Pray, Hope and Wander

by Flashgen

Session 12 - Verdant Vines - April 30th

Transcription of Session 12: Verdant Vines, Head Investigator
Date: April 30^th
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Interviewer: Doctor Blue Sky, PhD

Despite some issues with this recording, I have included it with this transcript, just like the others that I have sent. Despite listening to it several times, I couldn’t correctly annotate anything within the static. I will do my best to describe what transpired at that time.

Blue Sky (BS): Good evening, Miss Vines. I hope things have gone well today.

Verdant Vines (VV): About as well as we could hope. I was able to get what information I could from Pendant, though she seemed… aloof.

BS: She was rather the same after her outburst yesterday. I hope what she provided was of some help. And did Cage speak to you?

Miss Vines was quiet for several moments.

VV: No, he didn’t, but one of his charges did. I—We knew for some time that Pavé was at the hotel at some point. We only had her name on a guest list, and… I tried to talk to Cage about it, but he refused. Said he “wanted to focus on his work.” I guess he could only do that for so long.

BS: Bottling things up is a common response. Especially when you believe that things will resolve themselves before too long. I don’t think that he needs to be sent away, but—

VV: No, I wouldn’t do that to him. It’s not like we haven’t been searching the rest of Equestria, you know? We’ve had as many agents as we can afford looking in various cities and towns, searching for any sign of someone from Ponyville we can know for sure was there. We even managed to find one of the ponies in the hotel guest book. Apparently they left before anything really odd started to occur. Our agents did the best they could to question them without bringing up exactly what happened. That’s not even counting the one or two groups I’ve sent into the Everfree that came back with nothing, at least as deep as they were able to travel in a day.

Miss Vines took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

VV: And it’s not like we have much else in the realm of clues to go on. These journals are everything, the only thing. But all they seem to want to tell me is what happened, not why. If somepony I knew was here when all of it happened, I don’t know what I would do. I might not have kept it together as long as Cage did.

BS: Like I said: Cage doesn’t seem emotionally or mentally damaged by things like Pendant and Lantern were, but I’d still recommend keeping an eye on him. I won’t be staying in camp very long after tonight. My colleagues have finished their sessions and only a few outliers seem like they need help. I prepared this for you.

I handed Miss Vines my colleagues’ notes on the other members of her team that warranted attention. It was only five other ponies in total out of the few dozen currently in Ponyville.

VV: Thank you, Doctor. Regardless of what happens, I hope they all end u—

At this moment, there was a commotion outside of the tent. I was going to get up to check on it, but Pendant burst into the tent, kicking away a guard that was apparently trying to restrain her.

BS: Pendant?

VV: I thought you’d left for the station an hour ago. The train is going to lea—

Pendant (P): I’m not going to let you stop me!

It was at this point that I noticed the book—marked with several scratches on its front—in Pendant’s hoof, and the knife that floated up in her magical grip.

VV: Pendant, calm down.

BS: Yes, please, we can talk about this.

Miss Vines was closer to Pendant than I was and seemed to be the target of her anger.

P: There isn’t time for that! They’re coming! They’ve been coming! Every second we’ve spent here is nothing but a waste!

The guard that had been kicked away tried to advance of Pendant, prompting her to swing the knife to and fro in the air. Miss Vines and I did the best to keep our distance, and motioned for the guard to do the same.

VV: What did you find, Pendant?

BS: Miss Vi—

VV: Just tell us what you found. You found something right? Something to help the case? We can go over it together, I promise, but just put the knife do—

P: No! No, you’re with them! You have to be. It’s the only explanation. What else could make sense?

As Pendant spoke to herself, her voice lowered in volume and the knife began to falter.

P: You want them to get here! You want them to take everypony away forever. The ones that are gone aren’t coming back. Not as themselves!

It is at this point that the record becomes far too garbled to decipher.

As Pendant continued to ramble, her body began to shake and convulse. While my expertise is in psychiatry, it was obviously the beginnings of some sort of seizure. The journal was the first thing to drop from her grip, falling onto the floor and flipping open, as she seemed set on keeping the knife afloat and defending herself. As her breathing grew ragged, she started to cough and gag, before a pitch black fluid, which I have never seen or heard of exiting a pony, began to spill forth.

The knife finally fell from her magical grip, as her eyes clenched shut and she fell to the floor, shaking. Miss Vines was quick to rush to her side, but I was able to push her aside and stop her. It is thankful that I did. I find it hard to describe exactly what followed in the few seconds after that. A painful, metallic screeching filled the tent and a gust of wind began to pick up. We have confirmed with several other ponies that the wind and screeching were unnoticed and inaudible to the rest of the camp. I believe it is these, combined, that caused an issue with my recording equipment and led to its inaudible state at the end.

Because of the wind, the lamp light within our tent was extinguished, and a sudden chill ran through my spine. Miss Vines and the guard reported the same sensation. Within the dark, I could not make out exactly what occurred to Pendant, but it seemed to have no lasting ill effects on her physically. As the screeching continued, unceasing, Pendant’s body seemed to twist in a way that I could only describe as unnatural and impossible. The only light we were granted was that of a magical bolt that arced from her horn to the ground, illuminating the black liquid that continued to cover her body.

While those frantic few seconds are not entirely crystal clear within my memory, I do recall what I believe to be a voice that was not my own, Miss Vine’s, Pendant’s, or the guard’s. It said “not ready.” Both Miss Vines and the guard do not share my recollection, while Pendant is currently comatose and being transported to Canterlot. As quickly as it began, the wind and screeching ceased. The light within our tent returned and the journal lay closed on the floor. Pendant was unconscious and the black liquid was completely absent from the ground.

The journal will be transcribed, after it is carefully examined and quarantined long enough to be certain it poses no harm. It will be provided soon.

Addendum: There is still one thing about that night that I am uncertain of. In the darkness, it was hard to make out with my eyes, but I could feel it behind me. The tarp that had been touching my hind hooves was gone during that screeching, but I could feel it when the lights came back.

Comments

[Clawfoot]

I wonder if these beings are one of those types the becomes more powerful the MORE they are known about.

[Glen Gorewood]

Well...I did not see that coming.
It seems like these things, these interdimendional entities whatever they are, pose a far larger threat than imagined. And that implication of ponies taken being returned but not being the same is chilling. It also raises the question of what happens to the originals?

Glen Gorewood

[Zaknel]

So, they can take people in and out of this dimension at will?

[Slick146]

Eldritch Abominations know no rules!

[Godiswithus3]

Well, that was Trippy.

[okuyasu]

I have a theory: Oryx

[The Gray Hat]

9423398
https://youtu.be/Cpw9wWM-UN4

[Gavier]

Okay now I'm genuinely spooked. First of all why is Cage still here?! He was going to be sent to Canterlot before midnight of the 28th!

Also, there's literally no way that Laffy Taffy just "came back". This is a horror story and that colt is 100% not a colt.

Thank the sun for me finding this story early in the morning, because I do NOT want to read this at night but also I know I won't stop reading.

[Flashgen]

10216786
The "He" in that last entry for the 28th was Lantern.

[KvAT]

As her breathing grew ragged, she started to cough and gag, before a fluid, pitch black, that I have never seen or heard of exiting a pony, began to spill forth.

Well, there's the ectoplasm. God help them all, because most likely, not even the princesses can.