(Three years two hundred twenty-six days until Nightmare returns)

“Okay...I’m utterly confused by this,” Arden said while looking at his surroundings. “I’m pretty sure we are in the right castle,’ Arden said while scanning the map he had in his hands.

“This better be the right place! I don’t want to go out there again!” Arden heard from behind him as multiple thuds stroke the door. “That’s the third dragon we run into while trying to get to this freaking place!” Rushing to Nightmare’s side he helped her brace the door.

“Hey! I didn’t choose to make this quest. I had settled for investigating the freaking cave on the outskirts of the town but no! You wanted to do the one the crazy weirdo on the street gave us by tossing a random map in our face and started to sing ‘My heart will go on’!” Another impact hit the door. “This is the middle ages! How in the hell did he know about the song?!”

A deafening roar came from outside and the door started to burn up, Arden pulled Nightmare Moon away from it before they started to run into the inner parts of the ruined castle. After several moments of running, Arden realized that the dragon’s steps and the crumbling castle were silent.

“Hey! I think we made it,” Arden said looking over his shoulder, the coast was clear. Then he turned reduced his speed until he stopped. “We can stop now, Nightmare. Nightmare?”

She didn’t answer, looking back on her, Arden saw her walking up to some old chest covered in cobwebs. Cobwebs in this particular scenario meant only one thing.

‘GIANT SPIDERS!’

Running straight at Nightmare with everything he had, Arden tried to stop her from opening the chest. But he failed, Arden had just grabbed hold of Nightmare’s wrist when she unlocked the chest. Everything went black, there was no sound, no smell, no light. That silence remained for several seconds until a single voice changed all that.

“Now, now. I guess that someone has been poking around where they shouldn’t be. I like that. What brings your sorry head into my dominion?”

Opening his eyes, Arden saw a human male around his forties. He wore a strange garment, it was split right in the middle, his right side was light purple. While his left side was red, his eyes were completely white.

Arden recognized this man, the mad god.

“Sheogorath, I guess it would take a mad god to make that kind of quest. Are we at a tea party? Or is this just a memory of the residents from the abandoned castle?” Arden asked as he saw the table covered with food and a handful of teacups. Sitting on the opposite side, the mad god took a bite out of a piece of bread that started to make the sounds of a crow before turning into one and flying away.

“Never liked birds anyway,” Sheogorath said before picking up a piece of turkey and bitting it, turning it into a loaf of bread. “A good bread with some cheese on the other hand, now that’s what I would call divine!”

“Hate to interrupt this wonderful conversation,” That was Nightmare’s voice. “But mind telling you what is happening?”

“Mind is correct! The mind is such a wonderful thing! Construct, deconstruct, fantasize, realize. If the world was simply like the mind. Maybe things wouldn’t be so boring! However, this is something I haven’t seen in a while. This place is so full of life and so easy to manipulate!”

“Ask Arden who is the crazy hairless ape.” That was not Nightmare’s voice

Turning to it Arden saw a figure he didn’t recognize. A blue mare wearing a dress that looked like a starry night without clouds. Just like Celestia’s dress, the sky within the garment was moving on its own. On her forearm, the mare had a black spot with a silver moon tattooed on it. She also had a black tiara and a black necklace with a white moon on it.

Arden turned around and looked at his right. Nightmare was there standing by his side and staring at Sheogorath.

“Um...Nightmare. Who is the one on my left?”

“What do you mean...LUNA?! What are you doing here?!”

“Wait, you can see me?!”

“This is Luna?!” Arden asked while the two mares were in shock at the current situation. “Sheogorath, what did you do?!”

“Me?! You’re the one that sees them as two separate beings! And what do you mean by hairless ape?! I have hair you black cow! Or are you a black sheep? I can never tell. You know what, forget about it!”

“No, no! You’re not gonna go on one of your tangents! What the fuck is going on? What does the way I see them have to do with them being separated here?” Arden asked getting up and slamming his hand on the table and making it neigh like a horse before it ran away. “Uh...okay. That...happened. Wait, don’t get sidetracked! Where are we?”

“Why, it is your mind!”

“Uh...I already knew that. But isn’t this the mind of a dead monarch?”

“No, my tall and featureless creature. You were already inside your own head! I just pushed you deeper! Here is where your persona actually resides you walking piece of charcoal!”

Arden looked around, he wasn’t in a forest where the quest took place. He wasn’t in the old castle where Nightmare opened a chest. But it was familiar though, a ruined castle in the middle of a forest.

“The castle of the two sisters.”

“This? You surely jest, Wolf. Our castle was much grander than this mere ruin.”

“Uh...Nightmare, care to explain to her? Because I’m trying to wrap my head around this shit right now.”

“NO! NO! NO! You are not going to bore me with a long explanation! You want to progress and face your final trial at the top of that stupid tower? You need to do my little quest. And that is, this stupid place needs some tweaking! While you try to endure my brilliant shenanigans, your beautiful two friends there will be out and about with...THE WABBAJACK! Or...the Wabbajacks...two of these thingies!”

With a simple gesture, the mad god created two staffs that flew straight into the mare’s hands.

“Now, off you go! Mess around to your heart’s content! Only after you satisfy me with your changes I will consider this quest done and let you leave.”

Arden let out a sigh before falling back into the chair. “There is no negotiating with you, is there?”

“What is negotiating?”

Arden laughed at that. “Well, your antiques in the game were awesome. Now let’s see them first hand!”

“That is right, boy!” Sheogorath said before snapping his fingers.

“Um...Nightmare? Where did they go?”

“Uh...that is a good question,” Nightmare shook her hand and looked at the item that the creature had handed her.

A staff. Nothing about it really stood out from it, except for the top of it, where three faces with different expressions sat with their mouths open. It wasn’t exactly something pleasant to look at, it made Nightmare feel a kind of uneasiness.

“Luna, let’s try to find something to test these staffs.”

Luna nodded and chose a path, Nightmare followed. It had been a while since she had been in a situation like this. Back in Luna’s own dreams, Nightmare could interact with her within them. But never once was she able to interact with the real world until she took over.

‘This...feels kind of nice. She always wanted to lead whenever she went exploring in this realm.’

As they walked through the forest the dirt road below their hooves started to sound more and more metallic. The trees lost their natural shape and started to look like artificial constructions. Suddenly, multiple figures looking exactly like Wolf sprouted out of the ground.

Big, small, fat, thin, no eyes, just one eye. All of them had something making them look different from the original. Nightmare looked up to see different words in ancient writing above each one.

“‘Self-esteem’, ‘Leadership’, ‘Temper’...what is going on here?” Nightmare heard from her companion.

“That god said something about this being where Wolf’s persona was...maybe these are his personality traits?”

“He also said something about messing around with these staffs, didn’t he? Is this what he meant? Tweaking Wolf’s persona?”

“That may be so. But...” Nightmare bit her lip as she watched the different foggy creatures staring at the both of them. “Are they going to affect him?”

“I doubt so, dreams usually foreshadow something that should be changed or something we are trying to suppress. Not to mention that they are hardly remembered by the dreamer once he awakens.” Luna answered while poking one of the figures with the staff. “While it’s not uncommon for the dreamer to remember what he was dreaming in the previous night once he is back to this realm.”

Nightmare scratched her chin and frowned as she watched the foggy creatures. ‘Yet all of the regular things you would expect from a dream are turned on their head here. That horrific reaper thing...that should have woken him. losing his physical form due to an assault would also do that.’

‘If this place actually affects him...I might make him into whatever I want! A perfect puppet, bidding to my every order. However, he will notice a change of that magnitude. Meaning that he will raise his guard around me even more. But...if we were to make just some subtle changes, maybe he wouldn’t notice them. Some minor tunning to make him more obedient and attached to me.’

' Another thing I could do is...try to help him. If we only change some traits that are actually hindrances to him...and he notices them...we can claim to be the ones that helped him. And he, in turn, might start to pay more attention to me. With his focus on me, I can make sure he will be loyal to me, only me. Serve only my desires, whatever they may be. This will be perfect.’

‘Luna...Wolf...c-cannot...trust...’

“Luna, shoot that staff at that self-esteem one. Let’s see what it does,” Nightmare instructed, earning a frown from Luna. “Just do it, please.”

Luna tilted her head before turning to the figure and pointing the top of the staff at it, then a violent force started to accumulate inside the mouths. A red beam suddenly shot out of it, Nightmare watched Luna’s stance shift due to the amount of force that came out from the staff. The beam hit the target that turned from a creature with about three inches to something with about fifty inches of height.

Nightmare heard a strange sound coming from her side and saw that one of the figures started to shrunk, the name above it was ‘Insecurity’.

“Luna, depending on what we change, other traits changeup as well. Avoid shooting randomly,” Nightmare said before pointing to one that had a very small head, ‘Bravery’ was written above it.

‘Even though he acts tough, it isn’t because of this trait,’ Nightmare thought as a beam shot straight at the creature, making its head increase slightly. ‘That ought to make him be a bit more courageous.’

Another sound, a screech this time. Turning towards it, a figure that was completely curled up on the floor, which was originally standing tall, shifting, and shivering as it kept looking from Nightmare to Luna. That one was called ‘Fear’.

‘It was his fear that made him act that way,’ Nightmare thought before shooting a beam at it.

The effect this time was different, instead of changing its size, the creature’s name and shape were shifted. From a scared shapeless creature, it turned into a wolf made out of a black fog. From ‘Fear’ to ‘Instinct’. The wolf looked at Nightmare and backed away as it growled and barked showing its fangs.

‘What about this? Fear turned into instict...does this mean he will be more like an animal backed up to a corner when scared? Or did I completely erase the concept of fear? If it is the latter, that might be a problem. Better change it back,’

Firing another beam, the wolf turned back into a tall featureless fog creature. But this time it was standing up with its arms crossed and watching both her and Luna. The name changed to ‘Cautiousness’, Nightmare raised the staff again and the creature responded by quickly moving out of the way and looking like it was going to attack.

“Nightmare, this is getting strange,” That sentence drove Nightmare’s attention back to Luna. Before she could even understand what was happening, something pulled her and placed her by Luna's side. “I shot one called ‘Guardian’. Now he doesn’t have a name and he is acting weird.”

The creature looked at them with kind and calm eyes, Nightmare heard something appear behind them. His gentle look turned into a glare that made Nightmare gulp, looking behind them, Nightmare saw another one that was shaped like a wolf and was gathering random things off the ground pilling them up by a tree. ‘Greed’ was written above it, it was small and looked wounded.

The two creatures locked eyes and after a few seconds, lunged at each other clawing and gnawing each other. Whatever that one had become, it was violent that’s for sure. Nightmare watched as the bipedal one finish off the wolf-shaped one, his gaze returned to the kind and gentle state. But not before it completely and utterly destroyed what was left of the wolf. Not that it mattered, soon after the wolf was gone, another one identical to the first came by.

"We better be extra careful with what we do, Luna. Better yet, let me shoot. You pick the targets and I shoot. That way we avoid making too many changes at once,” Nightmare felt something pulling her dress as she said that, looking down she saw a big wolf waving its tail as it stared at her with a serious look in its face. Then it moved its head underneath her hand and lifted it.

Nightmare pat its head, which resulted in its tail moving even faster as it moved its head so she would pat behind the ears. Nightmare looked up. “‘Love’? You’re...loyal? Is this what I’m supposed to get from this?”

(Meanwhile)

“I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less than this from you,” Arden commented as they both fell down some sort of hole while sitting down on a chair and Sheogorath served himself a cup of tea, out of a rock shaped like a skull. “What are we doing here? Down the rabbit hole we go?”

“Something like that,” the mad god said while picking cheese from inside the teacup he had just finished filling. “Care to tell me what made you end up with those two? Especially something so plain looking as you.”

“Very straightforward, aren’t you? How am I supposed to know? I’ve just been trying to get out of my situation and they are helping me. I do notice that Nightmare seems to be plotting something, those changes in clothing, behavior, and such are practically yelling that. She probably just wants another pawn, and I’m the target.”

“Ah, ignorance. Such a bliss and such a curse. You know I love the duality of things, a lot of imagination can also be interpreted as madness.”

“Ok, but what exactly are we supposed to do here?”

“Questions, questions, questions! Just entertain me, for you see, I’m helping you right now! We might be falling, but we are falling towards the sky, my boy!”

“Aaaaaaand?”

“Come on, just think a bit. Or is that head of yours just for show?”

Arden tilted his head, then he shrugged before reaching for it and lifting it off his neck. “Well, it is very light. So I guess it’s just for show then. However...” Arden let go of his head, it floated around as they kept falling. “...let me try to figure it out,” Smoke started to come out of his neck.

“I guess I’m thinking with my stomach right now,” Arden commented, “well If I were to guess. We are falling towards the top of the tower, aren’t we?”

“That is right, boy! I did promise that once your lovely friends, by horse standards, are done with the changes I can consider this done. However, since your head is fun to play around with I’ll do an extra favor. As long as you keep me entertained, I’ll keep us falling and heading towards the top.”

“Fast forward? Count me in! I rather not push my luck with the risk of falling into a coma!” Arden replied growing back his body while the remains of the previous one shifted into the shape of a dog without its head. Arden looked at it, removed his arm and started to wave it like a stick in front of the dog. “Come on, boy! Fetch the stick!”

Arden threw his limb, the headless dog ran after it, vacating the sit so Arden could sit again. Sheogorath was clapping the entire time.

“You got a few screws loose, don’t ya kid?”

“That is an understatement,” Arden said before turning his chair into a hippopotamus with wings that started to fly circles around Sheogorath. “Mad? That’s for sure. I consider what you just said an offense, my dear sir! A madman should feel nothing more than pride for his own madness! I dare say that I have nothing but loose screws!”

“And what exactly are you planning to do with that thing?”

“I was thinking of riding it to the beginning of time to see lady death and see the truth of the world and see how it all ends.”

“She is quite the lady I assure you. More than any mortal could ever handle. None who met her actually lived, to tell the tale!”

“Oh, then I guess I could be the first!”

“And I would pay to see the outcome of that encounter. I know that she isn’t a big fan of me or any of the gods. That’s for sure. Something about us killing off mortals on a whim and that being her job.”

“Really? Huh, I better try to be on my best behavior when I decide to visit her then,” Arden said turning the hippo into a couch and laying on it. “If I’m meeting something like that, I better be prepared.”

“True enough,” Sheogorath replied, making his chair spin around. “She can be a real killjoy when angered. Then what are you going to do now?”

“That is a good question. I guess the answer is forty-two,” Arden answered looking at Sheogorath, who had a curious look in his face.

“Care to run that by me again?”

“Oh, you know, the answer to every question, forty-two!”

“And how exactly does that apply to every question in reality?”

“I don’t know. Ask the computer that calculated that. Oh, wait, the planet that had the computer was destroyed for the construction of an intergalactic Highway. Too bad.” Sheogorath started laughing as a miniature planet was destroyed by a gigantic road.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t be in a mental asylum?” the god asked after he finally stopped laughing.

“Shouldn’t you be there as well? I think you would look nice in one of their special jackets,” Arden said as two figures put a stray jacket on him and carried him away.

“Fair point,” Sheogorath replied making the figures and jacket disappear.

“How many floors have fallen through? Cause I think you should be a little bit concerned with the ceiling. I’m made out of smoke. I disperse and then reform. You, on the other hand, would turn into tomato sauce with meat once we hit it.”

“According to my math...fifty floors or so.”

“Holy shit. That is quite the fall! How many more?!”

“About sixty.”

“Huh, that is one hell of a tall tower. Or should I say heaven? Since we are going towards it. Nah, it doesn’t have the same impact.”

“Well, your friends sure did one heck of a job with you. Therefore, I consider your quest done.”

‘Great, now I can stop with this insanity. And the falling. I’m very afraid of heights! But most importantly, now I can wake up.’ Arden let out a sigh of relief and waited, and waited...and waited. He continued to fall. The scenario didn’t undo itself, Sheogorath was still there. ‘What is going on?! Isn’t he a...don't tell me that...’

“You just realized that I’m no construct of your mind, didn’t you?” Arden widened his eyes.

“Now you got me curious. And worried! What are you doing here?”

“Well, I am within every single creature with a minimal trace of imagination or madness. Therefore you can assume...I guess I can say that...this is an audience?”

“Why?”

“Because I can, and I found it entertaining, you know the idea of messing around with your head. Although I didn’t expect that you would mess with your head as you did. I have to admit it was quite enjoyable, I set this up just to see how you would react to me and how those two would try to change you is they had the chance," Arden tilted his head at that.

'Is that supposed to mean nothing that they did here affects me?'

The highlights of this entire thing were the changes those two made. I half expected the pretty black one to turn you into her plaything, however, seeing them actually trying to improve you. That was a delightful surprise. You got them wrapped around your finger, don't you?"

Arden tried to reply but found himself at a loss, how was he supposed to answer to that? His life took a one-eighty after a random event and then rolled downhill to a ramp that made him fly for a bit and he had no idea where he is going to land.

"But nevertheless, all good things must come to an end. I grow bored, and you out of time. Congratulations! You only have fifteen left to go!” Sheogorath celebrated as they stopped mid-air.

“However, do be careful, these last ones are the worst ones,” he continued with a more serious tone and a dark look in his eyes.

“No pressure,” Arden replied as they both landed safely back in the forest.

“I bid you adieu then, my curious host,” The god said before he started to disappear, for a brief second, Arden saw him shift into a familiar form, a blue pony.

'Wait...was he?' Before Arden could try to analyze the figure that was with him, 'Sheogorath' had completely disappeared.

And with that, Arden saw the entire place melt while his body became lighter. He was waking up again, some muffled sounds started to echo from behind him. Arden turned around and saw Nightmare by herself waving at him, he tilted his head and waved back. Then everything turned black.

“How are things going?”

“This one believes that everything is fine,” Zecora replied while checking Arden’s pulse. “Although, this one thinks his treatment is taking a long time.”

“And that's...bad?”

“With every session, there is the risk of the cerulean entering a state of coma. Therefore, more sessions mean greater risks,” Zecora answered caressing his cheek.

“Ok, is there any way of speeding this up?”

“No, the treatment follows the pace the patient has. This one can’t do anything but keep the sessions going until the final step is taken.”

“I see...” Zecora looked up and saw Chrysalis scratching her chin as her eyes darted from Arden to Zecora. “Has anything changed between the two of you after...you know.”

“Maybe...this one believes we are a bit closer now. And he has been putting a lot more effort into his training.”

“And you are putting a lot more effort into your appearance,” Zecora tilted her head at that, making some of her mane fall in front of her face. “Don’t play dumb, your clothes have all been repaired and slightly modified. The ones you use here are colorful and make you stand out. Not to mention how some of them are making your body be more attractive to the eye bit. You said you liked your mane short, yet you kept it long after you slept with him.”

Zecora didn’t answer, Chrysalis was on point. ‘This one has been putting a lot of effort into looking attractive for Arden, and the mane...this one grew to appreciate it. Especially the feeling of brushing it. But there isn’t anything wrong with that.’

“Why did the changeling bring this up?” Zecoras asked earning a surprised expression from Chrysalis.

“N-no reason! I-I have just been wondering how a relationship would develop after that! All the ones I’ve seen were kinda awkward after it. When they lasted longer than one night,” Zecora watched Chrysalis’ cheeks turn green as she shifted and seemed to be bothered by something.

“What is wrong?” Zecora asked which made Chrysalis bit her lip before letting out a sigh followed by some mumbling Zecora couldn't understand. “This one cannot understand words in that language. Please speak in a tongue this one comprehends.”

“Ha-ha! Very funny,” Chrysalis answered placing of her mane behind her ear. “I wanted to know how did it feel...doing it with somepony you cared about so much.”

Now Zecora was blushing. “W-well, this one...it felt...”

Before Zecora could finish her failed attempt to explain how she felt during that time, Arden opened his eyes and yawned. Then he stretched a bit before sitting up and looking at Zecora with a big smile.

“Hey there! I got some good news!” Zecora tilted her head at his enthusiasm. “I managed to skip a lot of floors and I’m nearly at the place that has the secret so I can finish this off! Then it’s bye-bye hallucinations!”

“This is wonderful!” Zecora said, lunging into a hug. “This one is so glad to hear that!”

Looking at Chrysalis, Zecora noticed that she had a worried expression. Then she remembered what Chrysalis had told her again and again before.

“What's going to guarantee that he will stay here after the treatment is done?”

‘The treatment is almost over. However, Arden has promised to never leave this one alone again. Why would Chrysalis be worried?’

“What’s up?” Zecora asked while breaking the hug. “Something is eating the changeling up.”

“What do I have to do?” She asked in a low tone.

"What do you mean?" Zecora asked while Arden turned over to face Chrysalis as well.

“What do I have to do to keep a roof over my head? Right now I have one because I’m keeping his mind stable during the treatment. But once this is over...both of you won’t have a-”

“You seem to forget that you are with a friend and a friend project,” Zecora watched as Arden placed his hand on the changeling’s shoulder while cutting her mid-sentence. “You need a place to stay? I guess we can work something out, right Zecora?”

“Correct, this one is not about to leave her friend to her own devices out there.”

“Then what do I-”

“The changeling doesn’t have to do anything,” Zecora said stopping Chrysalis midway through. “Chrysalis, you can stay here even after Arden’s treatment is through.”

Chrysalis started to laugh, an evil and malicious laugh, Zecora looked at Arden that had also turned to face her. Suddenly, Chrysalis raised her head and kept laughing in the same manner. That’s when Zecora saw it, Chrysalis had her eyes filled with tears while she kept laughing.

“I-If y-you two...a-are g-going to be s-so f-forceful about it...I-I g-guess I c-can stay!” Chrysalis said in between sobs while trying to keep her speech pattern as if she was doing them a favor.

Zecora couldn't help but smile at that. “Very well, in that case. This one hopes that the accommodations are to the changeling's liking.”

Author's Notes:

Well, here is another one!

Sorry for the delay, I'm working on multiple stories at once now. The reason for that is the fact that by having more than one story I can prevent burning myself out with just one. Meaning also that I can move away from a story for a moment so that I can try to come up with decent content (aside from the one that is in hiatus due to some issues I already explained and I'm still fixing the thing that gave me the idea for that story). So if you want to read more, please consider checking the other stories I'm working on, while you wait for these. Or do whatever you want, since your time is yours to decide how to spend it.

Thank you for reading and please let me know what you thought of it!

Why would you feed them with lies?
There is nothing but lies in the pages you just wrote.
Tell them the truth! tell them what you intend to do!
Tell them what they felt! Tell them what they planned!