Apparition Amphitheater Presents: Bad Dreams

by Nightmare_0mega

Rating: teen
Tags: Daring Do, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Thriller, Original Character
Length: 5872

An archeologist's calling is to uncover the truth of the past and exhume the secrets protected. However, one should always tread softly on the forgotten, for some secrets best remained hidden.

Twilight, asked by Princess Luna herself, was tasked to lead an expedition to a recently uncovered monument thought lost to Equestrian History: A castle in the north that was thought to be Sombra’s original home before his reign over the Crystal Empire. Twilight, together with the help of A.K. Yearling to assist her and a team of archeologists, they seek onward to uncover the castle’s secrets.

However, some shadows should be left alone, and the secrets within left unseen...

Published 2020-10-30 18:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-10-31 20:29:09 UTC

As My House Lies Empty

Wind softly moaned in the lonely distance as the barren branches scratched at the darkened sky like hands clawing for the moon. The sparse light of the cosmos served to tip everything it overlooked in the world within the shadows of the night with silver, including the amphitheater. That cold edifice, the one that held host to horror stories of all kinds, simply stood relentlessly hollow deep in these lands remained uncaring of the world outside, waiting for its master.

However, despite the routine of the returning host bringing unlife back to this corpse of a stage, the lights remained out, the baited breaths of every tiny frightful creature among the phantom audience remain still and silent, and the wind's echo remained dominant. It was truly a ghostly theater now. The only thing of note was the apparent podium that stood, holding aloft a single, dirty brown and rusty red book with no name or author upon its cover.

With a powerful bellow, the current of the wind that penetrated the theater swelled and pushed the book open. The intrusive gust then flicked its pages wildly for a moment, threatening to tear some of them free from the bindings, until it died out and allowed the book to rest. If anyone were there to see it, if anyone were to approach the stage, to even hazard the chance to gaze upon the tome's contents, they would find that the open book's present page was turned to a chapter called...

Bad Dreams

-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-

Twilight shuddered as her lavender hooves slowly crept along the grey, leaf littered floor of the dead forest around her. Her dark sapphire blue with moderate purple and brilliant raspberry streaked mane frizzed and frayed while her panic slowly began to intensify. She kept her horn active with a little bit of light magic to let her trek on without much issue, even though the light itself did nothing more than that. The anxiety and trepidation pulled her along phantom paths as her violet eyes darted to and fro, seeing nothing but the black, barren woods. Fears and doubts about her new life as the recently coronated Princess of Friendship, previously small, now grew as she began to believe the worst of her situation. Even when she took to the skies, albeit on shaky wings, she couldn't see anything beyond the endless ocean of stripped trees tipped in the moonlight's silver.

If I can't find a way out, she thought in gloom, how can I possibly step up into my new role as a Princess? Her eyes began to well up in tears, struggling to endure this nightmare.

"DO NOT LOSE HEART!" a thunderous voice echoed from the alien sky. Twilight's attention snapped away from the misery as her gaze set to the sky. Specifically, the moon. And there, in the pale face, was a shadow familiar and welcoming, shaping itself into a very reassuring visage.

Descending from the moon's light like an angel from clouds, Princess Luna, Monarch of the Night, in all of her dark blue glory, gently landed before the young, frightened pony whom proceeded to give a deep bow. With a flourish of Luna's wings and a light of her own horn, the oppressive, darkened woods that surrounded them suddenly backed off, turning their immediate location into an impromptu clearing, no longer oppressed by the claw-like branches. Taking note of Twilight's bow, the de-facto Guardian of the Night stepped forth to try to alleviate the already tense situation.

"No need for such formalities, Twilight. Are we not friends?" Princess Luna asked in a warm, comforting manner.

Twilight gave a sigh. and small nervous laugh. "I... yes," she answered, "Thank you."

"You are most indeed welcome," Princess Luna kindly responded, "But, would you allow me the privilege of telling me why you are having such an... anxious dream?"

"Anxious?" Twilight asked automatically, not really registering the noun to her adjective, before she looked around her surroundings. It was then a moment of clarity washed over her face, realizing this was, in fact, a dream and she wasn't actually lost. Luna, having dealt with this type of confusion time and again, patiently waited for her little pony to silently adjust. "W-well," Twilight started, now having a bit of a sheepish look to her, "I suppose, considering current events, I'm probably feeling... worried."

"Worried?" Princess Luna parroted.

"Yes. I mean, who wouldn't be? Don't get me wrong, I'm honored to try to take up the role as Princess, but..." she shuffled at her hooves, trying to look for the right words, "Even before now, I've come up short as a pony, and even made some terrible choices and actions in my life in Ponyville when this all started. I mean, I'm sure as much as she's forgiven me, Princess Celestia probably hasn't forgotten the 'want it, need it' incident. I know I won't. I'm still trying to find Smartypants, even to this day."

Outwardly, Luna remained stoic as she listened to her beloved friend spill her thoughts to her, but she'd be lying if inwardly she wasn't having a slight chuckle over said incident. Didn't help that the night after that day when she had time to talk with Celestia, they both shared a good laugh over the absurdity of the situation.

"And I can't help but think that... what If I do something like that again? Now that I'm in a position of power, the consequences are much higher now. What if I fail to be, at the bottom line, a decent pony and pull something like that out of poor judgement, or panic, or..." she began to get nervous again as she fed into the doubts. The trees around them slowly started to inch closer in response as she continued to now ramble about her own self reluctance.

Princess Luna, however, put an end to it as she stepped forth and wound a wing around her distressed companion. This prompted Twilight to stop mid-rant. "Twilight. Dear little one. If we were not confident in your abilities, nor had belief in your fortitude and conscience, we would not have set you on this path in the first place until we knew you were ready. Celestia and I both believe in you. Your friends believe in you. Mistakes may be made, yes, but life is a process and you are still learning, and I for one think you will make a fine Princess of Friendship."

Twilight gave a smile to such words, letting her fears subside as her appreciation took over. She gave the Princess of the Night a gentle hug, along with a small thank you, before she took a step back.

"By the by," Princess Luna began, "I apologize for the timing, but myself and Celestia both have a favor to ask based on current events."

"Oh?" Twilight responded, curiosity growing as it normally would. "What favor did you need from me?"

"All will be revealed in the letter tomorrow morning. I originally came here to give you forewarning of the letter that will detail the situation, since I understand you prefer to plan ahead, but your dream and doubts took precedent. When you and Spike are properly awake, then you may indulge your curiosity through our sent message. Besides, I do not have time to divulge the details. The rest of the dreaming population awaits."

Twilight was a little disappointed, but understood. At least she'll know what's up for sure tomorrow, she thought.

"I must be going now," Princess Luna announced, "You take care, and may you have pleasant dreams."

As Luna ascended the sky and swiftly vanished from the dream's frontier, Twilight said her goodbyes, before gazing about the surroundings again. The spooky, dead forest stopped being nearly as spooky after the talk, but there was something still off about it. She reasoned it was probably just because she knows she still has lingering hesitations, but as she too began to vanish from the realm, she failed to notice a strange figure hiding among the dead trees.

-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-

The following afternoon ended up being quite the hectic one. As Luna promised, first thing in the morning, the letter arrived through Spike's magic flame, detailing exactly what the favor was. It turned out that, after the return of the Crystal Empire, it prompted researchers and scholars to re-examine the variety of myths and legends that had once been seen as mere fiction. More so than when Princess Luna returned as Nightmare Moon. While many of the stories had very little in the way of progress in finding the truth of the matter, the current reveal of the Crystal Empire also gave way to the founding of ruins not too far from said empire. Ruins of a dark castle, dating back to around the time the empire vanished. Considering the remains of such a place on the mere exterior along with finding troubling insignias, the researchers in question quickly realized that these ruins belonged to King Sombra, the former tyrant of the Empire.

Twilight had been requested to help lead an expedition of researchers to dig up as much information as possible on the former madpony and his origins in the hopes to avoid repeating history through knowledge. While Twilight had originally wished to enlist Spike to assist her as he always had, he had recently come down with a slight cold, and she didn't want to risk his health in such a place. So, with that, Spike was left in the care of her friends, whom all were more than willing to help the little drake. However, she still needed an assistant on the expedition. It was at that moment that Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, made perhaps the perfect suggestion.

"Why not ask Daring Do?"

Which is exactly what she did. While Twilight was a little uncertain as to whether this would work out, the answer actually surprised her. While it was short notice, as she was in the middle of writing her latest novel, A.K. Yearling (AKA Daring Do), was quite willing to accompany the expedition team and Twilight to these ruins. The identity of Yearling herself was supposed to stay entirely secret, but some of the more astute ponies in the team instantly recognized the gold coat, grey spectrum mane, and moderate rose colored eyes, her trademark dusty lavender hat, purple cloak, and red, thick rimmed glasses. Upon being outed, they confessed that, yes, A.K. Yearling was asked to join the expedition. Of course, the selected researchers (a mix of top professors of the university in Canterlot, a subset of archeologists, and top architects) all were rather curious as to why a novel writer would be accompanying the Princess on this trip. Twilight confessed the condition of her original assistant at the time, and also confessed to being a fan of the author's work. Yearling corroborated the facts by explaining such an opportunity would be excellent inspiration for a new book. The rest of the team seemed satisfied with that answer (with a few fans just happy to have her around), all while none were the wiser of the OTHER identity she held. However, to keep that particular secret as close as possible, Twilight and A.K. Yearling were relegated to a private caravan, while the research teams were divided into groups and rode in their own carriages in sets of five ponies, with enough room to carry tools and equipment.

As they traveled and talked, Twilight noticed something off every now and then. Whenever her attention was away, she could swear she saw in her peripherals the shadow cast by A.K. Yearling shift, if only ever-so slightly. Perhaps it was just some strange lingering paranoia from the nightmare last night, which she tried to fight off, but she couldn't be entirely sure. Still, she was confident in her abilities, despite being so far from her friends, and was prepared to deal with any threat that may come, if the need arises.

Despite it all, the entire team arrived at their destination without a hitch, only to be greeted by gentle snow that halfway buried some of the rubble that remained around the castle ruins. The gloom of the sky and the darkened stone set with heavy contrast to the evergreen trees that endured the cold and the brilliance of the Crystal Empire itself in the horizon. It was interesting to see it from such a melancholic, cold place, almost as if it really didn't belong here. Never the less, the castle was here, and the team was intending to find out why as well as gain a better understanding of who Sombra was. With tools brought out and snow cleared away from the surrounding area with the talents of the unicorn researchers, they all quickly got to work in studying this, to be quite honest, profaned ground.

With those tasks underway, Twilight, A.K. Yearling, and a few of the remaining archeologists and architects headed inside the castle interior, and beheld its former gothic splendor. Despite the rather dour use of blackened stone, the small party were actually rather surprised to see relatively normal interior work. Arches expertly set to both beautify and stabilize the moderately high ceilings. Pillars rounded perfectly and set with evenly spaced pockets of crystal, obviously used to light up the interior upon casting a light spell on it. Sets of armor evenly spaced off to the side, all with intricate, albeit normal designs on them. While the carpets that lead from the front door to what seemed to be a throne chamber were somewhat tattered and dirty, spots betrayed that it once used to be a deep, brilliant crimson. The main hall itself was somewhat large, spreading out to a variety of chambers and corridors, with the throne room being directly opposite of the front doors.

With nothing left to gain from gazing about in the entrance hall, Twilight and A.K. Yearling left the researchers to do their own thing while they explored a little further into the castle itself. All the while, both the studious princess and the author were scribbling down what they could see and notice, stopping briefly to compare each other's perspectives and details. Both realized very quickly that what they could see so far wasn't too far from mundane expectations.

"You'd think from a guy like Sombra, the whole place would be more... evil looking," Twilight uttered.

"I know what you mean. This place looks like it would come straight out of a Stand Broker novel." A.K. Yearling remarked

Upon the mention of the name, Twilight stopped for a moment, only to say, "Ya know, it's kinda funny."

"What is?"

"Well, you know how he was a table salesman before he started writing vampire novels, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's kinda like you."

"In what way?"

"Well, you write novels, obviously... but less obvious is the fact that you're secretly a career adventurer and archeologist." Twilight thought for a moment, then asked, "What came first, actually? The books, or the adventuring?"

"That's... actually an interesting question," Yearling admitted, readjusting her glasses, "I guess it was the adventuring. That was my calling. Though, I won't lie. Writing was something I loved for a long time too. It was a hobby of mine before it became a job."

"So, it just kinda naturally fell into place?"

"Yup." A.K. Yearling was satisfied with the answer she gave, but it ended up dragging out her own question. "Hey, do you think the heroes in Stand Broker's vampire novels always use broken wooden table legs to defeat vampires because..."

Twilight caught what the adventurer and novelist was implying, and couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity, which followed A.K.'s own fit of laughter. As the mirth died down, however, Twilight noticed something in one of the nearby windows, just behind A.K. Yearling, only to rapidly vanish from sight. Twilight shook her head, and gazed back at the window, hoping to catch whatever was there once again. Nothing came back, however.

"Hey, uh, you ok?" A.K. Yearling asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Thought I saw something outside the window. Maybe it was just a bird."

"Oh. Alright."

"Let's keep looking around. We're bound to find something a little more 'Sombra-esque' around here." Twilight added.

With a nod from A.K. Yearling, the two girls continued to trek through the halls, checking every last nook they could find for any hidden clues that could tell them more about this derelict locale.

Come Here, Come In

It was nearing the evening while the variety of researchers scoured every inch of the castle, scrutinizing everything they could get their hooves on in the pursuit of knowledge. No stone was left turned nor a single tapestry untouched. Even a suits of armor, as seemingly normal they appeared to be, were carefully disassembled to help look over each inch of the metal and bindings. The entire castle that wasn't already too heavy to move by normal means was handled by the expert dexterity of these life long professionals, as they discussed their recent findings in great detail. It was something that Twilight dearly wished she could be a part of, as she found such history to be fascinating. However, it wasn't to be, as the two continued their trek through the portion of the castle that was still largely untouched by their group.

A.K. Yearling, whom had found the trip interesting for the most part, was somewhat confused about one thing, and she had decided right then to ask her burning question.

"With all due respect... why are we here?"

"Pardon?" Twilight replied.

"I mean, it's clear this team of experts that are crawling all over the ruins pretty much have a ready handle on the investigations, and don't really need us. So... why are we here?"

Twilight gave a bit of a sigh, before she stopped and turned to A.K. Yearling. "Despite the outward appearance saying that these are the ruins of any regular monarch from a thousand years ago, this is still King Sombra's old home. The researchers are here to give a general analysis on this place's history, and maybe what happened around the time of the Crystal Empire's original take over. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna believe that Sombra was once a sorcerer first, and considering the magic I encountered after the Empire returned, it's possible he may have had more examples of his magic hiding here. Or, at least his research materials. This is where I come in."

"Why couldn't the Princesses handle this?"

"I'm sure they could have if they had the time. There has been a lot going on lately, and all at once to boot."

"I haven't been keeping up with current events, so I wouldn't know. Not beyond anything that you, your friends, or what my publisher would tell me. I mean, the rest of my life I'm just spelunking ancient ruins filled with curses and traps otherwise," she jested, while proceeding forward, with Twilight now following.

"That's fair," Twilight said, "Anyway, as for this whole situation, best case scenario, we've wasted our time."

"And worst case?"

"We find something, and that something brings Sombra back somehow by accident."

"Yikes. Yeah, let's hope it's not that."

As they continued their search through the gloomy halls, as the evening began to grow dark, both Twilight and A.K. Yearling felt a strange disturbance in the air. They stopped for a moment, eyes darting from corner to corner and ears slowly swiveling to catch any strange noises.

"You felt that too?" Twilight whispered.

"Yeah. Like someone is watching us."

The two stood still for a moment, staying as quiet as they possibly could, trying to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. It was only when Twilight noticed a strange shadow at the end of the hall peek out from around the corner, only to dart away.

"There! Somepony's there!" Twilight exclaimed.

The two mares then exploded into a gallop, trying hard to catch whatever was there, but by the time they turned the corner, they saw nothing. Well, almost nothing. One of the doors leading to yet another room was opened ever so slightly with a warm glow coming from it. Cautiously, they approached the door and gently pushed it open, only to be greeted by what seemed like a small library.

"I think... we hit the jackpot," A.K. Yearling bemused.

"Considering who these notes might belong to, I'm not sure about that," Twilight countered. However, she thought, I won't lie. I'm getting a little excited about this. So much research in one sitting!"

Inside was nearly wall to wall with book shelves, with a writing desk set off to the left side and sandwiched between two of said shelves. In the center of the room was a reading podium, where a single, dusty, red, title-less book sat with a variety of parchment bits sticking out. As for the shelves themselves, they were packed with a variety of scrolls, parchments, and other assortments of random materials of unknown uses and origins. The room itself was kept alight by a cluster of crystals which had some very old magic cast within, confirming the use of the crystals that were peppered throughout the rest of the castle.

They slowly entered, remembering that the strange form they were looking for may be waiting inside, but as they crossed the door's threshold and had a better look inside, they realized no one was in here. To be sure, A.K. Yearling even checked behind the door they were pushing open, as it was the only hiding spot that was available in the rather tightly packed room. With no sign of the shadowy figure, they began to relax, and their opportunity to explore to their hearts content was clearer than ever.

The novelist/adventurer took to the shelves, casting her curiosity upon the variety of written works, and called upon her knowledge of older languages to try to understand what she glanced over. Eventually, she realized that most of these books, while old, were mostly somewhat mundane magical research, applying spells to more unique situations and changing properties here and there. This wasn't even counting the pages upon pages of evident magic theory. However, as she came to realize, the newer and less dusty materials that were present began to mention the use of dark magic, which unnerved her, even though she was somewhat expecting it.

The scholar turned Princess, however, took to the book at the podium a little more earnestly. While the other research materials were significant enough, her interest in the book captured her curiosity the most. Opening it slowly and turning it to a random page, letting the dust gently slide off its cover, she glanced its contents quickly, and realized this was a spell book. The contents, however, ended up being less curious and more unpleasant as she darted form page to page. Hate spells, mental and emotional manipulation spells, transmutation, mind control spells, monster summoning incantations, et cetera. It was all mostly typical evil sorcerer garbage that she honestly had enough of back when she faced off against Sombra's magic that day. That was, until, she flicked to a page that did catch her full attention. The 'Como de Dosigmir'a, it was titled. Intrigued, and reading through the old equish words, it described utilizing magic, preferably dark magic, to create a window into the collective subconscious that was only previously accessible by those who dream walk, while uttering the words:

Yolcam hoxmarch od blior de zimiib

While she uttered the words, she continued to read, and found a warning penned below it, stating that experiments done with this spell have ceased due to its dangers, including instability. Twilight raised an eyebrow, wondering what was unstable about it, as it didn't detail the issues any further than that.

As if on cue, the crystal light flickered, and its magic was suddenly siphoned out of it and into a strange, ethereal divide in the room. The divide then violently split open, and everything nearby was being pulled into it. As luck would have it, A.K. Yearling was closest to the rip in the fabric of reality, which made it so she had no time to react and was suddenly sucked in as well. Twilight followed suit just as quick, due to here own lack of preparation, as the tear suddenly slammed shut, and the whirling parchments in the room slowly floated down to the floor

-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-

Eyes creaking open, and groaning in discomfort, Twilight rose up from the ground she laid upon. Leaves were kicked away and shuffled as she gingerly checked herself, finding no serious injuries. It was then that she heard another groan come from nearby. Eyes snapping to the source of the sound, she saw A.K. Yearling rise up, rubbing her head and giving herself a small stretch to try and alleviate the pain.

"Oh, where am I?" A.K. Yearling uttered somewhat automatically, before she turned around. "Oh, Twilight! Are you alright? You got sucked in too?"

"Yeah. I guess that's what it meant by 'unstable'." She stretched herself as well, attempting to also relax and heal her sore muscles like her current companion had just done. "Also, that was less a window and more a portal. Me and my curiosity," she growled.

"A window? Portal?" the adventurer parroted, already displeased with the implications, "Well, where ever we are, it's not the castle anymore, and that's beyond concerning." Yearling surveyed her surroundings, trying to find any indication of where they ended up, but found the scenery to be far too unfamiliar, even in her long history of globe trotting. Twilight, however, despaired to understand exactly where they were. The chilling wind howling in the distance. The dead, darkened trees outlined in the moon's pale light. The unfamiliar sky with star patterns entirely alien to her. It was her nightmare.

Her eyes darted around in panic, as she tried to look for the portal that brought them there in the first place, but saw no sign. She wanted to panic further, but after giving herself a deep breath, and remembered what Luna had told her, she felt more at peace with herself. "Ok, ok, I'm good. We might be lost for... who knows how long, but we'll be fine."

Removing her cloak, A.K. Yearling took to the sky and tried to get a better understanding of where they were. However, to her astonishment, and no matter how high up she went, she saw nothing but an endless sea of bare trees, with no sight of the castle or any other familiar location that could help them get their baring. In defeat, she dropped back down to the leaf covered ground and placed her cloak back on. "I can't see anything, anywhere. Do you have any ideas, Twilight?"

She though for a moment, and realized, if this was the realm in her dream, then maybe she could contact the princesses. "I've got one. Gimme a second." Taking a piece of note paper and a pen that was with her current assistant, she wrote a short message, and attempted to send it to Celestia. However, the spell failed, and engulfed the note in flames, burning it to ash with no further payoff. "That's... not good. At all..."

"What was that?"

"A message, but where ever we are, it's not letting me send it."

"Well, what about re-creating that portal?"

Twilight's eyes lit up upon hearing that, right before, she realized one very important thing. "I... can't remember the words."

"What?"

"The book was written in old Equish, so..."

"Oof, say no more," she interrupted.

Twilight gave her surroundings one last look, hoping to see anything that could give them an out and not be doomed to wander through endless dead trees for the rest of their lives. Her hope payed off, however, when she noticed a strange structure in the distance, just slightly obscured by the branches. It was an amphitheater, and an odd one at that with a seemingly gothic design despite its relative mundanity. Twilight glanced towards A.K. Yearling, whom had also noticed the building.

Without a word, but knowing it was their best bet, the two mares proceeded towards the only location for miles that maybe, just maybe, had a clue on how to leave this strange place. Once they reached the amphitheater, that wasted no time passing through the door and into the audience threshold. Ruined tapestries billowed in the wind while leaves danced between rotting, forgotten seats.

"This place looks like it hasn't been visited in a long while," A.K. Yearling commented, poking at a fresh spider web, mostly to check if it was real and not just a decoration, "Let alone maintained."

"No kidding," she agreed as she trotted through the isles. Suddenly, the loud bang of spotlights turning on made the two jump, only to notice said light pointing toward the stage, illuminating a tattered old book on a pedestal.

Twilight began to approach it, but A.K. Yearling then spoke up with a warning. "Whoa. A spooky book out in the open, just like the one that brought us here? Yeah, I wouldn't touch it."

"Well, do you see anything else around here that might help? And, if it's like the book that brought us here, maybe it can get us back."

"Fair point."

Twilight wasted little time walking up to the offending tome now, noticing it was already open and ready to be read. However, what she saw was something she wasn't expecting. This wasn't the same book, as it was written in modern Equish. Furthermore, it seemed to have been structured like a story book, rather than a research text.

"Bad Dreams?" she said aloud, reading the title. She scanned the words, and noticed something odd. It was describing her nightmare last night, as well as her interaction with Princess Luna. "What in-"

"So, any clues?"

"This book... It's about us."

"Us? What do you mean?"

"The chapter it's turned to, it starts off with my nightmare I had last night, a-and the Princess's request to investigate those ruins," she exclaimed, getting more and more nervous, "Then Spike getting sick, and hiring you to assist me for the job, investigating the castle..."

"What the hay?!"

Suddenly, her nervousness all but disappeared in an instant when she was realized where the story was headed. "OH! The words!" She read on, an immediately found them. "Yes! There here! The words for the spell are here! We can get out now!"

"Well what are we waiting for?"

"Hang on a moment," she said, raising a hoof, "There's still more to read here. I should probably see what happens just in case."

"Princess, with all due respect, I think that's a very bad idea."

"Just a moment, I'll be-" she then cut herself off upon noticing something metal and polished to a mirror shine slowly inch it's way into view right next to her. She jumped back with a short yelp, knocking A.K. Yearling over, and gazed upon what she was seeing. It was a long and very sharp looking scythe, being held by a very strange, bi-pedal being. Its clothing was grey. Its hands sported three, very sharp looking talons. Its mask was like a skull missing its bottom jaw as a nail protrudes out of the forehead like some sort of parody of a unicorn horn. Its long, light brownish hair was wild and savage. She couldn't tell what the eyes looked like, as all she could see was shadows in the sockets of the mask. It then began to reach for her.

The two mares screamed in unison, and began running in panic, heading for the door. As they did, Twilight glanced back to make sure it wasn't following, but noticed it was gone. Upon casting her gaze forward once again, she saw that thing now stood in the doorway. The mares hit the breaks and made a u-turn on the spot, hoping to go for a different exit. As they did, though, the thing suddenly phased through the wall in front of them, once again trying to get in their way.

Just before they ran into the creature, Twilight's panic driven mind forced her to grab A.K. Yearling and cast an emergency teleportation spell. With a loud pop of magical energy, the two of them were outside the amphitheater. Dazed from the sudden temporal movement, the novelist did her best to regain her composure, but Twilight was quicker to act, as magic gripped her cloak and forced her to start running again to get as far away as they could from the strange and obviously dangerous creature. As they ran, she hazarded one last look towards the Amphitheater, and saw it slowly walk after them in a seemingly threatening way.

Perhaps due to the adrenaline and her wish not to stay here any longer, Twilight then recalled the words for the incantation, and cast the spell, ripping open a tear a good hoofball yard away from them, which was suddenly trying to suck everything in. With one swift movement, Twilight threw A.K. Yearling into it before jumping in herself.

At the other side, as the two mares landed back in the research room, the portal slammed shut once again, and disappeared from existence. Twilight was quick to her hooves as she ran up to the book filled with the dark magic incantations and notes, closed it, threw it to the ground, and set it on fire, feeling a little gross for committing what would normally be such a sacrilegious act in her eyes.

Gazing toward her friend, Twilight finally asked, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," she answered, "I think so." She gazed at the dark, ashen pile that used to be the book sitting at Twilight's hooves. "I don't blame you for what you just did... but was that really necessary?"

"THAT... must never see the light of day. A portal to a nightmare world where some ghost like... THING chases you in a rotting amphitheater? NOOOOOO, thank you!"

The two then exit the room, only to realize that night had finally fallen, putting an end to the day. Having had enough of there expedition for the time being, and with Twilight desperately wanting to get back home to Spike, she quickly wrote down a note off of a piece of paper she scooped off of the ground, and sent it right to the Princess's, right before they both head for the entrance of the castle to announce their leave for the day.

-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-

The figure, clutching his scythe with one hand, turned back to the amphitheater and walked back to its lonely form. With a sigh, it looked about the empty theater, just before realizing that it hadn't started its yearly tradition. Racing to the stage, which still had the book open, it began to gave a lament on the bizarre turn of events.

Oh, I hope they didn't spoil the whole story. I was so looking forward to telling it too. Curse my tardiness.

Author's Note

aWindow the Nighttorments/Nightmares

bBring forth fear and comfort to enter