Nightmares by Daylight

The young colt had just walked past the broken door that had been sent to the ground off its rusty hinges by the blue specter that attacked him previously. Once again he was at the intersection that he grown to be familiar with. He glanced at the center door and began to trot carefully towards it. He moved slowly, in case another ghost came through just like Alice had. As he placed a hoof on the doorknob, he attempted to twist it and failed. He kept trying and pressed his weak body against the old door in an attempt to force it open, but to no avail.

As he looked over the door, he noticed a keyhole underneath the doorknob that would lead him to the conclusion that it must be locked. He wondered to himself why they would lock it after coming through, could they be hiding something from him? Or are they just trying to slow his progress? He decided to shrug it off for now and proceeded to head towards the left door of the intersection. He twisted the doorknob and was able to push the door open with ease. Immediately he had noticed something off about the room he had just entered.

The room looked older than any other room he had been in so far. Most of the paint on the walls appeared to have been chipped off, only very little is still attached to the walls. The paintless walls had a bit of moss growing on it. In the case of it being black moss Daylight chose to keep his distance from it. But the most odd detail of the room was a wooden coffin lying in the middle of the room, it looked a lot less older than the room itself.

Daylight didn't want to open the coffin in a place like this, it seemed like one terrible idea to him. However his choices were limited, and as he realized this, against his instinct, he forced himself to the shady coffin and placed a hoof on the lid. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before using his strength to slide the lid off, instantly revealing the skeleton of a full grown stallion in a lab coat. Daylight was only the tiniest bit surprised, as he expected something like this to be in the coffin, but creeped out nonetheless.

Upon further inspection, he soon noticed that the skeleton seemed to hold something to it's ribcage, It appeared to be another journal, similar to the one he had encountered in the office before. He slowly and softly decided to pull the journal away from the skeleton, but as he tried, he felt the book being held tightly by its bone hooves, as if the dead pile of bones didn't want to let it go. He couldn't understand how it was possible, but he quickly managed to pull the dusty old journal away after a couple tries. It looked like the one he found in the compartment of a desk a couple rooms ago, so maybe this one must be important as well. Daylight opened the journal and blew the dust out of it, and began to read to himself.

"ENTRY #3

My research has so far been for nothing. The only way I have discovered is that the princesses of Equestria must lend their magic to a unicorn to make it stronger, as they had done with the Princess of Friendship years ago against a major threat. This won't do, the princesses would not agree on such things, especially seeing that in order to make the unicorns stronger, they must keep the magic given to them. It would render our rulers powerless. I must continue my research."

Daylight did not seem as surprised to learn that the author's attempts so far have been fruitless, as magic such as what he's looking for should not exist in Daylight's eyes. He turned the page to discover yet another journal entry.

"ENTRY #4

This cannot be true. No matter how much I try, there seems to be no way. My associates' efforts have been in vain as well. All of this may point to the fact that this is not possible, but I must do it for the good of my race. They all say it's not possible, I will prove them wrong, no matter what the cost."

The colt reached the last page of the journal, in which a key suddenly slid out. He picked it up and inspected it carefully. This key was different than the others. It wasn't rusted at all, it for some appeared... Modern. Like the keys he can see other ponies using to unlock doors to this day, and keys that he could find at the market. He kept it safe and placed the journal down beside the skeleton before leaving the old, dusty room.

The young pony stepped out into the ominous hallways once again. He began to carefully trot towards his next destination: The door down the center hallway, until he heard a sound just around the corner. Daylight's ears perked up upon hearing the noise, before he stayed still to listen again. The sound he heard was something rather horrifying to him. He heard a loud, deep moan coming from the corner. His eyes went wide and he ran for the room he was in previously, shutting it quietly and putting his back to it.

Daylight knew that his weight wasn't high enough to keep the door closed from anyone, but did so anyway to at least try to keep whatever is out there out. He heard the haunting moan again, sending a chill deep down his spine. He heard it once more, but louder as if it was getting closer. By this point Daylight was resisting the urge to scream, or hyperventilate or call for help, stifling his breathing the best he could. He turned off his flashlight to help keep himself hidden by any means possible, now surrounded by darkness.

The bone-chilling moan sounded it out again, but louder than ever before. It was right outside his door. Daylight shut his eyes, preparing for whatever it was to burst right through the door. He could hear whatever it was scratch at the door, which indicated something about this being. Something bad.

Whatever it was, it wasn't a ghost. Nor was it a pony.

Daylight's mind began racing with thoughts on what it could be. Was it a cockatrice stuck inside the building? Was it a timberwolf or some sort of dog? Or was it actually just a pony with a sharp weapon? What would it do to him? His thoughts kept on racing as he kept his eyes closed, hoping for a miracle. He soon realized that the sounds had ceased. He took a deep breath before turning his flashlight on and opening the door, expecting the worst.

Nothing.

He sighed in relief before walking around the corner and walking towards the center hall door. He noticed something about the door however, upon closer inspection. He could see that it has several scratch marks that have scratched a bit of wood off the door. He could see the doorknob looked mangle as well, looking as if there was no way it would work now. He of course realized that it was not like this before. Daylight decided to give it a shot regardless, placing the key in the keyhole and turning the key carefully. The door let out a click before he placed his hoof on the knob. Though hard at first, he managed to push the door open, revealing nothing but a dark room. The timid colt squinted his eyes, attempting to peer through the darkness before a better look.

Before he could however, he heard a low, heart dropping growling sound out behind him. His eyes went wide, almost screaming as he grabbed the key, and ran inside the room slamming the door shut, locking it immediately. He heard loud, terrifying screeching from the other side of the door, as well as something scratching against it furiously. He was trapped inside the room, and whatever is outside may burst through at any given moment.

But hey, at least Daylight knows one thing.

It's not a pony after all.