• Published 2nd Jun 2012
  • 13,299 Views, 252 Comments

Creeping Darkness - Pen Stroke



Alan Wake must write a story where Twilight faces the Darkness of his world to save Equestria

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Light in the Dark

Twilight’s eyes snapped open, the unicorn breathing deep as she got to her hooves. She looked around, expecting to be surrounded by water, but instead there was nothing. There was literally nothing. All she could see was black. She could hear nothing. She was numb to the world, unable to feel the ground beneath her hooves or even the air moving in and out of her lungs. There was nothing... nothing but darkness.

The unicorn opened her mouth, calling out... if only to end the silence... but the silence continued. The unicorn lifted a hoof to her throat, trying to speak again. Her vocal cords were vibrating, she was breathing out, her lips were forming the words, and yet there was nothing.

Well... almost nothing. Despite being unable to see, hear, feel, or smell anything, Twilight did feel something... a sixth sense causing her body to tense. Something felt threatening, dangerous... a terror welling up in Twilight she couldn’t understand. She wasn’t afraid of the dark, at least not before all the crazy things that had happened. There was nothing there... nothing to be afraid of.

Yet there was something, and it was starting to affect the unicorn. Her breathing became rushed; she turned her head and tried to look around for anything, but she might as well have not turned her head at all. There was nothing... nothing... nothing but the dark.

The unicorn began to walk, then jog... then and soon she was sprinting as fast as her hooves would allow her. She just wanted to escape, escape whatever was causing the terror and panic inside her. But she couldn’t, she couldn’t even tell if she was really even moving at all. Her legs struck against something, she was pushing herself forward, but there was no way to tell if she was moving at all.

She needed to find something, anything. She’d been happy with a paper clip, a bug... literally anything to give her a frame of reference, to give her something to focus on besides the darkness. Twilight tried to light her horn, hoping to shine the light on her own body and at least see herself... but either the magic wasn’t working or the darkness was eating up the light.

Twilight’s panic rose, the unicorn starting to tear up as the terror squeezed the heart in her chest. She was scared... scared out of her mind, and she didn’t understand why... which only scared the unicorn more. Was this what it was like to be Taken? To be so wrapped in constant fear but unable to escape? What kind of horrible creature would want to make ponies suffer like that?

She needed to get out, she needed to escape. She needed it more than she had needed anything else in her life. The panic was at its boiling point, Twilight stumbling a few times before tripping over her own hooves. She fell, feeling the pain of hitting whatever ground she had been running on but not feeling the ground itself.

The unicorn didn’t try to get up, bringing her legs in as tightly against her body as possible as she shut her eyes. She wanted to escape, she wanted to get away. She... she was starting to wish it would just end. Anything... anything would be better than the darkness... even death.

“No, you must not sink any deeper. Koooh....kssssh

Twilight bolted up, eyes flying open as she looked into the darkness. There, something had appeared. It was a figure, floating above her as if suspended in water. The figure was built like Twilight had seen Alan in her dreams, standing on two legs with two arms, but this figure was wearing a bulky, solid metal suit. The figure also wore a helmet with a few glass windows, but despite this Twilight couldn’t see the figure’s face. The only thing that came out from behind the glass was a solid, constant white light.

“Who... who are you? ”

“I am Thomas Zane. Koooh....kssssh” The figure replied before bubbles jetted out from the heavy metal suit. Twilight now realized the figure, Thomas, was in a diving suit, the sound of his breathing and the bubbles verifying this fact.

“Where am I?”

“You are in the Dark Place.”

“The Dark Place... you mean the place where Alan was trapped?”

“Until he wrote himself into Equestria, yes. koooh....kssssh This is the place where the darkness lives, a world infinitely deep koooh....kssssh where, if you’re not careful, you can sink into oblivion. I was able to catch you before you sank too deep, but you must hurry if you wish to save your friends.”

“My friends; they’re all right?”

“For the moment, yes.” Thomas replied, “There light keeps them on the surface. koooh....kssssh But soon they shall begin to sink. Soon, they will be beyond rescue.”

“Can’t you save them, like you saved me?” Twilight asked, getting to her hooves so she could stand and talk with Zane.

“No. koooh....kssssh I cannot move freely through this place, not as freely as you do. It was by luck I was close enough to you to stop your descent.”

“But... I don’t understand... the necklaces... they were supposed to...”

koooh....kssssh The necklaces served their purpose, at least the one told in the song by the Old Gods of Asgard. They gave you the strength, the courage, to plunge into the darkness. They may yet serve a purpose, but they are no weapon against the dark. koooh....kssssh

“But...” Twilight struggled, looking down at the necklace. This... this trinket was supposed to be the the thing to save them. The necklaces were the sun’s strength... but Zane was right. The way the song was worded... the necklaces didn’t have to be the strenght. They had found their courage in Celestia’s bedroom as well.

“What now?”

“Hope still burns, there is still light in the dark. koooh....kssssh Find you’re friends, find you’re strength and courage. With them the darkness can still be turned back.”

“How?”

“I will guide you, as I guided Alan through his own story, koooh....kssssh but first you must know more about the darkness. You must simply be willing to fight, to continue the struggle... and the story can continue.”

Twilight turned her head, following Zane as he floated around her. It was a bit bewildering, seeing him floating like was a mile under water while she stood there and breathed like she was on dry land. Still, those thoughts were secondary in the unicorn’s mind. If what Zane said was true... while the necklaces weren’t the answer there was still a chance to save her friends, the princesses, Equestria.

“What do I need to know?” Twilight asked, a spark of determination in her eyes.

“The Dark Place and the Dark Presence are one and the same, just as every Taken is also the Dark Presence. It is a thing not bound or held to a single physical form. koooh....kssssh The Dark Presence exists where the darkness does and vice versa.

“To Alan, Nightmare Moon was another Dark Presence. While that was not true originally, it is now. Nightmare Moon is the new face of the Dark Presence. koooh....kssssh Alan hoped he could outwit the darkness, write a story that ended happily. It was a foolish hope. The darkness is far older and more cunning than any of us. It cannot be so easily defeated. This is evident in the fact that the darkness was able to force Alan to put himself into the story. koooh....kssssh

“You make it sound like the Dark Presence wanted that.”

“It did,” Zane replied. “Besides myself, Alan is the only other person that’s been able to fight back the darkness. It feared him, feared he’d be able to stop it from taking over Equestria after it had waited so long for a physical form koooh....kssssh

“A physical form?”

“It is one of the few weakness the darkness holds.The Dark Presence must have a face. koooh....kssssh In my and Alan’s world, it wore the face of my love Barbara Jagger, a face it had to steal. It was also a face it lost when Alan defeated the Dark Presence. Equestria, however, gave the dark presence a new mask to wear koooh....kssssh in Nightmare Moon.”

“So, that isn’t really Nightmare Moon?”

“It was, at first. But everything in the Dark Place comes at a cost. Nightmare Moon gave herself to the darkness so that she could use it to take over Equestria, so she could rule. koooh....kssssh But, to do this, Nightmare Moon had to give up parts of herself to the Dark Presence so she could use its power.

“Everytime she acted against you, Nightmare Moon gave up more. Now, in her final attempt to keep you from reaching this place, Nightmare Moon has become filled with Darkness. koooh....kssssh She is nothing more than a mask for the Dark Presence to wear. That is what you now face. She is not the Mare In The Moon as you knew her, but a far older evil.koooh....kssssh

“But... then how can we stop her?”

“Stop her with the light, with purity,” Thomas Zane replied. “The darkness lives and exists in chaos. In the unknown and in corruption. Anything pure can harm it. Light in this place is merely the metaphor for purity. koooh....kssssh It is why Alan was able to defeat the darkness using an old broken light switch. The switch represented the pure, innocent memories of Alan’s childhood. koooh....kssssh It was a gift from his mother to scare away the monsters in his dreams.

“Even my light is not light. koooh....kssssh My light is the purity of clarity, a light gained once I came to understand the Dark Place as it truly is.

“And you contain such purity yourself, Twilight Sparkle. koooh....kssssh It is a purity that you have already used once before defeat the true Nightmare Moon. A purity that you and your five friends hold together. A purity that forms the greatest power of your world.”

“The Elements of Harmony!”

“Six pure virtues. koooh....kssssh Honesty, laughter, generosity, compassion, loyalty, and the magic of friendship. They will be your weapon and your light in this world. This is why you must save your friends quickly. It is not only for their own sakes. It’s only with them you can hope to set things right, to reshape destiny. koooh....kssssh

“But how do I find them?”

“You are the lynch pin of the Elements of Harmony, the sixth element that binds the other five together. Trust in the purity of that, of your own light against the darkness, and it will show you to your friends. koooh....kssssh

“What about the necklaces?” Twilight asked, looking down at the moon pendent.

“Those carry the purity of childhood memories, much like the clicker. They hold the power to guide you to the ponies who treasure them. koooh....kssssh The princesses must be found, for if they are left in the darkness you’re world will wither under an endless night. Still, the princesses are not sinking as quickly as your friends.The other elements of harmony must be found first. koooh....kssssh

“What then? When we find the princesses will we be able to escape?”

“Yes, but Equestria would still be doomed. koooh....kssssh The only one that can fix Equestria is the one that wrote the story that doomed it. You will need to find Alan, but the darkness is guarding him closely. It fears the writer, and is trying to drive him to insanity once again. To save Equestria, you will need to fight the Dark Presence head on to free Alan. koooh....kssssh

“The Dark Presence will not be easy to defeat. Since Alan defeated it, the Dark Presence has been guarding itself closely. Still, you have the strength to do it. Now, I must leave you to your task. There is another I must save, who is sinking into the dark... whose light will be necessary for the final battle. koooh....kssssh

“Remember, the light is inside you. Keep it on, and you can defeated the darkness. koooh....kssssh

With that the mysterious Thomas Zane floated away, and when Twilight blinked her eyes as she found herself in a different place. The all encompassing darkness that had once surrounded her was replaced with a sort of half darkness. The light from her horn was now illuminating the unicorn as well as the rough, cracked dirt beneath her. Twilight could hear, smell, feel, and see again, and while she hadn’t realized it the terror that had been gripping her had been dissipated. She was just simply calm, as if speaking with Thomas had driven away whatever was imposing the panic on Twilight.

The unicorn got to her hooves, looking about. Beyond the solid bit of ground she was standing on, the darkness seemed to come in two tones. There was a pure blackness that seemed to rise up from the ground just beyond the reach of her light, hanging in the air like ink in water. The rest of the world was black as well, but a duller gray. Just enough that she could make out the swirling masses of black around her.

It was ethereal... almost in a way tragically beautiful... and generally kind of creepy.

Twilight ventured a few steps, seeing that the darkness rising from the ground dissipated under the light of her horn. It was a comforting thought, that the unicorn wouldn’t have to trudge through the soupy looking dark. Still, she didn’t know where to go.

Still, the words Zane had offered the unicorn still rung fresh in the unicorn’s mind. She needed to trust in her own purity, her own virtue of magic and friendship. Twilight shut her eyes, thinking about her friends... she wanted to save them, find them... rescue them from the dark. Twilight grabbed onto this feeling mentally, like it was a butterfly in her hooves.

When Twilight opened her eyes next she saw that trails of light had formed from her horn. Five trails, colored orange, white, blue, pink, and yellow respectively. The thin, wispy beams of light stretched out into the darkness, and Twilight knew where the lines lead. She began to trot, choosing to follow the orange light first.

“Don’t worry girls, I’m coming.”