Nightmare Magic

by Solstice Shimmer

The Experiment

NIGHTMARES

-A study by Princess Twilight Sparkle.
-Edited by Princess Twilight Sparkle
- Overviewed by Princess Luna
-Logged by Spike

Abstract
Have you ever stopped to wonder what would happen if Princess Luna didn’t watch over us in our dreams? We know that dreams aren't really real, dreams are just a succession of images that occur involuntarily in the mind during REM cycle of the sleeping stage. There have been a few studies done on the psychology behind dreams, but to this day they are still not fully understood.

There have been ponies in the past that have tried to uncover what it means to really dream, and why we do it. To date, they have yet to establish a clear purpose for dreaming, other than simply something for the mind to do while we rest. Is it simply because our minds are incapable of stopping and just letting itself run in involuntary autopilot? Or is there something, perhaps more magical about dreaming?

Dream interpretation has been practiced throughout the years by many a pony, and zebras, they attempt to draw more meaning into our dreaming. Interpreters were very useful during our time without Princess Luna. They helped us whenever we had really strong dreams, or they felt off. But now with the return the Princess, I feel like the magic within our dreams has been restored to something more powerful than what it was before.

If you've read my previous study on “The Magic of Dreams” you already know that I have theorized and provided evidence in favor of the theory that dreams contain many magical components within them, many of which that are hard to comprehend and will require further study to fully understand what they are capable of.

So if we carry that knowledge over to this study and ask the question, there is a much deeper meaning to what I am asking.

Would there be any real consequences to our mind and physical body, or is it nothing more than subconscious images reflecting our worries inside our hearts?

What is actually happening to us in the dream world, and what would happen if we’re left to our own devices within the chasm of darkness?

Procedure:
~The following is the experiment that was conducted on the 27th moon of Fall in The Castle of Friendship in Ponyville.
The subject undergoing the procedure was myself, Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Conducting the experiment was also me.
My trusty assistant, Spike ran the data and documented the experiment as it occurred.
As for my failsafe/overseer, Princess Luna, the Guardian of Dreams was there to ensure my safety.

-At 20:00 hrs we began the setup.
Spike assisted in attaching me to a heart monitor and the neural transmitter. I looked over my dictaphone and took a few more spare notes.
We ran a test to ensure that the equipment was in working order.
Test successful, everything seemed to be in order.

-20:45 hrs Princess Luna allows the start of the experiment.
From this point on the information gathered is based on what Spike documented in the LOG during the time of the event as well as my personal experience. I must inform the audience that Spike was informed to write the LOG any way he wished. His job was to document the events as he witnessed. As long as that was accomplished it shall not affect the end result of the experiment.

—Press here for the audio to start—

“Testing testing. Princess Twilight Sparkle present and accounted for. Spike! Say your name,”

“Spike here!”

“Princess?”

“We are present.”

“Okay. Excellent. Today is the 27th Moon of Fall. As I’ve documented in my notes we will be conducting the first experiment of Absence of Dream Magic.

“This information shall prove useful for our investigation.

“The time is now 20:46 hrs. We will begin in 15 mins. Recording of data will continue throughout the process.”

—End—

---

*static* *weird raspy sounds*. -dictaphone turns back on.

“Twilight Sparkle. We are concerned over this.”

*sounds of glass clinking and machines beeping*

“With all due respect, Princess. We have discussed this already. We need to know this information, not just for you, but all of Equestria! They need to understand what we are dealing with here.”

“They know well enough. They need not worry about these things. That's what I’m here for,”

“Yes, but Princess, you won't always be here. What if something happens to the Royal Sisters again? It's been evident in the past that anything is possible.”

“Twilight. We are able to handle ourselves.”

“But what about all those times you've been kidnapped? How about when Tirek stole your power?”

“There are some laws of magic that cannot be worked around. You know this young Sparkle. Even we are unable to break the unruly laws of nature.”

“Well, then that's even more reason to go through with this! We need to know, in case something like that would happen. What if your magic was drained? What if someone stole your magic and prevented you from going into anyone's dreams and the whole entire world is left without you to protect them from themselves? All those dreams and nightmares left to run about and do as they please. Fear running rampant through the streets. Ponies drove to complete madness. A never-ending hell.”

“Young Princess, you cannot let the fear of the future control you.”

“So you admit it could happen!”

“I am simply stating that you can imagine many possible outcomes of the future and stress to no end over it. But have you not learned that it is no use worrying over what may come?”

*slight pause*

“You’re right. I know you're right. But we have to do this.”

“Twilight.”

“You already agreed so there’s no point in going back now. You’ll make sure everything runs smoothly and I don’t get hurt.”

“I cannot control everything, Twilight. Especially if you keep insisting that I draw back my power.”

“I’ll be careful. I promise.”

*static sounds. Monitor beeping.*

Recording ends.

---

Experiment LOG:

Spike here! I don't really know how to write an experiment log, but I’ll do the best I can.

Alright so it’s about 9 o’clock and the subject finally went to sleep. Princess Luna is present so I believe that helped her.

I’m not allowed to go near her the whole experiment unless necessary, neither is the Princess. So we won't mess up the results. But Princess Luna is still keeping an ear out for her dreams, just in case, it gets too dangerous.

Twilight said that I didn't have to write everything down, just the important stuff, so I’ll check in again in an hr.

₁sidenote- Twilight tends to snore. Unrelated to the experiment. Just thought I'd mention it.

10 o'clock- Twilight is sleeping pretty good. Heart rates normal. Neural scans normal. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Princess Luna hasn't sensed anything, so she is reading a book. And I, Spike, am reading a comic book.

11:00- Vitals are still normal. Subject (Twilight) has moved around a bit, but it appears her dreams may still be harmless.
Princess Luna still hasn’t heard anything. I, Spike, have finished my comic. So I’m going to look for another book.

12:00- Vitals look good. Subject Sparkle is doing well. I’m getting really tired. Princess Luna is drinking coffee. I don't like coffee.
Subject Sparkle jerked her leg at about 12:36, but her vitals were still going smoothly.

1:00- Vitals normal. The subject is fine. Princess is awake.

2:00- The young dragon has fallen asleep, I have taken upon myself to fill in the slot for this hour. Subject Sparkle is still sleeping well. I am quite surprised.

Vitals are all normal, and her mind seems to be calm.

3:00- Something is happening.
Heart rate is rising.
Her neural scan is showing some more activity.

3:15- Her heart rate has risen significantly. The neural scan seems to be showing something, but I don't understand what it means.

3:30- Everything is happening very quickly.
It’s hard to keep up with the data myself.
She is thrashing in her sleep. I can feel her dream start to call me. I must resist.

3:45-I’ve taken it upon myself to remove the young dragon from the room. He need not witness what is happening here.
Her heart won’t stop beating so furiously.
She hasn't moved at all in the last few minutes though.

4:00- She quieted down, but she still hasn’t awoken. Quite strange. I’m unsure of what is happening. If only I could see what was happening.

4:30- I’m removing subject from the dream. I cannot allow this to continue.

5:00- It’s extraordinarily difficult to pull her out.
Heart rate high.
Neural scan- undeterminable.
I cannot imagine how damaged she’ll be after this.

-The experiment has been terminated.

-LOG end.

Subject Twilight Sparkle’s Statement:

*rustling sounds. slight thud*

It's ughh… 9 p.m. about one day after the experiment. I was too out of sorts to record anything at that time after the experiment, so we had to delay this statement.
Current status is not good. My heart quickens at every sound, I haven't been able to sleep for hours. I am tired. Exhausted.
It’s hard to describe what I experienced that night, but I have to journalize this so I will do my best.

The first thing I remember was darkness. It seemed as if I was in a windowless room. It was completely empty, yet it still felt familiar in a way, as if I had been there before
I looked around, but I couldn’t see anything. I then decided to light my horn. The soft glow helped me see a little bit, but the darkness was very strong. I looked for a bit more then I saw something on the ground a few feet from my hooves.

I curiously stepped towards it to see what it was. It turned out to be my doll, Smarty Pants. She was laying down on her stomach facing away from me. I smiled at her then proceeded to walk past her.

I walked through the dark, trying to find an exit perhaps. I was somewhat aware I was dreaming, so I tried to add a little logic in my brain. If there wasn't a door maybe I could make one. Or I could just think my way out of this room. You know imagine something else instead of this darkness.

I took a few more steps then I saw something ahead of me. It was really small, so it was hard to tell what it could be. But the closer I walked towards it, the more familiar it felt. There was Smarty Pants again. But this time she had turned a little, facing me more directly.

I simply shrugged it off and kept walking.

Not five steps later I saw it again. This time Smarty Pants was looking right at me.

That freaked me out a little. So I decided to turn the other way.
Yet from the moment I turned, I walked straight into a wall. I rubbed my nose and was confused. Because I was in a room just a second ago right?

I revved my magic a little to see if I could brighten it. I soon regretted that.

In the far left corner was a dark form sitting on a small dollhouse.

I knew better than to walk towards it, but I couldn’t find the will to move away either. I kept my eyes on it, curious if it would come towards me. Dreams do tend to do that, and since I was aware I was dreaming I was curious if I could stop it if necessary.

The dark form turned and it seemed to see me. I felt like it saw me. So I proceeded to try to persuade my dream to curb in a different direction. Maybe give me a bit of power on my end of the corner, if you will.

That wasn’t the case though.

I felt the dark form fly inside my body, trying to overtake my being.

As if by some involuntary response, I began to claw at my chest, as if I could pull it out of me. I kept bashing my hoof against my chest, over and over and over again.

Over and over and over, until I could feel the tip of my hoof piercing my skin.
I couldn’t stop hitting my own chest. I kept bashing my hoof harder and harder against it until I could feel blood dripping down my hoof.

Celestia, it hurt. I’ve never hurt so terribly in my life.

I wanted to stop. I tried to stop. I kept yelling at myself to stop. Blood covered my hooves and my chest as I began to cry, the pain overwhelming.

Finally, I opened my eyes. I was in my room, I could hear Spike snoring, I could hear the machines beeping around me, Princess Luna’s voice.

It was such a relief to be out of that dream. Thank Celestia, Princess Luna pulled me out before anything more severe happened.

But then I heard something. I glanced over to the side of the room, as well as Luna, but I couldn’t tell what had made the noise. I thought I’d get up to go check it out. But for some reason, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move any part of my body.

I tried to lift my legs, but they felt as if Iron had been tied to them. I attempted to lift my head up, but I couldn’t move it either. I struggled against this state, but it was no use. I was stuck.

It was that moment I that I started to see something.

Something unpony. Something immagical. Something Unholy.

It looked like some sort of dark force of magic, but the shape was completely irregular. It had no face, yet I still could feel it staring at me. It’s form staring right into my very soul. It hovered over my body, lowering slowly onto my chest. I felt the pressure of its weight, but I couldn’t see it properly, all it was was darkness.

Then it started to choke me.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t defend myself. I was just a lifeless form, trapped in my body. I screamed inside myself, feeling the force build up in my chest, feeling the crushing weight on my chest and throat. The absence of oxygen burning my lungs.

I keep trying and trying and trying to fight, but the more I tried the harder it clutched at my throat.

I felt the very life leaving my body. The blood pulsing through my veins, the slight bulge of my eyes. I tried to lift my legs, but the fight had suddenly drained out of my body.

But then finally I woke up.

Sweat covered my body, my heart rate was shot, scans were undeterminable.

I examined my body after to see if any actual physical damage had happened. But I couldn’t find anything, except for some slight bruising around my legs.
I’m extremely sore, and I have a slight headache.

After regarding the results as well as my personal experience, this experiment has shown that it’s too risky to attempt to dream without magic. There are too many dark forces out there attempting to destroy ponies within themselves. I have shown that much and will not study this any further.

This is the last I will speak of it.

It’s 12:07. Hopefully, I’ll sleep a little tonight.

Methods: Information will not be disclosed for safety purposes.
DO NOT RECREATE THIS EXPERIMENT.

Ⓒ (2944 R.L.) Equestrian Research Society of Science and Magic.

---

---

Dear Princess Celestia,

It’s your sister Luna. I am writing to you because I came over recently to assist your former pupil, now Princess Twilight Sparkle, in her study of sleep magic. I had advised her against it, but her stubbornness prevailed.

I arrived here yesterday on the 27th moon. It was a bit later than I expected, but I arrived nevertheless.

I trust you have read the papers I sent along with this letter you now hold now in your magic? If not you should read them before you continue this letter, then all I say will make sense.

As you can see since I have just arrived and I was not present at the times that these experiments were documented.

I am now by the young one’s side, trying to pry her from this deep sleep she’s been cursed under.

Her dragon is not here at the present moment so it’s been hours by the time you receive this.
Twilight Sparkle hasn’t awoken.
Every night I try to find her, I haven’t been able to single out her dream.
It is extremely frustrating and disheartening. She’s right here in front of me, yet I cannot reach her psyche.

Please. Come as quickly as you can.

Your Sister- Princess Luna.

Author's Note:

I've been wanting to write a mild horror for about a year now, and the inspiration finally hit. last week. Thanks for reading

Comments

[fanreader999999]

Meh.

[Zaid ValRoa]

Bernhard's door, eh? I like. You've got an interesting story here, but I'm not sure you've done your best with it.

You did a good job with the format, and it was clever to have Spike do the writing. That way some of the minor slip ups can be chalked up to his inexperience.

That being said, I have a few questions regarding the story. How did the ponies dealed with no protection in the dream realm while Luna was banished? How about before that? When Twilight is having her sleep paralysis episode, why didn't Luna try to help her? How does Twilight know she's in a dream from the get go? Was there some procedure involved to start lucid dreaming? It's not specified, so I don't know. Why is the Abstract longer than the analysis and conclusion segments, aside from the logs?

Also, a few sentences here and there feel needlessly convoluted. Take this excerpt, for example:

I trust you have read the papers I sent along with this letter you now hold now in your magic? If not you should read them before you continue this letter, then all I say will make sense.

How does Luna know Celestia is holding it in her magic and she didn't put it on her desk? How does that add any impact to what she's saying? She could just say she should read the papers attached to the letter so it all makes sense.

Don't take this as me saying your story is bad, because it's quite intriguing, and it has a lot of potential, but it needs more work to really shine, and I feel you can do it, should you take the time.
Cheers!

[Zeprto678]

I hope Luna can save her.

[Wolfpackgaming]

The image for the story lunas face just screams “TROLL”

[Solstice Shimmer]

9267192
This wasn’t intended to evolve into anything more than it is. (A writer with lots of spooky/terrifying encounters testing the waters of horror) But anything is possible

[Eskerata]

This was an interesting story. Aside from a few smeg-ups with sentence structure, the overall idea was good. I suppose having Twilight not having been rescued was one way to end this story, but I'm not sure it was the best way. On the other hand, some stories only work if there are questions unanswered.

[Huk]

OK, I’m confused by the ending… Does it mean that the ‘Luna’ Twilight talked to before conducting the experiment was some imposter or was Twilight already dreaming at the time?

[Solstice Shimmer]

9350665
The "Luna" present during her experiments wasn't really Princess Luna.

[Huk]

9353946

OK, thanks for the info

[GabiShy]

Did a fanfic reading of this

[fluttershyfan3030]

9353946
Ok i need to ask: Baring the ending how much was real and how much was Twilight's Dream\Nightmare?

[DarkSnowGaming]

So what I understand, the "Luna" that agreed to the experiment wasn't Luna but some kind of imposter and Twilight is still dreaming? Did she ever wake up? Was that letter she made inside the dream? Will Twilight ever wake up?