The Deep Sleep

One late afternoon, Flash Sentry was in a deep thought. He was beginning to wish he could have another lucid dream, a dream which he is awake and a dream where he could do anything. But at the same time, the memory of his accident and falling into a coma made his dream go terribly wrong and ended up walking in a world where it was a terrible nightmare.

Before he was able to wake up, there were monsters trying to get him. He didn't think they were part of his dream as Princess Luna explained briefly to him a few days after he got out of the hospital. It was like they came from outside, from the depths. The nightmare hasn't faded away like Flash thought it would and he still couldn't stop thinking about it.

"What if it was real?" he asked himself. "I've become obsessed with it, I don't know why. Maybe I just want to prove myself wrong."

So, before the beginning of the night, Flash got permission to have an hour away from the Crystal castle and with a saddle bag, went to the crystal Library. To see if there were any past records of dreams that were similar to his.

"Evening Librarian." Flash greeted as he walked in.

The librarian was in the middle of sorting out a bookshelf. "Oh good evening mister..."

"Flash Sentry, I'm one of the guards."

The librarian felt worried. "Oh, is there a problem?"

"No it's nothing serious. I'm just wondering if there are any books about lucid dreaming."

"Oh thank Celestia." The librarian "Sure, we have a small section of books on dreams, up on the first floor and to the far left."

"Thanks librarian." Flash replied, smiling.

He walked up the stairs and to the far left. He found a section of books on dreaming that weren't really interesting until he found one labelled 'Lucid Dreaming'. He picked up the book and opened it, he then noticed a page was missing, as if it was torn off. He put the book back and noticed a small piece of paper on the ground, he picked it up and read a short sentence that was on it.

As long as you don't know you are dreaming, you are safe.

"What does that mean?" he asked before putting the piece of paper in his bag.

Suddenly the view around him changed, the library had completely turned into a small area of rooms with the centre having no ceiling.

"Oh come on!" Flash exclaimed. "Don't tell me I'm dreaming again!" He sighed angrily before clearing his throat. "Better find a way out of this one like last time."

He looked to his left and saw a book on the floor that wasn't there before. He picked it up and went to the room on the right. There was a bookshelf, but it seemed to be missing a book. He put the green book in the missing slot, he then heard a click and the bookshelf moved to the right, revealing a secret passage.

"This book fits here perfectly." Flash said as he stepped into the new doorway and picked up some batteries and a piece of paper. "I have a feeling that this paper will explain some things once I find all of the pieces." he said to himself before opening a door to his right and ventured into the hallway.

He past another door that was locked, an elevator that seemed to have no power, at the end was a doorway to somewhere completely dark and a stairway that went down. He took the stairway first and found himself in a room that looked very similar.

"Wait, haven't I been in this room before?" he asked before noticing a key on the wooden board, he took the key and put it in his bag.

He then went down another flight of stairs to find a door that was locked from the other side and doorway that led to a few sewer drains. As he walked into the drainage room, he spotted a silhouette of a pony behind one of the bars. The mysterious pony looked at him, startling Flash at first.

"You again." He said firmly. "Why have you returned? This place is dangerous."

Flash seemed confused. "Who are you?"

"My name is not important. I'm a traveller, like you."

"You are a real, sleeping pony?"

"Yes, As crazy as it sounds, I am as real as you are."

The silhouette pony turned his head away. "Currently? I'm hiding. Your actions have drawn THEIR attention."

"Who are they?"

"The Shadow Ponies. But we shouldn't talk about them, here take this. It might shed some light on the matter." The silhouette pony gave Flash a piece of paper. "Oh and one more thing, DON'T go up to the attic! There's a mare up there who was travelling in this world, but couldn't find her way out and went crazy."

"I'll do my best, thank you." Flash replied, putting the piece in his bag.

"You're welcome. Now, if you don't have any other questions, please leave as promised."

"I'll try to escape, goodbye."

Flash then walked onwards and saw another piece of paper by a set of metal bars, he walked on and into another room that also looked familiar. There was a flashlight on the floor, he picked it up and placed the batteries inside it, he had one useful flashlight working, same as before.

He walked all the way back to the hallway with the doorway that led to a dark room. He walked in and got a free shock seeing bright eyes before he put the flashlight on. It turned out to be an antler's head on the wall. There was a piece of paper in the fireplace that he picked up before going in what looked like a classroom.

Looking around the classroom with his flashlight, he got another free shock when a chair flew around the the floor. He picked up a pointer stick and took note of the numbers that were written on the green board. Four-one-seven-two. He picked up another note and left the classroom, past the fireplace and back in the green hallway.

"I vow that I must never go back in those rooms again." Flash declared as he walked all the way back down to the familiar room and using his hoof, typed in the four digit code, the light on the side went green and he used the lever to open the doors.

"Okay, last time I went in there, a shadow pony was at the end." he said. "But it can't be there this time, I killed one of them back at that lighthouse."

He switched on the flashlight and walked slowly through the dark hallway before coming to an opened door and barrels, there was no shadow pony this time, so he walked into the room and saw a doorway, he walked in there to find that it was a foal's playroom. He picked up a plushie tiger and a separate note. As he picked up a needle thread before leaving, he heard a whisper of a filly.

Help me...

There was nothing of interest left, so he walked back to the lighted room and up the stairs. He came across a small room with the pipes from before. There was a gold key on the top, but he couldn't reach it, so he grabbed the tallest object in his bag and took out a pointer. It was just long enough to reach the key, he pushed it off the pipes and it fell to the floor.

"Got it!" He said proudly. "But what about this silver key, it has to unlock something."

He walked back to the green hallway and to the door on his right, he put in the silver key it worked, the door was unlocked. He walked in to find bunks beds, each bed had a name on it. One of them said Cody, he remembered that name from before and then thought back of what the message said last time.

"Maybe this is the plushie the message said about, I should put it on Cody's bed." Flash then placed the plushie tiger on the bed with Cody's name and felt a sense that he did a good deed. He left the bedroom and walked back to the main room, he then went into a fourth doorway, he came across an odd poster that had a clown's face on it and a door.

He used the gold key and it unlocked the door, he walked and found himself now on the outside.

"Well, I'm outdoors, but this place looks nothing like home." Flash moaned, turning on his flashlight and walking into a forest of some kind, picking up a couple of notes along the way, he found a small thread on the ground, a key that was under a pot by a well, before coming to the end and finding a waterwheel, it appeared to be not working, even though there was water flowing down a lake on the side of the pathway.

He went inside the machine room and saw a bag with a hole in it, he then thought of an idea.

"Well, this may not be royal guard standard, but I once did some sewing lessons." He said, trying not to blush.

Shortly after, he used the needle and the thread to make a bag that was mouldy yet no longer had a hole, he threw the needle away as he had no more use for it. With the bag, he picked up a small bag that was full of flour and put that inside, there was pile of dirt and stones outside, he put those in the bag and it was now full.

He put the bag on a scale next to it and it went down quickly, opening a door that led to a few pipes and another note.

He left the machine and went further onwards, picking up another note before coming to the end and seeing a fountain and yet another note. Flash was thinking that he would be glad to read the paper once all the notes were found. The fountain had some sort of puzzle that needed solving once Flash saw eight buttons on a slab.

"Oh joy, puzzles." he said with complete sarcasm. "My favourite...NOT!"

After a long while of trying to figure out the puzzle, he finally cracked it. All eight of the buttons were now blue and the fountain sprung to life with water coming out and flowing down to the lake. The water level rose by a meter and ran past the machine which was now switched on.

Flash walked back to see the waterwheel now moving and the light above it turned on.

"So this water flow must be the source of power, perhaps that elevator is now working." He said as he trotted back to the big house.

When he got in, the poster on his right had changed, the strangely happy clown face was now a menacing looking clown with blood around the eyes, this gave Flash a bit of fright, but he tried to stay brave. Going back to the main room, he used the gold key on the locked metal door by the table, it unlocked and when he got inside, there was a note and according to the paper, it was the final note.

"Yes!" Flash exclaimed. "Now I can finally read all of this and learn more. "Perhaps now would be a good time to read it."

He then put all the notes together and soon, he began to read on what appeared to be a page, perhaps it was the page that was torn out from the book.

I first encountered this phenomenon in the early 80's, but it would seem "They" have existed since the dawn of Equestria. Commonly known as the Night Folk, or Shadow Ponies, they live in the realm of dreams but desperately want to get to our realm by possessing vulnerable, unoccupied bodies. As long as you don't know you are dreaming, you are safe... They attack when they sense a mind detached from its body, which sometimes happens during comas, but much more often during OOBEs and Lucid Dreaming.

Flash stared in horror, it was all clear to him now. He had fallen into a lucid dream once again and unless he finds a way out, the shadow ponies may catch up to him. He did not want that to happen, so he regained his focus and went up to the green hallway and to the elevator.

He pushed the button and the elevator doors opened. There were four buttons, one of which was damaged, there was the current floor, the attic and the floor below him. As much as he disliked the thought, he pushed the top button which took him to the attic.

He got out and stepped into the attic, he turned on his flashlight and looked around. He then saw a screwdriver and thought that it may come in handy. But as soon as he picked it up, he almost suffered a panic attack when he saw a mare in a white dress and black mane covering her face.

"OH FAUST IN TATARUS!" Flash yelled as he got to the elevator, he used the screwdriver on the button panel, but he dropped it and picked it up again. "COME ON, COME ON, COME ON!" He added, he got the panel off and pushed the elevator button and leapt inside and pushed the button that took him back to the ground floor.

He stood out for a moment to take a breather. "What the Faust in Equestria was that?!" He yelled angrily before calming down. "Wait, that must've been the mare traveller that silhouette pony warned me about." He stepped back in the elevator and pushed the bottom button that took him to the basement.

"At least this place is lit up and there's a metal box with screws, I can use this." He used the screwdriver on the holes and the lid of the metal box dropped, revealing a long rope. "Sooo, now that I have the rope...maybe I can use it on the well I saw earlier?"

He went to the wooden door and he opened it easily, he walked through and back up the stairs to the main room. The well appeared to be where he needed to go next. Going past the exit, he saw the clown poster now just a blank poster, he thought no more of it and went back outside. He then made his way down a narrow path and came across the well he saw earlier. He got out the rope and tied it on the chain at the top.

He looked down below in the well, it appeared to be too dark and he knew that was no going back once he goes down there. He gulped, put on his brave face and slid down on the rope slowly into the depths of the well. As expected, it was too dark for him so he put on the flashlight and ventured past the walls of the well, until he found a completely dark room with bright eyes that suddenly appeared.

"Oh Faust, help me..." Flash whispered in a high voice...

TO BE CONTINUED