to be her friend, you will step through the door.”

“And if I refuse to step through the door?” Sideralis asked.

“Then all of my hard work has been for naught. The past twenty years of my labour mean nothing and I have made a grievous error.” Luna stepped closer, extended her wing, and touched Sideralis. “This will not be easy for you… if it makes you feel any better, should you chose to bring the dream to Twilight, you will share in it with her, and once again, you will know the horrors that Mustang endured. I know the pains of my subjects. I have felt every nightmare, every injustice, every bit of abuse, every rape, I have felt it, all of it, and I have never shied away from it. I carry their pain with them, their suffering is burned into my soul. I realise this is a lot to ask of you, yet I must ask this of you.”

“Mother, I will do as you ask. It makes me feel a little better knowing that Twilight will not endure this alone.” Sideralis bowed his head and took a step towards the door.

Luna stepped forward, her muzzle pressing against Sideralis’ cheek, lingering there for a moment as she kissed him. She pulled away, but only an inch, and closed her eyes. “You are the son that I had hoped for. I had faith that you would do the right thing.”

Feeling a bit more confident, but also hating himself, Sideralis stepped through the door and into the sleeping mind of Twilight Sparkle. Her guilt called to him, and he was compelled to answer.

Author's Notes:

To be fair, this has the horror tag now...