Dreamweaver

by Revenant Wings

Chapter 1 - The Dark Descent

Hello…? Is anyone there?

The unicorn scanned her violet eyes around the area she found herself in. It was dark and foreboding, a long hallway made of smoothly-polished stone painted over with bright white paint that had a faint shimmer in the darkness. Despite the brightly colored walls, the place was dark and the unicorn could barely see inches from her face.

Where am I…?

The unicorn turned a corner and looked at the hallway stretching before her. A bright light shone at the end of it and she tentatively stepped forwards towards the light. The place was still unfamiliar to her as she continued on, looking at doors as she passed them and attempting to open them to see if there was something behind them, but most of them were locked.

One of them had a bright light underneath it and the unicorn thought that she might find something in it. She gleefully opened up the door to see what lay beyond it, but as soon as she opened it the light disappeared and she couldn’t even get a peek inside. Not even the full strength of her magic allowed her to light the room up. She tried placing a hoof inside the doorway, but it seemed to be kicked out by the encompassing blackness. Without any further ideas, the unicorn mare continued onwards towards the light.

What is this…?

The source of the light turned out to be a torch, burning brightly and covering a radius of a few feet. The unicorn used her magic and pulled the torch out of its spot within the wall, levitating it in front of her as she continued down the hallway. She reached a doorway at the end of the hall and became afraid, both of going any further and of going back. But she knew that nothing lay behind her and decided to continue forwards. The mare opened the door and stepped out into the next room, closing the door to the hall behind her.

It was a large hall, filled with large windows that let in the faint glimmer of moonlight into the hall. The hall was filled with large pillars and designs of various ponies covered in armor or magical regalia. The unicorn walked carefully into the room, looking around for any signs of life and avoiding as much as she could the eerie shadows cast by the moon, causing everything in the hall to become pale and luminescent.

No. This place can’t be… but it is.

The mare almost immediately recognized the hallway as the main entrance hall to Canterlot Castle. It had to be. The unicorn confirmed her suspicion as she drew close to two of the statues. One was of a wizened grey unicorn with a tremendously long beard that the mare recognized as the great Star-Swirl the Bearded, a name confirmed upon reading the plaque at the base of the statue. The other, also revealed by its plaque, was that of the military pegasus Commander Hurricane, decked out in full military armor and holding a lance at his side.

Now aware of her surroundings, the unicorn sighed in relief and walked a little easier around the hall, guided by the light of her torch. Around the edges of the hall stood three doors. On one end of the hall stood the door she had entered through, a plain and simple wooden door. The other two at the opposite end were larger and had emblems on them: one with the motif of a sun and its waving rays, the other the moon surrounded by the black night sky. The unicorn assumed from her many visits that these were the entries to Celestia’s and Luna’s wings of the castle, and the mare sighed again as she realized that she at least was safe near the homes of the princesses.

But there was a problem. As the mare approached the door with a sun motif and attempted to open it, she noticed it wouldn’t budge. No matter how hard she pulled or how great a spell she used to unlock the door, it refused to move before her. The door with the moon didn’t move much either and, much to the mare’s horror, neither did the door at the entry of the hall. The unicorn found herself trapped within the halls of Canterlot Castle.

As the mare started walking away from the lone door she had entered from, she heard a noise that sounded like a second set of hoofsteps. The mare placed the torch in an empty spot on the wall and ran away towards the shadows, behind the statue of Star-Swirl the Bearded, and stopped. But the hoofsteps kept coming. The mare peeked out from behind the statue and looked into the center of the hall.

There’s somepony else here? But… they don’t look familiar…

The figure that the mare saw was as large as one of the Princesses. For the most part, it looked like one of the princesses, too, with a long horn and two wings and a flowing mane. But two things separated this one from the princesses the mare knew: the first was it was covered almost completely in shadow and, when the mare stayed still enough, she noticed that the snout was more pointed; it was a male, not a female.

“Twilight Sparkle?” came a voice, calm and gentle and deeper and fuller than a mare’s; like an older stallion’s. “We thought we heard you walking about the halls. We—um, I would recognize your hoofsteps anywhere. Come out and show yourself.”

It’s looking for me… but how does it know my name?

Twilight’s breath began to become shorter and shallower. The longer she stared at the figure, the more Twilight felt like she was being choked. She began breathing to the point of hyperventilating and shoved a hoof in her mouth as she noticed the figure turn her direction. But that didn’t stop her from trembling, nor did it stop the sweat from coming down her forehead. Twilight shook where she stood as the figure took more steps towards her, cautiously at first, then increasing in speed.

Twilight couldn’t take it any longer. She bolted from behind the statue of Star-Swirl the Bearded and skirted along the side of the hall, staying within the shadows, before coming to the door with the emblem of the sun. The hoofsteps came closer and closer as Twilight used all her magic to pull at the door, but again it refused to budge. Twilight bolted across the moonlit hall and disappeared in the shadows behind Commander Hurricane, curling herself up into a ball as the hoofsteps continued.

Please don’t look here… please don’t look here…

The hoofsteps came over to the statue of Commander Hurricane as Twilight held her breath. The figure stopped and Twilight watched through the cracks of the hooves at the statue’s base as the figure looked around. Twilight hid herself and closer her eyes as the silence rang throughout the hall, the only thing moving of the unicorn mare being her rapid heartbeat. Eventually, the hoofsteps started up again, but moved away towards the opposite end of the hall. It wasn’t long before Twilight heard the click of a door opening and the creak of it swinging outwards before the door closed – though the click didn’t return – and the hoofsteps disappeared.

Even when the hoofsteps disappeared, Twilight waited a few seconds curled up in a ball before she decided it was safe to move again. Fearing the darkness around her, Twilight bolted for the torch she had placed in the holder and brought it out again, finally feeling at peace. Twilight rechecked the door to the hall and found it still locked. So was the door to Princess Celestia’s wing.

What…?

Twilight found the door to Princess Luna’s chambers would actually move. Twilight tested the door and found it creaked open a little bit.

It’s unlocked… but how? Wait… this must be the door that figure went through.

While Twilight prided herself on her deductive mind, she was afraid to go through the door. After all, the figure that had been looking for her had gone through that door and might still be looking for her. Twilight hadn’t recognized the outline of the figure when it was in the shadows of the entrance hall and was afraid of encountering it again. However, she was also afraid of it coming back, and Princess Luna’s chambers were bound to be safer than the entrance hall and contain more places to hide.

It seems I have no other choice. I just wish I could find Princess Celestia…

Princess Celestia. She would know what to do in a situation like this. Not that Princess Luna wouldn’t, but Celestia was like a second mother to Twilight; she had cared for her and taught her everything from when she was a little filly and first accepted as her personal protégé. Nevertheless, Twilight couldn’t figure out how to contact Princess Celestia at the time and Princess Luna was the only option, so she hesitantly went down the corridor.

It was darker in here than it was in the corridor Twilight had first found herself in. Twilight walked cautiously along, checking every door as she went past. Twilight continued down the hall and found herself at a door that was cracked open. Twilight opened the door and brandished the still-burning torch as she looked around the room. It was small and sparsely furnished, containing a desk, a large pillow used for sitting on the ground, and a bookshelf. On the desk were an oil lantern and a picture frame. Twilight tried turning on the oil lamp, but found it was out of oil and would not work. Twilight turned her attention to the picture frame.

This picture… is that of me?

It certainly looked like Twilight, but it wasn’t a photograph. Instead, it looked like a very detailed drawing, from the skunk stripe of pink in her mane to her violet eyes to her cutie mark. The drawing had even been colored and shaded and looked startlingly realistic. There was no signature in the drawing.

But… what would this be doing in Princess Luna’s room?

There was… something stirring inside Twilight when she saw the picture. It was like pride, pride at seeing that the princess had taken an interest in her. But… why? What did Princess Luna see in her? Yes, she had saved her from Nightmare Moon’s influence, but that was along with the rest of the Elements of Harmony. Yes, she had helped Ponyville accept her, an act that later extended to the rest of Equestria, but that had been with the town’s help as well.

Twilight walked out of the room and continued walking down the hall. Eventually she came to a door with the moon against the black night sky again, Princess Luna’s insignia and cutie mark. The door was open, and Twilight picked up the pace and went towards it, hoping to find Princess Luna there.

Suddenly, a wind came through the hallway. The force was so much and it came so fast that Twilight dropped the torch from her magical grasp. Twilight watched and dived for the torch as it fell to the ground, but she had reacted too late; the torch fell on the ground, the fire smothered and went out, and Twilight was again engulfed in darkness. A second blast of wind came through and Twilight heard a loud bang! from behind her; the mare whipped around to see the door to Luna’s chambers was open, filled with windows that looked out to the night sky and let the pale, eerie light of the moon shine through. Then, as suddenly as they came, the winds stopped.

Twilight picked herself up off the floor and continued towards Princess Luna’s chambers. She looked around, both to the left and the right. No one was in there to her knowledge, and she became afraid again. Twilight looked forwards for signs of another pony’s presence, but the doors were all closed and nothing came through.

Princess Luna! Are you in here!? Please… somepony respond!

But nothing answered Twilight’s calls. The mare approached forward slowly, inching her way into the moonlit room. It was large and spacious with piles of books all over the place. Twilight wished she could sit down and read every single one of them, but there would be time for that later, when she was sure that she was safe. Now, all she wanted was to find Princess Luna and get her to either chase off whatever figure she had seen earlier or open the door to Princess Celestia’s chambers and get her to solve this.

Twilight crept slowly across the room, eventually reaching a desk next to the window. Twilight found a piece of paper on the desk. The light of the moon allowed Twilight to read the note, eventually recognizing it has her own writing, a letter she had sent to Princess Celestia a few years ago on Nightmare Night.

“Dear Princess Celestia: When you first sent me to Ponyville, I didn’t know anything about friendship. I met somepony tonight who was having the same problem: your sister, Princess Luna. She taught me that one of the best things you can do with friendship is to give it to others and help them find it themselves. And I’m happy to report that all of Ponyville has learned that even if somepony seems a little intimidating, even scary, when you offer them your friendship you’ll discover a whole new pony underneath.”

What is this doing in Princess Luna’s chambers?

Maybe Princess Celestia was giving Princess Luna the friendship reports to help her become acclimated with pony society after a thousand years. But… but that was a few years ago and didn’t make sense anymore, not when Princess Luna had become accepted by Equestria again after her banishment. What could Princess Luna want with a note that was a few years old?

“Twilight Sparkle! I thought I heard your voice. Are you in here?”

Twilight’s eyes darted nervously from one end of the room to the other. The hoofsteps returned and approached the room as Twilight heard the deep, masculine voice call out again.

“Twilight! Where are you?”

Twilight’s eyes rested on a large cabinet. The mare galloped over to the cabinet and opened it up to reveal a dark black cloak. Seeing it as the only hiding spot, Twilight leapt into the cabinet and covered herself in the cloak, hiding herself in a ball on the floor as she closed the doors, leaving them open just enough to peek out.

A door on the opposite edge of the room opened up to reveal the dark, shadowy figure standing at the entry of the room. It walked into the room, but even with the moonlight shining on it and the proximity to Twilight hidden in the cabinet, the mare couldn’t make out the details of the figure. Twilight shuddered in her hiding spot in the cabinet as she watched the figure roam about the room.

“Twilight, please… come here. I’m sorry if I scared you at all. I really didn’t mean to.”

You don’t mean to scare me when you’re dark and shadowy and don’t look like a princess that I know – you’re not even a mare – and are looking for me when I don’t know who you are and yet you’re sorry? That doesn’t make any sense!

The shadowy figure continued looking around the room. The more time dragged on, the more Twilight realized the figure wasn’t leaving. A few seconds later, the mare noticed that the figure was looking at the cabinet in which she was hiding. Even more than that, it was looking directly at her hiding spot on the floor. The hoofsteps approached as the figure grew larger and larger to the point that it loomed over Twilight and blocked the light of the moon from coming through the crack.

Twilight couldn’t hold it in anymore and screamed as the figure opened the cabinet and took the cloak off her. But even her screaming was drowned out by the ringing that had appeared in her ears.

“Twilight! Please! It’s me! It’s okay!”

But Twilight didn’t stop screaming. Twilight’s ears didn’t stop ringing. She could see the eerie light of the moon suddenly increasing and covering everything in the pale glow. The detail began to fade from objects as they were swallowed up in a white light from the moon, everything except the shadowy figure of the stallion alicorn in front of her.

“No, no, no, no… Twilight, wait! Don’t wake up yet!”

But Twilight failed to listen. Eventually she collapsed on the floor of the cabinet, still screaming her lungs out as loud as she could and the ringing still in her ears. Twilight could feel her eyes become watery and she trembled in fear on the floor. Eventually, even the stallion alicorn began to fade into the light.

“Twilight… Wait… please…”

But the stallion’s cry was engulfed by the ringing in her ears and the alicorn disappeared into the bright white light. Suddenly everything went black as though Twilight blinked, and when she opened her eyes Twilight saw her surroundings had changed.

She was back in Ponyville, in her room in the tree house and library she lived in. The blue blanket covering her was wrapped tight around her and Twilight eventually kicked it off her to find that the sheets on her bed were almost completely rumpled and wrinkled. The pillow her head was on was doused with sweat. Twilight felt safe, secure, here in her bedroom amongst the piles of books in the library.

Twilight looked at a clock on the wall nearby. It was only around four in the morning, and at least three hours before she had to get up. Twilight went to a closet and pulled a towel out, covering the pillow with it, and laid back down to continue sleeping.

That’s the eighth time I’ve had that dream again. But… it went a bit farther this time. I never found the picture or the letter before.

What could it mean?

Author's Note:

I've been watching too many Amnesia: The Dark Descent videos lately.

Comments

[Doc Crowl]

Interesting. Up vote for the nice title. I'll come back and evaluate it when I'm not nodding off!

[Word Worthy]

Author's Note:
I've been watching too many Amnesia: The Dark Descent videos lately.

Ah, I thought the chapter title sounded suspiciously familiar. Sorry for my tardiness on this , but here's some feedback:

In terms of atmosphere, you did pretty well with portraying the nightmare, although I feel it could be enhanced by some more abstract or surreal elements to reinforce the fact that Twilight is not only in the middle of this nightmare, but is being outright terrified by it. For example, imagine if the cloak she was hiding under had suddenly turned into a bunch of bats that flew away from her and revealed her presence, or the locked doors would unlock and creak open whenever she left it and attempted to open the other, then it shuts again.

I can't speak of Twilight's characterization yet since I'm not far enough into the story, but this little bit of her in the dream world didn't seem to have anything amiss.

When it comes to Rarity's dialogue, I recommend using the word "darling" in her speech as sparingly as possible. I know she says it a lot in the show, but the Rarities in some fanfics seem to use the word in practically every other sentence they utter. And while she does have quite a cultured way of speaking, it should always be remembered that she isn't an aristocrat, and comes from a "commoner" background, so an infrequent departure from her usual eloquence in the right contexts would not be out of character for her.

As for Fluttershy, the key to achieving as much authenticity as possible with her dialogue and mannerisms, is giving her just the right amount of timidness in a given situation. It's quite easy for one to make her overly timid and fearful in on situation, and have her just a tad bit too outgoing in others.

I find that one of the best ways to help ensure that a character's dialogue is up to par with their canon portrayals is picturing the scene in the mind, and mentally reciting the dialogue in that particular character's voice. Then, ask the question, "Would they really say that? Or would they say something else, instead?"