2/19/16; Waking Nightmare

Gleaming Echo stirred what would possibly be the 'next morning' and let out a bit of a groan. Why in the name of the stars was he outside when he remembered going to bed inside?! Did Tar do something?! He sat up and rubbed his head, looking around. He was in what appeared to be a clearing of some sort and nopony else was around! But... ugh, the cultist was confused! Both halves of him were! The moon was still high in the sky even as the cultist attempted to get his bearings. He didn't recognize these trees. Perhaps he'd been taken out into that dark forest near the little town? What ever so? It didn't seem like he was robbed! Looking up to the sky he managed to determine a good direction and began to trot on.

Yunalesca rose towards consciousness slowly and steadily became aware of a few things. She felt a gentle breeze, not quite cold, and what she lay on did not feel like a bed. It was not a bed. It felt more like laying on... straw? The alicorn opened her eyes to darkness, moonlight, and looked around at her surroundings. She could see thatched rooftops, and the night sky above her; another check told her that she.. was on a rooftop. For a moment she thought she was dreaming, but she just.. felt too awake for that. There was always a vague, uncontrollable aspect about dreams and this didn't feel like it. Yuna bit her lower lip nervously and slowly got to her hooves, having to fight for balance and find a way she could safely stand up. Once up, she gave the buildings another glance- it kinda looked like Ponyville, or perhaps it was. What was she doing on a rooftop then?

Silent Dusk awoke in a place she knew all too well, scattered around her were heaps of porcelain dolls looking like thestrals and discarded among them broken toys, an eerie silence washing along all the discarded belongings once loved now forgotten, a bright baleful moon shining high in the skies as pink mists drifted along the humid ground, standing up the bat shuddered tears already stinging at the corners of her eyes.

Distant Lightning had thought he had managed to stay up. 'Lightning.' A voice called, causing him to stir from a mountain of parchment. He raised his head from the pile, giving a shake. "Thunder?" He blinked, looking into what appeared to be a mirror, save the fact there sat a pair of bifocals, magnifying the lashed eyes. 'Yes?' The feminine voice replied. "I fell asleep?" The fiery pegasus across from Lightning settled down beside him. 'No silly.' She paused, her braided mane more lightly streaked with oranges than his own. 'You died.' She assured. For a moment his heart leapt from his chest but feeling her next to him he settled some. His eyes pinched up to a smile. "Ah, I was a bit lonely....so tha's okay." He mustered past a broken voice. 'Are you crying? Papa'll whip you if you cry Lightning.' He nodded and looked down. As he stared at his hooves, there seemed to be something pooling at his hooves.
Distant Lightning was unsure what it was, but when he raised his hoof it was sticky, covered in strands of gold and pine fur. As feathers floated passed him his head snapped up. Looking over Thunder was melting. "Thunder!" He squawked, jumped to his feet. Before his eyes the mare melted away into nothing but ooze, feathers, and fur. Terrified the pegasus staggered back, spilling through the papers as they stick to him thanks to the fluids. No words could escape him as he lost his fortitude. He took flight and fled the scene. From the pale, hazy room he would run through into the streets, dead of night falling over him. He felt his chest clamp up, unable to breathe. 'Where are you going?' A dark figure marched behind him. He tried to fly, but his wings were gone. He took off running, but it felt as if was being dragged down by a weight...

Gleaming Echo let out a bit of a sigh and stared up at the moon. It almost looked... strange. The light was ~ harsh, not the soft glow that he was typically used to. "What do you make of this?" he'd softly ask the dark half in the back of his mind. His ears perked as if he was listening and then he nodded. "I agree, we need to find the others." he continued as he made his way towards what he assumed to be the direction of ponyville. Tar said he could feel magic coming from that direction.. Even as he walked shapes seem to flow form the shadows around him and stalk the split unicorn. There were whispers floating from the shadows but they didn't seem to hinder the unicorn. For a pony who was used to having a voice in the back of his head he was able to resist the unease that the voices caused. Alas soon enough he made it to the edge of Ponyville which seemed strangely warped in front of him. Shaking his head and lighting his horn with magic he entered town only for those shapes to follow.

Yunalesca wobbled a little as she slowly turned around on the roof's top, surveying what she could see. The streets below were in shadow, making the buildings look as though they were floating over oblivion; at least, that was how it looked to her. The lady opened her wings, unobstructed by cloth, and looked around at them. Huh. No surprise there, perhaps, she'd gone to bed without her shawl; though she still had no idea how she'd got here. She couldn't fly either.. if she fell, she'd be lost. Yuna leaned over to peer down into the dark streets with growing unease and turned away to move across the rooftop, the thatching sinking under her hooves as she sought out a different path. She wondered where the others were, or if they were still at the inn?

Silent Dusk looked around and flared her wings in distress, the dolls seemed to stare at her, then the moon took on a crimson hue and porcelain faces smiled wickedly at the bat, a voice resounding maliciously. "Alone again little filly? they had enough of you? no wonder seeing how useless you were in the last two fights, they're better off without you anyway, get your hoofblades little girl, one clean cut and your pain is over."

Distant Lightning continued to run, but he never seemed to get any further. He stopped, circling a nearby weaved hamper before tucking inside. The dirty laundry made it harder to breathe, but eventually the figure would wander passed him, the sound of their hooffalls drawing away. Lightning kept his hooves tucked to his chest, hindlegs raised up as he struggled to keep still. "Thunder..." Suddenly he felt movement, the hamper suddenly rolling down a hill. He let out a shout before slamming into a wall, the clothing and Lightning spilling out in a lump of feathers and cloth.

Gleaming Echo closed his eyes as Tar started to sent out a chain of expletives in his head. "They are hallucinations, Tar! ~ I don't give a buck! Let me at them! At least it will be satisfying!" The dark half of the pony just wanted to blow something up! Sure the things the shadows said slid right off of the good half of the pony, but the dark side was not a happy camper and stewed in the back of Gleam's mind for the time being. The goody little twohooves better be careful or he'd take the body for a spin! If this 'was' a dream then he could destroy buildings all he wanted, right?! With this in mind he made a quick attempt to brush Gleam aside and take control of their 'body' Alas the attempt miserably failed and he was all but caged in the dark part of the irritated pony's mind!

Yunalesca couldn't see any lights in any of the windows at this hour, nor could she see any street lamps; even those were kept lit at night for safety. It probably explained why the streets were so dark.. and that was something she had to convince herself of. That she wasn't just stuck here, flightless, grounded, on something she couldn't descend from safely. There were no ladders against the roof that she could see, nor any trap doors. Yuna whined in her throat. Maybe she could see if the street did exist though.. Yuna cast about until she spied a weathervane, and used her magic to tear it up and tossed it over. If it made a sound, she still had a chance to get down safely. If not.. she was tempted to just start yelling for help.

Silent Dusk curled up on the floor hiding in her wings as she repeatedly muttered. "Distant, Yuna and Gleam don't hate me, this isn't real no cutting myself but, but what if they do?" cringing the bat peeked out from under a wing with teary eyes cringing at all the toys and dolls.

Distant Lightning laid against the ground for a moment before he glanced up. His monocle didn't help anything. It was all blurry and difficult to see. He felt weight on his back. When he looked a thick quilt had fallen against him. Pushing to stand he flapped out his wings, instinctively, only to be pleasantly surprised they were there. As the quilt fell to the floor he turned to see various, familiar, shapes and numbers sewn into it. His brows furrowed a bit. "Thunder?" he moved the quilt a bit seeing what looked like him, but he knew was her. "Where am I? I'm not really dead, aren't I?" The image on the quilt moved, laughing a bit. 'No, I was just kidding. But you're pretty close to being dead. That's what happens when you trust outsiders, especially Equestrians. They're kind of barbaric. It's like having a pet asp, you know?' "I know." He replied, folding the quilt and settling it over his back. He did not have any idea where he was, though.
Distant Lightning pricked his ears and looked up. "Do you hear that?" He asked. 'It's probably the mare. Hope she jumps.' His ears pressed to his skull. "T-that is rude Thunder." 'I'm not the one thinking it.' "Are you?" 'I am, sorry. I guess go be a hero or something, but you know she'll die no matter what you do.' "I know." 'Okay.' "Sorry." 'Don't be a mare. You'll get whipped. I'm not mad you left me alone, mostly.' "Okay." He stretched out his wings and took to the air, but felt weighed down. 'You have a rug on your flank, stupid.' "Riight...it's a quilt." 'I'm not going to leave, you don't need the rug...' "Quilt..." 'Lightning.' "Dropping the rug." He let the quilt-rug slid off his flank and flew up in hopes to find whoever shouted out. His forehooves tucked to his chest as he looked around, but detail was blurred. He could only see shapes. Everything -- it was a dream. 'Brilliant deduction. We can't see, so it's a dream.' "Can we not?" 'Okay, sorry.'

Gleaming Echo let out a bit of a snort as the shapes started to get somewhat more familiar. There were a few cultists and was that... Distant? "Oh no-no-no! Not acceptable!" Seems that threw Tar off the handle again! Gleam hardly had any time to react before he was the one in the 'cage' and Tar was the one in control, horn lighting up with magic! "I'm not gonna sit back and let the prissy pain-in-the-flank pony talk, even if its just an illusion!" And with that Tar's horn lit up bright with magic and he sent several destructive balls of magic at the silhouettes... This, needless to say, caused explosions as well as heavy damage to several of the warped ponyville houses! Meanwhile the 'shadows' just kept right on taunting. For every taunt another attack was launched.... That'd light up the night sky!

Yunalesca was sure she heard the small tink of metal as it hit the ground, but she couldn't be sure. Maybe it'd just been her imagination? She pushed herself away from the edge again, a thrill of fright shooting through her when she almost slipped on the thatched roofing. She nearly lost her balance again when something, lit up nearby. Not a light, but flashes of.. something. Magic? Yuna crouched down a little, ears flattened back. There was something familiar about it but she couldn't be sure. "Hello? Who's out there?" Yuna finally called out as loud as she could manage; she wasn't sure who it could be, and it seemed logical enough to make her presence known.. if they could hear her. Or cared.

Silent Dusk thought she heard calling and rose her head up, half screaming/bleating just to let her fear be known as well as her location, usually she woke up by now but the horrifying place kept her paralyzed in fear, maybe whoever was out there had heard her and come find her if she didn't wake up, then sobbed a quiet prayer to Luna.

Distant Lightning was compelled to land beside the mare, but not by any willing pull. The bright flash was disconcerting and where there was lightning, there was bound to be rain. 'That-- really?' "Granpappy says that." 'Granpappy is getting too old.' He landed on a narrow ledge not too far from Yuna. Being up high he was able to spot her with his bird's eyeview. "Miss Yuna is that you?" 'Could be an apple.' He fluffed up, wings tucked wrist to wrist as they sat over his head. He cleared his throat. "I beg your pardon, madam." 'She's a gypsy.' He coughed loudly and trotted in place. Though she was probably a dream too, that did not mean he should be rude. Maybe he had to talk to her to wake up or something, face his fear. He did not like gypsies after all. They may mug you in your sleep! It left him with uneasy sleep their travels together. Twas the most logical path. He was merely dreaming of her from fear and guilt.

Gleaming Echo lets out a satisfied sigh amidst smoldering ruin. Ah, how beautiful the landscape had becometh! With a now cheery jaunt the dark half of the pony continued to walk on. "Done with your act? ooowoooo I'm so scary darkness that I take the form of ponies!" he'd mockingly (and quite foalishly) call into the darkness only to come to a stop and nearly jump out of his fur and squealing like a filly in fright as what sounded like some sort of scream came from nearby. (Though he'd never- ever-ever admit to the jumping and squealing part.) He quickly found himself standing outside of an admittedly creepy structure and inclined his head. A spell later and the door was gleefully blown off the hinges (with part of the wall) and he stepped in. "Hello?" The dark half called, finding that the main room of the house was empty... He thought he'd heard the Bat pony from their little group for a moment....She was useful unlike a certain other pony!

Yunalesca jumped when a scream answered her calls, frightening her. First the explosions, now a scream; what was going on? The sound of wingbeats snagged her attention, followed by a familiar voice. It was Distant. The alicorn shrank back, closing her wings, of which she had been using to help her balance. That was about all they seem good for. She wobbled a little and settled her belly against the top of the roof instead, eyes on Distant while he argued with somepony she couldn't see. The voice sounded female; sheesh, was he as afflicted as Gleam, or.. ? "Yeah, it's me." She said, scowling briefly. She had no need to get offended about the gypsy comment, when it was something she dressed like intentionally, but yet.. "Who in Tartarus are you talking to?"

Silent Dusk curled up again hoping still to wake up but it seemed that was out of the question, quivering hid under her wings again.

Distant Lightning folded his ears back as he observed her. She was more hideous than usual, though the wings were perhaps just some attempt to make her better, it would not do with that horn protruding from the middle of face. He sighed, his cloak of feathers of hanging at his side. He did not see the others about. He allowed his monocle to fall, the glass doing nothing. He harumphed at her shape. Ears pricking up at her question. He raised his wing and another him -- stepped out? 'Hey gypsy.' Lightning sunk a bit. "Do not mind her, she wasn't taught properly." 'Wasn't taught at all. Where's the rest of your gaggle of weird ponies?' He ignored her question. "Do you know what is going on? There have been unsettling events leading me to believe I have fallen asleep while I was studying." He might as well try to solve what his dream was trying to tell him, though it has turned nightmareish several times. By all technicality -- it was a nightmare for him.
Distant Lightning knew when he woke up Thunder would be all in his head again. The female version of -- him, shoved her wing wrist against his face, shoving him away. 'Listen trash-corn, let's ignore my yellow-bellied brother a minute and presume that he does no more subconsciously. Accepting that crazy things happen in Equestria because of your fancy of forbidden magic and general roughhousing, he wouldn't even dream of you, even if you have nice legs." Lightning tried to protest but had her wing's wrist shove in his muzzle. 'Yes and a nice plot too, but the question remains -- why are we dreaming of each other, since neither of us have any long, unrequited, tender emotions for one another. He wants you al-aah!' Lightning pounced the mare to the ground. "Can we just stop talking and find the others okay? This is scary I don't like it!" he panted out rapidly. The mare smirked sheepishly.

Gleaming Echo let out a grumble as he moved into the next room and blasted that door in! He wanted his entrance by tartarus! The unicorn let out a 'dramatic' gasp as he finally came across the crumpled form of Silent. "Are you seriously listening to these things? They don't even have spines!" he'd say as he shot a few more bolts of magic at these dolls. "They also have the dumbest faces!" more bolts of magic leaving craters. The wall had several holes in it before it crumbled to reveal the outside. "Alright, out of the building before it topples like the foreigner's courage!" he cheered as he snagged the pony and hopped form the building which... imploded.. and then exploded? Dreams were really weird that way. "Haha! No more dolls!" Like that was an achievement....

Yunalesca could only stare when Distant seemed to double, and it was no fault with her vision; blinking and rubbing at her eyes did nothing. There was another him, but.. different. It spoke with the mare's voice she'd been hearing. "I.. I uhm. I don't know. I was.." Before she'd gone to bed, she recalled talking to Tarnished, but she kept that to herself, "in my room at the inn. I know I fell asleep there, but.." Yuna halted, her eyes flicking between the two. The mare spoke, and there was something about 'nice legs' and 'nice plot.' Yuna's eyes widened, shocked and baffled. Dream? It had be a dream. There was just no way.. "How should I know?! I don't even know how I got up here!" Yuna spat. "Pfft, and here you called Gleam a madman! Maybe if we find a way down, we can figure out what's going on."

Silent Dusk yup crying, loudly even as Gleam snagged her, trying to crawl into the stallion as if he could hide her, yes she "had" been listening to those dolls and had been very ready to just give in and now felt so glad to see a friend.

Distant Lightning was shoved off his hooves, barely catching himself on his wings as Thunder pushed out from beneath him. 'Well instead of standing here with this romantic tension~' She shivered. "Going? Good let's go." He flew off the edge before stopping to turn back to look at the Alicorn. Thunder smirked, moving reaaal close to her. 'Nice plot by the way.' She kicked off and flew passed Lightning. 'Whelp, you two lover birds can flirt, Ima go see what Lightning's other husband and wife are at.' He flustered and almost laid an egg there and than. "Manners!" 'Manners are for the liviiiiiiing~' She flew off to see if she could find the others. Lightning grumped and looked to the Unicorn, whom had grown wings? "Madam, as uncouth as my sibling is she is no figment of my imagination nor a result of psychosis. Just a general hindrance upon my spirit. Can you use those wings?" Though she normally did not have wings so probably not. He flew down and held out his hooves. "Come, we must locate the others. This place of -- dreams is unstable. As I am remiss to admit such -- it may not be my own, or your own, simple nightmare. I have heard of such things, beings falling into a forever sleep." Well hopefully this was not in part due to the crazy Equestrian Magic aforementioned by his blood.

Gleaming Echo let out a bit of a groan as he turned to Silent who had seemed to crawl as far into a hiding position as she could manage with his robes. "Batty ~ Silent... " he'd start with a grimace. He sucked at this! "Those were not real." he'd say with a stern tone of voice. "If you don't calm yourself we won't be able to find the others.." he'd say as he tried to pull himself away. By tartarus- crying ponies were so awkward to be around! With a grimace he turned and if he would have been able to move he'd have brushed himself off and led the way down the road again. Oddly enough his head was sporting a wide-brim straw hat. "Spiffy!" he smiled and on he walked!

Yunalesca stood back up, spreading her wings again for balance and let herself slide down one side of the slanted roof. She stopped herself at the edge, wobbling again, and peered down into the abyss- er, dark street with concern. Her gaze was drawn from it to splutter at the apparition when she came close, and flew off again. "What is with.. ? Nevermind." Yuna grumped and tentatively reached out for the offered hoof. "No, never have, but if this really is a dream then I should be able to, right.. ?" She hesitantly asked and gave her wings a few flaps, testing them to see if she could.

Silent Dusk walked after Gleam hiccuping and sniffing softly. "Gleam? um I m-mean Tar? am.. am I useless?" yes here it was self conscious bat not so tough and outgoing in her nightmares.

Distant Lightning folded his ears back. "I couldn't say miss Yuna. Normally my dreams are a bit more grounded. This nightmarish -- tomfoolery is beyond my understanding." She seemed a little able to but it was probably not enough to remain too stabilized, depending on her true ability with flight. He helped her down and dropped to the ground himself, before folding his wings back and looked up. "Where did she go?" He turned to walk, not even noticing the thing, a little. "What is wrong? We must hurry. Perish the though that Thunder reaches them first." Though why was that a concern...? 'HHHHHEY if it isn't the two faced rat licker and the second plot!' She shouted, dropping down. Now this creature was far too feminine and far too brusque to be -- Lightning. What the hay? She flared out her wings like the peacock, though she was definitely a peahen, with bifocals. 'Oh good thing I found you first. I am sorry to say... you are all dead. Welcome to the Necropolis!' She stood proudly.
Distant Lightning was very worried and trotted along in a bit of a hurry. "Come along Miss Yuna they may be little more than husks if we do not find them quickly!" Thunder smiled brightly. 'nah, pulling your hoof. But you know the sooner you guys stop wandering the void, the sooner we can probably get along. Oooh man, two face has some nice legs too~!' She bounced toward them . 'Shh shh, don't say anything just let me in on your little group thing you got going here.'

Gleaming Echo was calmly walking down the dementedly twisted road of Ponyville when an unfamiliar feminine voice suddenly rang out overhead! He jumped back and looked up only to blink as... This pony suspiciously looked like the foreigner and flared out her wings like said peacock but... The voice was decidedly that of a mare... and she was wearing bifocals? "The buck are you?" he'd hardly be able to help but ask as he stared in intrigue at the rather strange apparition that was in front of him. When it was said that they were 'dead' the pony snorted. "I'm not an idiot. - Even if Gleam is." came from the dark pony with a bit of a twitch. "If I'm dead, where is all the fire! The agony of tormented souls!" he'd ask with a bit of a pout. "I have caused far than enough property damage to at least be granted wails of anguish, right?!" would be said with a bit of a grimace and a scuff of a hoof upon the dirt. "And by Lady Nightmare who are you?!"
Gleaming Echo stepped back and laid back his ears. "If you are the foreigner's subconscious mind than I have no idea what is wrong with him. This is a whole new level of weird on so many levels!" Quite the statement coming from a split personality cultist.... Almost instantly the dark pony put himself on the other side of Silent and used her as a sort of barrier. The comment about legs made the dark cultist shudder. "And that is wrong on SO many more levels!" Alas Tar continued to use Silent as an anti-pony barrier....

Yunalesca managed.. to rise off of the rooftop? Her hooves touched naught but air, and with Distant's help, she was back on solid ground. Her flight down was a little clumsy and it took further use of her wings just to keep herself from faceplanting. Whew. ".. Thanks." The alicorn said begrudgingly and looked up to the sky. Now that she was no longer on the rooftop things didn't seem as.. bad. "What's with your sister?" Yuna asked, following after Distant at a trot. "Why will they be.. husks? Is she like, your evil twin or something?"

Silent Dusk grinned up at Thunder and smoothly snarked. "Oh hey look it's my future sister in law." then was used as a shield which made her stare at Tar. "You only rescued me only to immediately use me as a shield against her? nice." wiping her tears with a hoof she smirked though.

Distant Lightning blinked and looked back at Yuna. "That is not a polite thing to say about another pony's sister Miss Yuna... I did not think you with such mannerless tendencies." He sighed. "Well from waht I have read about dream sickness one remains in the dream until they are naught but husks. The nightmares draining your strength. though I have great hopes I am wrong, for this book was mere theory presenting only a single, observed vic...ahem, volunteer to the project." He trotted along, hoping he would find Thunder before they did. "Thunder is very ill mannered. She was not raised in the household so she can be very -- crude." Crude was just a nice way of saying she said everyhtign he was thinking without a general filter mean to protect society from your weird thoughts!
Distant Lightning put a skip to his step and hustled! Thunder motioned her head toward Tarnish, looking at Dusk. 'Wow, Lightning is right, he is really a madpony. I gotta say I should make you eat my feathers calling me his subconscious. Do you know what's in my brother's subconscious? I do.' She glanced away. 'Or was that my subconscious. I honestly don't know anymore. But listen you incompetent squib, while you're rattling around here I am pretty sure you've not considered that maybe, you should wake up and stop sharing your inner most desires with one another? I mean you lot are pretty cute for degenerates, but Gleam's sadist half has a mouth that can make a resident of Tartarus blush. And Silent you're subtlety is as dry as corn in the desert heat.' She blinked. 'Oh, shh.' She stood next to Dusk, proud little peahen. 'Liiiiightniiing I missed you~!' "Stop it!" He shouted from great distance.

Gleaming Echo blinked and the dark half continued to just stare at the strangely female Distant... However it turned out not to be Distant at all as she called out and then he heard a voice that he had never been as relieved to hear! "Crazy foreign pony! Deal with your..uh...er... other half!" he'd cry as he all but teleported to the position of the other two the moment they came into sight. Silent Dusk was fine, she was a big mare! He was just creeped the buck out by that... ugh...The moment he re-appeared next to Luna tar's voice once again rang out. "I'm not dealing with this... The idiot can!" And thus Gleam was forced back into control once again with no pre-amble mid movement. This caused the unicorn to mis-step and tumble to the ground on his face. "Owwwww...." Oddly enough when Tar went back to his safe spot in Gleam's mind the hat disappeared too!

Yunalesca turned towards Lightning with a 'are you kidding me?' look. "You're telling me.. your sister who lives in your head.. can tell me I have a nice plot, and I'm the mannerless one?" Her tone spoke of flat disbelief. "What I asked you was more polite than that." Tch! "I almost thought you were implying your sister was going to turn them into husks." The alicorn clarified once he'd explained something of a study about 'dream sickness.' Yuna jumped when he yelled at something in the distance, and her head whipped around to look. It was dark and hazy, she couldn't make out anything but vague movement up ahead. Soon enough there was a loud pop! of somepony teleporting near her. "Oh thank Celestia." It was Tarnished, at least for a moment, wearing the oddest hat. "I'm so glad you're here. Where's Dusk?"

Distant Lightning grumbled. "Miss Yuna, that is *not* what I meant, please? Alright? Mannerless and a complete and utter disregard for the rules of society are staggeringly different." He huffed through his clenched teeth. "Can we regard the details later? As much as I fancy a debate here and there over the logistics of one's ability to be frank I worry about the time we have allotted being in this dream. Sleeping and wakefulness have a very different feeling when it comes to time." Maybe they were already husks! Sometimes you felt as if you were asleep for moments, when it truth it had been hours, several in some cases he has personally dealt with. Lighting heard a grating noise crawl through the air. "Stop it!" he huffed, feeling pure irritation that -- she was so relaxed when they were so troubled. Thunder frowned when Tarnish fled. 'Ouwah, he ran away. Run away more slowly...' She scuffed her hoof against the ground.
Distant Lightning made a squeaking noise as he wanted to scream. "Please, I beg you. This preposterous and overall irresponsible behavior is not going to help anypony in this situation." Thunder looked away, softly muttering. 'It may have solved your husband's attitude problem.' Lightning elected to ignore her and turned to Gleam as he fell. "Feel free to argue with her." He trotted off a bit. "I am going to find out what is wrong here. I am sure there is a logical explanation as to why this is happening. There should be clues somewhere we can use. Considering each of our strengths and weaknesses during the waking hours one could surmise that whatever ruse this is will use our weaknesses against us." Good thing he hadn't any. He stood and looked around, Thunder looking to them shaking her head: Don't believe that rubbish, sort of way.

Gleaming Echo lay on the ground for a moment and let out a groan. "Taaar, I don't wanna deal with the weirdness either! How am I supposed to deal with a freaky mare version of Distant that is actually intriguing!" the good half would whine like a foal only to sit up and look at Yuna... an uncovered Yuna. A chorus of 'buck-buck' went through his head (for different reasons of course) and he let out a bit of a cough as his brain re-booted. "You make quite the lovely alicorn in this dream world Lady Yuna." would be the line from the robe-wearing unicorn as he passed off her alicorn-hood as some sort of dream-based alteration! After all it brought out some awkward personality thing out of the foreigner sooooo that could be a good excuse. Who didn't have dreams about being alicorn and being able to fly! "I hope this dream world has been treating you well! Tar has already been - ah.... going on a rampage and blowing stuff up.." he'd say with a scuff of a hoof. Awkward moment Gleam is awkward.
Gleaming Echo turned to look towards the foreigner as he said his part and he nodded. "This IS some sort of dream world... And given the Nightmares..." he'd pause only to frown and look up at the full moon. "I'm inclined to believe this might be some enchantment of the cult.....

Yunalesca gave Lightning a weird look, part of her lip lifted up to bare her teeth; some mixture of disgust and befuddlement. None of his explanation really.. made sense to her. She understood what he was saying, but it just sounded like a load of horseapples. She just shook her head and turned back to Gleam, uttering an annoyed, "Fine. Later then." She wasn't sure what the point of exploring this place was, if it was just a dream.. Her focus centered back on the unicorn when his whines reached her, and the.. Oh. Yuna lowered her head, her shoulders shaking in silent laughter for a moment. It was just so cheesy, but at least he was trying to pass it off! "Uh, yeah. I guess?" She said and fell silent as Gleam brought up the cultists again. An enchantment? "So, they found us? I mean, that'd make sense, because this is a little too weird.." Yuna frowned and looked back towards Dusk and Thunder. "You should probably get over here, Dusk!"

Silent Dusk grumbled loudly as she trotted back to them with her head low and ears folded back. "So I can be insulted more? wait.. Yuna is an alicorn here? then why is the rest of us still the same?" she slowed her advance now looking unsure, two Distant Lightnings, one male one female, now an Alicorn Yuna? nope she didn't trust this anymore. "What's going on? this is not normal, are you all real?"

Distant Lightning sighed and nosed around the distorted reality of well the dream. He seated himself, his sister marching up and draping herself over his shoulder, his wings splaying out to accommodate her. "You... act with shock Gleam. It isn't abnormal for a pony to transcend their reality, but it could also be a result of some other pony's wishes." Someone who liked wings -- perhaps. "I believe it is all on how you perceive your reality. Miss Dusk, your outlook on yourself is likely a result of what you perceive yourself as. A thestral." Had she desire to be anything else it was possible. "Gleam is always going to be a special case." And in his case -- it would go unregarded, 'Ahh he has unrequited love for his sister~ Lightning you have skeletons in your closet.' He blinked. "There are days where sometimes I really wonder if the things you say are purposefully regarded with a duality in their meaning." 'What? No. Pervert I didn't mean anything else by that.' She assured, glancing back at them.
Distant Lightning's more feminine inclination waggled her tail at the others teasingly as Lightning sat with his back, and Thunder her back, to them. 'But you know fillies and madponies, it doesn't matter if this was all real or just a figment of your imagination.' She cooed. Lightning sighed. "No because the longer we stay here, the more likely will suffer. If it is as Gleam says and your cultists do have some over-bounding obsession with your Lunar patron, there is no telling what horrors they may portray for us, turning us on each other, or simply locking us in a deep sleep til ---" They perhaps got rid of them.

Gleaming Echo let out a bit of a hum and started to pace. "Tar 'says' that we once overheard some ponies talking about dream magic. ~ I also had some classes, but I was an expedition healer not a caster." he'd grimace as he turned back to the group. "It is likely they don't know where we are, however with us locked in a dream state it would be somewhat simple to scry our location and have a small team of ponies infiltrate central Equestria. We didn't really think of that possibility, I must apologize." he grumped only to look back towards the moon. "I wouldn't put it past them to have an avatar of Lady Nightmare in here somewhere...Pray we don't encounter that. A construct of darkness fueled by zealous madness. We need to find the link holding us to the dream plane and sever it. With any luck we will be in time not to get re-abducted and/or slain! What a merry adventure!" The oddly cheerful Gleam smiled. Why would he not? He liked adventures! Heroes went on adventures, right?!

Yunalesca looked over at Dusk with a blank expression when she, too, noticed. "Uhh," was all she could manage. "It's.. just a weird dream. I've no idea." She covered quickly. Smooth, she mentally berated herself and focused on what Lightning was saying, scowling a bit at Thunder's tail waggle. Weirdo. Gleam's earlier explanation did tell her what the explosions were. "Scrying, huh? Well, we've got to find out how to break it before they do, though I just wonder how." Yuna said with a grimace. She didn't fancy running into a dream version of Nightmare Moon. But she hardly had any idea of where to begin, either.

Silent Dusk looked distressed she hated situations fully out of control without her being able to attack it, fly away from it or smooth talk it and it made her feel unsure, thus she shivered and muttered trying not to sound panicked. "W-what do we do now? I'm.. eh unnerved." tell them you're scared and they'll never talk to you again you weakling and you're a proud scout? nice tail waggle there.

Distant Lightning would agree that it was a most unnerving situation. Thunder rolled off Lightning as he moved to stand. "I have an idea!" Thunder rolled her eyes and sat herself beside him. 'My idea was better.' "I think this is your idea." They looked at each other. "Both." The two confirmed. Both is good. "Yes, our idea is simple. We merely wake up. If we can wake up before they find us than we will be safe. Now seeing that we have yet to wake up, though we know this is a dream means there is something keeping us here. But if we go deeper into the dream eventually we can find the source and exit!:" Thunder blinked. 'That's not really that simple to a bunch of peasants.' "Thunder!" She laughed out. 'It's true. Look basically we go in, beat the stuffing out of whatever is in our way, and get out. I mean the other idea is to just throw one of you off a cliff and see if you wake up or die from a falling dream. At least we can finally prove that theory.' Hitting the ground in a falling dream was oft perceived to end the life of a pony.

Gleaming Echo stared at Distant for a few and before he'd have even been able to make a peep his eyes had once again changed and Tar was back in control. "Thunder, do you think you could just take Lightning's place? You have so many wonderful ideas!" the dark half of the pony had evidently recovered from his episode and was back at it once again. "Why take the trouble to fly up into the air and fall? Can I hit Lightning with a spell and see if that wakes him up?" the expression from the dark pony was exceedingly 'innocent' and he was honestly hoping he'd have a free pass to smack the foreigner with fiery death! Granted this was a dream, but that would be a week-long dream come true! "One simple little spell and we'll know if we wake up! I don't have it in my heart to hit our delightful mare company with such destructive force, but oho! Can I try? Can I? Can I?!"

Yunalesca frowned a little when Dusk expressed how she felt. The dream thing was.. freaky. She didn't want to be trapped here forever, under that moon, which seemed less peaceful and more.. sinister. Like the eye of some hateful god. Which it probably was if Nightmare Moon was involved. Yuna sat down and beckoned her over while Distant and his sister argued. She shot them a glare at 'peasants' and looked around at Gleam.. well, Tarnished, who decided to join them once again with eagerness. "You know, as much as I like the idea of doing that to both of them.. I get the sinking feeling that if there is a Nightmare Moon here.. What if we have to fight her? I mean, it gives us an objective and a place to go.. I don't know what else we could do."

Silent Dusk trotted over to Yuna and sat next to her looking at the alicorn to see what she had to say. "Eh can we even win such a fight if they basically control our dreams like this? and where did Distant Lightning's sister? come from anyway?" she looked at Tar and blinked. "I kinda like having him around so I prefer you not blasting him into a puddle of remains."

Distant Lightning glared at the madpony, which is what he considered Gleam whenever he was on his crazy talk. Thunder laughed. 'Right and I'll be your first concubine madpony if ya really think I'll let you blast me or Lightning. You'll be choking on my hoof and lovin' it~ like a gourmet banquet, you degenerate.' Lightning opened his muzzle only to close it and walked away, toward Yuna and Dusk. "And if there is some sort of heralding figure in the way of our exit, that still leaves us with the task of finding them, thus traveling on. Sitting around letting our environment swallow us will be the fastest way towards defeat." He suggested. Behind him Thunder made an obscene hoof gesture at Tarnish. He rolled his eyes. "Please just -- the dream probably manifested it. It doesn't matter." He dismissed. "Probably just underlying experiences I have had with foul-mouthed peers." 'You're mom has a foul mouth!' "You know she does! That isn't the po---akjnbsdjf" He snorted and stomped his hoof.

Gleaming Echo stood and stared at Thunder... First there was one twitch, and then there was a second twitch. The unicorn's eyes narrowed and that was pretty much it. The dark half of the pony was seeing red! (Blue? Green-purple?) The blue glow in his eyes intensified as his horn lit up with magic. "I'm going to blow you into so many tiny bits nopony will be ever able to put you back together, hallucination or not!" With that the magic on his horn formed a large crackling ball of magic which was then shot at the manifestation. This was about like when he was shooting at the shadows... He knows they are fake but he doesn't give a damn whether they are real or not! It is good... uh.. therapy? Thus Tar was now on a wee bit of a murderous rampage! Good work!!

Yunalesca grimaced at what Dusk proposed, she couldn't fathom such an idea. "We can try. It's either remaining stuck in this nightmare until the cultists get us, or we try to defeat it and them." She wasn't very confident on the idea, but she had determination. Would she really allow herself to fall into their hooves, and worse? Yuna shuddered and jerked her head up when Thunder said that. Eugh. Unfortunately, it seemed to have incensed Tarnished, and Yuna flinched back when he struck out for the female apparition. For once, she had to agree with Lightning on something- it was best to get moving, but how could she stop Tar's rampage? They were apt to have a fight on their hooves with this. "Stop!"

Silent Dusk shook her head this was wrong she would at least try to knock Thunder out of the blast's way even if she would fail at that neighing in shock at Tar. "What in Luna's name are you doing? what if you hurt Lightning's mind with this?" Yuna was calling for it to stop and the bat agreed, infighting would see them all killed in the end, such aggression and reserves should be held prepared to face the enemy.

Distant Lightning looked back, ears swiveling. Thunder threw up another rude gesture before getting hit? When the fire and brimstone kinda cooled down it left Thunder there coughing and laughing. 'Well there went that theory!' What did she mean? Lightning's knees buckled as he dropped down, coughing up a bit of blood. 'Whoops!' Thunder smirked. 'Guess that's what happens when I am him! You gits he's a twin.' She laughed, vanishing. He took the brunt of the attack, because there was a great failure to dodge it. "You madpony!" He complained between wheezing. "Yofjs..." He sputtered a bit, face pressing to the ground.

Gleaming Echo let out a cackle of sorts as another spell charged on his horn. However she made an odd comment about the theory not working. That was about when he heard the sound of Lightning's knees buckling as he dropped and started coughing up a bit of blood. "SO sorry Lightning! She started it!" Did he look sorry? No, the cheshire grin on his face looked positively gleeful! However before anything else was said the unicorn lurched as Gleam took control once again. "Darn it Tarnished! You went and hurt one of our jolly companions! We need all four of us!" he'd say with a whine as he moved to hop over to the pegasus's side if possible. "I can heal that!" he'd offer.

Yunalesca winced when Thunder took the hit, despite Dusk's best efforts. It was too bad, and now it seemed Lightning had been hurt in the process.. At least his twin sister had disappeared, unpleasant pony that she was. The alicorn got to her hooves when Tarnished spoke again, but he was gone again as Gleam took the helm. Whew. That was a little nervewracking. "You might as well take him up on it." She told Lightning. "I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather be out of here as soon as possible, instead of goofing off. Lightning seems to.. at least be right in that regard." Painful as it was to agree aloud.

Silent Dusk scrambled to her hooves again and just sat there shaking her head slowly. "That's it.. we're going insane already, they will win, w-we're already starting to attack and hurt each other." fanning her wings out she brushed her coat off and stood up looking at the wounded Lightning, then at Yuna and Gleam, bringing out her blades as she kept her distance.

Distant Lightning wondered in just how many words could he express his extraordinarily boundless resentment he would evermore carry for Gleam and his impertinent, imbecilic actions that deprive his brain of intellectual growth by snuffing out its ability to comprehend the backwards situations in which he could be held accountable for?! That wayward flap-mouthed hoof-licker. He pushed to sit up, unable to push to his hooves. "Gleam, please do not touch me. Right now my body is feeling a shock, of which it has never felt. I can hear my body becoming deceased because you allow your madness to consume you at inopportune moments. Were this to continue on a day to day basis I can rest in pieces, knowing that you will perhaps be the end of the remaining members of this miniature coalition as far as I can see. Your inability to reign in your nonsensical desire to blot out intelligent life is beyond comprehension." The pone could spat some verbage to be sure.
Distant Lightning tried to move, but still felt pain. He shouldn't feel pain. His mind worked to think up a good reason as to why he felt hurt. He could only come up with one. "We are going to die." He was calm, cool, collective and inches from an existential crisis. "You know all I wanted to do was read a book or two at the library. Maybe try local delicacies. I am going to die in my sleep because somepony couldn't withhold his desire to fire off magic like some fishmonger guarding his catch." That was book slang for pimp and his working women. He finally pushed to stand and stared down at Gleam spreading his wings. "That hurt." He stated flatly. "Dreams are not supposed to hurt." He folded his wings in, taking a handkerchief to dab the blood from his mouth. He moved to trot away. "Miss Dusk, please do not stoop to his madness and barbaracy. Can we please find a way out. It would be a shame I would die without better knowing you." It hurt, it hurt a lot but stallions didn't cry.

Gleaming Echo simply stars at Distant and shakes his head some. "Fine - Fine...." he'd say with a somewhat dark undertone of his own. "Then I propose we split up." was the venomous reply even from the normally 'happy' half of the pony. However he simply shook his had and the frown softened a bit. "I'm feeling rather odd... huh." With that the dual pony turned and started to wander off... In this place Tar would most likely just grow all the more dominant over the two. And at the same time Tar's own emotions would be far more unstable! Perhaps it would be better to get some distance. Only a passing glance was sent Yuna and Silent's way. The bat pony seemed to be losing her grip? Not his problem. Gleam shook his head and managed to force the still somewhat raging Tarnished back into his mental cage... for now!

Yunalesca's jaw dropped a little at Dusk's response to all of this. She went quickly to that assumption, didn't she? "Don't be ridiculous. Nopony's going insane and nopony's gonna attack each other. Except maybe Tarnished." She would have approached the thestral to comfort her, but the sight of those hoofblades kept her from the idea. Nope. She wasn't going to get shanked for being nice. As for Lightning, he was being stubborn yet again. Yuna tried to block out most of what he was saying, looking irritated, although hearing that he was feeling actual pain caught her attention in the end. Interesting. "Sounds like a great idea.." Yuna agreed and made to follow after Gleam by habit- she just knew him the longest and felt.. a little more comfortable around him. She liked Dusk too, but the thestral probably wanted to be around Lightning after that. "So, what's up with you?"

Silent Dusk shook her head and slid the blades away. "W-what? wait! don't you know that ponies who split up get killed? all the books say so." yet she stumbled after Lightning certainly not wanting to be left alone there.

Distant Lightning flustered a bit when Dusk said that. What books?! His books didn't say that! He slowed down, looking back to see Dusk coming after him. Folding his ears back he squeaked. "did they really split up?!" He couldn't believe -- of all the stupidity! "Sands swallow me into the void..." He complained. "This cannot end with positive marks. "Miss Dusk please keep up, back to back as they say!" He groaned trotting along in the hopes he would find something useful. "Dreams, certainly doesn't hurt like one. I like my dreams better. Quiet, reading." He muttered to himself. He stopped and flicked his braided tail, looking ahead. "I am surrounded by misfortune." He sunk down on his stomach, feeling the pain of the attack still. Thunder was so--- uncouth. He laid his head down over his forehooves. Giving up.

Gleaming Echo let out a bit of a chuckle as he heard Silent's cry. That was typically true he supposed, but sometimes the heroes had to split up. Sometimes there had to be... sacrifices? The unicorn bit back a grimace and shook his head. Damn it all, Tar's enraged state was just... so hard to hold back it was! And this wretched world doesn't help! He turned to look back at Yuna and sighed, tail flicking. "Even if it is a bad idea, splitting up might have been for the best. ~ Even if you should have gone with them." There was little grimace to his expression. "This nightmare spell isn't good for me... Tar's a pseudo nightmare in the first place, the energy this place extrudes is just going to make him grow unstable."

Yunalesca flicked an ear back when she heard Dusk's little freakout. "Don't worry!" It probably was dangerous, but she was safer with somepony who knew how to fight. Maybe he could teach her a few spells, so when they got out of this nightmare, she'd have something to meet the cultists with. She looked over at Gleam with concern. "After that stuff that Lightning's 'twin' said about me having a 'nice plot,' I think I'm safer here. Just in case she decides to come back." Yuna said. "Besides, the faster we can get out of this nightmare, the better. It'll be okay."

Silent Dusk saw Lightning lay down and stepped over him, drawing her blades again as she looked around at their surroundings, she would try her best to keep the saddle arabian safe, her four hooves on both sides of the pegasus and her wings spread just slightly in case she needed to jump. "I'm.. not certain this was a good idea.. Distant Lightning." then looked down and nudged his ear. "Hey are you alright?"

Distant Lightning groaned. "I am fine." But he was not. He really hurt. He was trying his best to suck it up and just get over it. He was the stallion of the group after all. Gleam was -- only the sands knew. A jester at best. At worst he did not know. He did not want that madpony touching him. "Just tired. It feels as if I am exerting more energy than getting in this supposed sleep." He pushed up, ears folding back. His body screamed pain and discomfort, wings held tight at his sides. "Let's keep going. The sooner we found the source of this madness the sooner we could perhaps talk sense into it." Fight? Him? you must be kidding. Their leaving Lightning with Dusk was a terrible idea. He persevered and pushed forward. He was just glad she was back where she belonged. She didn't belong outside, saying those things. "You'll have to forgive my subconscious reconstructions. My sister was not raised with me, so I can only surmise her having the crude behaviors many of the uneducated ruffians around the streets have. Such coarse language unfit for passing ladies." He did lose his temper at her as well, which he was taught better about saying what he felt rather than what he was supposed to say. "Do forgive me as well, I did not reign in these troublesome criticisms she offered." He plainly admitted to his guilt, but it was as he was taught to, for he would rather forget any of this happened.

Gleaming Echo wouldn't have been able to help but grimace. "If we don't get out of the nightmare, or if we get out only for Tar to.. well.. stay murderous. I seriously doubt a rampaging pseudo-nightmare would be something that Ponyville needs nor would... appreciate. Cover being blown would be the least of our worries." he continue only to glance at the alicorn. "If that does happen, I expect you to get the buck out of there - perhaps Manehattan or one of the smaller settlements to the west." he'd hum only to perk his ears as he thought. Out of the corner of their vision the shadows were starting to twist and rise again. Alas he completely missed this fact. "I might be able to help you learn an offensive spell or two, but I mainly rely upon conjured swords, claymores, axes ~ meh.... I like swords."

Yunalesca considered this possibility and she didn't really like what she saw. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. He'd.. listen to me, wouldn't he? Besides, I'm sure we can convince him to just go fight something dangerous in the Everfree.." She wasn't very confident about this, but she recalled her conversation with Gleam's dark half before she'd gone to bed and he seemed intrigued with the idea. It also felt a little weird to talk about Tarnished like he wasn't there, but the realization that he could be listening on everything kept occurring to her. "I was actually about to ask you about that, er.." Yuna quirked a brow. Uh, what? "Since we're here, it seems like a good idea to learn how to fight. Without running the risk of hurting anypony in town."

Silent Dusk stepped away so that Lightning could get up and stayed close to the stallion, trying quite hard to not look nervous, giving the pegasus a nudge. "You're forgiven in my opinion if that counts for something, and seeing as we're likely going to die anyway, I enjoyed that drink you gave me and am sorry I can't give you anything in return Distant Lightning, if it comes to it I'll make it fast for us instead of letting us suffer."

Distant Lightning felt it seemed more morbid than he intended, but he was not really afraid of -- "Well make it painless hmm? At least I won't be on my own." He did not like pain, what pony did? Scuffling along he still could not find anything of interest. Maybe he was too focused on the pain? "Miss Dusk? Why didn't you go with them?" He wasn't a strong stallion, or could he cast magic -- or fight. he was quiote good at running away though...

Gleaming Echo inclined his head and turned to Yuna with a bit of a chuckle. "Perhaps." would be all that was said as he came to a stop and his horn lit up with magic. Just in front of him magic condensed and formed a spell-crafted shortsword which swung in front of him briefly. "This spell is somewhat easier to hold during a combat situation, but it will still take some practice." he'd say as he let the spell dissolve into magic. "I suppose.. the simplest way to explain would be that you have to picture a weapon, supply magic, and then will the magic into condensing into that shape. Too little magic and the weapon is useless, too much and it will... ah... explode."

Yunalesca halted when Gleam did to watch him summon up a sword. The specifics on what kind of sword was lost on her. "Huh." She grunted. It sounded a little bit like the way the healing spell worked, probably for any other spell too: imagination. She looked thoughtful as she faced ahead, deciding to sidestep so there wasn't a risk of hurting Gleam since she was inexperienced with magic. Only instead of envisioning a sword, she thought to aim more for a dagger- it seemed like it'd be easier for her to manage. Yuna's horn lit up with violet magic and she focused on bringing the dagger into being.

Silent Dusk smiled warmly at her companion and quipped playfully. "You say I'm pretty, you let me drink from you and most importantly however, every pony needs at least one pony to be in their corner, so I'll be in your corner, that's why I followed you." she meant it too, everyone needed at least one person near to support them even if circumstances were dire.

Distant Lightning looked to the mare. By now he had given up really searching. He could not figure this place from up, or down. The stallion sighed and nodded his head. "The sentiments are appreciated. Though do forgive me for not understanding why you reciprocate my actions with such loyalty." There are others with far more deserving than he. "Come now, we must find this -- enemy and turn them away from such actions. Certainly even a few ponies among that madpony's cult has some sense for negotiations." he could not offer much, his fortune was not his to offer, but he did have a wealth of knowledge. "Though, Miss Dusk, you are quite a lovely specimen. Tis others who fail to recognize positive and worthwhile attributes. Tis not the beauty of your figure alone, but the strength it emanates." He assured that his words were not meant to be a shallow regard of looks, something of which was finite.

Gleaming Echo stood back and watched with a somewhat twitching smile. At least now that they were away from Lightning Tarnished was starting to calm down just a bit ~ He had to admit it was somewhat disturbing hearing the various ways a pony could be ah.... best not think about it! The pony turned a little green at the thought and averted his gaze to hide his expression. However the distinct hum of magic caused him to return his attention to Yuna who, alas, had managed to form a... pretty bucking good magic dagger! "But it took me so long to even do that." he'd whimper while hanging his head. In the pony's skull the dark pony took a moment out of his anger to laugh at Gleaming's misfortune. "Because you are a bucking idiot!" managed to sound from the pony's mouth with a few hissing laughs. The good half of the pony hung his head and scuffed a hoof upon the dirt. However even with all this going on Gleam noticed something that made him...somewhat nervous? The moon seemed to be oddly brighter in the sky and... was it a little closer? Nah... couldn't be. "It is.. quite likely that we'll have to go through a lot of resistance to get to the vessel keeping us here. At least you'll be able to defend yourself, no? Oh! Another good use of the spell is pairing it with a propulsion spell. particularly with spears, axes, or swords."

Yunalesca managed to get it right on her first try! The alicorn couldn't help but smile and tilt the dagger around in her magic, carefully- it felt different, considering it was her own magic, rather than manipulating a physical object. She turned to Gleam and reached out with a tentative hoof for his shoulder. "Uh, must be beginner's luck? I'm bound to mess up on something new eventually." Yuna tried to comfort him and turned back to her manifested weapon, practicing a few stabbing motions before releasing the weapon's form. Neat. "Propulsion spell? That you'll have to show me too."

Silent Dusk smiled and nudged the pegasus. "It's simple Distant Lightning, I see the four of us as a group and as such I do my best for you all, yet you immediately accepted my.. appearance that boosted my morale and you even let me drink from you as I said before, do you know how much that means to a thestral?"

Distant Lightning twitched his ears, turning his head to look at her as she spoke. He dragged himself along with as much pride as he could, though the hurt gnawed at his bones -- nay his flesh. It was a crawling creepy feeling. His wings would shift, fully tucking against the line of his spine. "I am starting to--" He glanced away. "But I must admit madam, I do not understand. I simply abide by what one must. To conduct thyself in any other way is a shameful concept. Is Equestria truly so backwards that even to a such as you they do not provide respect?" While he did hate Alicorn, despised Unicorn and though Earth Ponies to be nothing but mudkicking laborers.... there was still a strict construct to society even he had to follow regardless of his personal discrepancies. One must never speak their mind, only speak what is for the good for the society as a whole, lest bring shame and dishonor to one's family name.

Gleaming Echo let out a bit of a sigh and nodded. "I-I suppose that makes sense. Beginners luck, y-yeah..." Perhaps she was right and it was beginners luck! With a shaky smile the unicorn's horn lit up once again and the short-sword once again formed. "Well.. to use these spells in conjunction you have to be able to do the first. ~ Which you apparently can rather easy! ~ With a propulsion spell all you need to do is, well... add a layer of magic and near what would be the pommel on something like my sword you condense some magic into a point and then 'push'. He angled the magic blade and with a crack the weapon went lancing across and into the wall of one of the nightmare ponyville buildings where it quickly dissipated without the magic fueling it. "It is easier to hit closer targets of course... Sharpshooting is rather difficult."

Yunalesca gave him a small, reassuring smile and turned her eyes to the sword as he explained the next spell. The cracking sound made her flinch and she grimaced at the example he'd shown her. That looked.. harder. Sounded that way too. The alicorn summoned up her little dagger again and turned to a closer wall, away from Gleam. "Uh, okay.." It made her a little more nervous, but she tried to mimic what he'd shown her and explained, aiming the dagger's point at the wall. Hope this works.

Silent Dusk shook her head sadly at Lightning, her voice falling to a whisper. "Distant Lightning.. most ponies fear my kind.. generally we only find work with Princess Luna's nightguard outside of Hollow Shades, do you know that a lot of us will go as low as to sell our body for a decent drink of blood when forced to live away from the Hollow? to put it frankly we are considered very low on the pony list."

Distant Lightning looked at her with unease. "How-- vile. " Even slaves were treated better! Even criminals! "Worry not mi'lady! So long as you are beside me I will wrought challenge to any man who seeks to besmirch your status! You are a lady and should be treated as such!" He proudly proclaimed, though if he could hardly keep himself moving -- no, no! It was his duty as a noble to ensure that all heathens present themselves with respectable attitudes toward his comrades even if they were a bunch of heathens themselves! He trotted along with a bit more pride, but the flair of arrogance was merely for Dusk's benefit. He still felt like he was run over by a train and was on his way to the next life. Ugh.

Gleaming Echo watched on with eagerness as the alicorn aimed the dagger and 'fired'! It seemed to work, but.... the dagger got sent into a flip of sorts and the hilt thunked into the wall. Thus the construct dissipated. "Still better than my first time." he grumped lowly enough she hopefully didn't hear. However he couldn't help but smile. "That is great for a first attempt! - It just takes.. well... practice! Having the magic compression off-kilter enough causes things like that to happen. Somewhat useful with throwing axe and spinning-type weapons. Regardless, superb!" he smiled and flicks an ear. "Some in the cult liked to conjure overcharged weapons and fling them so they would explode. A bit of a crude magic missile but effective for some."

Yunalesca seemed to pull it off, mostly, but instead of the blade hitting the wall, it was the hilt. She winced at that little mistake, but hey she was still learning right? She knew it would be difficult but she'd get the hang of it at some point. Yuna thought she heard the unicorn say something, but she didn't quite pick up on the words. She turned back towards him anyway, smiling somewhat at his praise. If he thought she did well enough, that was good enough for her. "Thanks." Yuna said. "Isn't that kind of overkill? You'd think hitting somepony with a blade would be enough."

Silent Dusk looked at Lightning and moved to support the stallion, splitting up had been the worst idea ever, with him being wounded like this and her being nothing but a hit and run fighter any true opposition might prove a very very serious problem, yet she would do her best to keep the saddle arabian on his hooves and his spirits up. "Hey Lightning, how about a good old massage if we get out of here huh?'

Distant Lightning glanced to her, his monocle glistening against the moonlight. It was absurdly bright, making him wince occasionally when it caught his eyes. His ears folded back, the male striding along as he thought "Wouldn't that be nice..." He hadn't had any down time really. He h d that one day in the market -- but it wasn't enough to really clear his mind. "If -- if i have time." And if they survive. "I am very limited in the time granted for my stay. My funds are limited --" And a massage would certainly clear him beyond his allocated allowance. "I cannot make promises to you, that I would be unable to keep. It is uncouth to to such to a lovely mare such as yourself." Though -- it sounded nice.

Gleaming Echo seemed to be contemplating something as he gazed at the alicorn whom was illuminated by the bright moonlight, but he shook his head a little to clear his thoughts. He turned his gaze to the moon and his expression fell into something more serious. "A pony might still stand after being impaled, being impaled and then having the weapon explode... well, few could stand up from that..." the light half of the pony grimaced at a few memories and turned back to Yuna again. "I believe it would be best for us to return to where we left the other two, Lady Yuna. From how bright the moon is glowing, there is going to be trouble afoot soon and it would be best not to still be split up. While I know our companion Dusk can fight.. to a degree... I seriously doubt Lightning will be able to in his condition, if he even knows how."

Yunalesca looked back at the unicorn as he stared at her before coming to. She wondered why that was? Maybe.. She wasn't sure. He went on to explain and she had to cringe and shook off the mental image with a shake of her head. That sounded terrible, who would have to result to doing something like that? "Yikes.. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Yuna agreed tilting her head up to look up at the moon- it was brighter than before, wasn't it? She hadn't really noticed, thinking that maybe her eyes had just been adjusting to the dark. "Maybe I can.. no, I probably can't help him since I'm still inexperienced. I don't know, but I can try to convince him." Yuna started moving back the way they'd come, where she was sure they could go and find them from there.

Silent Dusk giggled making light of the situation to boost her own morale and that of her wounded companion, still supporting him even if he was a proud pegasus, brushing her cheek to his playfully. "No silly stallion, I meant me giving you one, free of charge, a thank you for the sipping." yeah laugh it up bat, but keep your blades unsheathed and protect your friend, even if you bite the dirt first.

Distant Lightning had grown a bit used to her sudden intrusion of his personal space, but wasn't the 'affectionate' type. One had to have experience in it to know how to deal with it. His ears folded back. He felt uneasy. Not because of Dusk, but the general state of the group. He had thought they got along swimmingly! So a few intellectual discrepancies on theorems and general tomfoolery from Gleam who didn't know how to not touch another pony's food -- but they had not tried to kill each other until Gleam. Perhaps his madness was finally consuming him? It would be best they hurry out of this and part ways. "Ah, well to receive such an earnest reward from a maiden such as you would do me honor and pleasure!" He trotted along before coming to a stop. Pricking his ears his feathers ruffled. "such a chill! Like the midnight's bliss, what ho?" he turned around. Maybe it was just a chill -- or something bad... "We should make haste lest enemies are upon our tails."

Gleaming Echo let out a sigh as they rounded the corner. Thankfully they hadn't gone too terribly far from where the other half of the party was situated. He was forced to hesitate as the pressure from Tar pounded in the back of his head, but he just continued on. "I must apologize for ~ uh...before. Being a pseudo nightmare, his place isn't... er..good for Tarnished. The longer he's here the worse he is going to get. I'll try to keep him in check." Needless to say the 'good' half of Gleam was somewhat uneasy, but he was saying what needed to be said, yes? At least he hoped so.

Yunalesca could spy the other two in the distance, but she didn't bother to quicken her pace. They'd catch up with them soon enough. She was able to talk to Gleam now, without his dark half trying to make a mess of things.. and who still wanted to. "It's fine. It's probably not easy sharing your body with somepony else. Even if he is half of you." She frowned a little, solemn, and looked over at the unicorn's eyes. There probably wasn't much one could do to bargain with something like Tarnished, but she could try. "If he can hear me.. Lightning really isn't worth it. There are worse things you'll get to kill. So.. you know. I hope you remember what I said about being friends."

Silent Dusk sighed softly folding her ears some knowing full well that Lightning wasn't as affectionate as she was but it was in her nature and she often liked to use it for teasing or stressful situations muttering. "I know I'm way too touchy for a stallion like you Lightning but I pray you to forgive me for it, I am the cuddly type of mare and can't help myself, but that massage was a generous offer and not meant too teasingly, I also know you don't like this group much but will you bear with us longer even though Tarnished blasted you?"

Distant Lightning blinked and raised his wing dismissively. "Please take no worry from it. I know it is within the culture of many to acknowledge others with touch... I just am not sure how to reciprocate it without befouling my own rules of conduct." He looked ahead, but when she brought up his dislike for the group he frowned a bit, monocle dangling from his waistcoat, useless as it was in a dreamscape. "Perish the thought madam -- I do not hate the group...." He despised the members. "I am very unused to the company of others. As I have mentioned before my time is spent in isolation and study. Dealing with four individuals," Yes he included Tarnished. "..is quite different than dealing with a classroom of young colts and mares." He assured. "Passing faces are easier to understand than complacent company." It just took too long to learn their differences... "I cannot say. I am a stallion driven by self-preservation. If I die so does the knowledge i have. I must pass it on until I have none remain." Distant Lightning shook his head. "Gleam's madness ensures a shortened lifespan that I cannot afford, seeing as my grant only has allowed me a mere week in Equestria's lands."

Gleaming Echo grimaced at the thought and figured it best to keep his distance from the two further on given the stirrings he had felt from the maddened Tar. If only he could steer that madness at the next enemy they encounter! "It usually isn't that bad. Between the two of us the other wouldn't be alone. Tar'd never admit it though." he shrugged and continued to walk on. When she looked into his eye and spoke her next part the unicorn was forced to halt. Half from sheer confusion and the other half because the raging pseudo-nightmare had quieted, piling on even more confusion! "I have no idea by... but, well... That helped some. ~ A lot...."

Yunalesca wasn't sure if it'd been nice to pull the friend card, but it seemed to have worked, much to her surprise. He must have been too enraged earlier to even hear her. The alicorn came to a halt, too, a little ahead Gleam to peer back at him with curiosity. She guessed that Tarnished actually didn't tell Gleam anything they'd talked about. No surprises there, perhaps. "I'm glad it did. So.. about this nightmare." Yuna started walking again, assuming the unicorn would follow shortly. "Where do you think might be the likeliest place to go?" She was eager to find a way to put an end to it, but even that would take time.

Silent Dusk sighed. "Do you despise all of us or just Tarnished and Gleam?" nope not a dumb bat this one looking up at him with a hint of a smile. "Seeing as your week of staying here is kinda ruined by all of this, maybe I can help you out to stay a bit longer, I still want to know more about Saddle Arabia and you undoubtedly about our lands."

Distant Lightning was quite proud of his country and its accomplishments! He did not despise Gleam -- just was appalled by his madness. He did not favor Unicorn, and Alicorn could frankly burn in a fire for all he cared about them: like, not at all, but he did not dislike their general personalities. Argument was healthy, it indicated communication. He called Gleam a madpony, Gleam's madness had all manner of colorful adjectives for him. He spoke to Yuna, she expressed her malcontent without striking him. They were well mannered for gypsy heathens, but heathens none-the-less without loyalties. "It is not that-- I simply " Well he did not trust them. He did not accept them as upstanding individuals -- so...why did he hate them? They were amusing, knowledgeable in things he was not....
Distant Lightning lowered his head. He could not facilitate any functional reason to actually - hate them as individuals besides their species. He was simply uncomfortable in his own fur. "I am stumped by your words my dear. With an honest outlook -- I can only surmise it is my own lack of knowledge that limits my ability to relate to our companions more closely. But my limited time ensures this remains the same." He chuckled a bit. "My station as a noblepony does not allow me to take from a young mare such as you. It would sully my position as one who must provide for mares and himself. If I cannot do that much -- but your gentle kindness is a noteworthy change of pace." He turned to resume his walk. His mind set on troubling thoughts. Was he just as bad as the Equestrians?

Gleaming Echo was still somewhat confused, but little did he know the friend card had been played and the mad nightmare in his head actually HAD a friend! Long as they kept the other two in sight they could make sure nothing happened, right? He turned his attention to Yuna and closed his eyes for a moment. "Knowing the cultists probably a reconstructed version of the everfree castle... With a construct of 'her'..." he scowled. He had no idea if the party even had the capability to fight a construct like that. But they likely would have to try.

Yunalesca wondered what the two ahead could possibly be talking about, but they were too far away to overhear any conversations. For the moment. She tilted her head partway towards Gleam to show she was still listening and glanced in the direction she knew the Everfree to be. "Do you think we should try to go there? I don't.. see any other options. I mean, it seems obvious considering we're dealing with Nightmare Moon cultists, but.. It seems daunting." Yuna expressed hesitantly. If they had a chance, they should take it right?

Silent Dusk shrugged. "It would not be taking if I offered it freely Lightning, we could always call it a gift, even noble stallions like you are able to receive gifts right? or have friends?" she did however notice the other two of their group but left it up to them to come nearer or not. "Is it that horrible that I like the occasional compliment and generous offering and wish to give something back to you?"

Distant Lightning pondered her words. Friends? He has had friends before -- They were all back-stabbing ponies out to get their name on academic papers, using his hard work. "Friends, no... though I have received gifts from my pappy. He does assert that receiving a gift is akin to receiving proof of loyalty. Though-- I do not know what I can give to you..." Maybe when he was awake, such would have more meaning. "Very well --" He relented. "I shall accept your gift." He blinked, following her gaze, but he could not see much passed his own muzzle given his dream-sight.

Gleaming Echo looked to Yuna and his head inclined in the positive. "We should... That is the best place to begin. The old castle is almost sacred ground to the cultists of Lady Nightmare. It is the best lead we have right now." With a frown the unicorn looked to the two ahead. "I believe we should let the other two know should we not?" The unicorn would of course continue to follow Yuna no matter whether she did so or not. She seemed to be able to deal with Tar's increasing madness somehow so...here was the safest place to be, right?

Yunalesca felt they had it settled now, didn't they? A purpose. If they just reached a dead end.. then, they'd just have to find a clue. "We should." She agreed and quickened her pace to a trot to catch up with their two winged companions- her hoofsteps on the hardpack would be enough indication to their approach, if they were talking about anything private. Yuna was curious as to what, but she wouldn't butt in where she wasn't wanted. "Hey! We've, uh, found an idea on what to do in this place." Yuna chose to avoid using the word 'decided' just in case Lightning got huffy. "We were thinking we should just check out the Everfree, the old castle there. It's the only place we might be able to go."

Silent Dusk blinked at Lightning and nearly tripped over her hooves. "You will? wow that.. that really makes me very happy Lightning." then she heard her two companions finally approach closer and smirked at them over her shoulder. "I'm glad to see you two back, I don't know how much longer I could keep up a brave face while I'm actually quite terrified."

Distant Lightning wasn't as perky when the other two approached, but he was never really the perky sort when it seemed to matter. "Greetings again. I see you have found justifiable means to return the group to its fuller setting?" He Only realized it was them, due to Dusk. "While I do not share Miss Dusk's fear, the distress is shred. Staying here -- will not bode well." Under any circumstance. "Have you discovered anything potentially useful to aide in our escape?"

Gleaming Echo made a bit of a face when both companions replied. "Lady Yuna has found a means to... calm Tar down. So the risk has decreased marginally." he'd begin only to grimace at the questions. "As Lady Yuna stated the castle in the Everfree is our best bet. It is sacred ground to the cultists and likely where the anchor keeping us here is located. Unfortunately that means going to what is most likely the most guarded place in this desolate place. We'll be rather likely to run into guard constructs. Maybe representations of the cultists themselves, aaaand most likely a construct of Lady Nightmare herself before it is over.. Not counting other deathly traps!.."

Yunalesca's ears flicked back at Lightning's not so enthusiastic greeting. It was probably understandable if he was still in pain, but he came off a little grumpy. "Well, we're here, so there's no need to worry, Dusk." She told the thestral, and fell quiet when Gleam took up explaining things to them. Hearing the dangers they had ahead of them made her balk and grimace- the cultists were gonna make it pretty hard for them, weren't they? Nonetheless.. "Yeeah. What do you two think?" Yuna asked and eyed the pegasus. She'd have to convince him to take a healing spell one way or another. First things first, however.

Silent Dusk scuffed a hoof along the ground and smiled a little. "Well miss Yuna I'm not exactly the leading type but I think that we should indeed seek the place out but still try to sneak our way in, oh and we should really patch Lightning up, he is hurt and that just won't do."

Distant Lightning cleared his throat. Insane plans, how expected. His ears folded back in irritation. "Well right now I can only follow." Since he couldn't see a hoof passed his nose. "While I do not condone heading straight into the den of a sand worm, I suppose we've little choice in the matter. I would rather commit to diplomacy. I am sure they will see the side of reason." Though that wholly depended on what Gleam did. he was pretty sure it was a bit more defiling than 'Stole regalia and ran the heck away'.

Gleaming Echo stared at Distant and let out a quiet groan, a hoof raising to press against his forehead. "I'm going to say this as 'simple' as possible" he'd start and looked at Distant. "You are quite welcome to try to 'negotiate' with them, but it is most likely going to end with somepony having to bail you out." he sighed and shook his head. "These cultists are the very same who have had their sanity stripped down piece by peace for years by the armor I stole! To the point that they started to kill each-other due to paranoia and bloodlust. I seriously doubt they will listen to reason but... you can try. Even if they are mental constructs some are my friends still... Even if I'm just a traitor to them." he lowered his gaze.

Yunalesca noted that Lightning deliberately ignored Dusk's suggestion to heal him. He probably didn't want Gleam near him still, but she was sure she had a solution to that. She let the unicorn talk first, and hoped some of that he said could make it through the pegasus's thick skull. Yuna looked over at him at the mention of friends and saw how he felt about it. The alicorn bumped her flank up against his, a quiet way of saying 'chin up' and stepped up to Lightning. "You still need help, before we venture into the Everfree. That place is pretty dangerous in the real world, and probably still is even in a nightmare. So you're going to take a healing spell, or I'll punch you until you give in and beg. And I don't like the idea of hurting anypony."

Silent Dusk blinked but Yuna had a point, yet instead of threatening the stallion she instead tried her own tactic, streaking her head and neck along Lightning's chin as she all but purred. "I know you're uncomfy Lightning but will you please get patched up so I won't have to worry so much about my new friend and can focus more on fighting? please?"

Distant Lightning pulled his hoof up when Yuna made threats of physical violence. He is a gentle snowflake, and didn't have to take this! Before he could back away Dusk and her innate ability to utterly invade his personal space. "M-m-madam!" This was more uncomfy. He looked between Dusk and Gleam. No this was actually less uncomfortable! "I truthfully do not believe that will work. This is a dream. Unless Gleam is sleep walking I do not believe he could heal my injuries." Though he as not sure how dreams worked, he definitely did not want Gleam anywhere near his bed, okay. He did not want cooties. He looked away. "I shall be fine." He had sucked it up, but it certainly hurt, a lot, whatever hurt. "I currently do not trust Gleam's madness to not try and kill me. I do hope you understand and respect my decision. Can we simply head on? Tis not as if I will be fighting if your intent is to charge in." He spread his wings, becoming defensive.

Gleaming Echo lets out a bit of a hum and narrowed his eyes only to let out a sigh and glance at Yuna when she bumped against him. He offered her a smile and a bit of a nudge in thanks only to turn back to the really stubborn foreigner. "Alas, why would a bunch of ruffian cultists listen to a stallion of such obviously high caliber when he can hardly walk correctly?" One could hardly ignore the sheer weight of the sarcasm that was heavily dropped down upon those words. Likely some part Tar's doing. "These are not docile ponies. They are more akin to predatorial beasts stripped of a meal until they become truly feral... Show them an ounce of blood or weakness and they will end you." he'd bite back with annoyance.

Yunalesca found that threatening the pegasus didn't.. do a darn thing. Even Dusk's attempts at sweet-talking him into it didn't work. Well, nopony could say that she didn't try. He could suffer then. The alicorn moved back over to Gleam with a little snort and roll of her eyes while the unicorn tried to impress upon Lightning why the cultists were so dangerous. "If it takes just three of us to fight, I think we'd still have a chance at them anyway." Yuna added with a flick of her tail.

Silent Dusk sighed softly but couldn't really force Lightning into doing something he was not willing to do, so simply stood next to him and gave him a nudge. "You're stubborn and I really hope you will not get hurt more because of it." yet she would keep an eye on him if anything were to go wrong.

Distant Lightning snorted out, hoof scraping against the ground. He was beyond stubborn, but as such came when one's goal was to survive. It would ensure he had caught the cooties. What sane pony, horse, anything: sides with a creature that blatantly assaulted another without cause. While provocation was there, his injuries, his pain, was a direct assault from the barbaracy the pony was capable of. It invited old teachings to be recalled. Trusting Equestrians was like trusting a sandworm with one's foal. It was about to be consumed and he would not be the one caught with an irresponsible hoof. Folding his ears back he would cast a glare toward Gleam were he to look away. He raised his head and looked to Dusk. "Stubbornness is the plight of a mule, but regarding one's troubles with a cautious eye is the honor of a horse." He seemed to recite from memory. "I hold myself with caution, I will not be a fool to trust the hooves of one who used them to do harm, when there lay a choice." He murmured. Distant Lightning shifted himself to follow Dusk, keeping to the back of the group.

Gleaming Echo had to bite his tongue to the point it bled. His form was somewhat torn between Gleam's regular form an Tarnished's corrupt one. Hence his teeth were somewhat pointed but not the daggers that Tar normally had. "Buck it! I give up, I really HOPE the cultists tear you a new one and I am around to see it! His eyes were back to lighting up like lamps in the darkness and for but a moment it was almost like the dark half would take control again but it was held back. "I shan't try to offer my aid again." he'd bit out quietly and made to put some distance between himself and the party. It certainly didn't help when even HE was starting to resent the foreign pony. The good half was starting to feel resentment... A quite unhealthy amount of it for this plane.

Yunalesca overheard Dusk and Lightning's exchange with an annoyed look, but she'd already given up herself. What honor did this pegasus have, anyway? He didn't even help them when they had to deal with those diamond dogs. She jumped a little at Gleam's outburst, focusing her gaze upon him and surprised at his viciousness. She didn't forget what he'd said about how the nightmare affected Tarnished, but this was a new sight- a visible split between the two. He broke off from the group, and Yuna was tempted to fall back with him, but he probably did need to be alone sometimes. The alicorn bit her lower lip, torn, and made her decision. "Let's just go to the Everfree and finish this, yeah?"

Silent Dusk nodded at Yuna and flicked her head back in shame for some reason half hoping the annoyed stare wasn't an implication that things would go very sour from here, she really wanted the group to remain together but she could understand why the alicorn and unicorn felt a little displeased as their offer of help was rebuked, sidling up to Lightning she dropped her voice to a whisper. "Lightning? I know I don't deserve anything in this regard but will you please trust the good intention and get healed? I beg you we will need you four stand stronger than three." she then smiled at Yuna and nickered softly. "Lead the way miss Yuna?"

Gleaming Echo led the way a good distance and let out a sigh. "Tarnished Echo, would you please calm yourself!" he'd hiss with no small amount of frustration. Even if he was the good half of the pony well... it seemed he wasn't as immune to his darker side as he had thought. Who would have knew.... He was, of course, the first of the group to arrive at the edge of the dark forest that brushed so perilously close to even this version of Ponyville! At least there seemed to be a path of sorts...

Yunalesca didn't have to take the lead as Dusk had bid, but twitched her chin up towards Gleam. He was in the lead. "He probably knows this place better than we do." It was all she said, as she said not another word afterwards- unless she should be asked any other questions, of course. The alicorn trailed after the two-sided pony with the other two, watching him from behind or looking ahead. The dark forest loomed the closer they got to it, and buildings eventually became fewer. Once they'd reached it, Yuna stepped up to the edge of the vague path with some trepidation and.. decided to step on.

Silent Dusk grew more silent herself becoming more her namesake, then soundlessly took off and flew above the group slipping in her usual scouting routine.

Distant Lightning would only glance to Dusk. "Do not worry yourself over a colt's squabble madam. Perhaps when my internal bleeding has ceased I will be more inclined to offer personal reprieve, but for now the distance between peppered food and ruptured kidney is rather far." He would not accept help from the foreigner. Violence was all that seemed befitting a barbarian. For all he knew his healing could just melt his insides like cotton candy in the river. He fell to the back of the herd, preferring the view anyway. His sister wasn't entirely wrong, but when you were alone in a library, peering over the spine of your books, plots was the only view you had -- everypony walking away, having no time to even stop and say adieu. He lowered his head, following best he could. With his vision limited and his spirits low he was gloomy, just wanting out of this nightmare. If they were to get into another fight, he'd likely be as useless as before, wrecked with fear.

Gleaming Echo glanced back at the group briefly only to step into the forest. The going was well.. any other dark and 'scary' forest. ~ IF said dark and scary forest was already entirely demented and then was twisted even further! The darkness seemed to roll on the edge of their vision to the point that some might have started to hallucinate once again! Alas it would only be somewhat of a short time til they neared the castle... Dreams were rather strange like that. Of course unlike being a ruin like the 'waking world' it was well... not a ruin.

Yunalesca folded her wings close to her sides once they'd entered the forest- she didn't know what the real Everfree was like, and it seemed quite.. scary. The shadows that shifted in her peripheral vision always prompted her to look around, expecting to see.. something; glowing eyes, the flash of sharp teeth or something of that ilk. It was starting to spook her. She saw none of it of course, but she still expected it. Yuna glanced around at the other three just to make sure they were still there- if they hadn't been, she might have lost her nerve. Once they reached the castle.. she halted, her ears pinning back against her mane. She didn't recognize it, no matter its appearance, but to know that Nightmare Moon lay waiting within.. Yuna took a deep breath to fight off the dread and glanced towards Gleam, quizzical on how they were gonna approach this.

Silent Dusk flew low enough to stay in sight of the three even so low that they could touch her if they were to rear up on their hind legs but she needed to give her wings at least some exercise, looking out around their group she kept her ears focused on any sounds.

Distant Lightning kept his wings folded, following along. This place was -- unsettling. He looked up to make sure Dusk was still within his line of sight. "Brilliant." He muttered and trotted along. he had little to add to the present company. He was burdened by his pain and earlier inequities. Summoning a cloud when you were trying not to wet your own self was a difficult task to handle all its own.

Gleaming Echo stared at the gates and shrugged. "Well... we can either just go through the front door or perhaps... look for a higher point of entry. Miss Dusk, do you think you could find us a higher point of entry? Perhaps a pegasi balcony or something of that nature?" Going through the front door just seemed to be a terrible idea it did! Of course Distant did say he wanted to try to 'talk' to them but... well, yeah... He could try...

Yunalesca. It was as though the unicorn read her mind (or perhaps just her expression) and looked at her wings when he mentioned 'pegasus balcony.' It sounded like a good idea to sneak in that way- less resistance, and a path less watched. But Gleam couldn't fly and she wasn't so confident in it herself. If she could, no doubt she could levitate him up with them.. ? "That sounds like a good idea. They won't expect us coming in from up high."

Silent Dusk nodded softly with a muffled. "Alright." before she ascended higher towards the massive castle to look for a suitable balcony that was somewhat easy to reach without it being guarded too heavily, luckily though thestrals were practically soundless when gliding and their dark colors let them blend nicely into the night.

Distant Lightning He shifted his wings, but would he tempt fate? Flexing his wings he folded them back. He knew his wings were loud and that would only serve to alert anypony around. He trotted ahead, moving to the front of he heard. Though he was without much of his sight, he could still hear and distinguish shapes. When you were short-sighted, one compensated.

Gleaming Echo had a small frown on his face. He really wished they didn't have to go in right through the front door, but.... Well, this 'was' a dream construct and not a real castle. if it were he ~ he'd not include such a thing, but perhaps the cultists didn't think that far ahead! He simply sat on his haunches and only gave Distant a passing glance with a frown steeling across his features all the more! He did his best to ignore the other stallion though ~ for both of their sakes.

Yunalesca faced forward again when Dusk spoke and watched as she flew off towards the castle towers, and she noted their inner light. Somepony was home, of course. She couldn't see Dusk once she disappeared into the night, only assume where she could possibly be. Yuna picked up each hoof and put it down again, stepping in place briefly to relax and tore her eyes away from the castle to settle them on the stallions. They'd both been quiet- even Lightning, for once. She hoped Dusk would find a place.

Silent Dusk flew along the towers and found just the perfect spot for her little group to infiltrate, happy with her find she swiftly turned and glided back in between the trees to her party, touching down quietly before speaking. "The princesses are with us, I found the most perfect place to infiltrate."

Distant Lightning resisted rolling his eyes, wings spreading out to flex. "Perhaps it is best I stay down here." His louder wings could call attention to the group! For a moment he considered it. Yes, strategically it was probably best. Though from another perspective he could have been acting the part of coward, but calculating their chances he resulted in the one most likely to incur the attention of any wandering cultists. He stared down, scuffing his hoof before moving toward a tree and sitting. Yup he was down about his uselessness. He was a scholar, made for research, studying, teaching, not combat.

Gleaming Echo waited patiently, though he started to worry a bit when the Bat pony had been away for a bit. Did they have sentries? Buck, he didn't think of that! The only betrayal of that thought was some twitching only to be distracted by Yuna when she looked at him and Distant. He offered a bit of a jagged grin but his expression fell as he looked up. Thankfully that was about the time the thestral returned. And she found a way in! "Where at? Would it be accessible via teleportation? Somewhere perhaps within light of sight?" he eagerly asked as his tail flicked. They had a way in! However he frowned and glanced at Distant. "You need to come with us, Distant Lightning. Why, if something were to happen to you our lovely Silent here would be quite unhappy ~ and I would much rather my frie~comrades be happy." Truth be told amongst the other three he had no idea where he stood... Actually, scratch that he knew where he stood with Distant buuut he wasn't really talking about the stallion anywho.

Yunalesca puzzled over that grin when she turned away, and looked up as their companion reappeared on the air. "That's great." The alicorn stated and turned her attention onto Lightning. She.. had to agree with Gleam, he had to come with them regardless. She spread her wings and gave them a few experimental flaps, trying to remember how she'd managed to get off of the roof before. "You have to, or else we won't survive this." Yuna stated. "You know.. I was thinking if there isn't, I could always levitate you. Uh, not sure if it'll work. I've never lifted a pony before." This was said towards Gleam as she tapped the tip of a back hoof against the ground- she'd made note of his change between 'friend' and 'comrade' and had a bit of an idea on why that was.

Silent Dusk smiled proudly. "We can fly in, it is within teleportation distance but I could also fly up and attach vines onto the balcony so we could climb in a fashion using your telekinesis."

Distant Lightning was very doubtful the foreigners would care if he'd come or not. he had not been with them at the start of their journey. He'd not be there for the end either. he flexed one wing, looking at it. They were quite large, more so than most from Saddle Arabia, heavy set wings hardly silent nor lovely. The brilliant reds and golds stood out too much, brought attention to him. There was a reason he walked more than he flew. Twas the very nature of Pegasi to effect the weather as they flew by and by, oft times even if they did not wish it. "I hold my tongue, for when one has naught pleasurable to say, they are granted the choice to not press their malcontent." He walked a bit ahead, his mood dead, his body aching, though his politeness remained. Though he was annoyed, disagreeable, he never accused them for being stuck here, or outwardly snapped at them for what was out of their control. He was mad, openly, at Gleam's madness -- but he was blasted into a possible concussion. Distant Lightning spread his wings and flapped once or twice, he'd hope he would not be heard, or ignored, they were noisy wings, tossing the air, rather than cutting it. He pushed up off the ground.

Gleaming Echo let out a bit of a sound at that and gazed up, humming in thought. "To be perfectly honest I would not trust the materials of this plane. This is not a dream, nor a simple nightmare, but a prison. I wouldn't put it past them to create some...unfair situation. Strategically that would make sense." he mused only to look to Distant and offer an inclination of his head. "Now! Point me in the direction of this balcony! I can try to make the teleportation. If I fail you all could always catch me, right?" he smirked some.

Yunalesca flicked an ear at Dusk as she made her own suggestion, but neither seemed like they'd work, according to Gleam. That was too bad. It would probably make it easier on her anyway. She overheard what Lightning had to say, but she had nothing more she could say to him. Yuna glanced over at Gleam and snorted. "Of course. I wouldn't let you fall." She said quietly and moved off, out of the way, and took a deep breath, waiting until Lightning had made it into the air first- and quite silently too. Yuna had to try to fly, lest she end up a burden.. Her wings were brought down without further hesitation as she made her attempt to become airborne.

Silent Dusk took off again without a sound, hovering a moment before flying back to the balcony, then unsheathed a hoofblade and used the moon's light to glint off a sign to Gleam, thinking herself pretty clever for remembering that old trick.

Distant Lightning was, thankfully, to be left unnoticed, but the unicorn mare was having trouble with her dream wings? Well -- it's to be expected. He was hesitant, but seeing as Gleam was going teleport, it was assumed she did not know any such magic. It was not a very common ability, quite difficult. And if Yuna is as uneducated as she as proclaimed -- he offered his forehooves. Large wings had one advantage: they could carry some weight. He did not say anything for a moment. "Madam?" He would offer.

Gleaming Echo was waiting for the signal from the thestral and blinked when he saw the reflection of moonlight. Ooooh my.. that was an awfully handy trick but when it came to a point of teleportation reference... well... He vanished in a flash of magic only to re-appear a good eighteen feet in the air. Thankfully the spell worked well enough he was over the balcony... Unless something happened to help the unicorn would hit the balcony like a sack of potatoes!

Yunalesca fluttered her wings, but her attempt at flying this time seemed to be a huge failure. She mentally cursed herself and looked up to the others when Gleam teleported. Dusk had already gone. Lightning had yet remained, and seemed to be offering her a ride. The alicorn hesitated for a moment, too used to doing things for herself, but she relented in the end. She could try again, but likely she wouldn't get anywhere still, so Yuna closed her wings and stepped up to him, rearing up to him so he could lift her easily.

Silent Dusk fails to catch Gleam and instead gets caught under him, flailing a bit as she looks at him in a startled manner. "Ow darn it." she hissed quietly as she tried to squirm back onto a laying position.

Distant Lightning did not have an easy time holding her, hooves and all. He would fly towards the balcony, hopefully the young mare would be able to assist with her own wins and holding on. It as a task flying with two pones, especially when you have had your spleen blasted apart. He did his best though and hopefully would not drop Yuna, probably may though. Hooves weren't good at gripping.

Gleaming Echo quickly scrambled off of the Thestral with a hint of red stealing upon his features. Good one, Gleam! Falling on top of the poor mare! The unicorn let out a quiet cough and scuffed a hoof upon the balcony. "Thank you Miss Dusk... You aren't hurt are you?" He glanced off the balcony to see a harrowing sight. The injured foreigner carrying Lady Yuna! How hard it must be to fly when healthy with such an inflated...no, no... 'Damn it Tar stay on your half of the psyche!' The unicorn gazed out and cast a spell upon the two to lessen the load of gravity upon them both... That way the foreigner's heavy head and his unhealed injuries wouldn't harm Lady Yunalesca! He'd keep a veritable hawk eye on them both though just in case!

Yunalesca tried to hook her forelegs around Lightning's as they ascended, wings fluttering helplessly. She had little clue on the mechanics of flying and she had no idea how she could help- if that was a thing she should be doing. The alicorn could only hang there, holding on to Lightning as tight as she could; but she didn't think he'd drop her. Yuna resisted the urge to peek down and decided to lock her eyes on the castle as it came ever closer- close enough she was sure she could see the forms of Dusk and Gleam, waiting for them. How embarrassing this was that she couldn't fly!

Silent Dusk lay on the balcony giving her wings a quick inspection just to be sure seeing as thestral wings were more fragile than those of a pegasus, then smiled at Gleam. "I'm alright.."

Distant Lightning would barely make it on the balcony with the mare, clinging to the edge himself. He pulled himself up, with a great deal of effort. He was flustered: feathers and fur poking everywhere as he found purchase on solid land. The thought of falling out the sky did not bother him. It was the idea of falling in a dream, or getting caught by those cultists that scared him plenty. Unlike Yuna he knew well how to use his wings so catching himself was easy enough. "S-shall we be off." he trembled, tucking back his wings and settling with a fluff and shiver. Hopefully they needn't do that again. Ever.

Yunalesca gave another flutter and frantic flap of her wings once they'd reached the balcony, pulling herself on to it the second they landed- er, close enough to landing, anyway. She had to sit down shortly after she was on solid ground, taking a deep breath to calm herself. A scary trip, that. "Er, thanks." Yuna muttered Distant's way before she forced herself back on her shaky legs and moved over to the other two; she noted Dusk was laying down. "Did everything go all right here?"

Silent Dusk nodded with a wry pout. "Gleam fell on top of me so I needed to check if my wings weren't damaged." she then stood up and smiled. "It smarted a bit though, but I see you both also made it here."

Distant Lightning was really worried about that, in general. If they could be hurt in here -- "Perhaps we should keep onward. Wasting time will only put us as risk." he settled his wings, speaking lowly. The male would not take lead, but he too did not wish to allow the group to begin to lag. This was unknown territory, more so to even him. This was part of their culture, but did the nightmare somehow alter it? Did this structure still exist in Ponyville's deep woods? There were many questions, but not enough answers. He would try and remain quiet, but he was no ninja, but a humble scholar.