//------------------------------// // 4: From Darkness To Light // Story: The Antimark // by Dash The Stampede //------------------------------// Beep... She turned a corner, facing into an abandoned room, her hoofsteps echoing through the empty cavity of the run-down house. Beep... "He-hello?" she called into the murky depths splayed before her. At the end of the room, a lone speck of light shone from the wall. Beep...beep... Her heart began to pound, her adrenaline soaring as she approached the light source. Wracked with fearful shivers, Scootaloo advanced on the light. Beep...Beep...Beep... "Is anypony there...?" She said as she came closer to the light. It was expanding, beginning to reveal... Beep..Beep..Beep..Beep.. "Scootaloo! Snap out of it!!" The purple mare, and undertaker of the scientific odyssey that was understanding The Antimark, shouted, shaking the young mare with her magic. "Spike! Get me my copy of Medical Maladies: Mastering the Main Magical Medicines Vol. III, and fast!" Twilight called to her faithful dragon assistant, currently searching for a way to calm the thrashing Scootaloo. She checked her procedure list three times! So why was the filly still having these issues? Beep...Beep...Beep... "Scoootaaloooooo..." An eerie chilled voice spoke from the point of light, now about the size of a feather. "Cooomee cloooseeerrrr..." it called to her. Scootaloo's heart rate increased rapidly at the sound of it. It was...ethereal, yet comforting. She couldn't figure out what or who was calling her to the light, but she did not like it. Beep..Beep..Beep.. She leaned in close to the light spot, squinted hard, and was met with a ghostly face arising from the mist. Scootaloo jumped back and tried to fly away, resulting in pain. Beep...Beep..Beep Just as Spike arrived at Twilight's side with the requested tome, Scootaloo abruptly awoke, shooting into the air on a fearful impulse. "Gyahhhhh!" she screamed, as the IV tubes and EKG monitor were torn, rather painfully, from their homes on the pegasus' front limbs. She circled the room once, to ensure she was still alive, then was forced back to the bed by Twilight's telekinesis. "But..Twilight...and..the voice..and..we..you..." Scootaloo trailed off as she took in the scene around her. White blanched walls and tile floors reflecting the painful fluorescent lighting into her eyes. She blinked a few times, took a deep breath, and resumed her silent analysis. Heart monitor, IV system, large stiff bed, and a table of poke-and-prod instruments were the main structures in the hospital examination room. She was alone, aside from the panting Twilight Sparkle, shocked dragon Spike, and the fearful Redheart, who was now holding a hoof up to her heart. "Everything seems to be alright now.." the Nurse looked to Twilight for confirmation. 'Beep....Beep....Beep....' "Let's follow my checklist I made just in case this exact thing happened!" the unicorn levitated over a thick stack of loose papers and scrolls, searching swiftly for the correct piece. "Found it!" "Let's see... Heart Rate: Approaching Normal Blood Pressure: Slightly Elevated Temperature: 99'F Patient Responsive:..." Twilight poked Scootaloo in the side, causing her wings to flare up from the sudden touch at her side. "Check!" "Come on, Twilight, just tell me if she's okay!" Spike complained. "Everypony calm down! I'm just fine!" Scootaloo yelled. "At least, now I am..." "Scootaloo, sweetie, what had you so scared?" Nurse Redheart sat next to the shaking filly. "It...it was...it was nothing..just...a bad dream. Yeah, a bad dream!" Scootaloo replied, uncertain herself of what caused her panic attack. She shook her head. "Just this time, Princess Luna wasn't there to make things better!". She wondered what effect the Night Princess would have on that..apparition from the wall. "Well, as long as you're sure.." Redheart said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Yes! Of course! Never better!" she replied quickly. "Ahem.." came a grunt from an impatient looking unicorn. And any impatience from this unicorn was to be regarded with utmost sincerity, since everypony remembers the Winter-Wrap-Up-Turned-Disaster all those years ago. Redheart and Scootaloo quieted down and faced Twilight expectantly. "As I was saying, Nurse Redheart, She needs to be in a calmer environment, where she wont be afraid. It makes these non-invasive tests buck-tons easier!" She said, slightly angry at having to put a hold on her glorious crusade for knowledge. "Twilight! Watch your mouth! There is a child present!" Redheart scolded. "I'm not a child anymore! I'm old enough to hear that..."besides, it's not like I havent heard that before.."the orange pegasus added in a whisper. "Dear Celestia, I'm getting carried away, aren't I?" Twilight asked, to nopony in particular. "Yes." came the tripled reply. Twilight searched through her spellbooks, looking for an illusionary spell, one to calm the nerves of the filly in question. "Aha! This should work just fine!" she exclaimed, levitating the book to Scootaloo's bedside. "Now tell me, Scootaloo, What place, in all of Equestria, keeps you calm and relaxed?" "Uh...Well I always felt safe in the clubhouse...but not anymore.." Scoots trailed off. "No matter! Just think of it as you saw it years ago, as the Crusader's Castle, and get that picture in your mind." Twilight charged up for the spell as she spoke. "Quickly now, and don't let yourself get distracted." Scootaloo tried. She tried so very hard to see the clubhouse as it was years ago, but her mind kept racing back to that hallway, the abyssal dark of the room, the speck of light, and the ghostly image and voice. So it was that the examination room became black as a starless night, and everypony inside was subjected to the nightmare that caused Scootaloo her distress in the first place. Across the room from all four bodies present, a single white speck shone from the wall. "Scooootalooooo..." The voice reappeared from the depths. "What..What was that voice?" Twilight cast a light spell, but it was swallowed by the dark quicker than it could be produced. "Coooomeeeeee tooo meeeeee, Scooootaaalooooo..." Nurse Redheart could not believe her ears. Had she been able to see the others, she'd see the fear carved on their faces. Her own visage, however, was riddled in confusion, trying to make sense of the voice. It seemed so familiar...so close to...but no, it couldn't be....could it? She gathered her courage and spoke into the darkness... "H..Hospitality...?" ~Dash