Ectoplasmby Neobreaker10ChaptersDarkness on the horizonThe forest of illusionNever aloneNowhere is safeAwakeningThe millennia old cavesStand against the shadowsDarkness on the horizonThe sun slowly peeked over the horizon illuminating the small town of ponyville; it cast its light like a blanket over the town which had just begun to wake up. The light stretched over rooftops and across the streets, just slightly off from the center of town laid the local library where a purple unicorn had just begun to stir. “Hmm?” Twilight groaned, wincing as the sunlight poured in through her bedroom window. She slowly sat up and stretched letting out a long and relaxed yawn. “Spike” she called, “Yes Twilight?” he replied while hurrying upstairs, “Could you please make us some breakfast?” “Sure”. Twilight watched spike rush down to the kitchen, she let out a soft sigh as she looked out the window, and she thought to herself, “Today is going to be a great day.” After a filling breakfast Twilight trotted outside. As she breathed in the fresh morning air she sighed, “It feels great to be alive”. She smiled and strolled into town, everything was so peaceful. A day had never been better, the shops were bustling and everypony went about their business. “OK, let’s see” Twilight looked down to her shopping list, “not much, just some new quills, and some cupcakes” she tucked away her list and walked off to sugarcube corner for her first item. The bells rang as Twilight opened the door signalling her arrival. “Oh Twilight, I’m so glad you’re here, what can I get for you” Pinkie Pie bounded over sporting a tremendous grin. “Hi Pinkie” Twilight replied, “I’d like four cupcakes please” she levitated four bits onto the counter. “Oki doki loki” Pinkie cheerfully answered before hopping into the kitchen. About 3 minutes later the kitchen doors opened again and she hopped back out with a box in your mouth. Twilight thanked her and then started talking, “So Pinkie, how have things been going around here?” she asked. “Oh, nothing too much, especially since all those reports of missing ponies” Pinkie tapped her hoof to her chin; Twilight shot her gaze over to pinkie upon hearing this. “What reports?” she asked with a concerned tone, “Oh, just yesterday afternoon I was making some deliveries when I came across several posters with ponies pictures on them and the word “missing” above the photos”. Twilight was frozen in shock, she had no clue this had happened, how did this happen, and where? “Okay, so where did you see these posters?” Twilight asked Pinkie in a rush as they hurried down the street, “Just over there” she answered. Twilight slowed down as she looked over the posters, “so many” she gasped while looking over the posters, she even saw some ponies she knew, “Thunderlane, Roseluck, Braeburn, all missing, and all last seen in the exact same location. Outside the unknown woods” Twilight thought over the photos for a while before darting towards sweet apple acres. “Hey Twilight” Pinkie shouted, “you forgot your cupcakes”, “hold that order” she called back, “I need to ask Applejack about Braeburn, he lives in appaloosa and I need to find out more about this.” When she arrived at sweet apple acres Twilight ran right up to the farmhouse and banged on the door as hard as she could. “Applejack, come out here, I need to talk to you about something” she called urgently; her calls weren’t answered by applejack coming to the door, but by her older brother Big Macintosh. “Uh Twilight, next time try not to break down the door” he commented pointing to the crack Twilight's pounding made. “Oh, sorry” Twilight responded with a sheepish smile, “do you know where Applejack is?”, “Should be out in the barn”. That tip was all Twilight needed, she hurried to the barn where she found Applejack pitching hay. “Applejack!” she called as she ran in, “Whoa there Twilight” Applejack slowed Twilight down, “yall’re almost as panicked as a mouse in a cat show. Now what’s the matter?” Twilight took some time to calm down before asking what she had come to ask in the first place. “Have you seen Braeburn lately?” she asked while trying to stay calm, “of course” Applejack replied, “he stopped by this mornin’ for a visit and then trotted off to town, did yall see him?” “Well” she paused, “sort of”. “Oh, is he alright?” “I don’t think so”. Applejack looked over to Twilight, “What do you mean “I don’t think so”?” Twilight then told her about the “missing” poster. “Pinkie showed me a bunch of posters for missing ponies” Twilight looked down. “Braeburn was on one of them”, Applejack dropped the pitchfork and stared in shock “But how, why, where?”, “Hmm” Twilight tried to remember what the poster said. “well I don’t really recall seeing how or why, but I do know where. But that’s what puzzles me” Twilight remarked, “I don’t care about the puzzle, I just want to know where he is” Applejack replied in a worried tone. “But that’s the thing” Twilight commented remembering the posters, “there was one thing all the posters had in common, all the victims were last seen entering a place called the unknown woods.” The forest of illusionTwilight left sweet apple acres; she could tell that Applejack needed some space after the news that Braeburn had gone missing. “Twilight” a voice shouted out, she turned her head to see her assistant Spike running up. “Twilight, did you see all those “missing” posters?” Spike asked after catching up. “Yes, I did” she replied with a tone that she usually reserved for right before a journey, and Spike noticed this and asked Twilight a question, “You’re going to try to find out what happened to them aren't you” he grimly remarked, “I figure that if I can find out what happened to them I stand a chance of stopping these disappearances”, she confidently pointed out, “But what if you go missing just like everypony else!?” Spike asked even more concerned than before. “That’s a chance I’ll have to take.” As they continued further outside of ponyville Spike remembered something. “Twilight” he sighed, “isn't everfree that way?” he pointed behind them towards the other side of town. Twilight looked behind them and then at Spike, “Well I don’t remember the posters saying they were last seen in the everfree forest” she pointed out with a smirk, “besides, I saw a strange mist out here when I was leaving sweet apple acres” sure enough, she was correct as a white/grey fog began to envelop them. Spike shuddered “And I thought that dark grey fog was bad, this is just plain creepy”, “True” Twilight replied, “but we can’t stop now”. They both continued deeper into the fog until they had to hold each other’s hand/hoof so they wouldn't be separated. Soon they exited into a less dense patch of fog where an enormous forest lay in front of them, but this forest did not look friendly at all; the trees had no leaves on them and their bark was a charcoal black, the grass wasn't dead but it was instead long and a light grey color. “Well” Twilight gulped, “this must be where everypony has gone missing.” Twilight and Spike were too busy looking at the forest to see something creeping up behind them. “YAAAH” they both screamed as they felt a hoof on their shoulders. They turned around to see an old Mare behind them, “Yeesh” spike panted heavily, “don’t sneak up on us like that”. “Oh, sorry” she apologized, “it’s just that, you weren't planning on going in there are you?” Twilight quickly answered, “Yes we were, is there something we should know?” The old Mare thought for a second then turned to them, “Well, all I know is that the trees are never in the same position in there”, “What do you mean?” Twilight asked with a confused look on her face. “I’m saying that if you go in there the trees around you will change, they will be in one spot one second and the next they will be elsewhere. You’ll never be able to tell if you’re going in a circle or not.” Twilight thought this over for a second, “Anything else I should know?”, “Just one, in the forest of illusion nothing is as it seems” the elderly mare slipped into the fog after saying this and vanished. “Okay” Spike remarked, “Things have just gone way past creepy now”, Twilight looked over to Spike and saw the look of fear in his face. She sighed, “Spike, you stay out here”, “What?” he looked over at Twilight in surprise. “If I get lost in there I’ll shout “help” and then I want you to call to me, I’ll use that to find my way out of there”, she knew that this would keep Spike safe and be her escape route too, “Alright” he perked up, “I can do that”. “Good” Twilight replied before turning to the forest, “here goes nothing” she gulped before walking into the forest, and out of Spikes sight. Never aloneShe had only walked for ten minutes, but despite this she was already lost; every tree looked exactly the same and the fog wasn't making it any easier. “Hello?” Twilight called, hoping that somepony would answer, but her call was only answered by a seemingly endless void of silence, marred only by the sound of a light breeze in the air. Twilight could not remember feeling so alone and scared in her life, “I hope I find somepony here soon” she thought, but she soon heard the sound of hoof steps galloping towards her. She backed up as she spun her head, looking for the source of the noise until she saw a shadow in the fog getting closer. Twilight shuddered as she wondered what was running towards her until she heard it shout, “help me”. Soon she could make out the shadow to be a caramel colored stallion wearing a brown leather vest, Twilight was relieved. It was Braeburn. “Get me out of here!!!” he shouted as he ran as fast as he could until he ran smack into Twilight. “Oof” she gasped before falling backwards, when she opened her eyes she saw Braeburn on the ground trembling like he’d seen a ghost. “Help me, get me out of here, before IT finds me” he stammered, “Calm down” Twilight urged, “What’s after you?” Braeburn took a second to regain his breath and then began to explain, “Sorry about that, I was running from…. Something. I don’t know what it was, all I saw of it was a shadow moving in the fo-” he cut his sentence short and turned pale. “H-he-he’s here” Braeburn whispered, Twilight turned around just in time to see a shadow melt into the fog. “Heh-heh-heh” they heard a chuckle from somewhere in the fog, “I see you” they heard it echo around, seemingly coming from everywhere. “Well, is this what you were running from?” Twilight asked with a slightly panicked tone, “Yes, now we have to get out of here”, “Well it just so happens that I have a way out”. Twilight turned her head to the sky and shouted, “HELP!!!” Spike heard her shout and began calling to her, “over here Twilight”, back in the forest she heard his calls, “This way Braeburn” she called as they ran into the direction of spikes calls. Back where they had met a shadow began to form and talk to itself, “Well, clever move Twilight Sparkle” it remarked in its grating voice, “but it won’t matter, you may make it, but he won’t” it chuckled menacingly before melting into the fog. Farther away Twilight and Braeburn had almost made it, “Over here Twilight” Spike called, they were close now. “Urgh” Braeburn choked as he stopped in his tracks, “What are you doing, come on” Twilight shouted, then she saw it, the fog had become dense and was wrapped around his throat and hooves. Twilight hurried to help him but stopped when she saw the shadow from earlier take form behind him. Twilight stood frozen with fear, she couldn't make out quite what the shadow was but she saw a few details. It was tall and almost skeletal in how thin it was, it stood on two hind legs and had four tentacles coming out of its back, however it was the creature’s head that terrified her the most, she couldn’t see much detail, but it did have two small, glowing, unblinking dots situated in much larger empty sockets. She turned to run but some kind of magic grabbed her, she was forced to look over to where the shadow stood. “Running away so soon?” it hissed at her, “I’ll let you go, but only after I slowly kill your little friend here” it looked down to Braeburn who was still being held in place and then back to Twilight, “and I’ll make you watch” it chuckled with delight as it put its clawed hand on the beck of Braeburns head. The shadow tightened its grip slightly, Twilight could see dark patches forming on Braeburns body, she wanted to help but she too was being held in place. Soon the dark patches grew, formed small orange embers, and began to shrivel, Braeburn tried to yell but all that escaped was a small, pathetic squeak. Twilight could only watch as his flesh slowly was seared off, eventually he was almost unrecognizable as his bones were showing in several areas and his skin was now a shriveled, burnt dark green, He opened his mouth and could only squeak out a small pathetic “help”. The shadow, which Twilight could now make out a little better, grinned maliciously, it leaned down to Braeburns deformed ear and whispered “Too late”, it clenched its grasp, Twilight heard a loud crunch as Braeburn fell down dead with blood seeping from the back of his head. Twilight felt herself being let go, she turned quickly and ran without hearing the shadow snicker, “run, run, run, fun, fun, fun. Oh but the fun is just beginning” it cackled as it once again melted into the fog. Nowhere is safeTwilight ran as fast as she could towards Spikes voice, she could hardly believe what she had just witnessed, but whatever that thing was she did not want to be its next victim. At the exit of the forest Spike peered into the woods and saw somepony running towards him, it was obscured because of the fog but as it got closer he could make out a familiar face, “Twilight?” He was about to continue his sentence but was cut off when Twilight levitated him onto her back and kept running. “Twilight” Spike called over the clatter of her hooves and heavy breathing, “what was in there, where’s Braeburn?” Twilight answered him under her breath, “He’s not coming out, and we’ve got to run.” Spike looked at her with a questioning look, “What? You just left him in there?” “Not exactly, I’ll explain later, but first we have to post a caution sign and then we have to warn the princess” Twilight new that if the princess didn’t know then everypony would be in grave danger, she had already seen what happened to the ones who were already missing, these disappearances had to stop. Twilight and Spike were nearing ponyville when they saw a horrifying sight, the fog had moved in. “oh no” Twilight gasped as she ran into the fog covered town, “What’s going on? Why is ponyville so foggy?” Spike asked, “Spike, watch our back” Twilight responded in a panicked tone, “We were followed”. Once in ponyville everything seemed eerily quiet, everything seemed so grey and dark. Twilight cringed when she felt something touch her hoof, but when she looked down all that was there was a slip of paper with something written on it. She picked up the slip and began reading it aloud, “Hello my friend, you didn’t think that I’d forgotten about you.” Twilight gave the slip to Spike, “this is not good, IT’S here!” “O-kaaay” Spike responded while sounding a little bit worried, he looked at the other side of the slip and tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “What is it spike” she turned her head to the baby dragon who showed her the other side of the slip and again she read what it had to say, “I have you right where I want you”, Twilight dropped the slip and ran with spike holding on to her for dear life. “Spike, we are in trouble, I don’t know how but it followed us here. Now where would the library be?” Twilight was in no mood to be messed with, they were being hunted and had to find the library as soon as possible. “Well, if you would slow down you would see that we’re running around it” Spike replied, still holding on tight, Twilight screeched to a halt sending spike toppling off her back; she looked to her left, “Oh, that’s convenient” she grabbed spike and hurried inside, but before Twilight shut the door she looked to a nearby alleyway, where she saw two tiny red lights gleaming in the shadows, that was incentive enough to slam the door. Once inside she turned to spike; who was already holding a quill and was prepared to write, “Take this down Spike” she began to recite the words to this next letter, which she hoped would not be her last. “Dear Princess Celestia, I’m writing this letter to warn you that ponyville has entered a grave state of emergency. A strange and utterly vile creature took residence in a forest to the opposite side of ponyville from everfree, but it has followed me here. Please princess, we need your help. Your faithful student, Twilight sparkle” after she finished, Spike put a ribbon around the letter and sent it on its way. AwakeningTwilight looked around, it was dark with a white fog everywhere, “hello?” she called, hoping for someone, anyone to answer, but what she heard was an evil cackle in the shadows along with the sound of random voices. The creature’s voice echoed everywhere, one word over and over; “Goodnight”, Twilight ran even though she did not know where she was going. Then she saw the creatures shadow in the fog and although she was running it stayed right in front of her, like she wasn’t even moving. She felt the fog grab her by the hooves, she tried to run but could only watch as the shadow of the creatures shadow engulfed her entirely. She looked around in the darkness, the fog was only up to her ankles now but it still held fast, she looked in front of her and heard the creature’s voice again, “too late” at that moment two enormous, glowing red eyes appeared in front of her as the voice cackled loudly, Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs as her surroundings flashed white, awaking her from her unconsciousness. Twilight woke up with a start while still screaming, she stopped when she noticed a familiar surroundings; she was in a room at the ponyville hospital. “You okay Twilight?” she heard a familiar voice, when she turned her head and smiled to see Spike running towards her with tears in his eyes. Spike leaped up and gave Twilight a tight hug, “Twilight, I was so worried, I thought I’d never see you again” he was on the verge of crying. Twilight was relieved; she had survived, but right now she needed spike to let go, “Err, and Spike” she commented with a slightly pained tone, “yes?” “Please let go, my chest still hurts.” “Oh, sorry”, Spike let go and dropped to the floor. “Miss Twilight” Nurse Redheart poked her head in, “you have visitors”, Twilight turned to the door as her friends all ran in. “Twilight, are you okay?” Applejack was the first to comment, Rainbow dash was the next to speak up, “Princess Celestia told us what happened, we were all worried”, Twilight did her best to smile, “Well, my chest still stings, I lost a lot of blood, and my leg is broken, so I’d say I got lucky”. Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped up and down, “I know, we should all sign her cast” She dashed out and in less than a second ran back in with a bunch of markers. Each of them took turns writing their names on Twilight's cast, “Thanks for visiting me” Twilight lay back in her bed and turned her head to the window, despite everything being normal there was still a chill in the air. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and squinted as she saw a grey mist miles away on the western mountains, she paled. Miles out in the mist a shadow watched ponyville from the fog, and a grating voice echoed, “Beware Sparkle, the nightmare is not yet over.” END? The millennia old cavesIt had only been moments from when spike sent the letter when he belched up a reply, “It says; I’m on my way” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, now that the princess was on her way they just had to wait in the library till then, however the creature had other ideas. Twilights ears perked up as she heard a hissing behind her, “Spike, is that you?” she asked, turning to her assistant, but she stopped talking when she noticed a dark grey ooze slithering under the door. Twilight shivered and backed up into a bookshelf, they were trapped, “Twilight, what’s that?” spike asked with a quivering tone, “I’m not sure, I just saw its shadow earlier, I-“, Twilight was cut off by a voice coming from the ooze, “Heh-heh-heh”, Twilight froze at the creatures grating voice, “you may try, but it’s over”, it chuckled as it started to reform itself into its bipedal state. “THIS WAY SPIKE!” Twilight shouted crashing through the window with Spike running behind her, the creature faded into the fog behind them, “You can run, but there is nowhere you can hide”; Twilight and Spike darted across streets and through alleys, but no matter where they went they could still hear its voice constantly mocking them. They kept running, on and on for what seemed like hours they ran all over ponyville until Twilight couldn’t hear the creature’s voice anymore. “*pant* you think *huff* we lost it?” Spike asked gasping for breath, “I don’t think so, it’s almost as if it wanted us here” Twilight looked to their right where ponyville elementary stood, looming over them. Twilight started to walk towards the school when she heard spike shouting to her, “Twilight wait, if it wants us here then don’t go in”, Twilight replied, still walking, “That may be true, but right now it’s our only way of stopping it”, She trotted up to the door and it opened with a loud creek, Spike looked around nervously before running in after Twilight, “I know I’m going to regret this.” After walking in they took a second to look around “What a mess” Twilight remarked quietly as they walked through the abandoned building, and it was; Desks were tipped over, chairs were all over the place, and the walls and chalkboards were scratched up and tarnished like the place had been under heavy assault. Room after room and still the same appearance, “Are you sure there’s something in here?” Spike asked nervously, “No, but I intend on findin-WOAH” Twilight stopped her sentence when she fell through the floor. “Twilight, you okay?” Spike called down, “Yeah, I just fell into this underground passage” she looked around, this path seemed old, like before ponyville was built, “I’m going on ahead” Twilight Started walking down the tunnel, “Wait for me” Spike shouted, but the floor closed up before he could follow. Twilight kept on moving further through the tunnels, they seemed to never end, every turn she took lead to another. “How far down do these go? I've been walking for hours” Twilight was now breathing heavily, all she saw in these tunnels were walls of dirt with roots coming out of them. However she soon began to notice that the walls were made of stone bricks further down the tunnel and so, decided to follow that route, “I must be getting close, these tunnels look- wow” Twilight stood there shocked, for right in front of her was an enormous cavern filled with a thin black mist, at its center lied what looked to be a shrine, “this is it, I will stop that creature here.” Stand against the shadowsBack above ground Spike paced outside the school, “ooh, I hope she’s okay” he stammered, but regardless, he was thankful that he hadn’t been taken by the creature. Suddenly a bright flash of light appeared in the sky causing Spike to shield his eyes, when he looked back he breathed a sigh of relief, Celestia had arrived. “I apologize for my delay, something was blocking my magic, now what was this about a dark creature, and where’s Twilight?” She asked with a worried look on her face, “Well, a few days ago ponies started disappearing, Twilight and I went down to a strange forest to find the source. I stayed outside of the forest so Twilight could find her way out, but when she did she was in a state of panic. We ran back here to find that a dark creature had invaded and filled the town with fog, it lured us to ponyville elementary where Twilight and I got separated, and now she’s stuck in a network of tunnels.” Spike gasped for air after finishing, “Then we must hurry” Celestia and Spike looked over to the school and went inside. Down in the cavern Twilight trotted up to the shrine and called into the fog, “alright, you’ve got me here, now what do you want?” She listened through the fog and heard what she was waiting for, the voice of the creature. “Well, well, well, this is the first time somepony actually came to look for me. I'm flattered really" it sourly remarked, Twilight searched the cave with her eyes but could not see anything, “Where are you” She shouted. A chortle echoed through the cavern and the creatures shape appeared in the mist on the shrine, “it ends here you monster” Twilight reared back and fired a magic bolt at the creature, but much to her dismay the bolt went right through without harming it, “Is that all?” the creature sported a menacing tone, “my turn” in an instant it’s 4 tentacles extended beating Twilight senseless, afterwards it launched a ghostly fire dead into her chest. Twilight gasped and curled up shivering with pain, “Y-you c-can’t win” she was struggling to speak and let out a gasp of air with each word, “I won’t *gasp* give up” Twilight struggled to stand up but managed it, her body protested and she felt a stinging pain in her rear leg “it must be broken” she thought. Twilight gasped again as one of the creatures tentacles slammed into her chest causing her to spit up blood, the creature walked up to her motionless body and leaned down next to her head, “Goodnight” it cackled before fading into the fog. Twilight tried to move, tried to do something, but she couldn’t do anything but lie there as her vision faded; drifting into unconsciousness, she began to dream.
Darkness on the horizonThe sun slowly peeked over the horizon illuminating the small town of ponyville; it cast its light like a blanket over the town which had just begun to wake up. The light stretched over rooftops and across the streets, just slightly off from the center of town laid the local library where a purple unicorn had just begun to stir. “Hmm?” Twilight groaned, wincing as the sunlight poured in through her bedroom window. She slowly sat up and stretched letting out a long and relaxed yawn. “Spike” she called, “Yes Twilight?” he replied while hurrying upstairs, “Could you please make us some breakfast?” “Sure”. Twilight watched spike rush down to the kitchen, she let out a soft sigh as she looked out the window, and she thought to herself, “Today is going to be a great day.” After a filling breakfast Twilight trotted outside. As she breathed in the fresh morning air she sighed, “It feels great to be alive”. She smiled and strolled into town, everything was so peaceful. A day had never been better, the shops were bustling and everypony went about their business. “OK, let’s see” Twilight looked down to her shopping list, “not much, just some new quills, and some cupcakes” she tucked away her list and walked off to sugarcube corner for her first item. The bells rang as Twilight opened the door signalling her arrival. “Oh Twilight, I’m so glad you’re here, what can I get for you” Pinkie Pie bounded over sporting a tremendous grin. “Hi Pinkie” Twilight replied, “I’d like four cupcakes please” she levitated four bits onto the counter. “Oki doki loki” Pinkie cheerfully answered before hopping into the kitchen. About 3 minutes later the kitchen doors opened again and she hopped back out with a box in your mouth. Twilight thanked her and then started talking, “So Pinkie, how have things been going around here?” she asked. “Oh, nothing too much, especially since all those reports of missing ponies” Pinkie tapped her hoof to her chin; Twilight shot her gaze over to pinkie upon hearing this. “What reports?” she asked with a concerned tone, “Oh, just yesterday afternoon I was making some deliveries when I came across several posters with ponies pictures on them and the word “missing” above the photos”. Twilight was frozen in shock, she had no clue this had happened, how did this happen, and where? “Okay, so where did you see these posters?” Twilight asked Pinkie in a rush as they hurried down the street, “Just over there” she answered. Twilight slowed down as she looked over the posters, “so many” she gasped while looking over the posters, she even saw some ponies she knew, “Thunderlane, Roseluck, Braeburn, all missing, and all last seen in the exact same location. Outside the unknown woods” Twilight thought over the photos for a while before darting towards sweet apple acres. “Hey Twilight” Pinkie shouted, “you forgot your cupcakes”, “hold that order” she called back, “I need to ask Applejack about Braeburn, he lives in appaloosa and I need to find out more about this.” When she arrived at sweet apple acres Twilight ran right up to the farmhouse and banged on the door as hard as she could. “Applejack, come out here, I need to talk to you about something” she called urgently; her calls weren’t answered by applejack coming to the door, but by her older brother Big Macintosh. “Uh Twilight, next time try not to break down the door” he commented pointing to the crack Twilight's pounding made. “Oh, sorry” Twilight responded with a sheepish smile, “do you know where Applejack is?”, “Should be out in the barn”. That tip was all Twilight needed, she hurried to the barn where she found Applejack pitching hay. “Applejack!” she called as she ran in, “Whoa there Twilight” Applejack slowed Twilight down, “yall’re almost as panicked as a mouse in a cat show. Now what’s the matter?” Twilight took some time to calm down before asking what she had come to ask in the first place. “Have you seen Braeburn lately?” she asked while trying to stay calm, “of course” Applejack replied, “he stopped by this mornin’ for a visit and then trotted off to town, did yall see him?” “Well” she paused, “sort of”. “Oh, is he alright?” “I don’t think so”. Applejack looked over to Twilight, “What do you mean “I don’t think so”?” Twilight then told her about the “missing” poster. “Pinkie showed me a bunch of posters for missing ponies” Twilight looked down. “Braeburn was on one of them”, Applejack dropped the pitchfork and stared in shock “But how, why, where?”, “Hmm” Twilight tried to remember what the poster said. “well I don’t really recall seeing how or why, but I do know where. But that’s what puzzles me” Twilight remarked, “I don’t care about the puzzle, I just want to know where he is” Applejack replied in a worried tone. “But that’s the thing” Twilight commented remembering the posters, “there was one thing all the posters had in common, all the victims were last seen entering a place called the unknown woods.”
The forest of illusionTwilight left sweet apple acres; she could tell that Applejack needed some space after the news that Braeburn had gone missing. “Twilight” a voice shouted out, she turned her head to see her assistant Spike running up. “Twilight, did you see all those “missing” posters?” Spike asked after catching up. “Yes, I did” she replied with a tone that she usually reserved for right before a journey, and Spike noticed this and asked Twilight a question, “You’re going to try to find out what happened to them aren't you” he grimly remarked, “I figure that if I can find out what happened to them I stand a chance of stopping these disappearances”, she confidently pointed out, “But what if you go missing just like everypony else!?” Spike asked even more concerned than before. “That’s a chance I’ll have to take.” As they continued further outside of ponyville Spike remembered something. “Twilight” he sighed, “isn't everfree that way?” he pointed behind them towards the other side of town. Twilight looked behind them and then at Spike, “Well I don’t remember the posters saying they were last seen in the everfree forest” she pointed out with a smirk, “besides, I saw a strange mist out here when I was leaving sweet apple acres” sure enough, she was correct as a white/grey fog began to envelop them. Spike shuddered “And I thought that dark grey fog was bad, this is just plain creepy”, “True” Twilight replied, “but we can’t stop now”. They both continued deeper into the fog until they had to hold each other’s hand/hoof so they wouldn't be separated. Soon they exited into a less dense patch of fog where an enormous forest lay in front of them, but this forest did not look friendly at all; the trees had no leaves on them and their bark was a charcoal black, the grass wasn't dead but it was instead long and a light grey color. “Well” Twilight gulped, “this must be where everypony has gone missing.” Twilight and Spike were too busy looking at the forest to see something creeping up behind them. “YAAAH” they both screamed as they felt a hoof on their shoulders. They turned around to see an old Mare behind them, “Yeesh” spike panted heavily, “don’t sneak up on us like that”. “Oh, sorry” she apologized, “it’s just that, you weren't planning on going in there are you?” Twilight quickly answered, “Yes we were, is there something we should know?” The old Mare thought for a second then turned to them, “Well, all I know is that the trees are never in the same position in there”, “What do you mean?” Twilight asked with a confused look on her face. “I’m saying that if you go in there the trees around you will change, they will be in one spot one second and the next they will be elsewhere. You’ll never be able to tell if you’re going in a circle or not.” Twilight thought this over for a second, “Anything else I should know?”, “Just one, in the forest of illusion nothing is as it seems” the elderly mare slipped into the fog after saying this and vanished. “Okay” Spike remarked, “Things have just gone way past creepy now”, Twilight looked over to Spike and saw the look of fear in his face. She sighed, “Spike, you stay out here”, “What?” he looked over at Twilight in surprise. “If I get lost in there I’ll shout “help” and then I want you to call to me, I’ll use that to find my way out of there”, she knew that this would keep Spike safe and be her escape route too, “Alright” he perked up, “I can do that”. “Good” Twilight replied before turning to the forest, “here goes nothing” she gulped before walking into the forest, and out of Spikes sight.
Never aloneShe had only walked for ten minutes, but despite this she was already lost; every tree looked exactly the same and the fog wasn't making it any easier. “Hello?” Twilight called, hoping that somepony would answer, but her call was only answered by a seemingly endless void of silence, marred only by the sound of a light breeze in the air. Twilight could not remember feeling so alone and scared in her life, “I hope I find somepony here soon” she thought, but she soon heard the sound of hoof steps galloping towards her. She backed up as she spun her head, looking for the source of the noise until she saw a shadow in the fog getting closer. Twilight shuddered as she wondered what was running towards her until she heard it shout, “help me”. Soon she could make out the shadow to be a caramel colored stallion wearing a brown leather vest, Twilight was relieved. It was Braeburn. “Get me out of here!!!” he shouted as he ran as fast as he could until he ran smack into Twilight. “Oof” she gasped before falling backwards, when she opened her eyes she saw Braeburn on the ground trembling like he’d seen a ghost. “Help me, get me out of here, before IT finds me” he stammered, “Calm down” Twilight urged, “What’s after you?” Braeburn took a second to regain his breath and then began to explain, “Sorry about that, I was running from…. Something. I don’t know what it was, all I saw of it was a shadow moving in the fo-” he cut his sentence short and turned pale. “H-he-he’s here” Braeburn whispered, Twilight turned around just in time to see a shadow melt into the fog. “Heh-heh-heh” they heard a chuckle from somewhere in the fog, “I see you” they heard it echo around, seemingly coming from everywhere. “Well, is this what you were running from?” Twilight asked with a slightly panicked tone, “Yes, now we have to get out of here”, “Well it just so happens that I have a way out”. Twilight turned her head to the sky and shouted, “HELP!!!” Spike heard her shout and began calling to her, “over here Twilight”, back in the forest she heard his calls, “This way Braeburn” she called as they ran into the direction of spikes calls. Back where they had met a shadow began to form and talk to itself, “Well, clever move Twilight Sparkle” it remarked in its grating voice, “but it won’t matter, you may make it, but he won’t” it chuckled menacingly before melting into the fog. Farther away Twilight and Braeburn had almost made it, “Over here Twilight” Spike called, they were close now. “Urgh” Braeburn choked as he stopped in his tracks, “What are you doing, come on” Twilight shouted, then she saw it, the fog had become dense and was wrapped around his throat and hooves. Twilight hurried to help him but stopped when she saw the shadow from earlier take form behind him. Twilight stood frozen with fear, she couldn't make out quite what the shadow was but she saw a few details. It was tall and almost skeletal in how thin it was, it stood on two hind legs and had four tentacles coming out of its back, however it was the creature’s head that terrified her the most, she couldn’t see much detail, but it did have two small, glowing, unblinking dots situated in much larger empty sockets. She turned to run but some kind of magic grabbed her, she was forced to look over to where the shadow stood. “Running away so soon?” it hissed at her, “I’ll let you go, but only after I slowly kill your little friend here” it looked down to Braeburn who was still being held in place and then back to Twilight, “and I’ll make you watch” it chuckled with delight as it put its clawed hand on the beck of Braeburns head. The shadow tightened its grip slightly, Twilight could see dark patches forming on Braeburns body, she wanted to help but she too was being held in place. Soon the dark patches grew, formed small orange embers, and began to shrivel, Braeburn tried to yell but all that escaped was a small, pathetic squeak. Twilight could only watch as his flesh slowly was seared off, eventually he was almost unrecognizable as his bones were showing in several areas and his skin was now a shriveled, burnt dark green, He opened his mouth and could only squeak out a small pathetic “help”. The shadow, which Twilight could now make out a little better, grinned maliciously, it leaned down to Braeburns deformed ear and whispered “Too late”, it clenched its grasp, Twilight heard a loud crunch as Braeburn fell down dead with blood seeping from the back of his head. Twilight felt herself being let go, she turned quickly and ran without hearing the shadow snicker, “run, run, run, fun, fun, fun. Oh but the fun is just beginning” it cackled as it once again melted into the fog.
Nowhere is safeTwilight ran as fast as she could towards Spikes voice, she could hardly believe what she had just witnessed, but whatever that thing was she did not want to be its next victim. At the exit of the forest Spike peered into the woods and saw somepony running towards him, it was obscured because of the fog but as it got closer he could make out a familiar face, “Twilight?” He was about to continue his sentence but was cut off when Twilight levitated him onto her back and kept running. “Twilight” Spike called over the clatter of her hooves and heavy breathing, “what was in there, where’s Braeburn?” Twilight answered him under her breath, “He’s not coming out, and we’ve got to run.” Spike looked at her with a questioning look, “What? You just left him in there?” “Not exactly, I’ll explain later, but first we have to post a caution sign and then we have to warn the princess” Twilight new that if the princess didn’t know then everypony would be in grave danger, she had already seen what happened to the ones who were already missing, these disappearances had to stop. Twilight and Spike were nearing ponyville when they saw a horrifying sight, the fog had moved in. “oh no” Twilight gasped as she ran into the fog covered town, “What’s going on? Why is ponyville so foggy?” Spike asked, “Spike, watch our back” Twilight responded in a panicked tone, “We were followed”. Once in ponyville everything seemed eerily quiet, everything seemed so grey and dark. Twilight cringed when she felt something touch her hoof, but when she looked down all that was there was a slip of paper with something written on it. She picked up the slip and began reading it aloud, “Hello my friend, you didn’t think that I’d forgotten about you.” Twilight gave the slip to Spike, “this is not good, IT’S here!” “O-kaaay” Spike responded while sounding a little bit worried, he looked at the other side of the slip and tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “What is it spike” she turned her head to the baby dragon who showed her the other side of the slip and again she read what it had to say, “I have you right where I want you”, Twilight dropped the slip and ran with spike holding on to her for dear life. “Spike, we are in trouble, I don’t know how but it followed us here. Now where would the library be?” Twilight was in no mood to be messed with, they were being hunted and had to find the library as soon as possible. “Well, if you would slow down you would see that we’re running around it” Spike replied, still holding on tight, Twilight screeched to a halt sending spike toppling off her back; she looked to her left, “Oh, that’s convenient” she grabbed spike and hurried inside, but before Twilight shut the door she looked to a nearby alleyway, where she saw two tiny red lights gleaming in the shadows, that was incentive enough to slam the door. Once inside she turned to spike; who was already holding a quill and was prepared to write, “Take this down Spike” she began to recite the words to this next letter, which she hoped would not be her last. “Dear Princess Celestia, I’m writing this letter to warn you that ponyville has entered a grave state of emergency. A strange and utterly vile creature took residence in a forest to the opposite side of ponyville from everfree, but it has followed me here. Please princess, we need your help. Your faithful student, Twilight sparkle” after she finished, Spike put a ribbon around the letter and sent it on its way.
AwakeningTwilight looked around, it was dark with a white fog everywhere, “hello?” she called, hoping for someone, anyone to answer, but what she heard was an evil cackle in the shadows along with the sound of random voices. The creature’s voice echoed everywhere, one word over and over; “Goodnight”, Twilight ran even though she did not know where she was going. Then she saw the creatures shadow in the fog and although she was running it stayed right in front of her, like she wasn’t even moving. She felt the fog grab her by the hooves, she tried to run but could only watch as the shadow of the creatures shadow engulfed her entirely. She looked around in the darkness, the fog was only up to her ankles now but it still held fast, she looked in front of her and heard the creature’s voice again, “too late” at that moment two enormous, glowing red eyes appeared in front of her as the voice cackled loudly, Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs as her surroundings flashed white, awaking her from her unconsciousness. Twilight woke up with a start while still screaming, she stopped when she noticed a familiar surroundings; she was in a room at the ponyville hospital. “You okay Twilight?” she heard a familiar voice, when she turned her head and smiled to see Spike running towards her with tears in his eyes. Spike leaped up and gave Twilight a tight hug, “Twilight, I was so worried, I thought I’d never see you again” he was on the verge of crying. Twilight was relieved; she had survived, but right now she needed spike to let go, “Err, and Spike” she commented with a slightly pained tone, “yes?” “Please let go, my chest still hurts.” “Oh, sorry”, Spike let go and dropped to the floor. “Miss Twilight” Nurse Redheart poked her head in, “you have visitors”, Twilight turned to the door as her friends all ran in. “Twilight, are you okay?” Applejack was the first to comment, Rainbow dash was the next to speak up, “Princess Celestia told us what happened, we were all worried”, Twilight did her best to smile, “Well, my chest still stings, I lost a lot of blood, and my leg is broken, so I’d say I got lucky”. Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped up and down, “I know, we should all sign her cast” She dashed out and in less than a second ran back in with a bunch of markers. Each of them took turns writing their names on Twilight's cast, “Thanks for visiting me” Twilight lay back in her bed and turned her head to the window, despite everything being normal there was still a chill in the air. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and squinted as she saw a grey mist miles away on the western mountains, she paled. Miles out in the mist a shadow watched ponyville from the fog, and a grating voice echoed, “Beware Sparkle, the nightmare is not yet over.” END?
The millennia old cavesIt had only been moments from when spike sent the letter when he belched up a reply, “It says; I’m on my way” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, now that the princess was on her way they just had to wait in the library till then, however the creature had other ideas. Twilights ears perked up as she heard a hissing behind her, “Spike, is that you?” she asked, turning to her assistant, but she stopped talking when she noticed a dark grey ooze slithering under the door. Twilight shivered and backed up into a bookshelf, they were trapped, “Twilight, what’s that?” spike asked with a quivering tone, “I’m not sure, I just saw its shadow earlier, I-“, Twilight was cut off by a voice coming from the ooze, “Heh-heh-heh”, Twilight froze at the creatures grating voice, “you may try, but it’s over”, it chuckled as it started to reform itself into its bipedal state. “THIS WAY SPIKE!” Twilight shouted crashing through the window with Spike running behind her, the creature faded into the fog behind them, “You can run, but there is nowhere you can hide”; Twilight and Spike darted across streets and through alleys, but no matter where they went they could still hear its voice constantly mocking them. They kept running, on and on for what seemed like hours they ran all over ponyville until Twilight couldn’t hear the creature’s voice anymore. “*pant* you think *huff* we lost it?” Spike asked gasping for breath, “I don’t think so, it’s almost as if it wanted us here” Twilight looked to their right where ponyville elementary stood, looming over them. Twilight started to walk towards the school when she heard spike shouting to her, “Twilight wait, if it wants us here then don’t go in”, Twilight replied, still walking, “That may be true, but right now it’s our only way of stopping it”, She trotted up to the door and it opened with a loud creek, Spike looked around nervously before running in after Twilight, “I know I’m going to regret this.” After walking in they took a second to look around “What a mess” Twilight remarked quietly as they walked through the abandoned building, and it was; Desks were tipped over, chairs were all over the place, and the walls and chalkboards were scratched up and tarnished like the place had been under heavy assault. Room after room and still the same appearance, “Are you sure there’s something in here?” Spike asked nervously, “No, but I intend on findin-WOAH” Twilight stopped her sentence when she fell through the floor. “Twilight, you okay?” Spike called down, “Yeah, I just fell into this underground passage” she looked around, this path seemed old, like before ponyville was built, “I’m going on ahead” Twilight Started walking down the tunnel, “Wait for me” Spike shouted, but the floor closed up before he could follow. Twilight kept on moving further through the tunnels, they seemed to never end, every turn she took lead to another. “How far down do these go? I've been walking for hours” Twilight was now breathing heavily, all she saw in these tunnels were walls of dirt with roots coming out of them. However she soon began to notice that the walls were made of stone bricks further down the tunnel and so, decided to follow that route, “I must be getting close, these tunnels look- wow” Twilight stood there shocked, for right in front of her was an enormous cavern filled with a thin black mist, at its center lied what looked to be a shrine, “this is it, I will stop that creature here.”
Stand against the shadowsBack above ground Spike paced outside the school, “ooh, I hope she’s okay” he stammered, but regardless, he was thankful that he hadn’t been taken by the creature. Suddenly a bright flash of light appeared in the sky causing Spike to shield his eyes, when he looked back he breathed a sigh of relief, Celestia had arrived. “I apologize for my delay, something was blocking my magic, now what was this about a dark creature, and where’s Twilight?” She asked with a worried look on her face, “Well, a few days ago ponies started disappearing, Twilight and I went down to a strange forest to find the source. I stayed outside of the forest so Twilight could find her way out, but when she did she was in a state of panic. We ran back here to find that a dark creature had invaded and filled the town with fog, it lured us to ponyville elementary where Twilight and I got separated, and now she’s stuck in a network of tunnels.” Spike gasped for air after finishing, “Then we must hurry” Celestia and Spike looked over to the school and went inside. Down in the cavern Twilight trotted up to the shrine and called into the fog, “alright, you’ve got me here, now what do you want?” She listened through the fog and heard what she was waiting for, the voice of the creature. “Well, well, well, this is the first time somepony actually came to look for me. I'm flattered really" it sourly remarked, Twilight searched the cave with her eyes but could not see anything, “Where are you” She shouted. A chortle echoed through the cavern and the creatures shape appeared in the mist on the shrine, “it ends here you monster” Twilight reared back and fired a magic bolt at the creature, but much to her dismay the bolt went right through without harming it, “Is that all?” the creature sported a menacing tone, “my turn” in an instant it’s 4 tentacles extended beating Twilight senseless, afterwards it launched a ghostly fire dead into her chest. Twilight gasped and curled up shivering with pain, “Y-you c-can’t win” she was struggling to speak and let out a gasp of air with each word, “I won’t *gasp* give up” Twilight struggled to stand up but managed it, her body protested and she felt a stinging pain in her rear leg “it must be broken” she thought. Twilight gasped again as one of the creatures tentacles slammed into her chest causing her to spit up blood, the creature walked up to her motionless body and leaned down next to her head, “Goodnight” it cackled before fading into the fog. Twilight tried to move, tried to do something, but she couldn’t do anything but lie there as her vision faded; drifting into unconsciousness, she began to dream.
