//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1:A House Of Horrors 
// Story: Among The Nightmares 
// by Spirit Of Fantasy 
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Chapter 1: A House Of Horrors

The boy slept soundly with his new friends in tow, not a care or fear in the world. Though a dark storm had arrived by night fall, and brought a great terror with it. Rain fell from the heavens and tapped the glass of his window. A fell wind blew outside the house with no way in, but a lot of howling to give. The rumbles of oncoming thunder rattled the house, where a horror had then arrived.

Aiden rolled in his crib to stay sleeping, with his ponies to protect him from the dark. Only there was nothing protecting them from it, and they could feel something coming. Luna slowly stirred and gazed with her playful toy smile towards the door. A glimmer of light from a hall way came through as the door slowly opened. I was as if she herself was afraid of a monster emerging from the darkness, and the light was her salvation.

She tapped her sister before Celestia quietly awoke and turned to the door. It was too late however, for the sound of foot steps revealed a horrible thought. Something had opened the door, and was in the bedroom with them.

A flash of thunder went off as Aiden barely lifted an eye lid to see the light. He looked away after the lightning revealed red eyes peering from the darkness for a moment. He hugged his ponies and buried his head in the pillow in hopes of falling asleep. The plushies urged him to do just that, but a gasp left Luna before they both felt it. A sudden grip on their legs coiled and yanked them from Aiden, and took them.

"Oh...no...!"Luna shook with great inside terror that was muffled by the rain.

"Aiden...! Don't panic child...! Don't panic...!"Celestia feared as they were being pulled up the fence of the crib and dragged to the wood floor.

Aiden peered out from the pillow with one eye to spot his kidnapped friends outside of his crib. He could see their legs being lifted up, but there was nothing he could see that was holding them. He whimpered grunted as he sat up from bed. He could only watch as his pony friends were dragged away and out the door, before it closed behind him. Leaving poor Aiden in a room of pitch blackness, shocked, and very much scared.

He grabbed the bars and grunted as he shook his crib to get out, it frustrated him deeply. The thunder of the sky rolling in his ears and making his vision get blurry with each crash. He shook for another moment at his crib for freedom that did not come. He fell on his rear and felt the need to cry coming on, as tears welled in his eyes. He panted and choked before quietly breaking into a quiet sob for his lost friends.

He sat there in defeat and desire to see his friends again, but their appeared to be no way out. After a moment of crying, he looked with wet eyes and panted before the next flash of thunder illuminated a way out. The gold hinges to his crib was within his reach, and looked a bit rusty and weak. He crawled over without delay while wiping his nose. He whimpered with baby like whines as he reached through the bars and gripped the hinge.

It only took a slight tug before the hinge snapped and the front of his crib collapse, his escape was made. With no hesitation and a burst of courage, he crawled fast to get out of his crib. He reached down, and got out of his crib before standing up on his own two feet and going for the door. The curtains of the window moaned from a sudden breeze moving it towards him, along with the grumbles of an unknown voice. With that grumble, the door suddenly unhinged and slowly began to open for the boy.

Aiden groaned in a tiny squeak like voice before he finally decided to move on. He got down and decided to crawl a bit more so he was a bit faster, he had no time to spare. He crawled into the dark hall way that was once lit up with heavenly light. He was frowning at the dark, and struggled to keep his wits as he traveled blindly through the dark. A sharp gasp and jump from Aiden went off as he heard faint shrieks and gargles from the end of the hall way.

They were tiny, and sounded like they were from a small animal being tormented. He moaned to himself before he ran into a chair that belonged to the kitchen. He stood up and rubbed his head with a sadden look before spotting the golden door knob. He needed to reach that door knob, and the chair he had just found was the key to just that. He gripped the chair and pushed it towards the outline of the door that lead to the stairs.

"Aiden... Help us... Please..."He lifted up and listened to what sounded like Celestia's pleas for help as he put the chair against the door.

"Aiden... Can you hear us...?"Their voices were struggling to sound, as if they were being choked to death.

Aiden moaned and muffled impossible to understand words as he searched for his pony friends. He whimpered and worried, reaching around in the dark to find them for a sort of comfort. He quickly got up as he heard their moans from above his head, he reached around and felt the fluffy tails of his friends. He let out mumbled and hard to understand words as he yanked a bit on them and felt them slowly slipping out. He quickly turned back around and found a light to turn on to see, but what he saw never left his mind.

He screamed once he flipped the lights on to see his stuff friends hanging by their necks from the ceiling, in small black nooses. They were gagging, and suffering as the tight nooses strangled them to near death. Aiden panicked and pulled on them harder as they slowly began to slide out. They were choking and struggling with their hooves fluttering. Which only promoted the boy to try even harder, until he finally succeeded.

He felt them pop out of the hanging nooses before the nooses tightened closed while he fell to his flank with his friends. He immediately hugged Luna and Celestia in fear and love as he snuggled them. They panted and found their breath to speak after hugging him. They panted and tried to calm down as they nuzzled his red cheeks. They felt nearly dried tears against their heads, it showed them how much he was worried.

"Thank you Aiden... We are so sorry we scared you child... So...sorry...!"Celestia made a kiss sound that her smiling face could not show as the house began to creak.

"Listen Aiden... I know you're scared, we both do... But we can't stay here now... We need to get you to safety,"Luna informed the boy as he turned towards the door to open it,"We need to find your parents..."

Aiden could not agree more, but what lied ahead frighten him, and made him want to turn back. He trembled as he grabbed the door knob and twisted till it came open. He pushed the door and quickly jumped down to pass through the door and meet the stairs. In front of him was a gate his parents used to keep him from going downstairs unsupervised, but now was not the time for such things. He gripped the small fence and pulled it open, nice and wide before gazing down the steps.

Their was dim light shining downstairs, but he could here wood creaking, and the pounding of the rain. He didn't want to go downstairs, but what choice did he have, other than submit to whatever was here. He gulped before slowly crawling down the carpeted stops, he never wanted to curl up and cry so much in his life. He slowed his crawl once he heard the static of a television going fuzzy and haywire. He made it to the last step before freezing to what looked like a person inside a closet.

"It's ok Aiden... It's only a coat..."Luna whispered to him gently as she lit up with her silver light to reveal what was in the closet darkness.

The coat swayed against the hollow closet door as he nodded in response with her help. He looked away, and only found a trashed down stairs hall way luring them towards the living room.. He slowly stood up and walked quietly through the hallway, his toys were all over the place, and two chairs were over turned. He got down and crawled under a table to get around the chair before standing back up. His courage fled his body as he came to the edge of the living room.

The glow of a fuzzy television buzzed at his ears while making the room glow blue. His trembling foot stepped into the dark room with the barely lit TV light before he finally walked into the living room. He wanted to make a break for the kitchen that lead to another hall way that lead to his parents room. He began to waddle a bit faster towards the kitchen in the next room right beside the couch. That was before his head pounded when foot steps stomped above him.

He ducked his head and held it as the steps mimicked the pounding in his head. The TV static screeched and blinked with it's fuzz causing further blur, panic kept coming into his mind. Celestia and Luna however remained perched on his shoulders, and gently rubbed his cheeks. Their support and company kept his wits on a shaky, but strong level. He slowly moved on, trying to ignore the foot steps up stairs.

He shuttered with each crash of the foot steps before louder crashing was heard. Aiden almost fell to his knees, hearing the smashing and creaking of wood being destroyed. It appeared to be complete chaos taking place in his room. Something was in there, and it was hunting for him, his room being the casualty. He felt his whole world being turned upside down from unknown forces.

"No matter what, you just need to keep going sweetie..."Luna tried some further encouragement before glass suddenly began to shatter.

A light from the kitchen grew before they could peek into the kitchen. The light grew from the refrigerator slowly opening on it's own while a broken bottle of milk fell. It shattered into pieces as Aiden hugged both ponies and brought in their pure light. The glare of gold and silver frightened and sent much of the darkness scrambling. Allowing for the boy to move through the kitchen towards the next door.

Aiden spotted the door, and promptly grabbed a chair on the way after spotting that it was closed. The ponies appeared to take a deep breath and nod in approval of his method to get pass doors. He put the chair against the door and made sure his furry little friends were properly holding on. He crawled up onto the chair with a waddle like climb before he stood up next to the door. He reached for the door knob while the foot steps he heard suddenly vanished.

He pushed the door open and watched it swing open, and a figure to be in his face. A tall leathery figure with boots standing to his left as thunder went off incredibly hard. Celestia and Luna had even let out a screamed while the boy shut his eyes and growled to brace. Fortunately that figure was not as it seemed, for it was merely a tall trench coat with a pair of boots under it. Aiden opened his eyes to this revelation and slowly stepped off the chair.

"Oh my goodness...! That was scary... Are you ok Aiden? Tia?"Luna worried after doing her best to compose herself.

"We're ok... Look. There's the door to the parent's room."Celestia did her best to find a distraction from their empty terror for a coat.

Aiden reached out and panted as he waddled quickly towards the door, and his friends were ready to help. He shook his head as the rain appeared to be hammering the house even harder. The foot steps came again, only they sounded like someone was coming down stairs. They needed to hurry and get to the parents for help. Aiden made it to the door, and the ponies sprang into action as they stood on top of each other.

Celestia made a jump for the door knob, and went to turn it. It was then the ice cold feeling of failure was met once the knob refused to turn either way, the door was locked. Celestia pulled and wrenched at the door knob with no luck before dropping back onto Aiden's shoulder. She growled in frustration before the foot steps almost made them unable to breath. For the steps were getting closer, echoing in the living room.

"Here...! Over here...! We can get in through the vent...!"Luna had dropped down and found an open air vent.

They looked back and saw that the foot steps were approaching the kitchen, no time to lose. Aiden waddled and dropped into a crawl. The ponies had no problem getting into the vent, but Aiden struggled once half his body was in. His flank was stuck in the vent, and finally it triggered the boy to panic. He screamed to himself and wiggled frantically as he heard the foot steps approaching.

"Aiden...! Hang on sweetie, just just... Hold on...!"Luna turned back before Celestia followed her back to the boy.

They grabbed his arms and pulled to get him unstuck from the vent. He was about to cry again, and that would only bring further harm to them all. Luna tried to shush and calm him, while Celestia pulled with all her might before they could hear it. The thud, and crunching squeaks of leather boots over a wooden floor. Aiden began to tremble as he could hear scratching clear across the wall above his head.

Time froze for them, until it happened through a rumble of thunder. The ice cold touch of the very scratching claws touching his leg, and dragging down to his foot. Aiden sprang as he felt the sudden claw grab at his foot before Celestia pulled once more. He gradually popped into the vent and rolled before he was safe for the moment, and with his ponies. They held his arms as a growl echoed in the vents before a blast of ice cold air hit their faces.

They could see it from the vent opening, all cloaked in a mass of shadows. Shiny black teeth, pointy like daggers gleaming in the light of the thunder as it slowly retreated for now. Aiden panted and was then urged to move forward through the vents towards his parents room. The metal of the vent was cold on his hands, being the only bare part of his body, aside from his head. All the cold chills and air certainly hurt for him to take, but his fear for the worst distracted him.

He crawled and bent the metals of the confined area as he made a left. He spotted the light of his parents bedroom lamp and rushed towards the exiting vent. They ran into a road block after meeting the wrong end of a vent gate. It felt pretty strong after the boy took hold of the bars in the vent, but further inspection said other wise. There were loose screw on the bottom of the vent piece.

He reached for the screws to the door and began to twist and turn them, much to the rough work on his fingers. He felt his fingers hurting as he twisted until the first screw came off, and forced him to shake his hand. The twisting burned his fingers, but he knew he had to do it one more time, for his folks. Against the worries of his pony friends, he went in again. He gripped and twisted the cold steal of the screw in the vent.

"You don't have to keep doing this sweetie... We can find another way...!"Celestia tried to insist on a safer course of action, and was promptly ignored.

Aiden yanked and pulled before the screw finally popped out of the hole. With it, the entire vent door suddenly fell down and slammed against the carpet. It almost made all three of them jump as Aiden quickly crawled out of the vents and sat in the carpet. He grabbed at his hands, cringing and moaning in pain as tears stung his eyes. His fingers were red and on the verge of bursting into drops of red hot liquid.

Celestia quietly went to his side and put a soft plushy hoof to his hands. She nicely shushed him and manage to get him to quiet down before she brought his hands to her face. He felt his sore fingers press against the smiling face of his day pony before he heard the smacking of lips. He could feel her kissing his fingers, even when her lips did not move the slightest. For that very moment, he began to feel better, and even put on a small smile.

"Please do not cry... Your tears are more sacred than you can imagine child. We can't lose you,"Celestia spoke strangely with deep affection even when they had only met several hours ago,"You just need to stay with us... Only then can we stay together, and make it through this..."

"Your parents are over there child... Go quickly and get them up...! We will need their help if we are to survive...!"Luna pointed out their objective at the large queen size bedroom.

Aiden wasted no time in doing so as he quickly crawled towards the bed. Aiden was scared, but also happy to have reached his parents in hopes of comfort and protection. He whimpered as he made it to the bed, hoping his cries would be answered. There was no response, and it prompted Aiden to be even louder as he groaned and cooed louder in a sort of pout. Though not even that gained any attention of any sort from his parents.

A huff from the toddler brought impatience and concern as he grabbed at the bed sheets. He began to climb while Luna went with him, leaving Celestia to be look out for anything bad. Aiden scaled the large bed as Luna wrapped her little hooves around his neck. His feet dangled before he got a good grip on the bed and forced himself onto the bed. Aiden took a breather while Luna hopped off and shook herself off.

Aiden wasted no time and crawled up to his parents while Luna stretched herself out. He met at his mother's side and grabbed at the large mass under the bed sheets. Mimicking the warmth he thought to be his mother, when it turned to be no one. After yanking off the sheet, he found there to be nothing, but pillows stacked under the sheets. His father and mother were not there, they were gone.

"What...? They aren't here... Then where are they?"Luna was at his side so suddenly before a clicking went off.

They jerked their heads to the door before seeing the knob turning. The small snap of metal went off before the lock to the door fell to the carpet. Aiden froze in place when a gust of cold and foul air hit him and Luna. Luna panicked and began pushing Aiden with her head, but he was heavy for her size, and she could feel him trembling. She became frantic and gave Aiden one last shove before he moved towards the ledge.

"Tia...! Up here...! Catch him...!"Luna announced quietly from above before Celestia looked up.

"Catch him...?!"Celestia had little time to react before Luna pushed Aiden from the bed towards Celestia.

The white pony let out a gasp before the boy fell right on top of her with a small yelp. Fortunately, Celestia cushioned the fall and wiggled out from under him before she nudged him and got him moving. Luna jumped from the bed and landed on Aiden's back before the door swung open, cracking the wall. They all made it under the bed before Aiden felt the hooves of Celestia and Luna over his mouth. While his widened eyes spotted complete blackness standing at the door.

A low growl rumbled down their spines through the pounding rain against the windows. They could see no feet from the shadowy mass at the door, but it certainly appeared to be something. It then began to walk with wood cracking foot steps that nearly matched the loud thunder outside. Objects trembled with each stomp it made,while Aiden was tearing up and shaking. Wanting to burst into tears and give into his fear.

They could hear it grumbling, creaking the wood under it's invisible feet before it was at the side of the bed. Sniffing could be heard right above their heads, he smelled Aiden's scent. Growls felt like they were shaking the room, when it was merely Aiden trembling with fear. He wanted to cry so much as moans muffled against the sister's hooves. The beast sharply looked around, and suddenly spoke.

"You were here weren't you...? You little boy...!"It snarled with a serpent like hiss as it went over to a closet.

He swung open the closet and appeared to be slashing at the clothes inside. They could feel the child tensing up and whimpering as it growled loudly and paused for a moment. Only to grab the closet and promptly throw it to the ground and smash it to pieces. It swung wildly and slashed at the bed itself, nearly tearing a long hole in the mattress. They had narrowly avoided being spotted by the shadow beast.

"I'll find you, one way or another. Your blood will enrich the soils of my realm...!"It hissed and kicked the broken closet aside before making to leave.

They listened to it as the creature finally left the room, giving them time to think about their next plan. It was clear that the parents may very well be gone, but they still needed to save Aiden. The sisters thought together while slowly taking their hooves off Aiden's mouth, letting him pant as he rubbed his eyes. It pained them to see him sad and scared within his own home, a child should never have to endure such things. They needed to get him out of the nightmare they were in.

"Alright... H-he's gone for now... But... That doesn't mean it's over yet,"Luna struggled to speak while trying to get out the plan they formulating for the child,"Alright... We need to get him out of the house. Get him under the light of my night."

"Good idea... Once your night is upon him. Then we can use our powers to get him out of here... To OUR home..."Celestia agreed while the boy quietly wiggled out from under the bed.

"Can you be brave for us Aiden? We just need to get you outside... Then we can get you away from here, and some place safe,"Luna explained for the frighten boy as he brought them into his embrace for a hug,"Can you do that child?"

Aiden panted and did his best to relax with the aid of the talking plushies. Their warming hugs and encouragement seem to help him move, but the cold and scary feeling of the shadow kept him in place. Terror and bravery mixed like oil and water within the child's mind before he slowly got onto his two legs and slowly took one step. He made for the door while letting out deep scared breaths of fear. It was hurting even more to see him fighting so hard to be brave.

He stopped at the door and slowly leaned forward to look out into the hall way. His left appeared clear, as did the right if he didn't include the trench coat with boots spooking him. The real fear came when he looked own to see the filthy trail the shadow left. It was more like a smear of filth rather than foot steps, as if it were carrying bodies or filthy objects behind it. He had no choice but to follow the trail left behind by what was hunting him.

The ponies held on tight to the child, fearing that he would lose what courage he had left. They all looked to the creepy overcoat that was moving from a breeze whistling through the cracks in the window. The thunder storm was growing stronger as the evil in the house grew. Aiden reentered the kitchen that was now demolished by a fell force of unnatural proportions. The very chair he used to get the door open was left in pieces.

Aiden had to swallow a bit of fear as he stepped over broken dishes on the ground. They were obviously thrown to the ground, as if the darkness had thrown a tantrum. He could feel Celestia and Luna sighing deeply to control their own fear. How they could be so life like, and so caring was beyond even his mind, but at least they wanted to help him. Why they would care so much when they are merely inanimate friends, he did not know.

His head pounded as a bowl of fruit hit the floor and shattered in front of him. He squeaked with a with a quiet scream before feeling a patting on his back from fluffy hooves. His friends continued to push him forward as he came to the living room. He entered the room and could hear the TV itself mumbling unrecognizable words before thunder went off. The house was getting worse, the longer he remained in it.

"There it is Aiden...! The door is right there sweetie...!"Celestia cried and pointed her hoof towards the door outside.

He gasped and wasted no time rushing to the door after going into a crawl. He crawled as fast as possible with the ponies cheering him on quietly before he was at the door. He reached for it, but he was too small to reach the door knob. Celestia and Luna were there for him, and sprung into actions as they stood on his shoulders. They walked to his head and got on top of each other to reach for the door.

Luna wiggled her way up to the door knob and jumped before hugging it. Celestia cheered silently as Luna tried to twist the knob and open the door for them to leave. Aiden even clapped his hands and cooed at the idea of finally getting free. Where his friends took him, it didn't matter as long as he was safe. Unfortunately, his hopes froze like ice as ice itself crept down his back and tensed up his body with the sense of another.

There was another presence in the room, and it made Aiden incapable of moving an inch. Luna ceased her actions upon the door after hearing his shaky breaths that could be seen. She moved slowly to look behind her before they all froze to the sounds of the creatures grumbles. Aiden could feel that cold feel of sharp teeth grazing against his back. The creature had found him once again, and nothing was between them now.

He whimpered quietly as he felt the fingers wrapping around his arms. The snarls rung very loudly in his ears, and sounded like death. Luna did not speak, but he could feel her fear as Celestia continued not to move. The grip of the beast tightened before Celestia was suddenly whipped by a vine of shadows off the boy. He was then slowly lifted up as he tried to let out a scream, and was face to face with the shadow.

"I found you again... Now it's my turn to play,"The black face with serpent like pupils glowing like hellish fires chuckled,"And you're it!"

Aiden screamed, only to be silenced as the dark one suddenly began to strangle the boy. He felt cold long fingers now around his neck, choking the very life from his tiny body. He kicked and tried to scream as tears escaped his eyes with his struggle. He was forced to look the monster right in the eyes while the darkness felt as if it was starting to take him. His life was dwindling as his cries were being drowned out with laughter.

"Aiden...! Hug us sweetie. Come on, just hug us and we can help! Aiden!"Aiden could hear his friends crying out for him.

"Don't give in Aiden!"Luna cried loudly before he could feel them getting under his arms for a hug.

Aiden used what life he had left and hugged his friends as he suddenly blacked out. Only to feel a wave of gold and silver opening his eyes and wrestling the grasp of darkness from his throat. He fell to his bottom and struggled to breath while he heard the screeches of the creature. The light was scaring it away, but now it was angry. It as not about to surrender, when it's prey was within it's grasp.

It stood back towards the entrance to the kitchen and hissed at the glowing ponies. Their lights were almost inapproachable, but the boy was in his sights, and an idea was hatching in his mind. The plushies ran to Aiden to help him to his feet, but they could only sit him up. Celestia patted his back while Luna sat on his lap and held his cheeks to shake him awake. He looked to Luna and coughed before Luna cried to him.

"Aiden! I'm so sorry! We won't let him touch you again! We promise!"She made sure that Aiden was still with them before the hiss of the demon came.

"How dare you touch him! Was killing his kind not enough?!"Celestia spat at the creature who only giggled and slammed his hands to the ground.

"His kind were doom to die from the very beginning! You trying to save such creatures is below a princess,"The demon grumbled and sneered as red light grew from cracks growing in the floor.

,"But if you insist on getting in my way, and defending this little runt... Then your destruction will intertwine with his!"

They watched as the cracks in the ground crawled forth to the group. It began to surround the three of them as growls, screams, and cries rang in their ears. The floor trembled below them and felt unstable while the shadow laughed at them like three flies in a spiders web. They screamed before the floor caved in and carried them down a pit of red fires and screams. Swirling black masses spiraling as it swallowed them and took them away.

The demon howled with laughter before walking away and covering the house with growing blackness. His shadows now had the house, but now the prize was in his world now, and it was his turn to play. He disappeared and fell into his own shadows to follow his prey down to the world he ruled. The realm of nightmares where he himself controlled all evil in his possession. All of which were now going to be directed at Aiden and his friends.

"So child... You have a little help from the princesses of the sun and moon, but you're in my world now,"He growled to himself and smirked as he entered the red and black world he sent them to,"Now we can play on better terms... Game on...!"