Prologue: The First Entry
March 24, first entry of this journal.
Today... oh today... It was definitely strange. I hadn’t heard of things like this since my youth. I suppose I should start by introducing myself. I am Professor Deshade Reven. Don’t ask about the strange name, that’s another book in itself. A lot of ponies think I’m crazy, while many others call me a genius, practically to the point where when somepony sees a paper fall off their table, they immediately think it’s a ghost and come to me. I call myself none of these. I am simply a pony who wishes to protect those from what they should not see.
It seems in the incredible scope of impossibilities embraced by pony faith it appears that the more outlandish those beliefs become, the greater are the cries of “intolerance” and pleas for “respect.”… Thus is why there have been so many cults forming that worship these spirits, which only makes them stronger, and only makes my job harder... But before I go on a complete tangent, I’ll stop myself right there.
Now that my name is out of the way, I can go on about todays events. Even as I write this now, my jaw is having the jitters. I was doing a study on the three tribes in pre-Equestrian times, when I heard screaming outside.
Now generally, Neighsland is a quiet town. That’s why I chose to move my study here so I wouldn’t get interrupted when doing important research. So clearly something was wrong. I closed the book and snuffed out the candle next to it. I left my desk to trot outside and see what was going on. As soon as I reached the outdoors, I noticed dark clouds in the sky... but there were no pegasi in sight. No... this was unnatural. Like something straight out of the Everfree Forest.It was a colt, running through the streets screaming in terror. He ran right into me and started babbling like a madpony. “Sir! Please! You’ve got to help me! There’s som-!” He hollered at my face. The town’s members were all watching, clearly they were nervous and unsure of what was going on.
Before the colt would finish his sentence. His nose began to bleed. He put a hoof up to it to see what was wrong. Then, his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. Immediately I took a few steps back, unsure of what was going to happen. He took in a large gasp of breath, meanwhile he fell over and began to shake violently.
I quickly went over and put a hoof on him to see if there was anything I could do to make it stop, but I lept back at what happened next. The colt stopped and turned its head toward me, the neck making unnatural cracking noises. The colt mouthed words, but nothing came out. I wasn’t sure what they were.
The colt leapt up at me and let out a howling screech in my face. I fell onto my back and instantly felt the ringing in my ears. I did what I could to stand back up... but something was holding me down. The colt’s, probably possessed, body flew up and yelled one sentence at me... “RETURN WHAT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU!” Is what it said... The body then fell from the sky and landed limply on the ground with a thud. I got up and ran back to my study. By then, all the ponies in the area had fled, but at this moment... I was too shaken to care.
Since that event, I’ve been a mess all day. Books scattered everywhere, furniture damaged, and papers ripped. I knew what that... thing, was talking about.
I suppose I should explain that too...
About a year ago, I had gone on an expedition into the Hayseed Swamps to explore what I could of the area. I’d heard many rumors of it being haunted with spirits and monsters that would torment any who even came close to their burial ground. So naturally, it was my job to investigate.
I treaded through the dark swamp... getting my favorite coat wet with stagnant water while doing so... After a time of searching, I saw something. A dark figure in the distance, eyes glowing red... It made no noise, it just... stared. I looked away as I heard a noise. When I looked back it was gone. This was unnerving, but I continued on. Now I was on edge... I kept moving on. The swamp was only getting darker until I noticed an ominous light coming from the distance... according to my map, I was right in the middle of this place. There was no way I was toward the edge of the swamp where light would naturally creep in. Besides, this was no light from the sun, this was a white light. The kind that emanates off of wraiths.
Luckily, I had my enchanted crimson dragonscale amulet to repel the wraith away, should it decide to attack. I trotted toward the light, ready for anything at this point. I turned a corner and I was rather shocked at what I found. An old mausoleum, made purely of stone. It seemed ancient, like one would hear of in a scary story. But I’m sure this was no dream. Besides, I specialize in scary tales.
I approached it carefully, as soon as I got close enough, the light faded and I was in complete darkness. This was bad, very bad. I quickly lit the small lantern I had attached to a latch on my coat. It lit up the area slightly, but something was different. I sniffed the air, it didn’t smell like a swamp.
I turned looking for anything, I nearly fell over when I saw those red eyes again in the distance. They faded and I heard a whisper, “Reeeeeeeevvvaaaaannnnn.” it said. Then a psychotic high pitched laugh filled my ears and a bright flash struck my eyes. Temporarily blinding me. When I could see again, I was back in front of the crypt.
Have you ever wanted to hit something, but couldn’t? I did right then. Strangely enough, I had a fear of ghosts at foalhood. But when I finally faced one and banished it with the help of my father... I knew what I was destined to be.
My father was a ghost hunter, always gone protecting civilians from the supernatural. Until my adolescence... he mysteriously disappeared while investigating a strange occurrence in this very swamp. As much as I hate this place, it’s my duty to be here.
I approached the door. It had strange engravings on it... they appeared to tell a story. I deciphered them as best I could. It was in Old Equestrian so it was rather difficult to understand. From what it seems, it told a story of a family cursed by an object, each generation cursed by it. That’s all I could gather. It had pictures of a skull being consumed by a buzzard... odd. I tried to push it open, with a lot of effort it finally moved. Dust immediately fell off and got in my mane. After pushing the door open, I shook what I could out and looked around for any torches. Sadly there was none, so I had to stick with my small lantern. If I were claustrophobic, I’d be dead by now.
The room seemed small, made out of old, cracked, and moss covered, stone. Ahead of me was a flight of stairs going down. From down there though, I heard whisperings and wind. This is the kind of place you see in a horror story.
As much as every fiber and thread in my body told me not to... I went down the stairs. After a few minutes of descending, I already regretted it. I heard the sounds of shrieking and crying. A constant deep hum filling my ears within the darkness.
I continued to descend until I reached the bottom, by now my legs were trembling. I’ve been in places like this countless times, but it still remains just as soul writhing as all the others... There was a long hall, each side of the walls having graves. I peered forth as far as I could, but the darkness made it appear to go on forever.
I treaded down the hallway and immediately stopped as a massive torrent of wind struck me. I continued to press against me as I tried to continue on, but before I could do much I got dizzy. The floor felt like it fell out from under me and my field of view opened vastly. This was a dreamstate induced by a spirit, I could tell because I set a failsafe in my mind. Every time I would go into a forced vision from a spirit, I’ve set my mind to utter a phrase.
“The measure of a life, is a measure of love and respect.” It was the last piece of advice my father gave me before he disappeared forever. And I heard this phrase loud and clear. I saw something in the distance and began to approach it. I didn’t even take three steps before it zoomed in front of me. “AH!” I yelled and jumped back. It’s really easy to forget that this is all not real... but... the thing was an apparition of my father.
It started blankly at me. Those purple eyes staring blankly into my soul... before I could react, it’s mouth opened unnaturally wide and from it, red eyes appeared from it. Then the apparition split in half, like a giant invisible meat cleaver just sliced right through. As much as it pained me to see this, I had to remind myself it wasn’t real. I stood back up and demanded. “SHOW YOURSELF CREATURE OF DARKNESS!” It echoed through the blackness that was this vision. I looked around angrily, furious at this torment. But nothing in response.
I fell to my haunches and began to silently weep at the sight of my dead father, the vision was enveloping me more and more. As I cried, I didn’t notice my environment changing. It was changing into my study. My place for solitude and thought.
I slowly stopped and looked around, I almost believed I was actually there, that is until I saw an exact doppleganger of me standing right there. It was staring at me. It said “Oh why are we so sad? Are we feeling hurt by their evil lies, and all those empty words? We are thirsty for payback?” I don’t know why... but I nodded. It continued, “What would we like to do with the town? Would we like to make it... dance? With the Animal?” I tried to say no, but my body defied me and nodded again. But the animal...? No. I vowed never to use it again. Ever. The other me noticed this and continued on again, “Tell us what we would like to do.” Before I could do anything, another doppleganger came from behind me. This one looked off... it whispered in my ear. “Burn it... burn it all...” Without a second to spare, my entire body lit on fire.
I screamed in pain, not because I thought someone would help... no, because my sanity was dying every second. The burning strangely stopped and I opened my eyes... I was back in the mausoleum... I stood up and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I mustered what small remainder of courage I had left and reached the end of the hall. There I saw a pedestal, on the base there was the face of a screaming gargoyle. And behind the pedestal was a coffin. I approached the pedestal and examined what was on it... It was a strange amulet with the symbol of fear upon it. A roaring wolf covered in the blood of its victims.
A shred of hope filled me when I saw this, because this must be the cause of the haunting and I could get out of here. I quickly grabbed the amulet and turned around. I screamed the instant I did, there that dark figure was standing right in front of me. It was made of pure shadow and had glowing red eyes that hurt your very emotions to look into. It jumped into the air and yelled “THIEF!” and faded into the ceiling.
I quickly got up and ran, I ran as fast as I could to get out of there. I got back to the entrance and sealed it off. Then I immediately started the journey home. Too afraid to even look back.
This amulet was what that spirit was talking about... when it yelled “THIEF!” I didn’t pay any attention to it. But now I know that this clearly has a connection to the spirit. I need to study this amulet and quickly determine if I should return it... or destroy it. I quickly got to work.
After a few hours of overworking myself, I finally decided to write this journal entry then go to sleep. I’ve never written a journal before... but I’m doing this now to document and warn people about... the amulet of fear.
This is Professor Reven and I’m not sure if there will be another entry...
Author's Note
This is a collaboration with my friend JForte. You should check his stuff out, he's awesome.
