Strange things happen in Ponyville. Foals start to disappear; their parents and siblings, struck by grief, will resort to every mean to find the cause. Some of them blame timberwolves; some blame the zebra living in the forest. Some of them even blame their fellow ponies. None of them, however, suspects a little filly suffering from insomnia...
Click here for sequels reading order, TVTropes page and other info.
Part of the New Fimfiction Starter Kit
Beware of spoilers in the comments!
Inspired by Bootsy Slickmane's Insomnia.
Preread by Bootsy Slickmane
Translated to Russian by repitter:
🇺🇦Ponyfiction.org link🇺🇦
🇺🇦Gdocs link🇺🇦
Chinese translation by MLM
Russian reading by Demicorn Masterrace
Chapters (12)
'Reads description.'
...
Sorry, I can't help that.
'Reads chapter.'
Yeah, the music I posted is extremely fitting. Great job, can't wait to see more.
Aww yeah, here we go!
Oh goodness, it's the Hinamizawa Syndrome!
This reminds me of my novel I'm writing, oddly. Not just that, but a novel I read in 8th grade. Its promising, I want to see more.
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Hmm, sounds quite similar...
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Maybe great minds think alike...
Thanks
(Sung to the tune of "Hush Little Baby".)
"Hush Little Diamond"
Hush little Diamond, don't you cry.
You have found a way to close your eyes.
A good night's sleep is what you lack.
Your sanity has begun to crack.
You've taken drastic measures...
And will soon succumb to dark pleasures.
Last night was not a real dream...
You truly did hear Pipsqueak scream.
The blood turned your pink fur to red.
But there's still no need for you to dread.
For you'll need to sleep again soon.
And another foal shall scream under the moon.
So hush, little Diamond and you will see.
All of these Blank Flanks need...
To...
...Bleed...
4609664 You, sir, win the internet.
4610213
It kinda works that way – now it's an early stage...
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th04.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2013/333/d/3/pinkamena_seal_of_approval_by_invader_guy-d6w38pc.png
Can't wait for the next chapter
This is amazing!
Just the kind of fic I love!
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Thanks
A Grimdark with Diamond Tiara as a main character? I think I'm in love with this fic already.
I can't wait to see what happens next. That adorable little PipDi moment. I d'awwd at that little back and forth, "not like he stared at her often." *snicker* that was cute.
Nice chapter end. Fabulous. Poor DT. Who knows what tragedies lay in wait for our little pink insomniac princess.
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Thanks
When writing that part I thought for a moment about writing a shipfic...
Also, going from cute to creepy and the other way around is one of my favourite ways of writing...
Another chapter already!?
I'm happy!
So, who's going to be next, I wonder? And how violent will it be?
Please be very...
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And there'll be some time for guessing who'll be next...
I can't say much to avoid spoilers, but the next death is worth waiting for it...
4613502 a...a... CMC? Silver spoon? That would be good!
Well, this looks promising. It's always interesting to find a fic with DT being something other than the incarnation of everyone of who ever bullied the author.
After a solid month of being awake, I'm pretty sure somepony absolutely qualifies for pleading insanity. She's lucky she has that Earth Pony stamina, or she'd be dead.
Aha, the next chapter!
Diamond Tiara going all Pinkiemina on Ponyville
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I can neither confirm nor deny
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Yeah... I kinda blame the show for not giving her more personality...
4615277 in other words, Yes
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Maybe
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Ok, I'm creeped out now. Didn't know sleep murdering was a thing.
Can't wait for chapter 4
Vinyl is going to get framed!
This story never fails to get me super excited when I see a new chapter has been added.
Also...
This is very promising... I have a feeling I know who's going to be next. A certain orange pegasus who messed with a certain friend of Diamond's...
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Given that it's Ponyville, she'll probably have an angry mob at her doorstep before anyone bothers to frame her. Zecora is lucky they were too afraid of her to lynch her.
So ponies don't have DNA test. I wonder what kid of technology the police will use for the investigation.
4622573 You win the Internet just for that Persona reference. I applaud you.
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Also that she is the only DJ in the town, perhaps in Equestria, it would be like lynching a movie star. It would bring bad press to Ponyville and also more Royal Guards to make sure no more lynching happen. But right now, the Royal Guard would be looking for a Pony with a purple mane, so they might look at Vinyl, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and all others with Purple manes or with purple in their manes.
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Other than some sort of forensic magic, I suppose they could pull out the ole microscope and compare found hairs vs. a suspect's hair. Hair can be fairly distinct depending on any number of factors.
Also, I look forward to the police finding out that Rarity dyes her hair.
I'm starting to get worried about Diamond and Silver. Especially Diamond as I wonder what is causing her to unconsciously murder poor foals. I don't it's sleep deprivation either.
I also forgot to mention... IT'S TIME TO GET CRIMINAL MINDS UP IN THIS BITCH!
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Our unsub is most likely a nine-year old mare...
(I'd describe more, but it would be too long. I'm a major fan of Criminal Minds.)
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The unsub has light purple hair... The unsub may be close to the two victims, but not i a friendly way... We believe the unsub i killing those he or she picks on, making the unsub a complete sadist with sociopathic behavior.
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DNA can be obtained only from hair that have follicles (though I've heard about a method of obtaining DNA from only a piece of hair, without a follicle. But I don't know how developed it is).
Generally, I wonder about the technological level in Equestria, especially when it comes to medical procedures. From the ones mentioned in the second chapter, ECG and EEG are around since the beginning of the 20th century, while first commercial CT scanner was made at the beginning of the 70s. DNA was first used to identify a criminal in 1986. I'm going to stick to the hair comparison since Diamond Tiara is rather generous with evidence, especially in case of Pipsqueak.
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Diamond Tiara's gonna open Equestria's first KFC...
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Yeah, sleep deprivation is usually a symptom of something bigger...
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We're going to need to check with forensics about that.
Unsub seems to be disorganized, using any means available to kill victims. This also suggests that they aren't very strong, using the element of surprise to overcome their victims. Seems to show signs of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and possibly Insomnia. Look for fillies that have a history of bullying others. Likely has few friends but many "followers", giving her a wide access victims with ease. Unsub may go serial if we don't find her soon.
I KNEW IT! I KNEW SHE'D BE NEXT!
media.pinkiedb.com/photos/Diamond%20Tiara/48720%20-%20Diamond_Tiara%20crazy%20insane%20pinkamena_diane_pie%20pinkie_pie.png
Pinkamena Mode Activated.
I get the feeling that Diamond might get caught in the act and runs away, starting a Pony-hunt for her
Alright, time to see if DT knows the Colonel's secret recipe!
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Did they narrow it down to a filly? While they did measure hoof prints with Pip, they hadn't yet begun questioning the children. And children tend to be overlooked as suspects. It's feasible that they'll assume it's an adult who's great at sneaking, a unicorn or pegasus, or bought a charm to cover hoof prints and noise.
I like the small friendly jab at one of the most common Silver Spoon troupes. Way to keep Spoon from being too easily swayed away at the first sign of gaining a potentially newer friend to trade the old one for.
That was a sweet chapter. I've actually had this thing of a headcanon that Silver and Twist are already friends on the side, DT knows about it and doesn't mind much, since they each have ponies they hang out with when the other takes on certain hobbies that the other just doesn't do, like DT and the Foal Free Press, DT, Silver, and Twist leave together but only Diamond comes back in. Likely telling Silver she'll be busy and Silver goes to hang out with Twist for a bit? Who knows. Not the first time Twist and Silver or the three of them have been together in a scene. Twist having her cutie mark and a talent for treats, heh, I can see DT just letting that slide long as Twist doesn't try stealing Spoon away. Long time buddies tend to get over protective of each other sometimes.
I love that Spoon is being given some character in this story, but let's not slip too deep into the habit of telling us why with explanations. You did fine, and the jab at the troupe was worth it, but you've done a great job so far showing us, up to this point, that she isn't a bad pony. You've shown us she's a very caring and loyal friend. And you've shown us she tries very hard to learn new stuff that normal fillies wouldn't understand, if only to help the friend whose always stuck by her. You've even planted seeds of doubt and how she overcame them. But having Silver tell us about how she's sorry for picking on ponies, to tell us she should of saved Pinch *just like* she did for Twist. That's bordering heavily on the telling side of things. But thankfully it was more for the setup of a friendly joke, which got a smile out of me. Gotta say, you got me there for a sec. Nice way to mix it up!
It shows she's got that assertiveness in her after all. That, or that she just has a thing for ponies who share her glasses fetish_ I mean shares her appreciation for glasses.
While some may worry about a chapter's length, and this story's chapter lengths have been decreasing with each chapter, I like that you're writing FOR the scene, not the word count. I really liked how this chapter flowed. So, good job!
For the record, I liked how you showed Silver has a good say in who Diamond gets to make fun of.
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derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/1/31/539696__safe_solo_scootaloo_scootachicken_kfc_artist-colon-procaballus.jpeg
But she's so cute...
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Yeah, it's definitely not a typical Silver Spoon redemption story (well, it's not even a Silver Spoon redemption story to begin with). I like to explore the relationships between the characters. Also, I like Silver Spoon and Twist, so writing a chapter with both of them was only a matter of time...
Those chapters keep getting shorter... Though the next one will be longer. Generally, I prefer to write chapters longer than 2k words, but it simply depends of the events.
So, time to stir up the bee hive!
Can Diamond Tiara be held responsible for her actions? She did commit murder, but she was apparently possessed by the Nightmare during a period of microsleep for those.
And she could have told someone but after a month of forced sleep deprivation her thought processes are likely FUBAR.
So, how much blame does DT deserve?
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I guess every lawyer would prove that she was insane. Unless someone would show that she planned a murder (though even then it could be said that she was planning while insane; I guess lawyers have tricks for that).
Scootaloo's next. Did DT will have enough strength to actually kill her ? Stay tune.
4636393 Don't worry yourself, you already write incredibly fast. Twilight would be proud..
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Actually, I have a couple of chapters written ahead. I just made a gdocs file for chapter 8; once it's done, I'll post chapter 5.