//------------------------------// // Come Here, Come In // Story: Apparition Amphitheater Presents: Bad Dreams // by Nightmare_0mega //------------------------------// It was nearing the evening while the variety of researchers scoured every inch of the castle, scrutinizing everything they could get their hooves on in the pursuit of knowledge. No stone was left turned nor a single tapestry untouched. Even a suits of armor, as seemingly normal they appeared to be, were carefully disassembled to help look over each inch of the metal and bindings. The entire castle that wasn't already too heavy to move by normal means was handled by the expert dexterity of these life long professionals, as they discussed their recent findings in great detail. It was something that Twilight dearly wished she could be a part of, as she found such history to be fascinating. However, it wasn't to be, as the two continued their trek through the portion of the castle that was still largely untouched by their group. A.K. Yearling, whom had found the trip interesting for the most part, was somewhat confused about one thing, and she had decided right then to ask her burning question. "With all due respect... why are we here?" "Pardon?" Twilight replied. "I mean, it's clear this team of experts that are crawling all over the ruins pretty much have a ready handle on the investigations, and don't really need us. So... why are we here?" Twilight gave a bit of a sigh, before she stopped and turned to A.K. Yearling. "Despite the outward appearance saying that these are the ruins of any regular monarch from a thousand years ago, this is still King Sombra's old home. The researchers are here to give a general analysis on this place's history, and maybe what happened around the time of the Crystal Empire's original take over. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna believe that Sombra was once a sorcerer first, and considering the magic I encountered after the Empire returned, it's possible he may have had more examples of his magic hiding here. Or, at least his research materials. This is where I come in." "Why couldn't the Princesses handle this?" "I'm sure they could have if they had the time. There has been a lot going on lately, and all at once to boot." "I haven't been keeping up with current events, so I wouldn't know. Not beyond anything that you, your friends, or what my publisher would tell me. I mean, the rest of my life I'm just spelunking ancient ruins filled with curses and traps otherwise," she jested, while proceeding forward, with Twilight now following. "That's fair," Twilight said, "Anyway, as for this whole situation, best case scenario, we've wasted our time." "And worst case?" "We find something, and that something brings Sombra back somehow by accident." "Yikes. Yeah, let's hope it's not that." As they continued their search through the gloomy halls, as the evening began to grow dark, both Twilight and A.K. Yearling felt a strange disturbance in the air. They stopped for a moment, eyes darting from corner to corner and ears slowly swiveling to catch any strange noises. "You felt that too?" Twilight whispered. "Yeah. Like someone is watching us." The two stood still for a moment, staying as quiet as they possibly could, trying to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. It was only when Twilight noticed a strange shadow at the end of the hall peek out from around the corner, only to dart away. "There! Somepony's there!" Twilight exclaimed. The two mares then exploded into a gallop, trying hard to catch whatever was there, but by the time they turned the corner, they saw nothing. Well, almost nothing. One of the doors leading to yet another room was opened ever slow slightly with a warm glow coming from it. Cautiously, they approached the door and gently pushed it open, only to be greeted by what seemed like a small library. "I think... we hit the jackpot," A.K. Yearling bemused. "Considering who these notes might belong to, I'm not sure about that," Twilight countered. However, she thought, I won't lie. I'm getting a little excited about this. So much research in one sitting!" Inside was nearly wall to wall with book shelves, with a writing desk set off to the left side and sandwiched between two of said shelves. In the center of the room was a reading podium, where a single, dusty, red, title-less book sat with a variety of parchment bits sticking out. As for the shelves themselves, they were packed with a variety of scrolls, parchments, and other assortments of random materials of unknown uses and origins. The room itself was kept alight by a cluster of crystals which had some very old magic cast within, confirming the use of the crystals that were peppered throughout the rest of the castle. They slowly entered, remembering that the strange form they were looking for may be waiting inside, but as they crossed the door's threshold and had a better look inside, they realized no one was in here. To be sure, A.K. Yearling even checked behind the door they were pushing open, as it was the only hiding spot that was available in the rather tightly packed room. With no sign of the shadowy figure, they began to relax, and their opportunity to explore to their hearts content was clearer than ever. The novelist/adventurer took to the shelves, casting her curiosity upon the variety of written works, and called upon her knowledge of older languages to try to understand what she glanced over. Eventually, she realized that most of these books, while old, were mostly somewhat mundane magical research, applying spells to more unique situations and changing properties here and there. This wasn't even counting the pages upon pages of evident magic theory. However, as she came to realize, the newer and less dusty materials that were present began to mention the use of dark magic, which unnerved her, even though she was somewhat expecting it. The scholar turned Princess, however, took to the book at the podium a little more earnestly. While the other research materials were significant enough, her interest in the book captured her curiosity the most. Opening it slowly and turning it to a random page, letting the dust gently slide off its cover, she glanced its contents quickly, and realized this was a spell book. The contents, however, ended up being less curious and more unpleasant as she darted form page to page. Hate spells, mental and emotional manipulation spells, transmutation, mind control spells, monster summoning incantations, et cetera. It was all mostly typical evil sorcerer garbage that she honestly had enough of back when she faced off against Sombra's magic that day. That was, until, she flicked to a page that did catch her full attention. The 'Como de Dosigmir'a, it was titled. Intrigued, and reading through the old equish words, it described utilizing magic, preferably dark magic, to create a window into the collective subconscious that was only previously accessible by those who dream walk, while uttering the words: Yolcam hoxmarch od blior de zimiib While she uttered the words, she continued to read, and found a warning penned below it, stating that experiments done with this spell have ceased due to its dangers, including instability. Twilight raised an eyebrow, wondering what was unstable about it, as it didn't detail the issues any further than that. As if on cue, the crystal light flickered, and its magic was suddenly siphoned out of it and into a strange, ethereal divide in the room. The divide then violently split open, and everything nearby was being pulled into it. As luck would have it, A.K. Yearling was closest to the rip in the fabric of reality, which made it so she had no time to react and was suddenly sucked in as well. Twilight followed suit just as quick, due to here own lack of preparation, as the tear suddenly slammed shut, and the whirling parchments in the room slowly floated down to the floor -o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o- Eyes creaking open, and groaning in discomfort, Twilight rose up from the ground she laid upon. Leaves were kicked away and shuffled as she gingerly checked herself, finding no serious injuries. It was then that she heard another groan come from nearby. Eyes snapping to the source of the sound, she saw A.K. Yearling rise up, rubbing her head and giving herself a small stretch to try and alleviate the pain. "Oh, where am I?" A.K. Yearling uttered somewhat automatically, before she turned around. "Oh, Twilight! Are you alright? You got sucked in too?" "Yeah. I guess that's what it meant by 'unstable'." She stretched herself as well, attempting to also relax and heal her sore muscles like her current companion had just done. "Also, that was less a window and more a portal. Me and my curiosity," she growled. "A window? Portal?" the adventurer parroted, already displeased with the implications, "Well, where ever we are, it's not the castle anymore, and that's beyond concerning." Yearling surveyed her surroundings, trying to find any indication of where they ended up, but found the scenery to be far too unfamiliar, even in her long history of globe trotting. Twilight, however, despaired to understand exactly where they were. The chilling wind howling in the distance. The dead, darkened trees outlined in the moon's pale light. The unfamiliar sky with star patterns entirely alien to her. It was her nightmare. Her eyes darted around in panic, as she tried to look for the portal that brought them there in the first place, but saw no sign. She wanted to panic further, but after giving herself a deep breath, and remembered what Luna had told her, she felt more at peace with herself. "Ok, ok, I'm good. We might be lost for... who knows how long, but we'll be fine." Removing her cloak, A.K. Yearling took to the sky and tried to get a better understanding of where they were. However, to her astonishment, and no matter how high up she went, she saw nothing but an endless sea of bare trees, with no sight of the castle or any other familiar location that could help them get their baring. In defeat, she dropped back down to the leaf covered ground and placed her cloak back on. "I can't see anything, anywhere. Do you have any ideas, Twilight?" She though for a moment, and realized, if this was the realm in her dream, then maybe she could contact the princesses. "I've got one. Gimme a second." Taking a piece of note paper and a pen that was with her current assistant, she wrote a short message, and attempted to send it to Celestia. However, the spell failed, and engulfed the note in flames, burning it to ash with no further payoff. "That's... not good. At all..." "What was that?" "A message, but where ever we are, it's not letting me send it." "Well, what about re-creating that portal?" Twilight's eyes lit up upon hearing that, right before, she realized one very important thing. "I... can't remember the words." "What?" "The book was written in old Equish, so..." "Oof, say no more," she interrupted. Twilight gave her surroundings one last look, hoping to see anything that could give them an out and not be doomed to wander through endless dead trees for the rest of their lives. Her hope payed off, however, when she noticed a strange structure in the distance, just slightly obscured by the branches. It was an amphitheater, and an odd one at that with a seemingly gothic design despite its relative mundanity. Twilight glanced towards A.K. Yearling, whom had also noticed the building. Without a word, but knowing it was their best bet, the two mares proceeded towards the only location for miles that maybe, just maybe, had a clue on how to leave this strange place. Once they reached the amphitheater, that wasted no time passing through the door and into the audience threshold. Ruined tapestries billowed in the wind while leaves danced between rotting, forgotten seats. "This place looks like it hasn't been visited in a long while," A.K. Yearling commented, poking at a fresh spider web, mostly to check if it was real and not just a decoration, "Let alone maintained." "No kidding," she agreed as she trotted through the isles. Suddenly, the loud bang of spotlights turning on made the two jump, only to notice said light pointing toward the stage, illuminating a tattered old book on a pedestal. Twilight began to approach it, but A.K. Yearling then spoke up with a warning. "Whoa. A spooky book out in the open, just like the one that brought us here? Yeah, I wouldn't touch it." "Well, do you see anything else around here that might help? And, if it's like the book that brought us here, maybe it can get us back." "Fair point." Twilight wasted little time walking up to the offending tome now, noticing it was already open and ready to be read. However, what she saw was something she wasn't expecting. This wasn't the same book, as it was written in modern Equish. Furthermore, it seemed to have been structured like a story book, rather than a research text. "Bad Dreams?" she said aloud, reading the title. She scanned the words, and noticed something odd. It was describing her nightmare last night, as well as her interaction with Princess Luna. "What in-" "So, any clues?" "This book... It's about us." "Us? What do you mean?" "The chapter it's turned to, it starts off with my nightmare I had last night, a-and the Princess's request to investigate those ruins," she exclaimed, getting more and more nervous, "Then Spike getting sick, and hiring you to assist me for the job, investigating the castle..." "What the hay?!" Suddenly, her nervousness all but disappeared in an instant when she was realized where the story was headed. "OH! The words!" She read on, an immediately found them. "Yes! There here! The words for the spell are here! We can get out now!" "Well what are we waiting for?" "Hang on a moment," she said, raising a hoof, "There's still more to read here. I should probably see what happens just in case." "Princess, with all due respect, I think that's a very bad idea." "Just a moment, I'll be-" she then cut herself off upon noticing something metal and polished to a mirror shine slowly inch it's way into view right next to here. She jumped back with a short yelp, knocking A.K. Yearling over, and gazed upon what she was seeing. It was a long and very sharp looking scythe, being held by a very strange, bi-pedal being. Its clothing was grey. Its hands sported three, very sharp looking talons. Its mask was like a skull missing its bottom jaw as a nail protrudes out of the forehead like some sort of parody of a unicorn horn. Its long, light brownish hair was wild and savage. She couldn't tell what the eyes looked like, as all she could see was shadows in the sockets of the mask. It then began to reach for her. The two mares screamed in unison, and began running in panic. heading for the door. As they did, Twilight glanced back to make sure it wasn't following, but noticed it was gone. Upon casting her gaze forward once again, she saw that thing now stood in the doorway. The mares hit the breaks and made a u-turn on the spot, hoping to go for a different exit. As they did, though, the thing suddenly phased through the wall in front of them, once again trying to get in their way. Just before they ran into the creature, Twilight's panic driven mind forced her to grab A.K. Yearling and cast an emergency teleportation spell. With a loud pop of magical energy, the two of them were outside the amphitheater. Dazed from the sudden temporal movement, the novelist did her best to regain her composure, but Twilight was quicker to act, as magic gripped her cloak and forced her to start running again to get as far away as they could from the strange and obviously dangerous creature. As they ran, she hazarded one last look towards the Amphitheater, and saw it slowly walk after them in a seemingly threatening way. Perhaps due to the adrenaline and her wish not to stay here any longer, Twilight then recalled the words for the incantation, and cast the spell, ripping open a tear a good hoofball yard away from them, which was suddenly trying to suck everything in. With one swift movement, Twilight threw A.K. Yearling into it before jumping in herself. At the other side, as the two mares landed back in the research room, the portal slammed shut once again, and disappeared from existence. Twilight was quick to her hooves as she ran up to the book filled with the dark magic incantations and notes, closed it, threw it to the ground, and, set it on fire, feeling a little gross for committing what would normally be such a sacrilegious act in her eyes. Gazing toward her friend, Twilight finally asked, "Are you ok?" "Yeah," she answered, "I think so." She gazed at the dark, ashen pile that used to be the book sitting at Twilight's hooves. "I don't blame you for what you just did... but was that really necessary?" "THAT... must never see the light of day. A portal to a nightmare world where some ghost like... THING chases you in a rotting amphitheater? NOOOOOO, thank you!" The two then exit the room, only to realize that night had finally fallen, putting an end to the day. Having had enough of there expedition for the time being, and with Twilight desperately wanting to get back home to Spike, she quickly wrote down a note off of a piece of paper she scooped off of the ground, and sent it right to the Princess's, right before they both head for the entrance of the castle to announce their leave for the day. -o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o- The figure, clutching his scythe with one hand, turned back to the amphitheater and walked back to its lonely form. With a sigh, it looked about the empty theater, just before realizing that it hadn't started its yearly tradition. Racing to the stage, which still had the book open, it began to gave a lament on the bizarre turn of events. Oh, I hope they didn't spoil the whole story. I was so looking forward to telling it too. Curse my tardiness.