Songbird

by FluxFeather

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Tragedy, Shining Armor, Violence, Princess Celestia, Flash Sentry, Death, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Starlight Glimmer
Length: 4377

A pony parody of Macbeth by William Shakespeare

A ponyified version of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth involving my OC.

Rainius Songbird: Macbeth
Starlight Glimmer: Lady Macbeth
Shining Armor: Banquo
Princess Celestia: King Duncan
Princess Luna: Malcolm
Flash Sentry: Macduff
Princess Twilight Sparkle: Lady Macduff

Published 2020-03-18 18:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-03-18 18:30:01 UTC

ACT I

Author's Note

After my break I decided that I won't be writing a sequel to my last story Midnight Sun, nor be doing an audio drama for it. But I'm giving you guys this instead. Hope you enjoy it. 🙂

ACT I

Doubtful it had stood until at last the long and bloody battle had ceased and ponies had come out triumphant against the changeling army. Their adversary was tough and hardened, but alas had failed in claiming the city of Canterlot. Rainius Songbird and Shining Armor were two close friends and they had fought together in this battle. As they were walking home they came upon three weird unicorns that were without a doubt sisters with a cauldron. "Who are you, weird sisters?" Asked Rainius.

"All hail Rainius, mayor of Ponyville!" Said the sister on the left.

"All hail Rainius, prince of redemption!" Said the one on the right.

"All hail Rainius, king of Equestria!!" Chanted the middle one.

Shining Armor turned to Rainius then back to the sisters. "Yeah right, and what will I be?" He remarked with a smirk.

"You will get kings, but you won't be one," Said the middle sister. Shining Armor had no idea what she meant by that.

"You shall give birth to a line of kings," The sister on the right said.

"Though, you will not be one yourself," The sister on the left reminded him. And with that, they vanished into smoke along with their cauldron.

Shining Armor turned to Rainius. "Well, that happened," He said. "C'mon, let's go home, ponies are waiting for us."

When they got back to Ponyville, an earth pony ran up to them. "Rainius!!" The pony said.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Well, in the battle against the changeling army, the mayor of Ponyville, Mayor Mare was killed. And the village has decided to put you in charge as Mayor of Ponyville," The earth pony explained.

Rainius turned to Shining Armor who looked at him in awe. "I've got to go tell Starlight!" He exclaimed before running off to his home. He all but kicked down the front door as he rushed in and nearly collided with a wall. "Starlight!! Starlight!!"

"Hold your horses there, Rain," Starlight Glimmer Songbird said as she came downstairs. "Now, tell me what happened."

Well,” Rainius began. "We were coming back to Ponyville when there were some weird ponies on the road, they stopped us and said I would be Mayor of Ponyville and King of Equestria and guess what happened when I just got back... I became Mayor of Ponyville!”

Starlight took a moment to contemplate this new information. " Hmmm… king of Equestria you say?" She said. He nodded. "Interesting."

"Um… where are you going with this?" Rainius asked her.

"Well, Celestia should be visiting soon if you are now mayor, it is tradition for the new mayor to host an event for the princess," said Starlight. "Whadda say, we just…" She winked.

"Starlight! No, you can't be suggesting what I think you're suggesting!!" Rainius exclaimed in shock.

"Oh, I'm definitely suggesting what you're thinking I'm suggesting," She replied.

"But I couldn't, she was my mentor, and my friend," He said.

Starlight sighed. "Rainius, you gotta see the big picture here… if you become king, you'll be so much… cooler," She said as she struggled for a word.

"I don't know, Starlight. It sounds risky," Rainius said. Trying to get her to see reason.

Starlight put her right hoof to his mouth, silencing him. "C'mon Rain, do it! Are you a stallion or a mouse?!" She said.

Rainius exhaled, sighing. "Fine, I'll do it, but we're gonna do it my way," He told her. She nodded, showing her agreement.

A few days later, Princess Celestia was at the cake table when Flash Sentry, her most loyal guard, reminded her that she had an announcement to make. She tore her eyes away from the beautiful chocolate cake in front of her that she was eating and cleared her throat as it was a bit hoarse. "In light of Rainius's promotion as Mayor of Ponyville. I have seen it fit that I announce my protege who will go on to be the new ruler of Equestria!" She announced.

'This was it' Rainius thought as he was getting super anxious.

"Now it will come as no surprise that the next in line to the throne will be one who has great strength in ruling so without further delay, the next ruler of Equestria will be… Princess Luna!!" Celestia said. Much to Rainius's surprise.

"B… but," Rainius said. He couldn't believe it. Celestia sighed, she should have guessed Rainius wouldn’t have taken it as well as she hoped, oh well, at least she had this great cake and that's all that mattered to her.

When Rainius and Starlight got home, Rainius was furious. "Ugh, Rainius!" Starlight shouted his name. "There is no way you'll become king after Luna! The only way is for you to kill Celestia, and now!"

"Just lemme think!!" Rainius complained. "There has to be a way to fulfill the prophecy without murder!"

Rainius, it'll be fine! Just go through with it!" Starlight begged.

"You saying murder is fine does not give me much confidence in our future," Rainius said. "But because I love you, I'll do it."

"That's the spirit! We'll do it tomorrow, but for now, let's go to bed." Starlight said as they both went to bed, not worried at all about what awaited them tomorrow.

ACT III

With Celestia dead that would mean Luna would be the next one to rule, if she decided not to flee to Yak Yakistan after Celestia's murder, making it easy to pin the blame on her. So, the ponies were now lost without a leader. So they looked to Rainius for help and guidance and soon he was sworn in as the new king of Equestria. After his new royal duty of raising the sun, he had events to plan, a long day of meeting with the upper-class ponies in Canterlot, before dining with them later tonight. "Ugh, how did Celestia put up with all this?" He wondered aloud.

Shining Armor had walked in on him pacing. "Hey, Rainius," He greeted. "You alright? You seemed stressed."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," He said. "I just have to go to dinner with a bunch of upper-class ponies later tonight, but other than that, I'm fine. It would be nice if you could join me though."

"I wish I could, but I'm busy all day today," Shining Armor replied.

Rainius sighed. "Fine, I'll let you go," He said.

"You sure?" Shining Armor asked. Rainius nodded. "Alright then, I'll see you later." And with that Shining Armor was off and Rainius was left alone.

As Rainius paced around, a sudden worry interrupted his chain of thought. 'What if Shining Armor knew! What if he was planning to get rid of me and replace me with his son?!' Rainius knew he had to take action, he looked out the window and saw these two identical shady-looking business ponies, known as Flim and Flam. "What be your business here, strangers?” Rainius demanded to know as he walked out to them.

Flim and Flam looked at him before replying. " Whatever business we can find, be it good, or... questionable… Why is it that you ask?”

Rainius pondered for a moment. This could actually be good for him. “I have a little problem that needs dealing with," He said.

This caught the brother's attention. "And what is this problem," They inquired. Rainius goes up to them and whispers in both their ears.

Later, Starlight and Rainius were both preparing for their feast tonight with the upper-class ponies. "Rainius, we need you to look your best tonight for dinner," Starlight said as she gave him a suit.

"Okay, whatever you say," He replied. But how could he have done this? How could he have betrayed his best friend? But what's done is done, there was no point in dwelling on it.

As Shining Armor was walking down the outskirts of Canterlot near Ponyville, he was attacked by two ponies. Flim and Flam. But no matter how hard he tried to fight against them, he soon lost and had his throat cut.

About half an hour into the feast, guests were still arriving, as Flim had rushed up to Rainius. He whispered in his ear, informing him that he and his brother had managed to take Shining Armor by surprise and that they had cut his throat. He told Flim they would discuss more on the matter tomorrow and sent him away.

Rainius sighed, all of these high-class ponies sure were boring, he got up to get some wine and when he turned around the glass shattered on the floor. The room grew quiet as she looked at where he had been sitting. There, in his chair, was the bloody, battered corpse of his dear friend Shining Armor. "N… no… I… it can't be!" He exclaimed. "Who has done this?!" Everypony started looking at him like he was crazy. Starlight ran to him as fast she could. "W… what is this apparition that appears before me and why does it have the gall to appear at this particular moment?"

Starlight turned to the guests. "Sorry folks, but his royal majesty is feeling unwell at the moment, perhaps everypony should leave.” She said, sending them off, but not without them talking amongst themselves about the king. Starlight turned her focus back to Rainius. "Rain, snap out of it! Rain!"

"Starlight…" He began. "I saw him!"

"Who?" She asked.

"Shining Armor!" He said. "I… I killed him. I killed him!" He began sobbing into Starlight's chest.

"Shhh… Rainius, it's going to be okay," She tried to reassure him. "Everything's going to be fine. Don't worry."

"You know what," He said. "I'm going to go back and see those weird sisters tomorrow and talk to them about this."

"That sounds like a great idea," Starlight said before they headed off to bed.

Author's Note

It seems that Rainius may be starting to feel really guilty... Anyways, that was Act three of the story. I hope you enjoyed.

ACT IV

In the middle of a thunderstorm, three figures were circling each other. Their laughter was like that of grinding metal.

“Three times the striped cat cried, four times the hedgehog whined! The harpy cries, tis time, tis time!" They chanted.

"Roundabout the cauldron go; In the poisoned entrails throw.
Toad that under a cold stone. Days and nights have thirty-one. Sweltered venom, sleeping got. Boil thou first I' the charmed pot. Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake. Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog, adder's fork and blind-worm's sting. Lizard's leg and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, like a Tartarus-broth, boil, and bubble. Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
The scale of dragon, a tooth of wolf, Witches' mummy, maw and gulf of the ravined salt-sea shark, the root of hemlock dug I' the dark, liver of blaspheming Jew, the gall of goat, and slips of yew slivered in the moon's eclipse, a nose of Turk and Tartar's lips, hoof of birth-strangled mare ditch-delivered by a drab, make the gruel thick and slab. Add thereto a tiger's chaudron, for the ingredients of our cauldron.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood, then the charm is firm and good." They continued to chant until the great and powerful Trixie appeared.

"Ah, good job, ladies. The cauldron is now ready to sing!" Trixie had announced.

Then Rainius had come along. "What are you ponies doing?” He shouted into the wind, as the storm was getting stronger. The three mares didn't answer. "Anyways, I came for more prophecies!"

"Would you like to hear it from our mouths or our masters?" One of the sisters asked.

"Let me hear it from them. Call them," Rainius demanded.

"Pour in the blood of a female pig, that had eaten
her nine piglets; grease that's oozed from the murderer's gallowed throw into the flame." One of the sisters chanted. Then they all began to chant. "Come, high or low; Thyself and our service deftly show."

Thunder is heard as the first apparition appears. It is an armed pony head. "Rainius! Beware of Flash Sentry!" It said before it disappeared and the second apparition came in the form of a blood-covered filly.

"Rainius… no pony born of a mare can harm you," The second apparition had said before it disappeared to reveal the third who was a familiar-looking colt who was dressed like royalty.

"Beware of trees for they are woody and have splinters," The third apparition said.

"Okay?" Rainius said. Then a line of seven more colts dressed like royalty appeared, the last one holding a mirror. Standing behind them all was Shining Armor, pointing at them. Rainius was horrified. He leaves as they all disappeared. He laughs, how stupid these things these crazy ladies say, everypony is born through a mare, Flash Sentry is not a problem and trees aren’t scary.

Then Rarity came up, she came to give Rainius a message, He saw her and waved her over. “Did you see any crazy old ladies just then?” He asked her. Rarity muttered something about her mother being a crazy old lady, but not anyone today.

“I have some news, my King,” Rarity continued “it appears Flash has fled to Yak Yakistan,"

Rainius laughed off the news “Good riddance I say. Better that traitor leave then be around here!” When Rarity left, Rainius had a plan.
"I will go to his wife's castle in Ponyville and leave them a little surprise,"

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Flash Sentry's wife Twilight was in the sitting room when she heard the news. “What! He left for Yak Yakistan? That idiot, what does he think he is doing?! Here I am raising a family and what do I get?! A husband who flees at the first sign of trouble, he is just, so, so-Argh!!" At this point, she was throwing furniture around.

"Mom? What is a traitor?" Twilight's son, Nova asked.

"Well, son. A traitor is someone who lies and swears," She answered.

"And was daddy a pony who lied and sweared?" Nova asked. Twilight nodded.

"Mrs. Sentry, calm down," The messenger pony who was also in the room said. "You know, maybe it was smart that he left."

Twilight snorted at the word smart. “Smart? that silly foal has not one piece of smarts! Did you know that when he proposed to me, he forgot my name? He probably thinks that walking off a cliff is a good idea! Smart? Ha! As if!"

"Well, I'm sorry I can't stay, I've got to go," The messenger pony said before he walked off. As he walked off a group of ponies burst into the castle. One of those ponies being Rainius, holding a dagger. Then they attack, killing the family, their blood-curdling screams were heard by the messenger pony who looked back in horror at the sight. Rainius and his group of murderers had already vanished from the scene.

Luna and Flash Sentry were at a pub in Yak Yakistan talking about the problem with Rainius. Luna stated how the country is going into a pit, and that Rainius is going to pay. Flash Sentry asked for a solution, the answer given was to storm the castle. Then the messenger pony arrived back from Equestria and looked tired and battered.

“Ah, Derpy, how are my children and... What’s her name… Twilight?” Flash asked.

Derpy looked troubled as she thought for a moment and replied. "Last I saw them, they were fine… Last I heard they, um, weren’t as good.”

Flash Sentry didn’t quite understand, so he asked if Derpy would explain. Luna tried to change the subject but Flash wanted to hear it all. Afterward, Flash was just sitting at the pub with a half-empty cider in his hoof, just staring at the bench. Luna confronted him and told him to take it like a stallion. He finished the rest of his drink before finally saying, "... Rainius took away my family, now I will take away his crown. The reign of King Rainius Songbird is over!!"

Author's Note

Only one more Act left!! I hope you all have been enjoying this story!

ACT V

"See? I told you she would be up I-!" The maid was cut short by the harsh shush of the doctor that was beside her as they were watching Starlight sleepwalk. Starlight made her way to wash her hooves, to cleanse them of something. And they looked at her strangely as she began screaming into the water. "I have no idea what she's talking about."

"She's talking about wanting to get the blood off her hooves," The doctor answered. "But I do not see any blood… this is beyond me."

Then Starlight had trotted past them. "She will go to bed now," The maid said.

"And so will I. Goodnight," Said the doctor before he went home.

On the outskirts of Ponyville. Luna and Flash were discussing the positions of them and their army.

Rainius pranced around his room acting all high and mighty. "Flash Sentry is most definitely born of a mare, everypony is, so there's no way I can lose!" Rainius said confidently.

One of his servants came up to him. "There are ten thousand, sir!!" The servant exclaimed.

"Of what? Geese?" Rainius said.

"Soldiers sir!!" The servant replied.

"Ugh, just go get Big Mac," Rainius demanded.

"Yes, sir!!" The servant galloped off and a few minutes later Big Mac entered the room.

"Big Mac, I want my armor!" Rainius said.

"But you do not need it yet, sir," Big Mac replied.

Rainius looked at him annoyed. "I will wear it anyways," He said. After he got his armor on, he went off to see some swords at the armory.

Luna and her army were in the forest near Canterlot cutting down branches and using them as camouflage, Luna was excited.

“Yes, with these branches, I doubt they'll see us coming!" Luna said ecstatically.

As Rainius was getting ready for battle, his thoughts were interrupted as a loud scream was heard from down the halls. “What was that?” He asked Big Mac, who didn’t hear anything.

“Must've been a twig or something,” Big Mac answered.

Rainius sighed. "I swear you're going deaf," He said, but Big Mac didn't hear that either, further proving his point. Then a maid came downstairs screaming.

“Rainius!! Rainius!! The Queen is dead!” The maid screamed before she fainted.

Rainius then paused dramatically as he was now overwhelmed with grief as his dead wife's body was brought to him. He knelt down beside it. "She shouldn't have died now. She should've died later. That way I would have time to mourn," He said, saddened.

Then a messenger came to alert Rainius. "Your majesty, I have some news… the forest is moving towards the castle, I-”

He got cut short by Rainius slapping him. " Liar! The forest cannot move! I should have you hanged and be used as target practice for thinking such a thing!!" Rainius yelled at him before he and his followers went out.

Luna and her army were preparing for battle. Luna was talking to the youngest soldier, a filly who looked like she was about eleven years of age, but apparently was seventeen. “Can I ask you a question?” The filly asked.

"Uh, you just did," Luna said. "But fine, ask away."

"Do I have to wear one of these suits?" The filly asked.

"Well, I mean you don't have to," Luna said. "...If you want to die that is." The filly immediately put the suit on.

The battle had begun. Rainius was in the upstairs main room about to enter the battle, then a small soldier appeared. It was the young colt Rumble Pit. "Where is the traitorous tyrant, Rainius Songbird!!" He demanded to know.

"That would be me," Rainius told him.

"You're not as scary as I thought you would be," Rumble Pit said.

Without warning, they engaged in combat. As soon as they made contact, young Rumble Pit knew he wouldn’t make it out of this alive. Rainius had him cornered then he blasted magic at him, killing him. "Heh, he was born of a mare," Rainius said to himself.

Rainius walked onto the battlefield to find Flash. Then in a deep booming voice from behind he heard his name called. He looked around and saw Flash Sentry. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Flash Sentry the traitor," Rainius said.

"You are the only traitor here, tyrant!" Flash yelled. Rainius had enough and charged at Flash.

"I will not fight you," Rainius said.

"Then surrender yourself and become the laughingstock of the town for all time as your picture will be painted and describe you as a monster," Flash said.

"I will not surrender," Rainius said. "When one born of a mare cannot hurt me!"

Flash Sentry laughed at him. "Well, then I guess it's nice that I was ripped out of my mother's womb prematurely," Flash said.

Rainius stepped back in fear. "It seems I hear it now from the horse's mouth," He said. "The Thane of Fife himself… Flash Sentry!" They continued to fight until at last Rainius caught a glimpse of the three sisters, then he could see them walk away before everything went black as his head was cut off and placed upon a spear where it was presented to all Equestria.

"Hail! Hail! Flash Sentry, king of Equestria!!" Everypony said.

Luna stood up. "We shall not spend a large expense of time Before we reckon with your several loves, And make us even with you. My thanes and kinsponies. Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Equestria in such an honor named. What's more to do, which would be planted newly with the time as calling home our exiled friends abroad that fled the snares of watchful tyranny; producing forth the cruel ministers of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen, who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hooves, took off her life, this, and what needful else that calls upon us, by the grace of grace, we will perform in measure, time and place. So, thanks to all at once and to each one, whom we invite to see Flash Sentry crowned the new king of Equestria," Luna said as the trumpets sounded. And they all walked off.

No pony would ever forget the story of Rainius Songbird. The tyrant of Equestria.

The End

Author's Note

And that is the end of the story, I hope you have enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it, cause this is my last story I am writing. I've been doing this for almost two years now and it was something I enjoyed for a while, but I feel like it is time for a change, so until we meet again... Farewell. 👋

ACT II

"Well, how is the night going, son?" Shining Armor asked his child.

"Well, it's coming close to the time when Celestia, but I haven't heard the clock chime," He said.

"Well, it is time to go, my boy," Shining Armor said. "Now, let us take our leave." As they were on their way out they heard a noise from down the hallway and Shining Armor quickly turned around to see what it was. "Who's there?!" He bellowed. "Show yourself!!" He was relieved when he saw it was just his friend Rainius. "Ah, Rainius. I didn't expect to see you here. The princess is fast asleep. Why aren't you?"

"I couldn't sleep," He lied.

"I dreamt of those three sisters last night," Shining Armor spoke up. "It seems your prophecy is coming true. I mean you have become the mayor of Ponyville, it's only a matter of time before you are king of Equestria."

Rainius chuckled. "You know, I haven't given those sisters any thought really," He admitted. "I shall keep you no longer, you can leave now. I will be fine." Shining Armor nodded and with that, he had left Rainius alone in the castle with his thoughts. "You can do this, you have to do this! It's the only way!" He went into Celestia's room, dagger in hoof, and while she was sleeping, he stabbed away at her, doing away with her for good. He returned home that night where his wife Starlight was waiting for him. "It is done."

"Rain, you got to get rid of that thing!" Starlight said as she saw that the dagger was still in Rainius's possession. "Here, give it to me, I'll plant it on the guards." She took the dagger and teleported then teleported back, this time without the dagger.

Rainius stared at his hooves. "I can't believe I did it!" His voice was shaky. "Starlight, how could I have done that?"

He was cut short by Star hugging him. “Shhh, shhh," Starlight whispered. “It’s going to be fine… I promise." They decided to snuggle up and keep each other company through the long night.

Meanwhile, Shining Armor and his son were walking home. "Dad?" His son said as he noticed something strange with the sky. "Shouldn't Celestia have risen the sun a while ago?"

Shining Armor looked up at the sky. "Hmm… you're right son," He replied. "I wonder what's going on. I' ma go check on her. Stay here!" He ran off back to the castle. A few minutes later a scream was heard. It was him.

His son went running back to the castle. "Dad? What's wrong?!" He asked.

Shining Armor turned to face his son with horror in his eyes before he spoke. "Th… the Princess… She’s been murdered!!"

Author's Note

Yeah, I know this chapter is a bit short, but I hope you still enjoyed it anyways.