The Nightingale

by Dyslexic Aardvark

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Adventure, Tragedy, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 1006

Everything is peaceful in Equestria, just as it should be. That is, until something arrives to wreak havoc across the land. Unlikely heroes will be thrown into the arms of destiny to combat the darkness.

Silver Cables is an earth pony with a good heart and a strong determination.

On an evening like any other, darkness descends from the heavens and Equestria is thrown into chaos. Cables will fight to stay afloat in the turmoil in a struggle for survival. Dark secrets will be uncovered, forgotten places rediscovered, and blood will fall before the night ends. But he must hold true to that song that will lead him on...

Published 2017-07-25 02:40:05 UTC
Last updated 2017-08-09 18:57:20 UTC

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The day was bright and beautiful in Ponyville, and nothing could have been better than sleeping in after working hard on the day before. Until, of course, a little sister happens to wake her older brother from his sleep.

“Big brother! Big brother!” Golden Time said. She jumped up and down on Silver Cables’s torso, which left him gasping for air. “Look, big brother, I don’t want you being some lazy haybale for the rest of your life. Hurry up and get out of bed.”

As soon as Golden Time got off of him, Cables took a deep breath. He looked at the little filly angrily, and she responded with a smile. Cables couldn’t help but smile back, despite being angry before. Cables put on a scarf that was laying on his nightstand to cover a scar that was on his neck.

“Okay, sis.” he said. “I’m awake now, so don’t worry.”

Tomorrow was his little sister’s birthday, so Cables had to distract her for today in order to make sure she didn’t see any party planning in the works. He got out of bed and started towards the kitchen. Once he got there, Golden Time trailed behind, jumping up and down excitedly. She loved her older brother’s cooking.

“Make me some pancakes, big brother!” she said while Cables was taking taken out the necessary things to make them.

After making pancakes and eating them with his sister, he did all of the things he usually does during his morning routine. As soon as he was done, he put on a watch he had received from his father. Today was the day before his little sister’s birthday, but it’s a shame that his parents weren’t alive to see how happy she was. Even without his parents there, he wanted to be sure that his little sister could enjoy her life as much as possible.

Silver Cables decided to take Golden Time to the zoo while Mrs. Pie plan the big surprise party. So, Cables and his sister headed down to the zoo to spend a day together. Once they got there, they bought some hoofbands and headed in. Golden Time loved the zoo, so she ran off to look at her favorite animals while Cables struggled to catch up behind her.

While they were there, they looked at a giraffe exhibit, a monkey exhibit, and a grizzly bear exhibit. They took a break and had wheat burgers and ice cream, then trotted off to look around some more. Golden Time and Cables had fun together as brother and sister. Nothing would make that time spent together more memorable, until they stumbled upon an elephant exhibit where fillies and colts could ride them with zookeeper supervision, of course. After doing that, they headed down to a bird show.

By the end of the day, they had both visited every exhibit. They were exhausted and ready to go home. On the way back, Golden Time was so tired, Cables had to give her a ride on his back. As soon as they were home, Cables sent her off to bed. He stayed up for a while, wondering how everything was going to work out tomorrow. Would everything work out tomorrow? When he was done contemplating, he headed off to bed, and he dreamed of a playful young dragon that night.

*****

The morning was bright and cheerful once again in Ponyville. Cables awoke with a start. He breathed heavily. Once he calmed down, he went into his sister’s room to wake her up. He shook her bed wildly. She woke up confused for a moment, but then looked up at her big brother and smiled.

“Morning, big brother.” she said wearily.

“Good morning, Golden Time. Happy birthday.” he whispered, calmly. She jumped up and ran around her room. She was excited that today was her big day.

“It’s my birthday! It’s my birthday! It’s my birthday!!!”

Cables laughed. He loved seeing how happy she gets on occasions like this because it had the same effect on him.

“Golden Time,” Cables said, “I want to take you somewhere special today. I want you to get your things ready this morning, okay?”

“Okay, big brother.” she replied.

After doing the things they normally do during morning routine, they headed outside. Golden Time was giggling and hopping around cheerfully. The area around them seemed to grow dark. Cables thought nothing of it, until looked up into the sky and saw a pitch-black cloud. It looked like some kind of storm cloud, but storm clouds don’t turn pitch black.

Whatever it was, it sent chills down his spine, and he didn’t know why. He looked around and saw other ponies looking up into the murky sky. They were as shocked and confused as he was. Suddenly, the sky was enveloped in complete darkness, and a dark figure descended from the sky.

“Stay back, Golden Time.” Cables yelled. “Don’t move!!”

“Don’t worry.” a deep voice said menacingly. “Everypony’s pain will soon be no more.”

The dark figure came into vision as a unicorn that was three times the size of an average stallion. He had glowing yellow eyes, a black body, and a silver mane. His eyes showed no shred of decency or mercy. His stare made Cables shake and tremble.

“Now your grave will be right here, you pathetic earth pony!!” the terrifying unicorn said maliciously.

Cables backed up slowly, placing his sister behind him. His eyes widened as the unicorn charged up a magical blast, and aimed it towards Silver Cables. Cables closed his eyes, accepting his fate to protect his sister. The unicorn fired away.

“No!” Golden Time screamed.

The blast was blinding. The explosion left behind a cloud of dust. There was no denying that Cables was now dead.

Author's Note

A week and one day has passed since the prologue was posted. We hoped you enjoyed it! Chapter 2 will be posted in a week or longer, so please be patient!