Castle in The Waves

by overdonefictions

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other
Length: 4042

I was invited to attend a new college, Mistborough University. Never have I regretted a decision more.

(This is first-person Twilight Sparkle, just in case you don't pick up on that.)

I was invited to attend a new college, Mistborough University.

Never have I regretted a decision more.

Published 2013-06-05 02:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-06-05 02:20:01 UTC

Chapter 2

I stayed up late that night, excited to depart on my trip. I quickly wrote a letter of apology to my friends. I considered telling them I was sick, but I thought they should know. Deceiving them would have led to trouble later on. I finished the letter, and slept fitfully through the night. I was really excited.

In the morning I grabbed a bag and packed a few things I thought I would need. I brought a notepad and pencil, so I might write some notes. I packed a few other things, like some reference books, as well as a single fiction.Even though I didn't read much of the stuff.

I hoisted my bag onto my back and left my dormitory. I dropped my letter in the mailbox on my way to the professor's classroom, where she told me where to meet her. I took a long look at the classroom, brightly lit by stained glass windows, depicting large sea serpents and other massive creatures. I looked at my usual desk, slightly worn from constant occupation. I felt a little sad, leaving the place behind, if only for a week.

The air outside was moist. Apparently it had rained heavily last night, leaving the grounds still damp, even though the sun was high in the sky, casting warm beams onto my coat. A smooth breeze wafted across the courtyard. It felt like it pulled me back, but I continued out of the cast iron gates of my precious university. Mistborough University was one of the more prestigious schools of the continent, though not well known, due to its exclusivity.

I cast my gaze down the road, into the town. The smallest, most nondescript town ever, by my standards. There were few shops, selling small trinkets of the local export, lobster. A grocer had the crustaceans displayed on ice. I had tried the local lobster before, and found it quite good. I stopped here at the grocer and bought an apple, since I was a bit peckish.

I passed through the rest of the town and on to my destination, Freepony docks. I cantered up and down the boardwalk, looking for the ship I was meant to ride. I found her a few moments later. The Aquarius was a medium sized fishing boat, but I noticed it was outfitted with some machines I had never seen before. I presumed these to be sets of oceanography equipment. I boarded the ship and was greeted by a rather stereotypical gruff sea earth pony, the captain, as indicated by his hat. Another pony, a unicorn, was also on board, presumably another crewmember. I grinned a sheepish grin to both of these working men, and took a place staring out at the ocean.

I heard a set of hooves climb the ladder on to the ship and the professor called out to me. I turned to greet him. He introduced me to Captain Crabclaw, and the other pony Lantern. The professor also introduced his equipment, experimental machines of his own design for scanning the ocean floor, using the same ultrasonic waves as dolphins. He also pointed out another machine, a pump. He told me that this was for diving. He said usually Lantern did the diving (It was what he was good at), but every once in a while, he would go down himself to see something Lantern claimed to be extraordinary.

The captain interrupted our chat, letting us know that we were leaving the land and heading out to see. My mind told me I was excited, but my heart suddenly was overcome with an immense sense of dread.

Chapter 3

The boat had travelled for many miles until I could no longer see the coast. I was surrounded by ocean. I had spent the last few hours conversing with the professor. The professor suddenly looked over the side of the ship, grinned to me, and then shouted to the captain "I think this is a good spot to stop!", the captain nodded, and slowed the ship to a halt.

The professor began speaking to me again "I had noticed this spot last time I was out on the ocean, the water is much darker here than anywhere else, and I suspect there is a deep-sea trench here. I'd like to spend most of our time here.", I nodded in agreement.

The professor called to Lantern, he told him something only a sailor would understand, and he donned a suit of rubber and brass. I gave the professor a confused look, and he explained. "That is one of my own diving suits, I invented them myself. The pump I showed you earlier is for pushing air down to the suit, and the pony inside. It is extremely reliable, Lantern has dived innumerable times."

Lantern attached a hose to his metal helmet and I watched him hop into the water and sink into the depths. The professor turned the pump on, and a piston inside a glass tube began moving up and down, and the pump made a loud sucking noise.

Lantern was down there for hours, before giving the signal to rise, which was apparently just a tug on the hose. Lantern was pulled up to the surface, and on board the ship. He removed his large helmet and began describing the sights he saw. Glowing fish, fish with tentacles, and huge fish, almost as big as the ship. I tried to draw some, based on how he described them, but it was difficult to imagine what they truly looked like.

By the time Lantern finished describing his sights, it was dark, and the moon was about halfway to midnight. The beams descended onto the deck of the ship like ladders, making me wish I could climb them up to the great, dark ocean of space.

I was lead by the captain to my bunk. Such a dreadful word, but with my future on the sea, I knew I'd have to get used to sleeping in a bunk, rather than a bed. I lay my head and fell to sleep quickly.

Chapter 4

I had a dream that night. I wasn't sure if what I saw was real.

I sat up on a cold stone table, skeletons of strange creatures scattered all around me. I scrambled to my hooves and ran to a stone archway, leading to a bigger room, almost like a church, with pews angled towards the walkway leading to a pulpit. There were no windows, but there was still a dim light from an unknown source. Across all the walls, foreign words were scrawled from floor to ceiling. I examined them closely, but could not identify them as anything I knew.

I walked up the hard cobble floor, to the pulpit. The floor was quite rough, and hurt my hooves to walk upon. The pulpit itself was carved from stone into a sharp and angular stand. I rounded the stand and looked down, expecting to see a book. Instead there was a dark hole. I looked up from the void, and saw that the room had changed. Every feature of the room changed to the same sharp and polygonal style of the stand. The room felt frightening and uninviting, I wanted to leave.

I felt my hooves reaching up to the stand. My eyes refocused their attention on to the hole, looking deeper into the blackness. A white noise echoed in the room, sharply resounding in my ears. I cried out in pain, the noise growing louder, and my ears becoming more afflicted. I pressed my hooves to my head in an attempt to dampen the sound, in vain. The sound grew louder, penetrating flesh and bone, grinding my teeth and making my hair stand on end, I curled into a ball on the ground. The sound grew even louder, and I could almost hear words. My bones rattled and I felt blood drip from my ears down my hooves. I shut my eyes tight, only to have them snap open again. My hooves fell from my ears, and stood again, no longer able to shield myself from the assault of sound. My head leaned over, staring back into the hole. I wanted to look away, but I had seemingly lost all control over my body.

My head leaned in, descending into the hole. The sound in there was deafening. I felt eyes watching me. I looked around in the expanse of the hole, seeing flashes of indescribable creatures. Horrors none should see. I felt my breath growing short as the sound grew louder. I choked on my tongue, biting it clean off in a panic. The sudden jolt of pain brought me to my senses. I was able to pull away from the hole, and break into a run.

I ran to the arch to exit the room, but it seemed to get further with each step. My limbs grew weak and I finally tripped. I fell on my face.

I woke up on the floor of my bunk, a cold sweat covering my body. I hoped that was a dream.

Chapter 5

My fall awoke the professor, who had been sharing the room with me. He stared at me with befuddlement, I explained to him that I had a bad dream. He obviously didn't believe me, but he didn't press further. I left the room.

Outside on the deck, the sun was creeping up on the horizon, gleaming against the ocean, like a glowing eye over a glass blanket. The waves were very calm, almost still, so I was able to relax here on the deck. Until I heard a faint noise.

I clenched my teeth, recalling my horrid dream. The noise was extremely quiet, but I could still hear the faint din of sound. I checked on the professor, he had not fallen asleep yet. I gave him a gentle shake to keep him alert. He seemed upset by this, but I was unrepentant. I told him I heard a noise. At this, he raised an eyebrow and turned away from me. I pulled him back over and elaborated. "I heard a sort of white noise, faint, but audible. It sounded like the same one from my dream, which took place in a stone structure. I'd bet there is a ruin around here." At this, the professor jumped up. The thought of a lost ruin excited him. He ran out of the room, to raise the crew.

A strong sense of regret hit me. I shouldn't have told him. My thoughts all pointed back to my own "death". I was certain I had doomed us by spurring on the professor. I decided there was no turning back, so I went to the deck.

Lantern was already being suited up to dive. The professor was adding immense lengths of tubing, almost as though he intended to send him to the bottom of the ocean. The captain watched the scene tenaciously, he clearly knew diving deep like this was dangerous with this equipment.

Lantern was all ready to go, so he hopped overboard. I watched his light descend deeper and deeper into the ocean, until I could not see it anymore. I wondered if Lantern would be okay, I was positive the castle was dangerous.

Lantern was gone for an hour or two, before he signaled to be pulled up. We saw his light rising from fathoms below. he surfaced, grinning a wry grin to us. We helped him on board the ship, and he removed his helm. He spoke excitedly "There's a ruin alright. Completely untouched, even by water."

I was confused by this, so I asked "What do you mean? It's under the ocean."

"Aye, I thought it'd be flooded, but as soon as I went in the door, there wasn't a drop of water in there. Like magic."

The professor and I showed great interest in this. We discussed travelling down one at a time, sending the suit back and forth. The captain interjected " You all can go down, Ah'll be stayin up 'ere." we nodded in agreement, and began preparing to descend. We allowed Lantern to go down first, since he was already suited. He descended without a problem. The signal came, and we pulled up the empty suit. I allowed the professor to dive next. The professor hopped over the side of the ship, into the sea. The captain turned to me after the professor went overboard, he said to me "I know I'm not the only one who has an idea of what's down there, I only pray that you make it back."

I cringed at this. I didn't appreciate this dour statement from the captain, while I was having my own reservations. It took a moment for the signal to come, but it did, so I pulled the suit up and put it on. I donned the helmet and grimaced at the water below. I dropped down and began my descent.

Chapter 7

We wandered through the seemingly endless corridor for what felt like an hour. We opened and explored various rooms filled with tables, chairs, and beds. We scratched a line in the door of each room we visited, so we wouldn't get lost. The darkness engulfed the area behind us, pushing us onward down the corridor.. I mentioned to Lantern that we ought to check on Coastal, he agreed.

We turned back the way we came and walked about ten feet before the area behind us (which was straight before) branched into two paths. Lantern and I looked at each other in a confused manner. He suggested we try going right.

I followed him down the right path, which made me feel claustrophobic. I felt like the walls were breathing, collapsing and expanding in the hallway. Lantern turned to tell me he spotted the front door. I sped up my pace to catch up with him. I squinted my eyes to try and see Prof. Coastal, but he appeared to be gone.

We searched around the door, peering outside for a moment to see if he left, but there was no trace of him anywhere. We searched the room where he lost his voice, but he was not there either. We reluctantly concluded hat he was gone, even though we could not explain why. The only solution we had left was to press onwards.

We exited the room and entered an unfamiliar corridor. The halls had seemed to change again. There were doors lining the walls, which we decided to use to search for the professor. Lantern and I decided to split up a bit, to search the doors faster. Not too far from each other, we just searched opposite sides of the hall. Each room we checked was completely empty and void of the professor, but we pressed onwards.

After a while, I noticed the lack of both hoofsteps and the creaking of old doors opening. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the problem. Lantern was gone. I deduced that he had entered a room and the castle shifted, or the same had happened to me and I did not notice.

At this point I had run out of doors to open anyways. Except one. There was a single, larger door at the end of the corridor. The door had an ominous air about it, but for the sake of my professor, I opened it. I shouldn't have.

Chapter 8

The door opened slowly. I stared into the room with joy. The room itself was fairly small, and it only contained the professor. I excitedly shouted his name. He quickly covered his ears with his hooves and cried out. He had gotten his voice back, apparently. I covered my mouth, so as not to shout again. The professor thanked me heartily.

He told me that he had passed out, but had reawoke in this room. I remained silent so I would not harm his ears. I embraced him with all my strength, which he returned happily. He released and glanced behind me. He quickly looked away.

I watched him quizzically, before looking behind me myself. I saw nothing there. I looked back at Professor Coastal, who now looked completely terrified.

The professor began screaming. He curled up into a ball on the ground. Covering his ears and squinting his eyes as hard as he could. He screamed painfully, so much so that I was quite frightened. I frantically looked around, trying to find some indication as to where his turmoil came from. I saw nothing, and the professor began screaming harshly. He soon could scream no more, when his vocal cords gave out. I noticed that his fur was being pressed back, along with his skin, like he was in a strong wind. He slowly mouthed to me "Don't look". I covered my eyes, and I felt the ground shake.

The professor was nothing more than bones. I don't know what happened, but he was gone.

I was shocked b the sudden death of my teacher. I backpedaled quickly, before turning around and breaking into a full run. I ran all the way down a new hall, apparently there was another shift that I had missed.

I ran for a couple of minutes before coming to an identical door. There was no sign of my departed professor. I tentatively opened the door, seeking escape. Within the door, I saw Lantern, surrounded by various other skeletons. I closed my eyes and shook my head, hoping to clear up a horrible vision. When I opened my eyes, Lantern was also a skeleton.

I ran from the room once more, and fled into an open cathedral. It seemed familiar. Pews angled towards a walkway, leading to a pulpit. There were no windows, but there was still a dim light from an unknown source. Across all the walls, foreign words were scrawled from floor to ceiling. I examined them closely, but could not identify them as anything I knew.

I began walking up the hard cobble floor, to the pulpit. The floor was quite rough, and hurt my hooves to walk upon. The pulpit itself was carved from stone into a sharp and angular stand. I felt a strong sense of deja vu as I walked around the pulpit. I expected to see some kind of holy book, but instead there was just a dark hole.

Once I saw this, my mind quickly gathered where I remembered this from. My nightmare. All my muscles tensed up as I felt my head forcibly pushed into the hole. I tried to glance behind me, and saw a tall, green creature, with a gaping hole for a face. Its long clawed fingers pushed my head into the hole all the while making a deep, reverberating noise from its face-hole. I frantically looked around the room and saw more of these creatures, all of them making this noise.

My head descended into the hole, and the white noise began. Like an old friend, I recognized the pitch, and the volume, slowly crescendoing to an ear-splitting climax. I felt blood from my ears run down my face, and heard whispers of old gods, beckoning me to commit heinous acts no pony had ever seen.

I heard one other whisper. One that I recognized. A tender voice of a teacher. A princess. I felt at ease. She helped me drift into unconsciousness, and that probably saved me.

Chapter 9

I woke up on a beach with a face full of sand. I wearily looked around and saw a suspended train track and a train emerging from a mountain. I could barely see the top of a windmill, as well as other buildings. I knew it was Ponyville that I saw.

I got up to my hooves and galloped as fast as I could, nearly falling as I ran home.

Chapter 1

Princess Celestia had invited me to attend a new college she had established. Mistborough University. I had said goodbye to my friends many months ago. They knew I would return, but emotions were high that day. I had boarded a train that took me all the way down to the coastal town of Mistborough.

Being a coastal town, my first study interest was the sea. This subject had occupied me throughout the year. I learned a great deal about ocean life and planned to soon return home to my friends in Ponyville. We had been writing letters back and forth, and Applejack suggested to me that I return home for my spring break. I planned for weeks to return home, and the night before I did leave, there was a knock at my door.

I answered quickly and opened the door to find my professor. She was a doctor of oceanic studies, Dr. Jean Jaqcues Coastal, and my favorite professor. I was planning to study the ocean when I left college, learning of the sea life. I inquired as to why she was here " Professor, did you need something?"

"As my most passionate student, I thought it best to come to you first."

"Yes?" I interrupted, my excitement playing all across my face.

"*Ahem* yes, I wanted to see if you wished to go out onto the ocean to study some deep sea life. The spring break is coming soon, and we would spend a whole week on the water." She grinned, knowing I couldn't resist.

I had to take a moment to consider her offer. I could never resist my studies, but I had a nagging thought that I should not go. I wanted to be with my friends, whom I had not seen all year, but I also wanted to take this great offer to further my studies.

I reluctantly accepted her offer, there was no turning back now,and my friends would just have to wait a little bit longer.

Chapter 6

As I travelled deeper into the ocean, the dark waters enveloped my form. I let my horn make a small light for me to see with. I gradually saw the path that Lantern and the professor took, down a slightly glowing crevasse, illuminated by squishy fish of flashing lights. Inside the crevasse, I saw a crumbled roof of a tower, before I spotted the whole structure.

The structure itself was a large, castle like building. Blurred stained-glass windows graced the walls. A large wooden door hung open, and I could see my associates inside. Honestly, I was scared of the castle, but I persevered for my professor.

The inside of the castle was dark. The silence was unnerving. I squinted down the entrance corridor, trying to see anything. I spotted a lone door off to the right. I mentioned this to the professor. He cast a light from his horn and headed down to the door. He gripped the handle in his mouth, and immediately released it, his tongue hanging out. He complained of a foul taste. I used my own magic to pull the door open. Dr. Coastal entered the room, Lantern followed him, and I went last.

I looked around the room at blank brick walls and square cut stone floors. The room was long and fairly narrow. It was better lit than the hall, but by only a little bit.

As I went into the room, I saw the two others inside. Dr. Coastal was curled up on the floor, and Lantern had sat down next to him, trying to get him to say something. The Dr. was moving his mouth, but was not making any sound. He saw me and jumped to his feet. He grabbed me by my shoulders and mouthed frightened screams at me. He shook me a little, before letting go and falling to the floor.

I helped the professor up. He shook in fear the entire time. Lantern and I carried him out of the room. He wasn't very heavy, being a scholar. He resisted slightly, mouthing screams at us while shivering. We placed him near the entrance and left him there.

Lantern and I journeyed out into darkness. We lost sight of Coastal.