Session 07 - Verdant Vines - April 28th
Transcription of Session 07: Verdant Vines, Head Investigator
Date: April 28th
Time: 8:06 p.m.
Interviewer: Doctor Blue Sky, PhD
Blue Sky (BS): Good evening, Miss Vines. I trust your day went well?
Miss Vines seemed in a better mood than when she left our last session.
Verdant Vines (VV): Better than some recent ones, yes. Pendant told me she talked to you about her discovery in your meeting?
BS: Yes, but I don’t think it’s important to her review.
VV: I’m sorry if I got ahead of what you wanted to discuss, Doctor. It’s just something I’m worried is a blessing and a curse.
BS: Your line of work is often fraught with things like that, Miss Vines, isn’t it?
Miss Vines looked down at her lap for a few moments and sighed.
VV: I suppose so. How were your sessions today?
BS: Fruitful in some cases. Cage was not present for his meeting today. Do you know any reason that might be?
Miss Vines appeared confused and then looked over to a set of papers she had at her side. We held our meetings at the end of the day in her tent, and as such she had access to any information I might need. She shuffled through the papers, shaking her head.
VV: I don’t think there’s any reason he would have missed it. I know he’s stubborn at times, but he doesn’t disob— Ah, here we are.
She pulled one paper from the pile.
VV: It seems like he requested a shift transfer right before his normal one started. He moved from perimeter patrol to investigation detail at the hotel on the other side of town.
BS: Does something like this happen normally?
VV: Now and then, yes. I assume someone must have approached him early this morning about it. There’s no detailed reason on the request, just “shift change on mutual request.”
BS: I assume his shift is ending soon, then?
VV: From the look of it, yes. I’ll talk to him about it before bed. I’m sure it wasn’t his intention to miss your meeting.
BS: Thank you. For the sessions I did hold today, and those that the rest of my team covered, it seems like a few other ponies here have shown dreams similar to Lantern’s. I think the occurrence has grown closer to correlation.
VV: Do you think it’s something to be concerned about then?
BS: Ideally, yes, but none of those that have reported it seem troubled because of it. They all passed my colleagues’ reviews.
VV: Did you have another session with Lantern this morning?
BS: Yes, I think it was rather producti—
VV: And did you ask him about taking those herbs you mentioned yesterday?
Miss Vines’ expression looked like one of concern, but her gaze felt like it pierced through me.
BS: Yes, I did. However, we started out discussing a dream he had after my first session. It involved Town Hall. It didn’t seem to him that anything in his dream was different from what he recalled of the location, except that he heard hoofsteps. Have any of your investigators reported finding something there recently?
VV: No. Pendant would have come to me immediately if she’d found anything new worth discussing.
BS: I don’t mean to imply anyone here is hiding something from you, but Lantern did have an… experience that led him to this second journal.
VV: I didn’t take it that way, Doctor, of course. I’ll try to have a meeting with Pendant to discuss it and talk to the guards that have been stationed there with her.
BS: There wasn’t much else that came from my session with Lantern. I assume he’ll be awake soon and I’ll ask if he has time to talk before I retire for the night. I’d prefer to talk when his recollection is clear, instead of relying on what he manages to write down.
VV: As long as he consents, Doctor, it should be fine.
BS: Moving onto Pendant. I think our session was productive, but I can’t truly pin down if there’s any problem with her that needs to be addressed. She’s mentally capable and seems to be making progress on her tasks. I don’t think the case will be an issue for her, but I still recommend some kind of… rest period afterwards. Perhaps a few more sessions with me back in Canterlot.
VV: I don’t really know if she’d go along with that, but I do think it would be helpful. She’s brilliant, really, and I’d hate to turn a blind eye to any issues she’s having based on my opinion of her.
BS: Thank you, Miss Vines. Is there anything you’d like to talk about that’s happened in the past day?
Miss Vines was quiet for a few moments.
VV: I feel like what Pendant has found is just another twisted clue in the grand scheme of things. The message is hopeful, for us and whoever might somehow be alive, but it places everything else in another light.
BS: You mean that—
VV: The other messages we’ve found came from someone else. Are still coming from something, someone else. Maybe this message is just a decoy to draw us closer to a trap we won’t see coming, a revelation we aren’t meant to see. Or maybe I’m being superstitious and it means exactly what it says. It sounds stupid to say, given what we’ve found, but I need something physical or someone that is a witness to prove what’s happening. It’s the only way to cut off the chaff.
BS: Have you ever had a case similar to this?
Miss Vines didn’t respond immediately, seemingly deep in thought.
BS: I don’t know how common magic or “other” things are in your line of work, but I’d assume, rightfully, that this is out of your comfort zone.
VV: That would be putting it mildly.
BS: It would be safe to assume. then, that some of your subordinates are reacting as they would to an unknown challenge. Lantern and Cage are potentially unsettled, either wholly or partially, while you and Pendant are eager and ready to buckle down and overcome it. Of course, this is more than some simple change, and there are other preternatural forces at work: beyond our explanation, rather than unexplainable.
VV: I don’t think you can split it into one or the other, Doctor.
BS: Of course not. A spectrum is more likely, but I don’t think only one side of that line can be expected to react poorly.
VV: So are there any ponies your team is sending away?
BS: A few, yes. Mostly those with insomnia or that have been falling asleep during their work. Not to imply that the future will be different, but none of them are beyond helping yet. With rest, I’m sure they’ll be ready to continue their work soon.
VV: When? I don’t have long to sit and wait on my personnel.
BS: It’s impossible to tell. For some it might be a day or two, others—
We were interrupted by someone bursting into the tent. I did not recognize their face, but they called for Miss Vines to follow. I asked if I could join and am regretful that they agreed.
We ran towards Lantern’s tent, where a few other guards and investigators were gathered outside. I heard Lantern shouting for someone to get away from him. By the time I got a chance to see inside of the tent with Miss Vines, he had been tackled to the floor. Cage was one of three ponies holding him down, trying to keep a knife being controlled by Lantern’s magic away from himself.
His body was covered in shallow cuts, still bleeding, but most of them were grouped around his forehead and eyes. He looked wholly unlike how he seemed this morning during our meeting. I have no recording of his outburst or photographs to offer of the events, but he kept shouting about how “They” were coming, and “She” had already come. One of my colleagues was able to apply a sedative to him.
I do not know if my mixture had an effect on Lantern, but later that night, Cage came to my tent with Lantern’s dream journal. Outside of a few scattered recollections that he had told me about this morning, there was only one thing worth noting. Either just after waking, or subconsciously while sleeping, he had drawn something.
He will be in Canterlot before midnight.
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So, he wasn't fine, as it turns out, after all.
Creepy as heck.
I was confused by this line here. If he's regretful that he asked to come along, then either "agreed" isn't the right term, or the last "I" should be "they", as in "{I} am regretful that they agreed". If they asked if he would come along, then the "I asked" is incorrect here. If it's neither, then I'm confused as to what the doctor agreed to when he was the one to ask permission.
Just noticed the smile of the picture.
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Totally unintended side effect of "drawing" it, really.
Just finished reading this entire story in a single night, that includes reading the two stories that came before this one as well. I just started looking at stories here on this site about two nights ago, but this series of stories has gotten me to make an account and favorite all three entries in the series so that I don't lose track of them.
I've been into horror since I was a kid, and it's been a very long time since I felt so unnerved by a story. There are great creepypastas and other stories on here that I look at and think "That's an awesome idea, I love what they've done here." because most things don't scare me anymore and I instead just kind of judge things based on how the story makes me feel as someone who's loved horror since I was young. Thus far the only other story on this site to really make me excited was "Entry #649" by KitsuneRisu, and even with that one I just loved the idea and how things played out. Nothing really bothered me in it.
This story, even as I type this comment, has me shivering. I can't even remember the last time a horror story made me feel this unsettled. It's one of those stories that makes you feel like you're being watched. The whole otherworldly aura to it all, how it's almost like a mirror world, is perhaps the most unsettling thing. Not knowing what's really going on.
In any case, I chose this page specifically out of the entire story because the entire last section of this entry is one of those things you can't really describe. That last paragraph, the image, and the final line just really unnerve me for some reason.
Overall, just wanted to say you've done a wonderful job with this story, keep up the good work and I'll be looking into your other stories soon.
Shit. That was a mess.
I'm sorry, but his initial screening was troubling, this doctor should have sent him away immediately instead of using him as his puppet to try and gain more information on the situation.
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Personally I think he’s being manipulated very subtly by the Shadow’s, he even says in his last session with Lantern
Lantern looked down at himself as I spoke, and I began to question why I brought this to his attention. I am not a member of this team, nor should I influence this investigation’s outcome or course.
Just a thought but it could be worth noting
Sooooo creepy, I love it! It's amazing how it gets more mysterious and unsettling with each new part. It's great when horror stories don't have a clearly defined "monster", just a series of events where things are just increasingly wrong.
It sends chills up my spine, especially in this after-the-fact format.
Though, given the magnitude of the investigation and the fact that they've already worked out that dreams can have a very unsettling link to the events described in the journals, you'd think before they would try any potentially mind-shattering dream experiments that could leave their team at the mercy of some kind of smiling shadow monster they would call in a specialist.
Like...say... a friendly night deity with near-omnipotent powers within the realm of dreams and nightmares. Like, by god, this is right in Luna's wheelhouse. Celestia ran the country herself for 1000 years, surely she can run it for a week or two so Luna can run defense for the investigation team that is trying to figure out how an entire town, that is also home to the bearers of the elements of harmony, could just up and disappear.
I mean yeah, it's not like you can call up a deity princess for any old matter, but I think the weight of this case would warrant some royal intervention.
At the very least she could ensure they wouldn't be slowly driven to madness by candlelit, smile-filled, dreams while they worked.
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Luna does come up in the finale story. I should have mentioned her involvement sooner, but there was a lot to cover.
Damn you, Blue Sky! I knew it!
Loving the story so far! I don't know if it's just me but the picture at the end has a 404 Not Found error :(
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Yeah, discord changed something that made images stored there not embed properly elsewhere. I'll be going through the stories this week to update the image links.