Darkness Before Dawn (RP, not a jump-in)

[The Wandering Magus]

Sign-up: http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=7415
OOC: http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=7407

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Please see Sign-up for premise, important information and rules.
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"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world..."
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Fear.  It has always lain hidden in the hearts of ponies.  Some fears are lesser, others greater.  It is an instinct, a primordial quality ingrained within our very subconscious since birth.  For eons, fear remained dormant, as the gentle guidance of Sun and Moon washed away the shadows of darkness.  But as age-old evils return to the living world, defying the heavens, so also Fear is returning.

Only a few have ever seen this plane, the plane of abstracts, where ideas are made real.  Those that enter seldom return unchanged.  But whether we know of it or not, beyond the peaceful world of everyday struggles lies an invisible war for the hearts of Equestria.  Harmony has always been able to fight back the advances of darkness, but as they say...

It is always Darkest before the Dawn.

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You awaken to black night in an empty world, devoid of ponies.  Beyond the doors and windows of your dwelling-place, shadows move of their own will, and distances bend and stretch in impossible ways, as in a madmare's darkest nightmares.  Here within your hearth and home, your Loving Home, you are safe, surrounded by feelings of security and hope and familiarity.  But that, like many things, will change quickly...

[Seriack]

Farsight awakens in his small bed, jerking upright, sweat glistening his brow beneath mane and horn. His breath comes out in pants, A nightmare... Only a nightmare... He thinks to himself. He moves over to the side of his bed and drops off, landing on all fours. Walking sleepily over to the kitchen, he fills a glass of water, levitating it to his lips... Then he sees out the window, the world darkened, shadows moving as if alive. His magical grip falters and the glass falls to the floor, shattering. He crunches over the broken glass, his hooves strong enough to not be cut, and approaches the window, horror spread across his face as he looks out upon the nightmare land he has awoken to...

[FlameandIce]

Flame wakes up in his bed he holds his head he goes downstairs and looks outside the window this can't be good at all he sounds strangely calm for the situation at hoof

[Bravo 658]

Wavelength sat up and rubbed his eyes.  He just couldn't sleep... he turned his head to the side and noticed somepony else couldn't, either.
Confetty looked right back at him.  "It doesn't feel right...," she said.  "Like it's daytime or something."
A look at the clock confirmed that it was just a little past midnight.  "Well, we aren't getting any rest," Wavelength replied with a yawn.  "Wanna go for a walk?"
Confetty's face lit up with a smile.  "Sure, I love walks!"

The two left their room in the Great Plains Atomic Research Center dormitories and started walking through the well-lit, familiar hallways.  Everypony else would be in bed, and security alarms and locks would be set on the few areas that contained sensitive or hazardous materials.  Wavelength looked forward to uncovering more of the chemical secrets of these materials in his shift the next day.
After ascending a couple flights of stairs, Wavelength and Confetty arrived at the lobby intent on looking through the moonroof to gaze at the stars... but there were none.  They looked out of the thick glass doors and saw what appeared to be living shadows writhing outside like waves of cold heat.
Confetty leaned against Wavelength's leg for reassurance.  "Daddy?  What is that?"
Usually, Wavelength could answer this question.  Now, however, he'd have to admit he was quite stumped, himself.  "I have no idea," he answered, holding an arm over Confetty's shoulders.  "Maybe a starlit walk in the meadow isn't such a good idea tonight..."

[Dark Hooves]

Misty wakes in a bush with the sky, land and water darkened by some unknown force.

Misty:  This isn't good. (runs to the nearest house and starts knocking on the door to the theater in the forest)

[FlameandIce]

Flame makes his way to the door unsure of what is outside he throws the door open ready to attack

[Dark Hooves]

Misty: Woah easy, what in the wide world of Equestria is going on.

[FlameandIce]

Flame pulls Misty inside and closes the door I have no idea but we need to get out of the Everfree before something happens

[Dark Hooves]

//Magus is Misty's red crystal bladed katana allowed in this RP?

MIsty: I can teleport you wherever you need to go.

[The Wandering Magus]

There is scratching and a wordless, savage cry from somewhere in the Everfree.  A creature like a twisted, deformed pony can be seen crawling its way out from a bush, backed by tendrils of darkness...

Seriack sees several string-bound ponies shambling puppet-like down the street, their faces in wooden smiles...

Bravo sees the Nothing high above, neither darkness nor light but Absense, Nothingness.  It awaits those who enter the desert, which seems much broader than it was in the physical world...

((yes, but nothing physical will help here.))

[Seriack]

((I really wish I could change my screen name...))

Farsight looks at the puppet ponies, wondering how they could be so happy. He hasn't noticed the strings on them. He walks toward his door, ready to ask them what was going on... He puts a hoof to the door handle, turning it and pushing it open.

[FlameandIce]

this can't be good we have to get moving Flame tries to teleport them out of the Everfree
//up to you magus

[ArtVeigar]

Tian wakes up at the middle of the night. The place was cold and dark and even when she tried to turn on the lamp at the side of her bed it barely made a difference. She got up and slowly walked to the switch to turn the lights on. For some reason, her heartbeats were fast, she could sense something was wrong, terrible wrong. She turned the lights on, but it also didn't seem to make any real difference. It's like this darkness couldn't go away with any type of light. She noticed her hoofs shaking. That place was starting to terrify her. That wasn't her home, that place didn't give her any confort at all, and being there, all alone, was frightening her. But why? She was aways so brave, so strong? Taking a deep breath, she was able to calm her self a little and started to think straight. Something was definetly wrong, and somepony must do something about it. As a student of the Harmonic Arts, she embraced the responsability and started going for the door. She turned the door handle and opened the door to the corridor of the dark inn.

Arty was already awake for a while now, but he refused to open his eyes. For some reason, he was terrified. All his body was shaking hard, tears forming in his eyes. And it didn't help that he just had that recurrent nightmare, memories of that time. What was happening? It was silent, cold, and he imagined it to be darker than the back of his eyelids right now. But his curiousity started to become as great as his fear. Even though he lived at a cave, he, for some reason, felt he was safe there, despite this feelings he was having. It took great effort to open the first eye, really slowly. And as expected, he saw nothing. The fire he had lit for the night had almos faded completely, and just small embers were still glowing a little. But this glow was barely enought to lighten the inside of the cave, and the outside was a complete darkness. He opened his other eye and raised his head, trying to look at the scenery. Really nothing but darkness. He stood up, got some sticks he had gathered the day before and tried to lit the fire again. This darkness was making him desperate, and he tried to rush the process as much as he could. When he finally did it, he took a good look at the place. His cave was alright, but outside...

[The Wandering Magus]

Farsight's door opens into the silent streets of the shadow-world, but fortunately the puppets are not yet aware of his presence.  It is at this time that he notices that there is something terribly, terribly wrong about these ponies...

Flame successfully lands them a ways outside Ponyville, and it is at this time they realize this isn't the Ponyville they know.  Fortunately, Fluttershy's cottage, a glowing, inviting place, is within a few moment's gallop.  There is an unnatural screech from far away where they had just left...

Tian's Door opens not to a corridor, but into a twisted, sickly world of incomprehensible shapes and deformed buildings.  There is a doorway just ahead of her, and it may be her way out of both her room and this Empty City.  The shadows behind her begin to move as her back is turned...

...Outside... it was Nothing.  But no, there was a light.  A Beacon of Hope in the midst of the Nothing.  Within his cave, he found that the fire was pushing away the Nothing outside, and the warmth seemed to cure more than just physical cold.  It warmed him from within, reminded him of safety and security, giving him Hope.  He might want to carry a Torch, nonetheless, if he should choose to flee for the Beacon.  It was in the direction of Fluttershy's Cottage...

[Bravo 658]

Wavelength and Confetty stared at the darkness for a moment longer before Wavelength moved to the security booth connected to the lobby.  He knocked.  ...The officer didn't respond.
"Huh...?"  Wavelength slid his ID card through the scanner by the door, and it slid open... to reveal Blue Shield's empty bedroom.  The place seemed warm and tidy, like he had been inside, but the security pony himself was nowhere to be seen.
Wavelength pulled a facility phone off the wall and called Security HQ... but nopony picked up.  Wavelength took a deep breath and smiled as he turned to Confetty.  "Let's go back to our room, sweetie," he said calmly.  "I need to get something."
Confetty smiled in response.  "Okay!" she said, practically forgetting all about the strange darkness outside.

Wavelength picked Confetty up on his back and made his way back to their quarters as quickly as he could without worrying Confetty.  He made a little game out of it by prancing.  When they got back, he closed the door behind them, pulled his hazard suit down from the wall, and put it on.  Confetty smiled.  "Are we going to the test chamber, Daddy?"
Wavelength forced a chuckle.  "Yeah... I have a feeling we're going to be learning a whole lot tonight," he replied as he lowered the helmet over his head.  He immediately started sweating as soon as his body was out of Confetty's sight beneath the armor.  He gestured for her to hop on again, which she did.
Wavelength quickly packed up some food and water in his armor's storage containers and opened the door into the hallway again.

Wavelength, fully armored, stepped out into the dormitory hallway with Confetty riding on his back.  Something wasn't right... there was always SOMEPONY up, now that he thought about it...
Wavelength turned and began trotting down the hall back toward the lobby.
Suddenly, he became all too aware that Confetty was shivering on top of him.  "Th-the lights are going out!" she yelled.  Wavelength cast a glance over his shoulder and noticed that the lights down the long hallway were, indeed, sparking out one by one.  He'd never been afraid of the darkness... until now.  It was chasing after him and Confetty, and the world had gone silent all around them.
"Hang on!"  Wavelength broke out into a gallop toward the loading bay with Confetty clinging to his back.
They won the race against the dying lights, and Wavelength couldn't help but slam the door shut behind them.  He turned around and looked at the loading bay... a line of various carts.  Some armored for transporting hazardous cargo, some simply reinforced to be durable when carrying normal loads--and exactly what he was looking for: armored personnel carriers, for transporting unarmored ponies through hazardous areas.  Wavelength quickly opened the door on one.  "Get in and lock the door," he said urgently.
Confetty was quite frightened at this point.  "I'm scared, Daddy...," she said as she got in.
Wavelength kissed her muzzle.  "It's going to be okay... we'll go to Ponyville and get this sorted out."  He closed the door and tested the lock.  Satisfied, he quickly moved around to the front and hooked up to the carrier's harness, linking to the interior.  He tested the speaker.  "Can you hear me, sweetie?" he asked, directing the speakers inside the carrier.
"I hear you, Daddy," Confetty's voice crackled through his helmet's own speakers.
"All right... buckle up and don't open the door unless I tell you to, okay?" he ordered.
"Okay...," came the frightened response.
Wavelength cracked his neck and gazed ahead at the loading bay door, staring at Xanadu itself for several seconds.  He flicked on his headlamp... just as the loading bay lights began to flicker off.  He kicked the emergency counterweight lever for the door, which quickly slid up into the ceiling.

In the now-complete darkness, the only lights were the running lights of the personnel carrier, the faint glow from inside the slit windows, the red stripes of Wavelength's solar panels running down his suit... and the bright spot-lamp in his helmet shining over the road ahead.
Wavelength took a deep breath, and pulled the personnel carrier at full speed into the supernatural night down the road to Ponyville.

[Dark Hooves]

Misty: Mister, we should get to that cottage. (starts running) Hurry!

[Seriack]

Farsight shivered at the sight of the puppet-ponies... It brought feelings of dread and not having control to his mind. With shaky hooves he slowly walked out into the streets of this demented Ponyville, trying to approach the puppets as stealthily as he could with hooves. As he got closer, the feelings of dread grew...

[ArtVeigar]

Tian looked at the twisted city in front of her. What before could be doubt, now is certain: there IS something wrong. But she didn't know what exactly was that, and she started to fear the unknown. Her expression has never been so serious in her life, and she tried to analise her surrounding. A twisted, sickly world of incomprehensible shapes and deformed buildings. She had never read about anything like this, and it was too horrific and frightening to be Discord again. He was chaotic, but not really evil. But this... This wouldn't be funny even for him. She felt something really bad not far from her. She needed to get out of there. Fast. There was a doorway that looked to be the only way out. She didn't had a choice, and having a 50% chance to get to a better place is worth the risk. Walking fast, but trying to be as silent as she could, she reached the door handle and turned it with a shaky hoof.

The light was starting to affect Arty in a way he didn't know it was possible. Even if it was faint, the feeling that the situation could go better started to appear deep inside his heart. But it wasn't the fire in front of him alone. There was another thing, something at the distance. It looked like a beacon. He wanted to go there, but he was hesitant to leave the safety of his cave and the warmth his camp fire. He looked at the side of the camp fire, the torch he uses when he needed to go outside at the dark. Carrying the fire with him, he would probably be safer. Levitating the torch with his telekinesis and lighting it in the fire. He was too frightened and his body wasn't even responding properly, so he started his slow and careful walk toward the light.

[FlameandIce]

Flame follows her to the cottage

[The Wandering Magus]

The Nothing followed close behind.  The vastness of Nothing filled sky and earth, but the light from Wavelength's headlamp seemed to burn away the darkness, burn away the night.  But Xanadu was as wide as ponies believed it to be, and the road seemed to stretch and twist on its own...

The cottage was so close, so very close... Misty could reach it, if it were not for the approaching screeches, wild and savage, the combined Fears of all ponies, the Fear of the beasts within, and the darkness.  Nothing was approaching...

It was almost as though something was watching him, Judging his every move... the windows seemed to have eyes, though the puppet ponies continued walking as if nothing was wrong, except that they were oddly mechanical, in perfect unison.  Something was here, something was watching...

The Door of Xanadu was merciful... this time.  Warm, hopeful light came from the other side of the Door, and she found herself looking into an oddly familiar cottage, glowing with Kindness.  But behind her the shadows were moving, writhing... approaching...

The Nothing seemed to shrink, as though the very light of the torch burned at it, drove it back.  Before him flickered the beacon of light, just down the road yet so far away... and behind him was his cave, still filled with light.  But hemming him in on all sides was Nothing, and it was growing...