//------------------------------//
// 12- Shouldn't have played Amnesia 
// Story: Something worth fighting for 
// by Mr Andrews Pupil 
//------------------------------//

Discord hovered lazily above the cliffs of Canterlot, reclining as if he were on a couch. I front of him levitated a quill and piece of parchment. He would dab the quill in the ink bottle (also floating) next to him, scribble briefly, then proceed to rip the script in half before conjuring a new one. 

"Here I was thinking a list of demands would be easy to think of" he grumbled inertly. "One billion bits, the immediate cessation of the use of the elements of harmony, the throne, what else?" he thought tapping the quill on his chin.

Now that he actually had somewhat of a list, the fiendish hybrid decided for ANOTHER break. 

"Two is good, I'll get back to it later" he announced to himself. "I'll just check on the "heroes" in the meantime. After all, how much progress could they have made in recovering that confounded brat"

His confident demeanour slowly faded as he realized how much he had jinxed himself.

"Great, now they'll find her before breakfast" He grumbled to the air in front of him. 

The draconequus proceded to glide down the face of the cliff until he found himself atop one of the turrets roof's. He eyed the area with caution, despite his confidence he wasn't about to draw attention from the guard's just because. The sight of Luna's room lured him over to the far part of the castle. Snaking along the shingles, he dropped down to the balcony in a matter of seconds. 

"Hello?" Discord called quietly in a sing- song voice.

No answer.

"Brilliant"

His magic overcame the rather simplistic lock and allowed him to enter the room without waking Twilight or the princess. He went over to the bed where Celestia lay snoring lightly. The way they lay, both oblivious of the midnight intruder, made Discord question why he didn't simply finish them in their sleep. 

"It would be a snap" he laughed in his head. "But I'll deal with these weakling's later. Once Luna is dead, she may as well surrender the crown out of despair."Discord smiled as he ran a talon through Celestias mane. As he looked up something else caught his eye. Once he noticed the portal he wasn't sure to be infuriated of surprised to see it, alive and functioning, swirling in the same spot he had summoned in originally. 

"Buck" 

He approached the entrance and inspected it with his magic. The aura connected with the portal and upon closing his eyes, he felt two presences. One which was completely unfamilliar to him, the other was the exact opposite.

"What? Luna's alive?"

Discord glared at an unresponsive Celestia.

"It was you wasn't it?" He sneered through the dark. 

Another thought then popped into his head. Luna lasting that long on that planet could only mean one thing. That the second presence coming through the portal was possibly helping her.

"Making friends are we?" he whispered almost silently. He was actualy surprised that he hadn't woken them up yet. Still, he looked behind him to be sure.

Once confident that they were out still, he turned back and closed his eyes once more, lifted an arm and held it up to the portal. the magic coming from his claw merged with the purple concoction of matter, space and goodness knew what else. He smiled as he found the unknown companion to Luna. It's consciousness and thought process indcated that it was sleeping. 

"Oh goody" Discord giggled. He quickly decided to give the stranger a warning. Aiding the condemned was treason in his book, but the warning he had in mind was based of something found deep within the mind of his victim. 

"Let's see" Discord mumbled. "What do you fear?"

He received an answer from Alec's memory almost instantly.

"Hmmmmmmmmm, interesting" The draconequus ruminated. 

"Let's see how your friend likes it when his game comes to life, Luna"


///////////////////////////////////

The dusty wood floor was warm and rough. Alec awoke almost instantly. He rubbed his eyes and wondered why the air suddenly felt so damp and sticky. 

Then he opened his eyes.

He was immediately dumbfounded by multiple things.

1- He was pretty sure he had fallen asleep in his bed. If that was the case then there was no reason for him to be at the end of a dark hallway sitting up against an old iron door. The torchlight prevented him from seeing much else.

2- The lantern in his lap was familiar to the point where it was excruciating.

3- He had removed his dirty clothes before going to bed, and yet he awakes fully clothed once more.

"Wait" Alec said aloud in realization.

Lantern.

Torches.

He felt beside him. His fears were confirmed by the feeling of a sack filled with small cylinders. Some could speculate what they could possibly be, but Alec knew without even seeing them.

They were tinderboxes.

He was in the storage room.

"I'm dreaming about Amnesia........" He said flatly.

.......

"Well fuck"

Alec's next course of actions were as predictable as any amnesia player in the same situation. He leaped up, grabbed the door handle, and began hauling on it to the point where his shoulders began to beg for mercy.

"The storage, of all the places I dream up the entrance to the freaking storage!!!. Don't you know how many monsters are in the storage???" He yelled at his conscience.

After what seemed like hours of pulling at the passage Alec gave up. He slumped against the door and buried his face in his hands.

"This sucks. It wasn't locked in the game!!!!! Why should this be any different???"

He lowered his hands and looked off down the hall. A candle on a table flickered where the room widened out. Slowly, Alec got to his feet. A board creaked making him jump. He then fumbled with the lantern that he was all too familiar using "F" to turn on.

Once lit, it made little difference. Alec was still terrified, but sitting in one place never worked out in the game, so he had to get the door opened. 

And the only way to open it was (hopefully the same as the real game) gather the magic coloured sticks.

He knew there was another name for them but he could really care less at the moment.

Alec began shuffling down the hallway. His progress was agonizingly slow, but running off trying to be brave would only get him a shredded face and (possibly) soiled trousers.

He figured he could do without either of them.

Once he reached the large middle room, there were 3 ways to go.

Ahead, into more darkness.

To the left, into more darkness.

Or to the right, into the door and (possibly) darkness all the same.

Alec weighed his options carefully, but in the end there was no contest.

"Door, I choose you" Alec whispered as he scampered across the musky centre room. He threw himself up against it, eyeing the other doors which, to be honest, were looking about as comforting as a death sentence on your birthday.

Alec grabbed the handle from behind and pulled. The door opened to reveal a room filled with barrels, shelves and various other bits of junk.

Alec closed the door behind him once he walked in. The lantern was shaking to the point where he had to set it down. Alec wasn't about to let some anxiety ruin his already slim chances of survival.

The room appeared to be nice for hiding, but not good for anything else. He was just about to go leave but a sound outside made him stop and pee a little.

The unmistakable sound of steps on the dirt floor. 

And of course, it wasn't him.

Alec screamed in his head. Screaming out loud would only announce his presence further.

"Gotta hide!!!" 

Alec extinguished the lantern. The unwelcome sense of darkness returned once more. Alec knew it was necessary however. The monsters weren't dumb. If they see light, they investigate.

Alec dove behind a stack of boxes in a corner. crouching, he could just make out the silhouette of the door in the dark.
But then it opened.
And it wasn't a monster.

Luna jumped when Alec lit the lamp and sprang from behind the boxes but let out a sigh of relief once she realized who it was.

"Luna!!! Alec shouted running up to her. She hesitated and tapped his shoe with a hoof before smiling upon realizing it was him. but seemed to have other things on her mind.


"Alec?"

"Yeah?"

"..."

"Where are we?"

Alec's thought process was more or less useless at that very second, so in the spirit of being clueless, Alec conjured a simple reply.

"A pickle"

Luna looked at him like he was crazy, of course Alec still hadn't figured out how to "mentally" open his inventory yet, so he had trouble disagreeing with her reaction.

"Ok......I'll be honest, we're in a dream.....I think..."

"Your'e correct with that statement" Luna confirmed.

"Wait" Alec interrupted. "Can't you get us out somehow?" Alec asked with more than enough pleading in his voice.

Luna lowered her head.

"Unfortunately not, Alec. You see, my influence on dreams is rather brittle, so upon leaving Equestria, it all but ceased entirely"

"I see" Alec said with a sudden drop in his voice. He set the lantern on the ground put a hand to his chin in thought about how to escape. Any options or ideas were now plausible. Luna simply sat next to the lantern and began digging a small hole in the dirt. 

Alec's train of thought was out of steam. He turned to ask Luna if she had any thoughts on the predicament.

"Luna, could you possi- "

"GROARARAAAAARR"

Luna was still staring at the ground when she felt Alec's arms wrap around her mid section and pull her behind some bags of wheat. She was about to ask Alec what was the matter but a finger to the lips silenced her. 

"Don't. Move." Alec whispered.

Alec extinguished the lamp and drew Luna close to his chest. Any doubt that the situation wasn't dire was dissolved when she felt his heart pounding through his shirt against her back. In response her heart accelerated to the same tempo.

"What's out there Alec" Luna whispered.

She looked around the medieval storage room in realization before looking back at him.

"And have you been here before?"

"Yes...no" Alec replied.

"That doesn't make any sense at all" 

"Ok ok.....it's off of a computer game"

"I beg your pardon?" Luna said in confusion.

"It's like a movie you can interact with!!!" Alec replied hurriedly while peeking over the Bags of wheat.

"Oh" 

"I'll let you see when we wake up"

There was a pause.

"If we wake up" Alec rephrased.

A shuffling sound approached the door, followed by the sound of ragged breathing on the other side. Luna took this to be the threat and asked Alec another question.

"What's that outside the door?"

Alec hesitated briefly before convincing himself that it was better for her to find out ahead of time.

"It's a hideous monster that's goal is to kill us"

Luna took this like any My little pony character would in that situation.

"So... we're defenceless aren't we?" she stated already knowing the answer. Alec was about to agree when a sudden "WHAM" on the door made them both jump this time.

"How strong do you believe that door is?" Luna asked with a good bit of fear to her voice.

"Not very" Alec replied with the same tone.

They sat there while another "WHAM" tore through the room.

"What do we do?" Luna whispered even more fearful.

"Well..." Alec said glancing around the room. His gaze fell upon a wooden chair beside them. Alec got up, grabbed it and wound up over by the door that was beginning to splinter. Luna followed up behind him.

"When the door breaks, don't look at his face, Just fucking run!!!"

"WHAM!!!"

"I will" Luna shouted over the sounds of the gurgling beast outside.

"WHAM!!!" 

"Get ready!!!" Alec said tightening his grip on the chair.

The door then shattered into several pieces that fell in the doorway.

Luna saw a pair of legs that failed to match any being she had seen before, but she remembered Alec's command and ran for the door at the end of the hall. Sounds of a struggle were heard from behind her as she ran.

"HOLY!!!! YOU'RE UGLIER IN MY DREAMS AREN'T YA?" Alec said brining the chair down on the malformed creatures head. It stumbled briefly before catching it's balance and setting it's sight's on him.

Now chairless, a quick look at the monsters face helped the reality of the situation sink in pretty quick. As it turns out, a fish eyed, jawless C.G.I model was no less detailed in a dream than the indie horror game it originated from.

Alec could smell it's breath too. Colgate would be ashamed.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT"

Luna got to the door and turned to see Alec, lantern flailing, scrambling up to the door beside her. He looked at the door, then back to see the monster hobbling towards him and Luna who at that point had tuned as well and lost her amnesia virginity. 

She turned back to Alec.

"Your'e kidding right?"

"You won't be saying that without a face!!!" Alec retorted.

Luna quickly decided not call Alec's bluff. She decided if she was going to call anything, it would be outside the walls of this little chamber of horrors.

"On three as they say?"

Alec nodded and put his shoulder against the door. Luna got into a bucking position and had a clear view of the rapidly approaching abomination.

"1...." Alec started.

Closer.

"2..." Luna joined in.

Closer.

"3!!!" they both exclaimed throwing all they had against the iron door. Alec's shoulder did next to nothing. Luna however seemed to have a bit more effect, seeing as the door practically flew off of it's hinges. Alec looked at Luna in amazement, but she was already bolting through the door and into the white void beyond.

"I guess that's out ticket to the real world" Alec said following, leaving the monstrosity and the dream itself to disappear just as fast as Alec's mind had conjured it. 

There was white. And then there was nothing.


////////////////////////////////////

Upon awaking, Alec recalled a majority of the dream, if one would call it that. He threw off the covers and went into Lunas room. The first thing he noticed was the absence of her quiet breathing. Turning on a light, Alec nearly, no, pretty much did have a heart attack. 

The reason was simple yet no less startling. 

Luna was gone.

Alec ran back to his room and was about to head out into the night in his nightwear before he heard Luna.

In his bed.

On the empty side.

With a blush comparable to a tomato. 

Alec deadpanned. How Luna managed to slip past him in the dark hall was beyond him. 

"Forgive me Alec..... I thought you would be less aware of my presence while asleep"

"Well you did manage to escape detection in the hall" Alec said with laugh.

The issue at hand dragged itself back into focus. Alec knew there was a reason Luna was in his bed. The dream that had happened but a few minutes ago was still fresh in Alec's mind. He imagined that it would only be more present in Luna's.

"Did the dream scare you" Alec asked softly.

A cricket supplied adequate ambience before Luna responded.

"In all honesty.... Very much so. Though I hate to admit it"

"Why?" Alec asked sitting on the edge of the bed.

Luna sat up and crawled down to him. She rested her head in is lap and he began to run a hand through her mane.

"As you can imagine, one of my duties as the soul supervisor of all dreams in equestria is to ensure that nopony endures unnecessary fear during their rest. Facing fears for their own improvement is one thing, being scared no matter what you do is another. I eliminate all bad dreams with no relevancy in the mind most times before they can occur. I guess you can say I was not only scared because of what I saw. I was also scared of what i could not do. I feel like i have failed myself and you Alec, even thought your dreams are technically not under my jurisdiction"

Alec understood. He knew what it felt like to be powerless. Suddenly the thought's of his parent's house came to his attention.

The melting siding.

The heat.

The screaming that came from him and him only.

He dismissed the images to a far corner to his mind. Luna had closed her eyes awaiting an answer.

"Do you want to stay here for the rest of the night?"

Luna's ears perking should have been an answer in itself, but Luna knew human's were less noticing of these small movements.

She raised her head and smiled sheepishly.

"If it would not trouble you Alec, yes please"

Alec then pulled the covers back for Luna. She slid down into the comfort of the sheets. Alec returned to his spot and turned to see Luna still with a sheepish smile.

"What's wrong?"

"I just can't help but feel invasive" Luna began.

"Think nothing of it"

Luna smiled once more before turning over, letting the moonlight from the window highlight the cosmos in her mane.

Alec found himself staring at it before forcing himself to turn away as well.

"Goodnight Alec" came a voice from behind him. A voice which had never sounded so wonderful.

A voice which almost covered the hole in Alec's heart.

He intercepted a tear and wiped it off in his pillow.

"Goodnight prin-"

"Alec" she playfully reminded him.

"Sorry..... Good night Luna" 

One last tear came, but Alec let it fall free.