A Little Nightmare to a Wonderful Dream
A pair of flickering lights formed in a blindingly dark void. The void felt… wrong, suffocating, the two only protected by an equally uncomfortable mass of energy around them. Beside the flickering lights, the source of the Wrongness floated. It was a larger light, shining within the seemingly infinite darkness. The conversation that was had between the three was… incomprehensible. The two, lesser lights, sending flickering concepts to the larger, that seemed to send ‘louder’ concepts back, barely restrained enough to not snuff the two lesser lights out with its speech alone. Finally, an agreement was reached between the three lights, and the two lesser vanished… into their own Little Nightmares...
Time passed...
Panting heavily from running, two girls looked up at a burning mansion, high on a thin but tall mountain island. Around the two were many Gnomes, and there was a flash of red as a third child ran off, a destination in mind. The two didn’t say a word to each other, not vocally, the one with braided hair simply nodding, shedding the raincoat for the other to have ,before going off with the gnomes. As she did, a flickering Light fled her, one of the two from the start. It flew over to it’s ally, said ally inhabiting the other girl, before flying off and under the water for it’s next host.
More time...
Deep down, under the sea, a girl in a raincoat and a small grey creature with an overly large grey hat that completely covered their head stood outside of an complex. Around them were dozens of children, saved by the efforts of the girl and the creature. Seeing the girl a bit uncomfortable, the creature hugged her, only able to pat her lower back due to its smaller stature. As the girl hugged the Gnome back, Darkness surrounded the Gnome, coming from the girl. Slowly, energy seems to siphon from the girl and into her friend, the Gnome transforming into a boy a bit taller than the girl, wearing a blue sweater and grey pants. He smiled at the girl, hugging her still. After the hug, he gathered the other gnomes and they were as it would seem “cured” as well, though this heavily drained the girl as it would seem, and he led them where the Braided Girl had been sent and hidden. As they escaped the girls view, the now shimmering Light returned. It flew around her happily, and she noticed that it seemed to be dark blue, green, and teal in coloration now. It then blasted off in a comet of its colors, charging towards the mainland looming in the distance...
[Yet with all this time.../i]
Standing together, a Boy and a Girl were resolute, glaring defiantly in the face of a giant grotesque mass of eyes and flesh. The Girl screamed, shadows seemingly answering her cry and ate away at the eyes. The eyes slowed, but otherwise seemed unperturbed by the Girl and her shadows. The boy then put his hand on her shoulder, holding his left out to match the right she had up. Together, they sucked away the lifeforce of the grotesque creature, sickly energy being ripped from its body, screeching out in its pain and writhing, but unable to do much else at all but accept its fate. Their deed done, the two, now glowing, lights formed once more. One, the multicolored one from the Boy, a heart in its center. The second a dark void, like the one that sent them here but its lesser, this one without the heart in its core. Together the Lights helped the Children escape the tower as it collapsed around them, blocking rubble and forming bridges for them. The children with the two Lights, escaping back into a now freed world...
Throughout it all… we refused To be it’s pawns...
The two lights, stronger and whole, faced against the Void-like entity that had sent them on their journey. The Void-light raged and sent crushing concepts at the two, the stronger but still lesser lights weaving through the attacks, barely scraping by and dodging the Stronger ones blows. The two lights tried to remove the Void, but were unable to do anything but dodge from it’s endless barrage, not given a moment they needed to conjure their powers. Abruptly, a bright light, as bright as the Voids was dark appeared. It gave the two reprieve from the Voids relentless attacks, and together, the three managed to seal the Dark away. The Dark sent a concept, a last attempt to drive the two apart, but they refused. After all was done, the Light sent apologies gently, soft comforting concepts, and a promise of adventure. With that, the lights vanished again after sending some Concepts the Light obliged with, and the two went on for another tale...
Two figures layed on the ground unconscious. One is a short and scrawny pale-skinned boy whose face is hidden by a light brown paper bag with two round eye holes that would enable him to see. He wears a one buttoned olive-colored trench coat that reaches below his knees above a brownish-gray shirt tucked into his long brownish-gray pants rolled up at the end. His hands and feet are bare.
The other is a girl, and she wears a bright yellow raincoat that ends just above her knees with three buttons, two pockets, and a rhombus-shaped hood. Up close, she has black bob-cut hair with bangs that completely obscure the top half of her face, only revealing her tiny nose and mouth. Her feet and hands are also bare.
Stirring, the boy woke up first. Groaning slightly, he raised himself off the ground, head hanging a bit. This of course caused the bag to slip off. Under the paper bag he wears, the boy has short, messy black hair that sticks out a little bit. Looking closer, one would see he has a fairly skinny and slightly more angular facial structure and dark eyes.
Looking at the bag, he picked it up and stuffed it in his coat. Glancing at the girl, a small smile appeared on his face. Reaching into his trench coat, he instead pulled out a yellow rain hat and put it on, standing up fully and walking over to the girl. She stirred, as if sensing the movement. When she sat up, she looked up and caused her hair to go back a little and the hood of her coat to fall back. For the brief second this happened, he saw her brown eyes before she pulled it back up. Noticing his hat, she smiled at him.
Looking around, she saw some nearby flowers. The girl reached her hand out, as if to pluck one, but instead shadows surged. From her hand, they went to the flower, writhing around it for a moment before pulling back and into her, making her look a bit more energized while the flower wilted. The boy frowned at this, crouching in front of the flower. Holding his right hand out, green energy covered the plant, restoring it. Despite his own feelings about her messing with the flower, he couldn’t help but want to try out his own abilities as well. His left hand out, static flowed from him to the flower. The white petaled plant grew, deforming a bit. The petals on the stem now almost look like handless arms, and eyes grew from the middle of the flower. It observed the two, and bowed to the boy, as if awaiting orders.
At that moment, the two hears rustling coming from behind them. They turned to the source of the noise, and saw two creatures that looked like wolves made of bark, twigs sticking out of them and glowing green voids where their eyes should have been. The flower needed no orders once the wolves pounced, it’s vines bursting up from the ground and wrapping around the two, slamming them together and shattering the wooden wolves. With that action, the plant seemed to run out of energy, shrinking back into its normal form as if it’d never changed at all.
The wood that once were wolves suddenly glowed, starting to come back together. Seeing this, the girl stepped forwards and held her hand out again. As before, the shadows rushing to obey their master, draining life from the pieces of bark and feeding it to her. The two watched the wood for a bit, wary, but it didn’t seem to be coming back this time. Turning, the boy saw the bushes rustle a little, tensing. When nothing came out, he figured it was a regular animal and turned back to the girl. “...Hey…” He said in a soft, mostly unused voice. “This way.” He said, grabbing her hand and lightly tugging.
The girl nodded her head, following the boys lead, her small smile growing a little at some more pleasant memories. The two went into the underbrush, exploring the dark forest. The girl started humming a familiar tune as the two wandered the forest. After a while, the two came across six figures, the girl stopping her humming at the sight of the strange people.
Frowning in confusion, the purple furred one spoke first. “The spell I managed to get going says they should be around here somewhere!” She said, seeming a bit irritated. The horn on her head flickered and went out, and the woman let out a huff of frustration.
“Oooh! Maybe one of them has weird static-y powers!” Said the pink one, making the others look at her blankly.
Crossing her arms from where she was floating via her wings, the blue one gave the pink one a look. “Pinkie… that’s stupid.” She bluntly said, making Pinkie pout and cross her arms.
Rubbing her chin, the purple one seemed in thought. “That might actually be the case… if this static was letting off some kind of signal, maybe like a radio… but those were outlawed and the blueprints destroyed, the signal they let off kept interfering with unicorn magic and causing accidents.” She said, looking around. When the lavender eyed woman looked the childrens way, the girl backed up and caused the bush to rustle. The woman's eyes widened, and as she turned to tell her friends, the girl ran, the boy not letting the girl’s hand go. This meant he was being dragged along a bit, but his slightly longer stride and some careful hopping let him keep up.
As they ran, the boy held out his right hand again. The static came at its master's call, entering the trees the two ran by. “Delay.” He whispered to the trees as they ran, the bark twisting and snapping to obey and block the way.
“Hey,” The girl said as the two ran, the boy diverting his attention to her. “Castle.” she said. The boy thought for a moment, and nodded. Hiding behind a tree, he took his hand from hers and placed it on the bark. Static flowed, twisting and snapping, loud cracks going through the air- both from this tree, and from where the two had come from, sounds of thwooms following horrid cracks of the children's defenders being defeated.
As the strange women approached, the bark finished shifting. The screen turned on, revealing the fuzzy static of a television without a signal. Taking her hand again, the boy pulled her into the treelevision, the two slipping inside in a burst of loud static. On the other side was a long hallway that the two floated through, a long hallway with a television screen at the end, which the two shortly climbed out through in another static filled burst.
On the other side of the screen the two found themselves in a cave. Turning around, the boy put his hand back on the screen, but this time seemed to be… pulling. Static flowed from the television and into him, and after a few moments the television in the stone wall that he’d made distorted back into being a regular wall, as if it was never there.
As the boy did this, the girl started looking around. Just as he finished, the girl tugged on his sleeve. Turning, the boy and the girl stared up in awe at what was before them. A large, crystalline tree...
A Little Nightmare to a Wonderful Dream
Standing in front of the tree, the two children were staring up at the crystalline facimal of a regular tree. After a moment, the boy stood in front of the girl, hand stretched out, as if ready to defend against the thing. The girl seemed to make a face at this from behind him, an unsure expression. The crystalline foliage glowed, and the two children's eyes widened.
The tree pulsed, and the two children watched the light flicker in and out. After a few moments, the boy lowered his hand and turned to the girl. He tilted his head at her, and she nodded in return. “Ponies?” The girl asked, and the boy looked away, crossing his arms and tapping his foot for a few moments.
“...Dangerous.” He murmured back, frowning under his rain hat as he looked back at her. The little girl hummed back, looking up for a moment.
“True…” She said, humming for another couple seconds, her own arms crossing. “Sneak?” She questioned, looking back at him and tilting her head.
After a few moments, the boy hummed. He started, letting out a little gasp and smiling. “Chaos.” He said back, and the girl smiled back. Taking her hand, he led them out of the cave. Looking around, he saw a staircase made out of the stone around them and headed towards it, climbing up when they got there, his friend following the whole way.
“After.” The girl said as she followed, the boy nodding in reply to her. When they reached the top of the tall staircase, they slowly went across the old, rigidity bridge. Across the bridge was a bunch of stone structures that once may have been a grand castle, and the two didn’t hesitate to move into the structure through the open front gates.
The two stopped holding hands for a moment, looking around the inside. “Home?” Asked the girl, looking at the boy.
Humming, the boy nodded. “Tower.” He said back, looking at her and tilting his head. Squirming a bit, stepping nervously, the girl frowned.
“Unsure.” She said back, and he walked forwards to hug her.
“Control, safe.” He assured her, rubbing her back.
“Okay… trust.” The girl almost whispered back, the boy nodding. After another couple seconds of hugging, he stepped away. The two wandered through the castle, looking around. They searched through every room, until they reached a very large one, with two large chairs, thrones, that seemed to once be ornate masterpieces, but were now hole ridden things not worth sitting on.
Crouching down in the center of the room by some rubble, the boy held out both hands. He tensed, and two streams of static left his hands, wrapping around the rubble and debris and pulling it together. After some time spent concentrating, the girl watched on with worry, a small metal box with a light on the top formed where the rubble once was. Around it static noises played from small televisions in the side of the metal cube, and the stone under it seemed… smoother, more intact than it was moments ago. Moments later, the boy fell to his side, panting a bit.
Rushing over, the girl sent a wary glance at the box before kneeling next to her friend. “Okay?” she asked, a concerned frown on her face. The boy nodded his head.
“Tired… draining.” He said back, a yawn accompanying his words. Standing up, she lifted him, an arm over her shoulders.
“Rest… bed.” She said, more to herself as her friend tiredly moved his legs. The two wandered off from the large room, searching. After some time, the two found a suitable intact bed, it had only two holes in it with moon markings on it, and star patterns dotting around it. The girl set her friend into the bed, going around it and climbing in on the other side. The two held each other, falling asleep quickly in the bed.
Rushing, a blue sweatered boy swam frantically, away from what was in the water swimming after him. He climbed up a piece of metal, throwing himself on it and crawling forwards away from the edge. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a metal tube. Flipping a switch on the end, he shined the light that came from it on the water. After a few moments of making sure they weren’t there anymore, he walked on, continuing his journey…
A while later…
The boys face grimaced, coming across a flooded area with a bunch of objects floating in it. Looking around, the boy sighed. Putting his light away, he ran forwards, jumping into the water and kicking his feet, swimming to a box and pulling himself up. The box wobbled, whatever was underneath hitting it, and the boy went to all fours to stabilize himself.
Another moment went by, before the boy got up and ran again, this time jumping towards a large red couch. The jump took him most of the way there, so he quickly clambered onto the seat, going to the back and making sure his legs could not be grabbed. He did this again for a barrel, from which he jumped across a couple more. Another swim found him on a bit of a metal outcropping, which held a bottle. Picking it up, the boy broke the bottle, taking a fairly sized shard for himself and ignoring the black puff that came from it.
With the help of some boxes, the boy made his way across, finding a wheel with a lever on it. Spinning it brought up a bag, a child's arm sticking out of it that made him make a distressed whimper. Jumping onto the bag, and using that to get on a hook, he finally landed onto a platform with a tub with water nearby, meat floating inside.
Taking a breath, the boy walked over and grabbed a piece of meat, turning and throwing it as far as he could back the way he came. With that he turned around and jumped, swimming for the other side, trying to get to safety. He heard splashing, and confusion went across his face before a hand burst from the water. It grabbed the boy, who pounded on the hand and wailed, before abruptly dragging him under…
A girl in a raincoat followed a trail of blood through two giant doors, entering a tiled area. Pushing a cart over, she climbed up it and through a window. She found herself in a room filled with various edibles- carrots, bottles filled with something, condiments and more. Looking through them all, she found one with three x’s on it. Grabbing some cloth from one of the bags, she stuffed it into the bottle and carried it forwards…
Some time later…
The girl ran, ducking and dodging as plates were thrown at her. Two large, grotesque people waddled after her quickly, vacant expressions on their faces. When the two were close, the girl suddenly turned and pulled a lighter from her pocket. Lighting the cloth, she picked up the bottle and threw it at the two as they lumbered towards her.
Seeing it hit, the girl jumped in joy for a single moment before the two started screaming. They wailed in pain, flailing around and running into each other, falling down. The girl smelt burning flesh in the air, and watched as their wax like faces melted under the intense heat of the flames she had thrown at them. It only got worse when their eyes started to melt. She heard loud meaty pops from inside of the two as their organs burst, their bodies melting.
The girl covered her mouth, backing up a step, two… before puking up the contents of her stomach just as the fire ended. The rumbling of a stomach was heard as the girl looked at the cooked chefs, stepping closer...
The boy and the girl both awoke with a start, breathing heavily in panicked breaths. The boy shook his head after a moment, turning to the girl. “Dream?” She asked, the boy shaking his head.
“Nightmare…” He said back, bringing up his legs and hugging them to himself. The girl nodded, and the two sat in silence for a moment, before the boy started. “Danger!” He said, grabbing her hand and tugging.
“Spy?” The girl asked. The boy nodded after a few moments, and the two started to sneak through the ancient ruins, eventually reaching the large doors to the large room and peeking inside.
Inside, they saw the purple woman from yesterday, her friends, and a new man. “What are you getting from it, Twilight?” The man questioned, looking right at the purple woman.
She sighed. “Nothing… there’s too much interference. All I know is it’d be a bad idea to destroy or move it… that’ll just cause the static to burst, Shining.” Twilight replied, crossing her arms. A frown was on her face, and her brows furrowed.
“Aw, come on. We can handle a little static! I say we just break the thing.” The floating light blue woman said, rearing a leg back.
“No Rainbow! It’s too dangerous!” Twilight said, and Shining leapt to action, he conjured a shield around the little cube that was to be a Tower, Rainbows foot bouncing off the magical shield.
The yellow one stepped forwards. “M-maybe they s-set this up to d-defend their home?” She suggested, her voice soft and hard to hear.
“We know at least one of them possesses illegal magic. This is likely them preparing to attack Equestria, Fluttershy. We need to take them in as soon as possible.” Shining said to the timid mare, making her flinch back.
“Retrieve?” The girl whispered to the boy, who grimaced. After a couple seconds, he nodded.
“Lead… tree.” He whispered back, turning to her.
“Bait?” The girl asked, pointing at herself. He shook his head.
“Me. Static, no catch.” He said back. “Backup.” He added, pointing at her.
“No! Both!” The girl insisted, crossing her arms.
“Magic… resists.” He said, pointing to himself. “Vulnerable.” he said a moment later, pointing at her.
“Faster!” The girl insisted, her shadow underneath her writhing a little.
“THERE THEY ARE!” One of the people in the room shouted.
“Split!” Said the boy, turning and bolting. The girl did the same, going the other direction and slipping into a shadow.
The two ran, with the boy dodging the horned ones lasers, ducking and weaving. The girl evaded the other four, travelling by shadow whenever the fast one almost caught up to her. Together the two led them on a seemingly wild goose chase, until both met up at the exit. Neither stopped, running out and bolting across the bridge and down the stairs.
Of course, their pursuers followed after them without hesitating, a fog coming in around the two as they went down. About halfway, the sound of beating wings reached the ears of the kids, and the girl pulled the boy into a shadow. From that, they teleported to the bottom, running for the cave which held the tree.
When they got there, they immediately hid behind the ancient crystalline artifact. They could hear voices, but not the words. Eventually, they heard the sound of something charging, and peeked out to see what was going on.
The six were now floating, their eyes white pools of power. A beam of rainbow fired from Twilights horn, going up before arching down and at the tree. The tree, in response, seemed to suck in the beam, glowing bright as it did. The rainbow split into six separate beams, each connecting to the jewelry the people were wearing. They struggled, resisting, but eventually the tree ripped out the gems and seemed to absorb them.
“Bye…” The children said as one, right before the tree blasted a spiraling rainbow at the seven people. They were launched far, far in the sky, probably out of the area entirely.
