Nightmares by Daylight

Daylight Shine was lead to a small room by the stallion. As he walked inside he noticed the stallion shut the door, but this one looked more reinforced than the others, it was to be made of iron. The room seemed to have almost nothing in it, except for a couple inside some saddlebags, and like others, this room looked like it was also withering away. There was also a small machine in the room, one that looked very complex, it a had a square hole in it, and looked like something would fit in it. The Stallion faced Daylight, taking off his hood to reveal his green eyes, and jet black mane, followed by a matching short tail. Daylight also noticed he had a snow white coat of fur. He appeared rather annoyed as he stared at Daylight, who stared down as he shot the cold stare at him.

"Why in Equestria are you here kid?!" The Stallion angrily. "You could have been killed right then if I didn't come to your rescue. Didn't your parents teach you not to wander too far from home? There is a reason why they would teach you things like that!"

Daylight continued to staredown at the ground. He didn't respond to the question, but instead asked another question to the stallion, as he remembered he still needed info.

"I-It doesn't matter... Wh-Where are we...? Wh-What was that? Wh-Where is the way out?" Daylight spoke frantically. He had so many questions to ask, he just let them all out. He just wanted to know everything, and get out alive.

"Settle down kid." The stallion responded in a calming voice. "I'll answer your questions one at a time alright? First of all, we are in a research facility, which was abandoned a couple years ago, after some... Accidents happened, some of which... Are too gruesome to be explained." He looked down at Daylight, and he could feel how uneasy Daylight was, as he was thinking to himself, however, the stallion began to speak again.

"Second, that was a ghost. I know some of your older friends told you ghosts don't exist, either because they wanted you to feel better, or because they thought they knew that such things could not exist. Well, don't listen to what they said. They are very much real, you saw one back there, didn't you? Don't listen to what your older peers tell you. They are very much real." Daylight nodded silently, he shuddered as he remember the ghost incident that had recently took place.

"H-How did you st-stop that one...?" Daylight spoke up, quietly and timidly. The stallion took the vacuum from his back, and put it in front of him, showing Daylight the contraption.

"Well... It's quite simple" He began "I did it with this device right here. It's called it the Paranormal Vacuuming Mechanism, or the PVM for short. It traps ghosts within this metal container, inside it uses a small vacuum keeps the ghost secure so it won't escape, if they try the storage will sense it and vacuum it to the center. From that point, you can take it to this." He walked over to the machine in the corner of the room, which sat there idly.

"Wh-What does that thing do...?" Daylight responded, eyeing the machine up and down. He placed his hoof on it, retracting it once he felt the icy touch of the machine.

"This machine can be plugged up to the PVM and from there it can either destroy the ghost or turn it into a painting, once turned into a painting, I can use a device I have in my supplies to free them from the painting. But it's a slow process, of course you can choose what the machine does to the ghost inside" He explained, connecting the nozzle of the PVM to the square hole in the machine that Daylight saw before. Daylight could see a lump come from the container go into the tube, ultimately transferring into the machine. The stallion then pressed a button, and it began to emit a whirring sound, getting louder and louder, causing Daylight to cover his ears from the loud sound. The whirring soon stopped, decreasing in volume, and the stallion disconnected the PVM from it, putting it on his back again. "The ghost is now gone for good."

"Wh-Why couldn't you make it into a-a painting...?" Daylight asked, still eyeing the machine. "M-Maybe we could have saved wh-whoever it was... I-Instead of destroying them..."

"Well... I tried... But for some odd reason... These kinds of ghosts don't come in paintings..." The stallion responded with silently. "When I tried, the machine started to overheat, I felt like it would soon explode, and no progress would be made, so I had to destroy them. But I'm sure there are some that can become paintings... Just not all."

Daylight sighed, his ears lowering down. He once more remembered why he was here, and spoke up. "Well... Th-That's neat a-and all but... How can I get out? I-I have to look f-for my friends..." Daylight responded with. The stallion looked at him and sighed.

"There is no way out unfortunately. I tried the front entrance of this place, but it won't budge. Until I can locate another way out, we have to stay here for now." The stallion told him. Daylight sighed sofly and looked down once again.

"Wh-Why are you here...?" Daylight continued.

"Well..." The Stallion responded quietly. "I was sent to look for some people who came into the forest around this building, and didn't come back. I was lead here. As soon as I entered, I was ambushed by ghosts. I was able to escape them and leave. I came back with some equipment I made to capture and subdue these ghosts, even able to set up a safe room for myself, good thing I'm a unicorn... Or this process would have taken forever... However, when I tried leaving to get more things, I found that the entrance would not budge at all. So I've been stuck in here, and I decided to try continuing my search here. I've had no luck finding anyone or a way out, and its been days." This seemed to make Daylight curious. He was also here to look for others. His friends, of course.

"D-Do you know what their names are...?" Daylight asked. Hoping for an answer. He had to get all the information he could.

"Yes. I know some of them... Lightning Scythe, High Octane, Alicja Gazer, and Fallen Shadow. That's all I know, but I know there are more of them."

The names listed made Daylight's heart sink and made his eyes widen, he looked to the side nervously before looking back up at the stallion.

"Well," the Stallion spoke up, interrupting Daylight's thoughts. "I best get going. I need to find them. I need you to stay here. It's safer here than anywhere else" The Stallion grabbed a flashlight and the PVM, walking towards the door, about to step out into the darkness, before...

"W-Wait!" Daylight yelled out, the stallion stopping dead in his tracks, turning to him with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes? What is it?"

"I'll go... Y-You must need a break... I'll b-be able to take it from here for a w-while..."

"Are you kidding? It's too dangerous out there. Who knows what they could do to you if you if they caught you!" The Stallion said sternly. "I don't need a break, I can take it from here, I don't want anyone going missing or getting hurt in this damned place. So I want you to stay. It's for your own safety. You must understand."

"B-But... You could also be hurt..." Daylight pointed out. "You could be too exhausted to g-go on... Y-You could fall victim t-to these ghosts... I wouldn't want you to get hurt either... I-I just got here... I-I have the energy... Y-You need to get yours back..."

The Stallion sighed, no matter how much he wanted to deny and argue, he was right. He noticed how many times he'd have to take a deep breath and looked back into the abandoned facility. reluctantly, he walked over to Daylight, and handed over the PVM and the flashlight, staring at Daylight with a serious expression.

"Look kid" The Stallion spoke up. "I guess your right... A break is really what I need right now... I guess I need to catch my breath... Take these... You'll need them... And if you ever need a break yourself, you know where to find this place... Remember not to let anything get the best of you... And don't fall for anything suspicious... Good luck kiddo... You're gonna need it."

Daylight nodded. "I-I'll be back soon... Please get some rest..." With that, he turned on the flashlight, and stepped back into the haunted structure... Now prepared to face the challenges ahead of him...

Hopefully...