New chapter sneak peak

Been trying to get a release schedule of week-week and a half, or occasionally sooner depending on spurts of inspiration, but the combination of thanksgiving week, doctor's visits, and holiday illness kind of threw a wrench in those plans. However, next chapter should be soon and to wet your chops I have a sneak peak here. Hope everyone else has a fun, cold-free holiday out there and that you enjoy the peak.

“Hello! Is anypony there!? We require assistance!” Silence answered Luna’s plea and she scowled at her surroundings once again.

It was a large camber with concrete block walls. The floors were smooth wood covered in odd black strips forming circles and boxes. The high ceiling held a number of bell-shaped devices, one of which formed a shaft of light around her. It was the only light shining in the cold, dark space around her.

Luna felt shivers down her spine as she tried to identify her location. At first, she had assumed she slipped into the dreamscape; partially because of the blank in her memories between the freefall and her arrival and partially because of the fact that the room had no doors. That theory fell flat, however, when she started looking closer at her surroundings. The dreamscape was a constantly shifting whirl of dreams, fantasies, and images flowing from countless minds. No matter what she did, the location retained its same form indicating that it came from one source.

The implications of that last fact did not bode well.

In her service as the ruler of dreams, Luna had long since learned that strength was not merely measured in physical or magical prowess. The strongest warrior or the most spell savvy unicorn could be reduced to simpering foals within the endless expanse of the dreamscape. Stone crushing hooves and potent magic meant nothing in a realm where the rules were constantly fluctuating. Force of will is what shaped and ruled these planes. The choice weapons were imagination, intelligence and cunning. For all his terrible power and madness during the Chaos Wars, even Discord learned to respect her talents here. During her thousands of years of existence, no creature had matched her in this realm.

Apparently, that was no longer the case.

No matter how she focused, the surroundings maintained their solid form. Even details as minute as the echoes of her hooffalls on the wooden floor and the smell of cleaners in the air, sensations that even the most experienced practitioners of dreaming arts would have struggled to maintain, held firm against her mental. Whether this was a trap laid in the dreamscape or an active part of some creature’s mind it required a driven will and keen intellect to form and hold such a construct together. Had that not been enough to rattle Luna, there was also the sheer alien quality in the thoughts that molded this place.

Luna took a deep, calming breath as she fought to maintain her composure. Whatever form of being that kept her here, they would not get the satisfaction of seeing her unnerved. “Whoever rules this realm, we command thee show thyself!” she commanded as she stood with as much majesty as she could muster. “We are the Princess of the Moon and ruler of dreams. We offer one chance to step forward before wrath is delivered upon thee and thine.”

Her threats were interrupted as a thrumming filled the chamber only to give way to a buzz. It was the first sound Luna heard when her own light source activated in this dark place. Something else was here.

The Princess held her regal pose despite the stinging chill that worked its way down her spine. Something lay in wait behind her. It wasn’t that she could hear, smell, or otherwise detect anything with her base senses. Rather, it was a deep primal fear that yelled in her mind of incoming doom and demanded she flee; instincts old as equinekind dating back to the days when dragons and other predators hunted her little ponies for sport.

Luna tried to turn but her body remained frozen. It was as if some irrational fear stopped her in the hopes that refusing to acknowledge the presence behind her would prevent the horrific fate it had in store for her. She drew a rattled breath before forcing herself to turn. Eternity seemed to pass as she slowly turned to face the second shaft of light emitted by one of those bell-shaped devices. The source of her primal fears stood nearly three meters away at the center of that shaft. It was…It…

It was a blob.

Luna blinked and the tension left her body as fear gave way to confusion. The creature sitting within its shaft of light stared at her with blank eyes. It held no other discernable features aside from a thick, red line across the lower diameter of its body.
The Princess shook her head as she tried to regain her composure. “You there. Creature. Is this your dwelling?”

The creature answered with a vacant stare.

Luna shrugged in discomfort as the stare seemed to unnerve her despite her best efforts. “If another rules this place then bring forth your master that we may have words.”

Once again, the creature only stared.

Luna grinded her teeth in frustration. In all of her centuries of being, nothing seemed to get under her royal skin quite like being ignored. It even led to her banishment. Apparently, a thousand years on the moon did little to curb that peeve. “See here creature, I am Luna, Princess of the Moon! We rule the night and guard over this land of dreamers. We shall not be disrespected by the likes of-”

“IMMA FIRIN MAH LASA!!”

Luna’s mouth opened and closed in shock. She couldn’t tell what shocked her more: the squeaky voice, the bizarre message, or the fact that the red line she saw was a mouth that nearly took up the entire front of the creature’s body when it yelled. “I…beg your pardon?” she asked timidly. “What do you mean-AHHHHH!”

She screamed in pain as the creature opened its mouth and spewed a beam of blue light that struck her to the ground. She felt as if the flesh was melting off her bones and fire flowed through her veins. Luna couldn’t begin to guess at how long she writhed in agony before the blue light receded. The smell of singed hair filled the air and her ears rang from the blasting sound of the creature’s attack. She struggled to rise but only managed enough energy to lift her eyelids. The blob dragon had advanced and now stood a mere meter away staring her down with its lifeless eyes.

“IMMA FIRIN MAH LASA!!”

Is this is then? She thought sadly. After surviving Nightmare Moon and returning from millennia-long exile? This is how it all ends? Death by blob dragon!?

The creature opened its mouth and the air once again filled with thunder and blue light. Luna closed her eyes and braced for the end.