//------------------------------// // Nightmares // Story: Ascendancy: Fear // by SeedOfEvil //------------------------------// Chapter 1. Nightmares The darkness was overwhelming. Twilight Sparkle felt like she had been wandering for hours. Maybe even days. Lost in the unwelcoming darkness that lay around her. "Where am I? How did I get here?" ,she wondered, "Or more importantly, how do I leave?" Twilight didn't like it here. She wanted to call out for help, even cry, but her vocal cords betrayed her and wouldn't let her utter a sound. No matter how badly she wanted to. Twilight soon began to notice she wasn't even walking any more. Just, drifting. As though her hooves were plated on the ground, but her body kept moving forward. She was floating almost, as she traveled through the blanket of shadow around her. The only sound she could hear was that of her own steady breathing. Her breath was cold, though it didn't fog as it left her body. Twilight's face felt almost numb. Her breath threatening to freeze her from the inside out. Twilight felt alone. Sure, she was used to being alone before she came to Ponyville. But this was different than before. Before when she was alone, she was never really alone. Twilight could always see her loving parents, her brother Shinning Armor, and even her mentor, Princess Celestia. Yet here, in this suffocating black void, she felt nothing. No friends. No family. No love. Only miles upon miles of darkness. No. Not just darkness. Something else was there as well. Something that twilight couldn't see, but feel. An ominous presence that seemed to block out any joy, or hope. Watching her. Waiting. And then slowly, it spoke. "Sparkle.....Twilight......Sparkle" It was only a whisper. Almost nonexistent in its volume. Yet among the silence, it felt loud. Almost deafening. The voice seemed to cut through Twilight's eardrums. No. Not her ears, but her mind. Finding enough strength to move, Twilight clamped her hooves over her ears. The voice pierced her mind like a griffons talon. Her hooves did little to ease the pain her mind was wrapped in, and did nothing to stop the voice. "Twilight....Sparkle...", the voice continued to chant. Twilight wanted to respond. Ask who or what the voice was, but still she found herself unable to utter a single sound as the voice tore through her psyche. As Twilight was assaulted by the voice she attempted to determine where the voice was coming from. But this effort was futile. For each time the voice spoke it seemed to be moving and staying in place at the same time. Twilight tried to comprehend how such a theory could be possible, but logic was fleeing her. she couldn't speak. she couldn't think.She couldn't even move from the spot she stood. Or rather, drifted. Twilight wasn't sure. She didn't have the time to think as a new problem presented itself. "Twilight...Sparkle" The voice seemed to be getting louder. And much to Twilight's dismay, closer. "Twilight...Sparkle", the voice continued. Each time getting louder and closer. Twilight tried to ignore it. Ignore the pain it brought. Ignore the fear she felt. But as the voice grew, it forced itself into Twilight's mind. Forcing her to pay it attention. Forcing her to submit to its power. "Twilight Sparkle!" The whispering voice was booming now. Filling twilight's entire being with its presence. In her mind it grew and grew. Louder, and louder! Each time more violent and powerful than the last! Twilight's mind was racing with panic. The voice felt as though it was making her head expand. Pushing against the sides of her skull as it threatened to burst through her head. Much like a balloon that was filled with too much air. And just as Twilight felt as if she was about to die... It stopped. Silence fell over Twilight once more. Again, she was alone. And for her sanity's sake. Twilight wanted it to stay that way. Darkness took her once more. But this time she welcomed it. It felt like a loving hug compared to the mind breaking voice. Twilight almost felt happy to feel its cold embrace once more. But as she drifted; enveloped in shadow. Something drew her attention. A light. A dim light yes, but a light all the same. It dangled in front of her. Not more than a hoofs distance away. It dimly glowed a dark red hue. It was cone shaped and curved upward with sharp looking tip. Twilight wondered how it had gotten so close to her without noticing its presence. But in fact she had no idea of when she first noticed it, or how long she had been starring at it. Twilight felt warmth from the light. Yet she was hesitant to approach it. Confused on why such a beautiful thing would linger in such a depressing world. Still, like a cat, curiosity got the better of her. Twilight slowly lifted her right hoof. Carefully extending it towards the mysterious object in front of her. The distance began to close. Five inches. Four. Three. Her hoof touched the source of the red light. And as it did the object grew brighter from her touch. It was smooth, and dense feeling. Twilight Closed her eyes smiling, basking in the lights warmth as it grew an ever brighter red. In closing her eyes, however, Twilight failed to notice the flash of a dark aura around the object she clung to. The warm feeling quickly grew cold as she felt something latch onto her hoof. Twilight's eyes shot open. looking towards the source of what was once warmth. Darkness flowed from the red light. A darkness that somehow seemed blacker than the already pitch-black void around her. The dark energy latched onto her hoof in fine string-like tendrils. Twilight tried to pull away, but the tendrils held her hoof firmly in place against the now terrifying object before her. The tendrils continued to snake up her leg. Thickening as they did so. Within seconds, half of Twilight's leg looked as though she as wearing a black sock as the darkness seeped into her fur, turning it from a bright lavender to an oily black. Twilight soon began to feel panic as the tendrils wrapped around her shoulder blade and latched onto her chest. She tried to use her magic. At least to stop the spread of the tendrils if not cutting her from them entirely. But as she concentrated on a spell nothing happened. Already the tendrils were enveloping her other legs , and clawing up her neck. The more Twilight pulled against the binding darkness, the more they seemed to cling to her. She had no magic. No means of escape. Twilight shut her eyes. Somehow hoping that if she couldn't see it, it would stop. But the darkness would have none of that. As the tendrils pulled themselves to her forehead they dug into her eyelids. Forcing Twilight to open them wide. And when she could see once more. Twilight came face to face with a pair of gigantic eyes. Where a pony would see white in other eyes, Twilight saw only green. At the center of each eye were large red pupils. Not round pupils, but slit ones. Pupils like the eyes of a snake. A poisonous snake. Twilight starred with horror at the eyes as the black tendrils continued to spread across her face. Pulling Twilight's jaw open as they forced their way inside her. Traveling down her throat to infect the rest of her body with the fear they wrought. And as the darkness began to fill her lungs, the quite eyes lunged at her. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Alright, how was that? my first run at a dark mlp fanfic story. After reading so many over the past week i decided to write my own. Oh and by the way. The whole tendrils entering Twilight's throat part. That is not intended to be sexual. if you saw it that way, shame on you! this isn't a clop fic. and just some extra info if you couldnt tell from my text. SEMI- SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! the red cone shaped object was intended to be Sombra's horn. and the eyes are also his eyes. I intend to go all the way with this story as i already have the ending planed out. This will be a three volume story. as in 3 books. not 3 chapters. and the end of this volume will have and awesome twist within the last 10 paragraphs. END OF SEMI-SPOILER! I hope you enjoyed chapter 1. Peace.