//------------------------------// // 3: Nightmares // Story: Samneo: The Earth Pony DX // by Samuel-Neocros //------------------------------// His bedroom was still and quiet. Green was still asleep when his eyebrows furrowed, his mind depicting a rather unpleasant nightmare. Green jolted awake, sitting up in bed and shaking with fright. He curled up and covered his head with his forelegs. After a few seconds of him being afraid, he looked around the room, wondering why he had to have such a bad dream. He was in a dark and ruined looking bedroom, which was depressing, and he saw a purple feminine silhouette heading toward him. The last thing he remembered was the only thing he remembered clearly, the purple silhouette spoke to him. "Please senpai, come back to me" It said in a feminine voice. He was still saddened and afraid of it. He covered himself with the blanket, just wishing he had something to hold, but alas all he had was a pillow. Getting out of bed, he sighed, before leaving the bedroom so he could get some breakfast. ... As he carefully ate the pancakes, his mind couldn't stop thinking about the dream he had. Green felt like something was important about it, yet he was unsure if it was true or not. Then again, he did touch that stone yesterday, and it did some freaky stuff. Somehow he started to feel like things weren't right, especially since his dream happened after. He contemplated on whether or not to tell his friends what he had experienced, but was still unsure what they'd think. He decided to stop thinking of yesterday, and back to the nightmare. Most of it is now leaving his mind, but the ending remained fresh in his memory. What was the creature? More importantly, why was it called senpai? One thing he knew though, was judging by the tone of voice, it was a different voice from the one he heard when he touched the stone. Twilight was eating her pancakes when Green's stern look caught her attention. "How're you feeling, Green?" She asked, causing him to glance at her. He wanted to tell her all about the dreams he's had, but he decided against it. "I'm okay." He replied, trying not to make it obvious he wasn't. Twilight nodded, before they resumed their pancakes, with Starlight joining them. ... After breakfast, he decided to relax in his room for a bit. Green had the door shut as he laid in bed. The softness of the bed was nice, and he was about to doze off when he thought of something. He started to think back to when he transformed, and how he felt. After awakening from exhausting himself, he could've sworn to have felt a second heartbeat inside. Why was there one? But more importantly, he somehow felt at the time that the dragon was... alive? And that maybe he gave it life, he guessed. Green had no idea what to think of that time, but what's even stranger is how he felt about hearing Rainbow Dash's name. Somehow he felt as if he heard it before... but wasn't sure where. He couldn't think for much longer, for that he drifted back to sleep. Underneath Green's bed though, the shadow entity's eyes glowed within the darkness. He was weak to sunlight, so he had to stay under for now. The earth pony was laying in bed, thinking to himself. This had caught the attention of the shadow, who sensed his thoughts via telepathy once again. As Green slowly drifted back to sleep, the entity decided to pay him a visit. His antlers rose out of the floor, but remained hidden, they began to glow a soft crimson color, the same as his eyes. With his magic, he was able to enter Green's mind and begin a dream, able to set the scene for him... ~..~..~...~...~...~..~..~..~ Having no idea how he got to sleep, he now wandered through what appeared to be an in-door garden. Dense black fog filled the room, leaving very little to be seen, aside from the exotic yet sad looking flora fauna. Sounds of frogs, crickets and water streaming filled the room, which was relaxing, but something felt off about it. As he glanced around, Green found himself getting lost in the fog, unsure where he was going. He was surprised he hadn't tripped on anything. Just when he was about to give up exploring, he heard the wind rushing behind him, causing him to turn around instinctively. More wind rushed behind him, but when looking in front, nothing there. Whatever it was, it was toying with him. This back and fourth of hearing the wind and him turning to look kept going for a few seconds. The shadow entity had fun toying with him, watching him get more and more afraid and unsettled. Green didn't feel all that in control of the dream, and was soon left in a state of confusion. Soon he heard chilling noises come from the dark fog. The noises sounded like low growls and small child-like giggles. It was then the shadow revealed himself within Green's nightmare. When Green turned around, he saw a tall figure, with large antlers on its head. He stared for only a second, before he began running in the opposite direction. It was a rule within nightmares to have the dreamer move as if they're walking through mud, and that was exactly what was happening with Green, his movement slow and sluggish. Surprisingly, the shadow didn't chase after him, and instead stood there, staring at him. Finally, Green turned around, and the shadow suddenly disappeared. He paused for a second, confused by this. It's then Green realized something, he wasn't in a garden anymore. The fog had cleared a little, revealing a new location. It was his current bedroom, but it looked withered and decrepit. The rug and window curtains were tattered, the bed sheets looked as if they were shredded with claws, and there were papers all over the floor. Green blinked, unsure why this was the case. By this point, Green started to gain a tiny bit of lucidity, but still wasn't aware he was in a dream. Picking up one of the papers, there were scribbles and chicken scratch all over, that seemed to vaguely show shapes. The weird thing was, if he held two papers next to each other, they seemed like they depicted something on them, but it was hard to see. Green dropped the papers, and looked around the room. He also shut the door, fearing something could come at him from behind. For some strange reason, an idea dawned on him to try and put the papers together, since they were the one thing out of place in the room. Using his hoof to gently nudge the papers in a huge rectangle, he aligned them in a way to where he realized something. The scribbles were not only meant to form a shape if stared long enough, but they were also puzzle pieces! As he assembled the papers closely, they now started to form a more distinct picture. It appeared to show two words, saying 'behind you'. He turned around, and saw the shadow from before, towering above Green. Receiving the jumpscare of his life, he backed away, Green staring at the entity in fright. Before waking up, the shadow entity pulled something out from behind it, but he didn't have time to see it, for his mind slipped back into reality... ~..~..~...~...~...~..~..~ Green woke up from his brief nap, and was left feeling like he didn't receive much answers. He groaned from his heart racing slightly, but decided to just stare up at the ceiling. Beneath the bed, the entity took enjoyment in tormenting Green, but knew his only goal was to either mislead or prevent the earth pony from gaining his memories back. Although he didn't know most of Green's past, when he was lurking around in Green's mind telepathically, he sensed a third presence, a second heartbeat…