Through a Nightmare Darkly

Twilight's screaming rung out over a sleeping Ponyville, the sheer terror rousing many from slumber with barely suppressed shudders of fear and a cold tingle down their spines. This had gone on for a few weeks now, the screaming and the nightmares attached to them. Every three days for the past three weeks, the terror of the town's librarian was shared with anypony in ear shot.

The reason for this terror however was known only to Twilight, for she felt unable to give voice to the things she saw in her dreams. Seeing as how she won't, I will.

Allow me to introduce myself to you all. I am Night Wish, and much like your dear princess Luna, I watch over dreams... Though in my case it is to ensure they are not... Shall we say, disturbed? When Luna does her thing, I'm the one she clears it with, and no... I most certainly have not allowed her to touch Twilight Sparkle's dreams since this began... That however is getting ahead of myself, so allow me to begin this tale properly, no?

The events three weeks past could be summed up simply with a warning against entering the Everfree Forest to catalogue psycho-reactive herbal substances, but that would not give you the real scope of things now would it?

Twilight Sparkle cinched her saddle bags up just a bit tighter and took a deep breath as she raked her eyes over the foreboding treeline of the Ever Free forest. As nervous as the place made her, as well as she knew the dangers of this place, as much as she knew it was foalish, she was going in there. Zecora had made mention of a few plants in the deepest parts of the forest that produced a strange substance that expanded the mind and opened up new avenues of thought. Granted the Zebra had rhymed while doing so, but I digress.

Now Twilight had spent a few days after that looking through all her books on herbology, chemistry, and the like in an attempt to find such a plant. She'd found nothing, and it should be no surprise that she took it upon herself to go and catalogue this here-for-to undiscovered plant for the glory of science... And because it wouldn't quit digging into the back of her mind like a Diamond God after a gem deposit.

Armed with some basic scientific equipment, a few sandwiches, and a rather long checklist of things to examine about her botanical prey, she entered the forest... She would come to regret her decision, quite a great deal really.