Skyjack shot open his eyes in panic, gasping for air; his outcries echoing around him. He jostled against the chill, his cream-colored, white-splotched coat standing up; his black mane swaying lamely against the cold breeze.
A muted sky blurred Skyjack's emerald gaze, resulting in the stallion hissing in pain, averting his narrowed eyes to the colorless grass. He recoiled abruptly in disgust, eliciting a revolted moan; his back and the back of his mane were damp and slimy. Skyjack sits up and senses dampness all around his legs and hooves, soaking through his pelt until he can feel it grace his flesh.
"What the?!" Skyjack wheezed indignantly; he gagged, scrunching his muzzle in revulsion. "What sort of water is this?"
He stared at the grass and espied a faint shimmering of light reflecting amongst it; it was water. Motionless water; stagnated water. And it had a faint, awful odor. But it didn't wholly feel like water. It was a black viscous liquid that slid unhurriedly off of his body. The watery gunk fell to the saturated earth with a sticky plop, provoking the stallion to recoil with disgust.
"Great..." Skyjack muttered grimly. He felt dirty and weighed down by the liquid and stood up. "Where am I, and why can't I remember...remember what happened before? Ahh! Everything is so muddled!"
He surveyed the scene but couldn't figure out exactly where he was. He was on moorland if the vast stretch of land was anything to go by, but he also stood rigid with shock. Across the gray landscape was water as far as the eye could see. The earth was inundated with black water; some parts were even submerged, with nothing but steep pools of blackness.
Skyjack stumbled in shock and was sick to his stomach. He could more clearly scent that stench rising from the black water like a miasma of death, floating aimlessly like a transparent mist, and fought to keep himself from gagging.
"Where is this?!" he wailed, but nothing answered his frantic plea. He veered his gaze around and saw nothing for miles. "This isn't Equestria... Where am I, and why does my head feel foggy?"
Despairing, Skyjack shifted his forlorn gaze to the pale sky and surveyed it. He saw something, a shaft of faint white light, out in the far distance. Perhaps it's a way out of this place.
"I don't know where I am, but I have to return," he muttered.
Just as Skyjack was about to take a step forward, his vision suddenly blurred and he staggered forward, kneeling on the dank earth making an effort to catch his breath. A searing pain edged around the back of his skull; it was throbbing as if he had broken a bone. Skyjack clutched his head with a hoof and groaned painfully, praying for the agony to end.
Then, to his stupefaction, Skyjack's wish was vested; the pain lessened, degrading to a dull ache. Recovering, Skyjack heaved himself off the ground, but only to see something moving in the steep black pools nearest to him.
"What in Celestia's name?" Skyjack murmured shakily, his tone astounded.
He tried moving his legs to run away but they felt as if they were firmly planted into the submerged soil, preventing his escape. All Skyjack could do was watch.
A large, great lump protruded out of the black pool, quivering like a newborn foal as it slowly began taking the shape of a lanky pony. It was drenched in the stuff, swaying on its hooves; it was like gazing at a living shadow.
Skyjack continued to watch in horror as the shadow gained beady white glowing eyes that locked onto his with an intensity that compelled him to not glance away.
The dripping black creature flung its head back and ripped its mouth open to reveal blackened teeth and a thin, lolling, tendril-like tongue. Its jaw unhinged with a snap, letting out an ear-splitting screech that echoed throughout the moorland, causing Skyjack to flinch; he fought to keep himself from shouting in pain.
When the screech subsided, the creature gazed at Skyjack with a smile so twisted and gnarled, that he knew whatever that thing was, it wasn't a pony, even though it took the shape of one. Skyjack, still forced to watch, saw the creature meandering towards him with an odd lurching gait as if it had never walked on four legs before.
Terror washed over Skyjack as he fought and shattered the invisible chains that had bonded him to the earth. He tripped once before fleeing away from the creature, who was gaining speed on him. Hearing the sloshing, thundering hoofsteps of the creature echoing behind him, Skyjack fought to stay ahead of it.
Skyjack gazed at the sky as he ran, locking onto the beam of faded light. He didn't know what lay in wait for him there, but something in his gut told him to get there no matter what. And with this creature after him, Skyjack somehow knew that if he was caught by that thing, he would never escape whatever place this was.
He galloped and galloped as hard as he could, but the inundated terrain made it difficult for him to run at full speed. With a glance over his shoulder, a cold dread filled his heart. The creature had no problem traversing the wet moorland; it was going to catch up to him soon, and he had no means of defending himself.
Hopelessness tightened Skyjack's still-beating heart; the stench of death was beginning to make him sick, and the effort to trudge through this miry earth and his ever-dampening coat weighing him down meant his death was almost assured by his shadowy pursuer. And yet he didn't stop his agonized paces; he continued to pelt through the moorland with a withering determination.
Skyjack shouts, "Somepony! Anypony! Help!" But his pleas weren't answered.
He heard growling from the creature, but it sounded choked and congested as if something thick and sickly lay within.
As Skyjack ran calling out for help, a black root suddenly appeared in front of him and surged forward, grasping his left foreleg and sending him plunging face-first into the black liquid. He crashed and skidded to a halt; he flailed his limbs desperately, heaving himself off the sodden earth with a mixture of despair and anger.
Skyjack coughed, spewing out large amounts of black water. It tasted foul on his tongue, causing the stallion to retch the remaining remnants of the viscous liquid.
He began to feel tired and slow, yet the ailing stallion staggered to his shaken hooves, but only to be knocked right back by the creature's looming figure as it halted. The sudden halt pushed a large amount of air that forced the stallion onto the saturated earth.
Skyjack veered around to stare at the creature giving him that twisted smile. Its jaw hung limply, giving him a front-row seat to all of the black-stained teeth; he was stunned with fear and shock.
Skyjack could only watch as the creature's black maw seeped out the black water onto his body. The sticky, foul-smelling liquid perfused amongst his body until all, except for his head, was drenched with it, turning his coat black as an abyss. Then the creature's tongue shot forward and squeezed tightly around Skyjack's neck, eliciting a choking wail to escape his lips.
This was it. The end of the line; no way out for him now. Skyjack was going to die at the hooves of this grotesque aberration without ever knowing why. He was going to die without remembering how he got here; to die with his mind covered in a dense haze.
With great effort, Skyjack closed his eyes and waited for the suffering to end, welcoming the encroaching grasp of death. But something inside him longed to persist and survive no matter the odds. To his surprise, throughout the pain, Skyjack released one more fervent plea.
"Somepony, help me!!!"
Suddenly, a blue light edged the corner of his vision and Skyjack could feel the creature's tongue release its suffocating grasp around his neck, allowing him to take in a massive gulp of tainted air. He watches as the creature's beady white eyes turn to face whatever disturbed its torturous hold on the stallion.
"Halt, foul creature!" called a voice. It was a mare. "You do not belong here!"
Able to turn his head, Skyjack veered his gaze where the creature was looking and saw a mass of dark blue light in the shape of an alicorn. He was speechless as he stared in utter amazement.
Then, without warning, the alicorn surged forward in a frightening blur, a glowing shield conjured to her side and bashed the creature with a strong, hefty blow. The creature reeled painfully, screeching angrily as its grip on Skyjack released, causing the stallion to sink onto the inundated earth.
Skyjack watched as the creature was bashed away from him, tumbling across murky earth before halting to a startling crash. The alicorn coated in her blue light faded away, leaving Skyjack to gasp in shock at who it was.
Princess Luna stood protectively with her shield over Skyjack. Her cyan eyes, which shimmered like chips of ice, glowered at the addled stallion with a mix of relief and fury. She was as imposing as ponies said but Skyjack knew her anger stemmed from knocking the creature away from him.
"I have been looking for you," she told him briskly, her tone solemn and stern. "I heard your call and heeded it as swiftly as possible."
The alicorn used her magic to remove some of the black water that caked Skyjack's coat, relieving him of some of its staggering weight.
"Did that creature harm you?" she asked.
Able to find his voice, Skyjack says, "No, Princess Luna, I'm fine. I just have to... Gah!"
A sharp, throbbing pain came from the stallion's left foreleg; the one that tripped on the root. Skyjack could barely move it without letting out a hiss of pain.
"I wrenched a foreleg trying to run from that...thing," Skyjack muttered, casting a sorrowful gaze at his injured leg. "But don't worry, I can keep going."
Princess Luna held a baleful glare at Skyjack, but then it softened. "We are...fortuitous to have finally aided you, but our plight is not yet over." She shifted her blue gaze to the sky where the beam of light persisted. "We must quickly get you to that light for you to leave this fantasy."
"Fantasy?" Skyjack echoed, heaving himself off the sopping ground. "Am I dreaming?"
Princess Luna nodded firmly. "You are in a magically induced coma, and you will not reawaken until you depart from this nightmare."
"A coma?!" Skyjack cried, surprised. "What happened to me?"
"You were assaulted by a creature of dark magic," she told him. "It has the power to infest the dreams of others and turn them into a harrowing nightmare where it will make an effort to pursue and exterminate you, without relent."
Skyjack was horrified that such a creature could exist. "What is that thing?"
"A Dreg," the mare answered, spitting out the word as if it were a curse. "Formless scum that appears as either black, sludge-like water or a black mist. When it infests a pony, it induces a coma and enters their dreams where it will hunt them down until either it or its prey dies.
"One must have a potent mental fortitude to combat it. When it came across you, whatever you were doing, it sensed you weren't mentally...adept, and chose you as its target."
Skyjack's eyes glistened with shame. "I can barely control my dreams," he murmured. "Princess Luna, I can't seem to remember anything. What's with that?"
"In an attempt to addle and confuse its prey, the Dreg blocks almost all memories. I assume you recall your name?"
"I am Skyjack," he told her, but that didn't help the pit welling inside his stomach. "I know I'm from Equestria and that you are co-ruler. But after that, it's all a haze. Will my memories return if I escape this nightmare?"
"Verily," she answered. "If you escape, the Dreg will be forced out of you, and will dissipate."
Confounded, Skyjack says, "It will die if I manage to escape? Why would that happen?"
Princess Luna shook her head. "The Dreg are feeble creatures at heart and expend most of what little dark magic they possess to infest and alter your dream. All beings have some facet of magic; if the aberration catches and manages to consume you, it will absorb all of your magic so it can continue to persist.
"You escape, it dies from lack of magic; that is the reason why it hunts without relent, for it knows death looms over it. Let us make haste to the beam of light and rid this horrid nightmare that plagues you."
Without another word, Skyjack struggles on his hooves, save for one that is wrenched. He had an inkling he would not make it even with Luna's assistance, but as he glanced at the pale sky and saw the beam of light, he knew they were close; it was passing just a few hills. If he and Princess Luna could hold out just a little longer against this bleak nightmare, he knew they could make it.
"No time for despair," Skyjack muttered under his breath. He could feel his limbs tingle and the faint throbbing of his injured leg and felt a surge of renewed determination ignite under him. "We will make it... We have to."
As fast as he could, Skyjack limped forward toward the beam of light with Princess Luna keeping pace just in front of him. Skyjack could hear rumbling coming from behind and knew the creature had recovered from Princess Luna's shield bash and was pelting after them, its hooves thundering under the submerged earth.
Skyjack felt panic beginning to rise from his coat and fought to keep his mind on escaping. A shadowy root like before suddenly appeared in front of Skyjack, but he was ready this time. He evaded it with a short hop; he could hear the creature gurgle with frustration. He looked back and saw the creature's mouth bloated as if was going to spew something at him.
"Princess!" he called anxiously. "The creature is about to do something. What do we do?!"
Princess Luna glanced at the Dreg and skidded to a halt. She knocked Skyjack just barely out of the way as the Dreg blasted a large clump of black water at him. She slides on the dank earth and veers to attack the Dreg in an attempt to gain more distance.
Princess Luna collided with the creature with her shield, but the Dreg was ready. It spawned black tendrils from its back to catch the attack just in time. She struggled to remove the shield from the Dreg's sticky grip but was knocked away with a powerful blow from the Dreg's forelegs.
"Meddler," hissed the Dreg in a long, gurgled drawl. "Meddling Dreamwatcher!"
"It can talk?!" Skyjack gasped, horrified.
Luna struggled to her hooves but only to receive a wet smack across the face from a tendril before the Dreg forced her head under the black water, attempting to drown the alicorn. Luna fought adamantly to free herself, her wings flaring up and flapping in a vain attempt to stagger the Dreg, but it didn't work.
Skyjack watched in dismay as Princess Luna's struggles began to weaken. Cold dread washed over him. What will happen to Princess Luna if she drowns in a dream that isn't hers? Would she wake up or would she die? He didn't want to know the answer.
Skyjack's limbs felt like rocks and fear for Princess Luna kept him from leaving her behind. He couldn't leave her to potentially be killed by the Dreg, not after she came to his rescue. Although he hated it, Skyjack would have to attack his hunter.
Gathering the courage, Skyjack galloped toward the Dreg, who was too preoccupied with drowning Luna. He swerved to one side of the Dreg and jumped forward, opening his mouth and biting down hard on one of the tendrils. The Dreg screeched in pain, releasing its hold on Luna who gasped for air after she could pull her head out of the black water.
"Skyjack, you fool!" Luna spat angrily, coughing up some of the black water; her pristine blue coat caked in it. "You should have left me behind!"
Skyjack, who still had his teeth clamped on a tendril, mumbled loudly, "I couldn't leave you to be killed; you are the princess! I won't leave you alone!"
Huffing in slight vexation, Luna used her horn to conjure a beam of blue magic that struck the Dreg, causing the wailing creature to be forced back. Skyjack had let go just in the nick of time and gagged at the foul taste.
"Disgusting," he said, shuddering as he limped back to Luna and helped her up. "Come on! We have to go!"
Just as Skyjack and Luna began to gallop, the Dreg rose from the earth and lurched after them with an angered wail. Heart pounding, Skyjack forced himself to not look back.
Skyjack could feel his limbs tire as the weight from the black water that still clung to his coat made each stride a struggle, but he dared not slow his pace. He could tell that Princess Luna was starting to feel the effects of the black water, but she too did not slow.
The gallop toward the beam of light was onerous; the Dreg was unrelenting in its chase for Skyjack. Princess Luna had to fight it off again when it got too close, nearly suffering an injury to her wing.
Another interaction was around a mound where Skyjack had slipped and fallen, further damaging his already wrenched foreleg, and he had to be carried by Princess Luna up and down the other side of the mound.
It never seemed they were getting any further from the Dreg as it kept close to them with an odd stride that one could call strange and unnatural. But no matter its attempts to take and consume Skyjack, it had failed every step of the way, and the stallion could tell with brief glimpses that the Dreg was getting desperate.
It wailed and charged at them, lashing out with its black tendrils to swat them, but the strikes were too erratic and uncontrolled, letting the fleeing party evade it.
Skyjack and Princess Luna managed to arrive at the area where the beam of light was located. Skyjack saw the faded light lit a patch of soiled earth. That was his ticket out of this place. All he had to do now was reach it and he'll wake up from this nightmare. He looked wearily at Princess Luna and saw her relief mirror his own.
Just before they could reach the beam of light, a giant chasm suddenly appeared in front of them, causing the two ponies to halt in their tracks. It was filled with black water; it was like those steep pools Skyjack saw when he awoke. A large, wide gap stood between him and his way out of this nightmare.
"Curses," Luna muttered crossly under her breath. "It is too wide to gallop around without facing the Dreg, too far for me to fly over, and my magic here is not as potent as I would desire..."
Skyjack felt as if a claw had raked down his chest. What were they to do now, and what did Luna mean about her magic?
"Is there something wrong with your magic?" Skyjack asked, panting after his long, painful stride across the moorland.
Princess Luna bit her lip fretfully in frustration, glancing over her shoulder to see the Dreg sneering at her as it slowed its pursuit.
"The Dreg rules here, and its hold over your dream makes it...difficult to conjure much magic here," she elucidated to him in an annoyed huff. "I can do very little here than I would like otherwise, but...there is no sense in grousing."
"What can we do?" Skyjack said, his voice quaking as the Dreg encroached upon them.
Princess Luna narrowed her eyes and said, "We shall keep running. Let us go!"
Before Skyjack could say anything, he found himself racing after the alicorn with the Dreg thundering after them. They edged around the wide gap of black water, careful to not slip in by mistake.
The Dreg screeched and threw its tendrils to stop the ponies, but Luna was prepared. She dropped back to let Skyjack take the lead, using her shield to deflect the Dreg's attacks, then she skidded to a halt and leaped toward it, surprising the creature with a swift blow from her shield, knocking the abhorrent monstrosity into the black abyss.
"Do not slow your hoofsteps, Skyjack," Luna bade solemnly, her cold breath brushing Skyjack's ears when she pelted beside him. "If you can leave, I will appear next to you in the waking world. You are being cared for in the hospital, so when you do wake try not to panic. Understand?"
Skyjack nodded silently, relieved to have a princess like Luna watching over him. He now firmly believed he'd make it out. He was so close that he could practically feel the warmth radiating from the beam of light.
"We're going to make it," he said under his labored breath. "We're going to-"
His words were cut off by something wet and slimy clutching his right hind leg, causing Skyjack to plummet to the sodden earth below. He looked down to see a tendril wrapped tightly around his leg, pulling him into the black water. Horrified, Skyjack sees the beady white eyes of the Dreg glaring balefully at him as he flailed vainly to free himself.
"Luna!" he wailed, panic taking over him as he struggled to free himself. "Help me! The Dreg is pulling me into the water!"
"Skyjack!" she called in distress as she leaped toward him, but only to be whipped away by another tendril. "No!"
Breath coming in quick gasps, Skyjack attempted to pry himself from the Dreg's hold, but he had failed. He felt the cold slime creep up his legs and then to his belly until only his head was visible on the surface. He was in the black water. Skyjack cried out for help, but it was cut off as his vision was plunged into churning darkness. The last thing he saw was Luna rising from the inundated earth and calling out his name.
He was inside the black water, flailing desperately to free himself, but the more he struggled the more exhausted he became.
Skyjack gazed at the dim, obnubilated surface with his hoof reaching out; dwindling each second until the faded light died. He felt weighed down by the black gunk, his legs cumbersome and slow.
I...I can't...breathe; can't feel my legs! It's...it's all... The world is dark and... cold. I'm going to die! he thought despairingly. I will never see my home ever again. At least... At least I tried.
Skyjack could feel his lungs take on water as his vision began to blur. Everything slowed to a crawl and Skyjack could hear his heart thumping from his chest. He shifted his bloodshot eyes on a pair of hungry white ones trained on him. The Dreg. Skyjack knew he should try and free himself from the creature's dark grasp, but he could no longer summon the effort.
It wouldn't matter anyway, he thought silently. I wouldn't be able to swim to the surface fast enough. This... This is as far as I can go. I'm sorry, Princess Luna, but your efforts were wasted. Forgive me...
"No... meddler," it choked out. "No... Dreamwatcher. I now feed!"
Skyjack waited as the Dreg gripped onto him. He felt something leave him, something integral to his being. Something all ponies had: Magic. The Dreg was draining his magic and instilling it into itself so it could persist.
Skyjack felt himself grow weak. He laments his fate in pained silence as he waits for death to claim him in its cruel grasp.
As his vision nearly blackened, Skyjack saw a faint blue light above and shifted his eyes to see. It was Luna, diving deep into the black water to save him. He watches the Dreg gurgle in surprise as a beam of magic shoots from the alicorn's horn, directly hitting the Dreg without hurting Skyjack.
The Dreg's grip loosened as Luna swam next to Skyjack and grabbed him with her magic. The Dreg, furious at being interrupted twice from its meal, attempted to swat Luna away, but the mare retaliated with a swift bash from her magically conjured shield; the force knocked the Dreg away from Skyjack as he felt Luna's magic heave him towards the surface.
Skyjack shot out of the black water and fell to the flooded earth with a crash. Luna followed shortly after, landing next to the stallion. Barely conscious, Skyjack watched dull-eyed as Princess Luna began pumping his chest hastily with her hooves.
"Skyjack!" she cried out. "Skyjack... Skyjack, stay with me; do not close your eyes. Look at me!"
Skyjack hardly heard her plaintive pleas, and he couldn't see Luna properly, yet he fought lamely to stay awake. Eventually, something surged within him and Skyjack suddenly vomited up the black water, his anguished retching echoing throughout the moorland. Then his blurred vision began to clear, and he saw the tear-stained countenance of Princess Luna shaking him.
"Prin... Princess?" Skyjack rasped. "I'm...I'm okay."
"Thank the stars," she said, embracing him. She broke the hug and pointed with her hoof at the fading light. "You must walk into it if you are to survive. Can you stand?"
Skyjack nodded, heaving himself to his hooves and nearly crumpling under them, but Princess Luna held him up.
"Careful," she soothed, using a wing to hold Skyjack close to her. "I can see the Dreg absorbed some of your magic, and it will take some time until you are at full strength again. Come," she urged. "We must make haste!"
Skyjack didn't say anything, he was too tired from the whole ordeal. He limped with Princess Luna by his side until he could nearly touch the fading light. Before he could take another couple of steps, a giant splash erupted from the steep black pool behind him.
Chilled to the bone by fear, Skyjack weakly turned his head to the Dreg chasing after them. He was suddenly thrust forward as a crash was heard behind him. Collecting himself, Skyjack saw Princess Luna battling the Dreg, holding it back the best she could.
"Skyjack, do not worry about me! If you touch the light, I will be transported out with you, as you'll be waking up," she explained with a grunt. "Do not look back! Hurry!"
Though he was torn about leaving Princess Luna behind, Skyjack did as he was told. He limped hastily to the faded light and entered its warm shine.
The world around him began to flicker and crack, and his eyelids became heavy, closing his eyes. The sounds of struggles went silent, and a faint tranquility flowed through him.
"I'm waking up..."
It was quiet and the air smelled clean and cool; the acrid stench of death was gone, and the icy chill had vanished. The warm rays of the sun grace his face. A soft bed enraptured Skyjack's body.
Skyjack opened his eyes slowly, his blurry eyes adjusting to the light. A room of white greeted him, pictures of colorful meadows and lush forests hung on the walls. The redolent scent of flowers tickled his nose, and he strained his eyes to see a flower vase on a nightstand next to his hospital bed. Above it was a window where the sun's rays bled through.
"I made it," Skyjack whispered, but then he was attacked by a bout of coughing.
Skyjack groaned. His body ached and his head throbbed with pain, but he didn't care. He was glad his left foreleg wasn't wrenched anymore.
"Try not to move," called a feminine voice.
Skyjack turned his head and saw the visage of Princess Luna a few hoofsteps away.
"The aches will subside in the coming days. Welcome to the waking world, Skyjack."
He sighed. "Glad to be back," he replied. "Are you okay?" Skyjack studied her figure and found no injuries. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Stow your concerns, dear one. I am fine," Princess Luna answered with a small smile. "I have been accosted by more serious injuries, but I do have a few aches."
"What happened to the Dreg?"
"It perished shortly after you entered the faded light, dissipating into nothingness," she answered verily. "As I said it would. There is no cause for worry any longer, Skyjack. You are free of the Dreg and will have many pleasant dreams from this day forward. How do you feel?"
"Like I drowned and drowned again," Skyjack muttered, but then he chuckled. "I'm great, thanks to you. I would be dead if it weren't for you."
Princess Luna dipped her head. There was regret in her eyes when she stared back at him. "I apologize for not aiding you immediately. It took some time to find where you were in the dream."
"Nonsense," Skyjack retorted, attempting to wave off Princess Luna's regret with a hoof but found it too painful to do so. "I'm just happy you did come. I wouldn't be alive if you hadn't. What will happen now?"
"You will be staying here to recoup after the ordeal, and I shall return to Canterlot to rest," she answered with a brief yawn. "I will check on you every night until you are admitted from the hospital."
Skyjack released a long and heavy sigh from his lips, turning his head toward the white ceiling. "Thanks again, Princess Luna," he said, closing his eyes.
"Rest well, Skyjack, and may you have wonderful dreams forevermore."