//------------------------------// // Act 3: Pleasant Screams // Story: Friendship is Failure #19: Write in the Head (Hour long special) // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// ACT THREE That night the friends all reported back to the palace to deliver their reports to the royal sisters. “How did your investigation go?” asked Celestia. “Not so good, so far…” answered Twilight “This could take a few days.” The sisters anticipated this as well. “Have you any remote leads yet?” asked Luna. Starlight held up her long list of notes that she had taken down herself, after taking the notes of every other member of the group. “We interviewed as many of the ponies as you instructed, and so far, one thing we know they have in common is they all have something in commons with books or publishing.” “We spoke with a bookstore owner.” said Pinkie. “Didn’t get much out of him though… very suspicious.” “Oh, brother!” groaned Applejack. Rarity explained, “I spoke with some rather distinguished mares of a book-club. They all seemed intrigued by Stone Heart’s friendship story.” Twilight’s ears twitched and she couldn’t help but ask, “They didn’t by chance invite Stone to one of their meetings, did they?” Rarity blinked at her once, “Yes… they did, and they told me he coldly and bluntly refused. Why?” Fluttershy remembered, “That’s odd... earlier today, Rainbow and I talked to a school teacher, and she was talking with Stone asking him to be a speaker to her literature class, as she was inspired deeply by his friendship story.” Rainbow then looked grumpy and snuffed, “Talk about rude. He gave her a big fat “No!” Rainbow folded her front limbs in a sour sulk, the others didn’t have to guess she got into a heated argument with Stone then. “…I barely managed to convince her not to bother.” said Fluttershy. The others were not impressed with Rainbow and shook their heads at her. “What?!” she protested “I can’t stand jerks.” Celestia cleared her throat which told everyone they were falling off the main subject concerning the nightmare plague. “Sorry…” said Rainbow. It was obvious the group hadn’t gotten too far on their first day, but they did seem to have some clue, being all those ponies related to books. “I wonder,” said Twilight “What about Stone Heart?” “Oh, Twilight, give it a rest.” said Spike. “No, I won’t!” she snapped at him. Then she quickly apologized for it “Sorry, but Stone is involved with books too, being a former writer and all that, and he does have bags under his eyes, like some-pony who hasn’t slept well. …Maybe he’s been affected by the nightmares too.” A hush befell everyone, and while it did seem like a probability, the sisters, Luna preferably, were not as certain. Luna explained, “While, I admit, it is not easy for me to remember the nightmares of each and every single pony from the plague, I can recognize this much; Stone Heart was never amongst the majority.” Twilight was finding Stone’s case to be more and more peculiar with every step. “First he destroys the check. Then he balks at any and all fans of his story, and then he outright says he hates his own story?” All that she said out loud, and the sisters were shocked by it. “He destroyed the check we gave him?” asked Celestia. “He does not like his own story.” Rarity gasped to hear that and felt as if she had swallowed a fly. “Surely you jest.” “Nope, it’s true…” replied Spike, and he told everyone what The Publisher and Sandy Beam had told him after Twilight left him. “They said Stone Heart was a struggling writer, and no publishing company liked his stories, and always instantly threw him out, demanding he write better stories, and when he submitted The Strength of Friendship, everyone went from hating him to praise him, but Stone angrily denounced everyone, and refused to accept any pay or rewards or praise… anything positive about his book, and he gave up writing all together and settled for being a trash picker instead. …Apparently, he wants nothing to do with his story, or any-pony who likes it, and would rather brush them off than take a chance to turn his life around, and anyone who constantly annoyed him about it got an earful of scorn from him.” Everyone gawked at him with wide eyes and shocked expressions. “How can someone who wrote such a nice story be so cruel?” wondered Fluttershy. “Sounds like he’s got a complex of problems.” said Applejack “But what’s any of that got to do with the nightmare plague?” Pinkie thought it over and scratched her head, “…I have no idea.” Rainbow felt frustrated, “You mean we spent the whole day crawling around and talking to a whole bunch of ponies… all for nothing?!” “I wouldn’t say it’s all for nothing…” said Starlight “We’ve gathered some information. We know now that ponies in association with books and publishers are being plagued the most by the nightmares. Maybe whoever or whatever is planning the nightmares will strike again.” Luna greed with the idea and she agreed to stay alert that night. “I will keep constant watch over the ponies who have interviewed. Should they have bad dreams again it just may give us more of a clear ideal.” Twilight stood tall, “If you don’t mind, Princess… I’d like to join you in staying up tonight. I’d like to do a little more investigation myself.” Everyone stared at her, and Luna then looked over at Celestia, “If my sister has no objection, I have none then.” Celestia shook her head, “I have no objections, but what kind of investigation do you mean?” Spike could tell Twilight was going with one of her hunches again, and even after going to bed that night. “Are you sure about this?” “There’s nothing wrong with a hunch, Spike.” said Twilight “If I follow Princess Luna into the dream world, I can help her watch the nightmares that should occur.” She then thought silently, “Because I have a feeling I know who’s going to be affected.” She pulled open the drawer next to her bed and levitated a bottle of pep pills to keep her awake, and before long she was standing next to Princess Luna on the terrace. She watched as Luna raised the moon, and one-by-one lights all over Canterlot went out as ponies went to bed. Celestia and all the others were asleep too, but Twilight was very wide-awake thanks to the pill she took. She and Luna both looked up at the moon and the stars in the sky. “So… should we go to the dream world now?” asked Twilight. Luna giggled at her anxiety, “I see you’re anxious to get started.” Wasting no further time, Luna cast her magic sending them both into the dream realm. Twilight looked around her in delight and excitement as so many visions of so many dreams passed by. One of which was Cadance jamming to a disco groove, played by Flurry Heart. Twilight giggled, “How many times is she going to have that dream?” Luna cleared her throat, “Kindly keep in mind, we are here on a mission.” Twilight regained herself right. “Where would I find those dreams?” Then she stopped and realized “Wait! What am I saying? Dreams just come when they come.” “Unfortunately, yes.” agreed Luna “When it comes to dreams while asleep, we do not choose them, it is they who choose you, and you have absolutely no control of what may occur in them. The only thing you have control of is when you wake, and even then you cannot control when you awaken. That is the power dreams have over us.” Twilight knew all this, and it made her all the more determined to seek out those affected. So they waited… And waited… …and for a change of text, they waited so more. At least there were plenty of dreams for them to view at. It wasn’t until midnight, however, that somewhere in Canterlot, some pony’s alarm clock went off, at such a ridiculous hour at night. He quickly silenced the clock, and almost bolted out of bed. “It’s time…” he hissed “They should all be deeply asleep by now.” He lit a candle and headed to the middle of his single-room home. He pulled a huge carpet away revealing a secret door in the floor. He opened the flaps and walked down a short flight of stairs leading to the cellar, and he flicked on the lights. The entire place seemed empty, except for a lone table and chair, and on the table sat a simple-looking typewriter. Scattered all over the floor were whole bunch of papers containing stories written from it. The pony sat himself down at the type-writer, and snickered softly as he loaded a piece of paper into it. “…Now, what shall we do first?” It didn’t take him long to come up with an idea, and he began typing away. “The Signing” He entitled it… “It was a simple ordinary day when Pager was signing autographs for his fans, but little did he realize he was about to sign something most unusual.” …As he continued to type the story… …In his own home, Pager began to toss and turn in his sleep and he began to dream exactly as the story unfurled. There he was, at a signing for his books. Ladies waved at him and swooned at his smile, which fed to his already enlarged ego. “Please, ladies… keep coming.” he insisted “I take pride in singing for you.” The ladies all giggled. Then some pony wearing a huge cloak and hood approached him. “Ah, another fan of mine.” said Pager “And what may I sign for you?” The stranger didn’t speak, but handed him a single book that seemed to resemble the novels, and Pager being his usual egotistical self, wasted no effort in signing it. The stranger then took the book back, and snickered in a deep demonic voice, “…You should really be careful what you sign.” Pager was confused. “I beg your pardon?” he asked. Then he noticed the book had transfigured into what was really a devilish-contract! All the fans began to run away in terror, and a large dark hole opened in the floor by the stranger’s hoofs. “Hey!” cried Pager “What’s going on?!” He began to run for it, but strong suction winds began to pull him in like a vacuum. “NO!! NOOOOO!!!” he screamed. From within the dream world, Twilight recognized the scream. “That sounds like Pager!” and she could see his nightmare right before her, as he got sucked into the dark hole, emerging in a dark and haunting realm full of all kinds of ghouls, skeletons, zombies and other monstrous creatures! “What’s going on?!” cried Pager “Where am I?” The stranger laughed, and then transformed, revealing itself to be a spiteful demon. “What’s going on is your punishment for your cruel ways and miserable behaviour.” He held up the contract, “By signing this, you given me and my forces complete permission to torture your wretched every day and every night FOREVER!!” Pager screamed and began to run for his life, but there was literally no place for him to go, as all places there were more monsters that gave chase. Princess Luna was most disturbed by all this! “I must put an end to this dream at once!” Her horn glowed brightly, and she tried to uncast the dream to end it immediately, but nothing happened. “What?!” Luna cried in shock. “What’s happening?” wondered Twilight. “Something is preventing me from casting my magic.” said Luna “I told you before, this is no ordinary nightmare.” Twilight then tried to jump into the dream herself, but some kind of force-field prevented her from doing so and bounced her right back. Twilight was astounded, and now she more convinced this dream was being conjured by some sort of magic, a magic unlike anything she had ever seen or heard of. “We’ve got to do something.” “There is nothing we can do.” said Luna “Only Pager can end the dream himself.” Indeed, Pager suddenly got ensnared at the legs by large chains that held him in place. “No!!” wailed Pager “Let me go!! Let Me Go!! The demon only laughed at him as he and his possess of monsters crept forth. “How does it feel to be on the receiving end of intimidation and torture?” The monsters jumped in to attack…! “…The End!” the writer typed, and his machine gave a simple ding… …at the very same time, Pager’s dream vanished from Twilight and Luna’s sight, and Pager bolted upright in bed with a frightful scream! He panted stressfully and turned on the light. “What was that all about?” he wondered in panic.