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Raven: A Midnight Light
Written by: Mightnightlight
“Late upon a midnight dreary
While I pondered weak and weary... “ - Edgar Allan Pony
The lights were still on in Twilight’s library as the clock on top of town hall chimed the first hour of the new day. Ponyville was still shrouded in night, the lights from the library giving little aide to the almost zero visibility. Everything was quiet, only thew chirp of an occasional cricket to interrupt the relative silence. A dark cloak flapped in the wind as it’s owner trotted swiftly towards the dim light of the library. A pale white face flashed in and out of view with each hoofstep, the cowl hiding it bouncing up and down. The figure neared the door and stopped on the front step. Twilight had just closed a thick tome when a soft knock came at the door. “Who could be *yawn* up this late?” she muttered, rubbing a hoof across her drooping eyes.
She placed the tome back upon the shelf and trotted over to the door. She attempted to magic the door open but she was tired and couldn’t focus. With a soft sigh she nosed open the door and gazed outside. The step was empty. She peered out into the dark street, her eyes scrunched against the lights behind her. After a few moments she stepped back inside and closed the door. “Strange...” she murmured, moving back to the bookshelves.
She picked up another tome. “The Legend of The Great Lenore.” she read, her eyes taking in the aged cover.
Suddenly a rapping came at her window. She placed the tome down on the table and looked over at the window. “Hello?” she called.
The only reply was silence. “Perhaps I’ve been hearing things.” she said, turning away from the window. “Yes! I’m tired from studying all night so I must be having a mild form of hallucinations. Maybe I should write this down for further study.”
The rapping came again, more insistently this time. She looked towards the window again and saw the shape of a bird against the window. “Owliscious is that you?” she called, trotting over to the window. “I thought I’d already let you in-”
As she unfastened the lock on the window it burst open and a dark shape lunged at her. Black wings struck her face and a hoof connected solidly with her jaw. She tumbled to the floor landing painfully on the wooden floorboards. She looked up and blanched at the black cloaked figure holding her down. The pony’s face was hidden by a white mask, designed to look like a skull and perched upon the figure’s shoulder like the messenger of death himself was a black raven. It’s beady black eyes flickered evilly in the light of the library’s lamps. “Wh-urrrk!” she hadn’t even begun to phrase the question when its hoof expertly jabbed her throat.
She coughed and tried to speak again but found that she couldn’t. Her mouth moved but only a wet gurgle came out from between her lips. Her mind worked in overdrive to try and figure out what had happened to her. The words of Equestrian Anatomical Structures and Studies flashed through her ming and everything clicked into place. The hoof strike had hit the soft muscles of her larynx, paralyzing her vocal chords. It had taken her less than ten seconds to discover this fact and in that time the masked pony had produced a long knife. With a quick movement it stabbed the blade through her shoulder. Instantly blood spurted from the wound, staining the white mask red. Twilight’s expression was twisted in utter agony but she could not give voice to her pain. The pony removed the knife with a sickening squelch and repeated the process with her other shoulder. Next it crippled both of her legs, plunging the blade deep into her hip joints. Blood gushed out from her severed femoral arteries, forming an ever increasing pool of red about them. The masked pony pressed the blade of the knife to her throat and began to draw it across when footsteps sounded on the stairs. It froze as Spike, Twilight’s young dragon assistant, clumped down from his and Twilight’s bedroom. The young dragon hadn’t noticed them and was grumbling to himself about having to wake up so early when the thrown knife buried itself up to its hilt in his neck. His clawed hands groped for the handle as he toppled over, blood spurting from between his fingers. Twilight opened her mouth in a silent scream of sorrow and stretched out a foreleg towards his twitching form. The masked pony snarled softly and yanked roughly on her mane, bringing her head about sharply. They were face to face, eyes looking into the dead sockets of a skull. With moving its face away from hers it drew a second knife, an exact copy of the one it had just thrown. Twilight flinched as it pressed the blade of the knife against her throat. She flinched again as the pony leaned forward and put its muzzle next to her ear. “Nevermore will you ponder upon a midnight weary, my dear Twilight Sparkle.” it spat her name like a curse and dug the knife deeper into her flesh.
A squeak escaped from her lips as a trickle of blood joined the pool on the floor. The masked pony grinned behind its mask and bent it’s head to her neck. It’s small, pink tongue flicked out from between the teeth of the skull and dragged itself along the cut. “Nevermore will you see your friends or send your Princess letters about friendship.” its muzzle was beside her ear again, droplets of blood dripping from its mouth. “Nevermore will your young dragon cook and clean either it seems. Nevermore...”
It dragged out the last word in a hiss before opening a red, dripping smile across her throat. With a choking gurgle, the last of the purple unicorn’s life force spilled out of her. Her eyes stretched wide as she took her last breath. The masked pony waited until all was still and silent before stepping away from her body. It cleaned the blade of its knife on her coat and did the same to the knife buried in the young dragon’s throat before sheathing both blades. It pulled a thin paintbrush from the folds of its cloak and trailed the tip through the pool of Twilight’s blood. With a few quick strokes it sketched a raven on the library’s wall. It flicked the paintbrush clean before stowing it into its coat. Next it extinguished all of the lamps but one. It set that last lamp up on top of one of the bookshelves and placed a book next to it. The Chronicles of Pallas The Pallid. Smiling crazily behind its mask, it shrugged its shoulders and the raven took flight. The bird circled the room once before landing in front of the lamp. Lamplight shone the bird’s shadow down on the corpse below. The pony make a harsh choking sound that was directed at the bird. The raven cocked its head at it before squawking in response. The pony turned away, sure that the raven would stay until it was discovered. It took one last look about the library before climbing up onto the windowsill. “And from the pallid book of Pallas above my chamber door the shadow of the raven shone down upon the floor. It’s eyes having all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming and a soul from that shadow shall arise...Nevermore!”
With that final word the figure disappeared into the shadows of the night, leaving behind a scene that would terrify the librarian’s friends when they found her the next morning.
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Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s: The Raven
I do not own The Raven.
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro.
Comments? Suggestions? Tips?
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Raven: The Duet
Written by: Midnightlight
“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream...” -Edgar Allen Pony
“You sh-should be feeling sad.” Pinkie Pie sobbed, laying on the floor and holding her face in her hooves. “Not sitting there all s-serious and s-solemn.”
She was lying in the middle of a small wooden room. The ceiling, walls, and floorboards were made of the same rotting plywood. Weevils and cockroaches scurried to and fro along the floors and walls. A small lamp on an equally small table cast a thin film of grayish light over the entire room, which was empty aside from the table. Sitting across from Pinkie, a few feet away, was the still form of Pinkamena Diane Pie. Pinkamena, unlike Pinkie, was dry eyed.
“That’s not what I do.” Pinkamena replied, giving the sobbing pink pony a disapproving look. “Must you disgrace yourself so?”
“YES! ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS JUST DIED! MURDERED! OF COURSE I HAVE TO CRY!” Pinkie Pie screamed suddenly, tears streaming from her eye as she flipped to her hooves in a ridiculous back-tuck.
One of her hindlegs connected solidly with Pinkamena’s face and the dark pink mare was hurled across the room. A spurt of blood flew from the mare’s mouth and fractured nose as her back struck the wooden wall. Bit of broken boards and nails flew widespread. She landed hard and choked out another splotch of blood. “GHHCKKK!” she retched, specks of blood staining her hoof.
Pinkie Pie glared at her from across the room. “You wouldn’t understand ‘Mena. You don’t have any friends. And anypony that gets to close to you has a habit of ending up dead.” she muttered venomously, using her anger to mask the near debilitating pain she felt inside.
A rasping laugh came from the dark pink mare as she pushed herself to her hooves. “Your compassion and care is sickening.” she leered up at her bubbly self, teeth stained red. “The only reason you have so many parties is because you want to forget the past. Forget what happened to our dear little sister.”
“SHUT UP!” Pinkie Pie raged as she flew at her darker self.
“GHHHHAAAAAAKKK!” Pinkamena crashed into the small table, shattering it.
The lamp rolled across the floor, its single bulb shattering and plunging the room into near darkness, thin rays of sunlight shining through cracks in the wood. Pinkamena’s blood now stained the wall as well as her face. With a bark of harsh laughter, she stood up, roughly wiping her face with a hoof. “You can fight it all you want Pinkie but there’s no escaping the truth.” she said in a sickly sweet voice, gazing balefully at Pinkie through the shadows.
Pinkie’s face contorted in rage, a sight that would have terrified any of her friends had they been there. “You know nothing about the truth.” she spat. “You’re nothing but a web of lies and deceit! Your very creation brought about by the deception of my friends!”
Pinkamena trotted towards her, wearing a smile like silk. “Yet your friends deceived you because they wanted to make something special for you. Something very special.” She brushed her flank along that of her bubbly self, drawing a shiver from the pink party pony. “So you could say that I’m something special. Assuming you looked at it from the right perspective.”
She was standing behind Pinkie now, their tails practically entwined with each others. Pinkie’s rage was fading as the words sank in, the pain that had been buried under it surfacing violently. The wave crashed over her and she felt tears falling involuntarily from her eyes. She took a gasping breath and tried to steady herself. “I...I suppose.” she murmured, turning around. “But this isn’t about us or our fight. It’s about Twilight. She’s dead! Somepony killed her! Applejack told me-”
“Oh and you believe everything that that farm filly tells you?” Pinkamena asked, giving her a questioning look over one shoulder.
Pinkie nodded rapidly, her head bobbing up and down. “Of course I do! She’s the element of honesty so it’s not like she could lie to me! And besides, why would she lie to me about something as serious as this? Even me and Dashie would never play a prank as down right mean as that!”
“Then explain this to me,” Pinkamena stood, turning to face her. “Applejack’s always talking about how she needs to make more money. Well where does that money go? Her barn is right as rain ever since Discord was turned back into stone. Her family’s prospering and it couldn’t be going any better for that farm filly. Why then does she need more and more money?!”
She pressed her nose to Pinkie’s to emphasize her question. The pink party pony blushed at the closeness and stammered a reply, “I-I’m sure that she’s just using it to buy some new super-dooper farming machines or something!”
She ducked away from Pinkamena, trying to catch her breath. Steady. In and out. In and out. Remember what you’ve practiced. Don’t let her get that close again, remember that you don’t do well around mares. All those late party nights...all those mares... Her mouth had begun to water as memories cascaded over her mind, enveloping her in a cocoon of pleasure. She could already feel herself getting wet. “Farm machines! Hah!” Pinkamena laughed, shaking Pinkie Pie out of her reverie. “You know that Applejack needs nothing more that her own four hooves to harvest her apples. Why do you refuse to see that there’s something wrong with her?!”
“Because there should be nothing wrong with her!” Pinkie rounded on the dark pink mare. “She’s my friend and I know all of my friends better than they know themselves! And I know that Applejack has no ulterior motives to anything she does! You’re just trying to turn me against her!”
She swung a hoof at the dark mare but Pinkamena dodged it easily and kicked her hooves out from under her. “You’re so weak Pinkie it’s too easy.”
Pinkie landed on her snout, feeling the soft bones creak under the impact. Hurling her hindlegs each in different directions, she spun herself to her hooves and flipped into a kick. Pinkamena deflected it with a mocking laugh and planted a hoof in between Pinkie’s hindlegs. The party pony landed squarely on all four legs. “That only works if I’m a stallion!” she sneered, her eyes flashing.
Pinkamena leapt into a butterfly kick, her backhoof cracking against Pinkie’s ribs. “Ghhrrrk!” the pinky pony choked, a spurt of blood spewing from between her lips.
Instantly, Pinkamena slammed a hoof into her throat and shoved her back against the wall. With a grunt of exertion she lifted the pink mare off the floor, grinning manically. “Why can’t you see Pinks? Why do you refuse to see what’s right in front of your face?” she hissed between gritted, blood stained teeth. “Why...oh I see. That must be why we’re in her together. Inside this prison of your friend’s creation.”
“What-ghak-do you mean?” Pinkie choked out, clutching doggedly at her forelegs.
Pinkamena lowered her a fraction and placed her mouth next to Pinkie’s ear. “We’re in a shack behind Rarity’s boutique. Don’t you remember? She locked us in here because she thinks you’ve lost it. Thinks you’ve gone insane. Of course your random yelling, cursing, and injuries that you seemed to have brought about upon yourself would make her think something along those lines.”
“R-hhnngh-andom?”
Pinkamena let out a breathy chuckle and traced her tongue along the edge of her ear. “Me.” she whispered. “Nopony else can see me, Pinkie. Only you.”
The party pony’s eyes went wide, her bloodshot orbs meeting the sly ones of her darker self. “They c-can’t see you?!” she gasped out.
Pinkamena giggled insanely, baring her teeth in an animalistic display. “Of course not. I’m just in your head. Just you and me in a prison of the mind...or shack in reality.”
She dropped Pinkie and the mare landed with a thud and a gasp. The party pony rubbed her damaged throat and glared at Pinkamena through one eye. “You’re not real? But you ARE real! You’re the one who’s been hurting me! You’re the one who I’ve been cursing! You’re the one who I yell at WHEN YOU TRY TO CONVINCE MY TO KILL MY FRIENDS!”
“And you have yet to listen to me.” Pinamena muttered, wrenching her broken nose back into place with a CRACK.
Pinkie pushed herself to her hooves. “Why would I listen to you? Why would I ever listen to you when you whisper in my ear all of the ways that I could make them hurt, make them bleed, and make them scream my name in utter fear and agony?! DAMN YOU PINKAMENA! DAMN YOUUUU!”
With a guttural scream she hurled herself at the dark pink mare.
Rarity’s head whipped up as she heard the shattering of wood from outside. “What in Equestria?!” She raced to the window and tore open the shutters.
A hole had been made through one of the walls of the wooden shed and Pinkie Pie was leaping about, screaming obscenities and flailing at empty air. The insane part pony swung a hoof at empty air before jerking her head to the side like she’d been struck. She spat out blood before flipping into the air to make a crater in the ground with a devastating kick. Rarity sniffled, holding back her tears. No matter how many times she’d seen her friend’s strange behavior it broke her heart every time to see her like this. As she trotted over to the gemstone powered telephone, she thought of all the ways that the murder of Twilight Sparkle had affected them all. She passed a rack of freshly made mourning gowns, scarves and hats and let out a long sigh. She’d lost her initiative and fallen into squalor as all of her dress ideas evaporated like smoke. Her mind turned to the rainbow colored mare who spent her days crying on a cloud and to the shy yellow pegasus who...wasn’t so shy anymore. The orange farm mare who’d become a recluse. She picked up the phone with magic and choked back a sob. Friendship is supposed to be magic, but the friendship of these six mares, one who was no longer alive, has become nothing but tragic. She wiped her eyes and dialed the number.
“Hello, Rose Heart Asylum. How may I help you?...”
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This short story was inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s quote: “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream...”
For the mind of anyperson(pony) is a strange thing. Such intricate thoughts and emotions that are subject to change at the drop of a hat or prone to building strange worlds of their own.
Another thing that inspired this story was Jon Foreman’s song: “Somebody’s Baby”
The song is about a girl who lives the worst sort of life: drugs, alcohol, as well as many other evils. It made me think of Pinkie/Pinkamena and how so many of you viewed her as a twisted psychopath who wants to make everypony into cupcakes. But she’s somepony’s baby girl and she’s somepony’s baby still.
So those are the two major things that inspired this short story. Just thought I’d share.
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My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro.
Comments? Suggestions? Tips?