• Published 2nd Jun 2012
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Creeping Darkness - Pen Stroke



Alan Wake must write a story where Twilight faces the Darkness of his world to save Equestria

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Light Against The Dark

Journal #63

Any good horror story requires that the protagonist be out gunned, over powered. The reader has to believe there is an honest chance the story will end poorly, as some horror stories do. The situation needs to be almost hopeless. If the protagonist could fight back and have a good chance of victory, then it wouldn’t be a horror story. It be a fantasy story or adventure novel.

No, in horror stories you have to take a common character and put them in the bleakest situation possible. It’s there that the character will start to fear every dark shadow, check cautiously behind every corner... where the character’s panic and anxiety will infect the reader and have them holding their breath as they wait to see if the ax murder is waiting around the next bend in the path.

Thus, to make “Creeping Darkness” work as even a light horror story I had to ensure that those who could stand a fighting chance against Nightmare Moon were taken out early. I allowed Celestia and Luna to be taken.

It may seem counter-intuitive, to allow those in the story with the greatest likely hood of victory fall so early on...but the Dark Place demands it. I can only write a horror story, because it’s in a horror story that an evil like the darkness has the greatest chance of being victorious.

Nightmare Moon also continues to whisper in my ear, trying to drive the story the way she wants it to happen. Thankfully, while Nightmare Moon whispers she doesn’t have control like Barbara Jagger did... which leads me to believe she is not in fact just another face for the Dark Presence. Still, that means her desires to plunge Equestria into the darkness are her own... and I can only imagine what could have driven her to those desires.

Still, I am not her puppet. I’m her opponent, and while the story I write must be a form of horror story I can, at the end, insure that she is defeated.

To do this, I must figure out a way to let Twilight fight against the Taken, Nightmare Moon’s soldiers. Not with guns or weapons... no, I won’t make her fight the darkness like I did. Still, I must think of a way for her to fight.

As I write this, I begin to think about the flare gun and flash bangs that often proved my saving grace when facing the darkness. Maybe there is an answer in that.

~~~

The road down from the castle was long, and it only felt longer considering the situation. Twilight had been jogging constantly, looking at every shadow like it could leap out and make her disappear. The stress was too much, the unicorn just barely making it halfway to Emblem when she had to stop and rest. Somehow, she knew it was dangerous to stop, that the darkness of the trees neighboring the road could easily be hiding more of the shadowed ponies... the Taken... that’s what the creature in her dream had called them.

Taken... just like Celestia and Luna had been. Before she could stop her brain it had already composed ghastly images of the two princesses, lunging out from the dark at her as the other taken did. Twilight had to shut her eyes and shake her head to make those thoughts dissipate, her mind latching onto the first thing she could think of as a distraction. She choose to remember Pinkie Pie’s song. She just had to Giggle at the Ghosties. Twilight doubted that giggling or any sort of laughter was going to work against the Taken... but the message and cheerfulness of the song did its job... it helped to distract Twilight from her current situation long enough for the pony catch her breath.

Legs starting to regain some of their strength, Twilight got back to her hooves and continued towards the town, though now walking. She knew she needed to get there quickly, but at the same time thoughts of the Taken made Twilight realize that if she was attacked she’d need to be able to run away... and she couldn’t do that if she didn’t go a bit slower and save her strength.

It was a decision Twilight would soon appreciate, for as she drew closer to Emblem the night grew more threatening. A heavy mist began to linger amongst the trees and hang over the road, obscuring the unicorn’s vision. A breeze kicked put, making the trees of the forest creek and groan, the noises growing louder as the wind gained strength. The night itself also began to darken, the stars and moon becoming obscured.

The tension in the air just kept building, Twilight sensing that something wasn’t right. Something didn’t want her getting to the town, getting to her friends. Twilight formed the light from her horn into a single cone, continuing down the road but watching the treeline that boarded the path on either side.

She saw glimpses of movement amongst the trees, and at first she tried to convince herself it was just branches and leaves turning in the wind. It was the logical explanation, but one of the first things to go when panic takes hold is logic. Yes, the movement could be just twisting leaves... or it could also be the more Taken ponies, waiting for the right moment to leap out at Twilight with axes, chainsaws, and whatever weapons the shadow wrapped ponies could wield.

A bend in the road greet Twilight with a sight that made a smile pass onto her face for the first time since she left the castle. There was a house, a warmly lit cabin, just off the side of the road. Honestly, Twilight would have been happy with a hovel with a lantern... but the cabin would give her a chance to rest. She was safe in the light, and every window of the home glowed with the warm invitation of safety.

The second she was in the light of the porch the harsh wind and mist that had been threatening her seemed to fade, the night once again becoming calm and still. Twilight went to the door, venturing a knock. She waited for several moments, but when no pony came to the door she decided to try sticking her nose inside.

It was a quaint little cabin, just large enough for a single pony or maybe a new couple to be living in. The furnishings were rustic and homey, and the light came from a fire that roared in the fireplace along with a few electric lights. The Lakeshore Castle was one of the few places around that didn’t have electric lights, mostly because trying to wire a solid stone castle with electricity wasn’t the easiest task and Celestia wasn’t in the castle often enough to bother getting it upgraded.

“Hello...” Twilight ventured a call. “Is any pony home?”

Only silence answered the unicorn. After standing in the doorway for a few more minutes the unicorn decided to start nosing around, seeing if maybe the cabin’s residents were just asleep. It was a single story cabin, with all the basic rooms right on the bottom floor. Twilight searched each, finding evidence that someone had been in the home recently... especially since something was cooking in the oven.

The last door Twilight checked lead down to the basement, the one part of the house not lit. Twilight used her magic to play with the light switch, and after a few clicks a single, weak light bulb clicked to life at the bottom of the stairs.

Part of Twilight knew it was stupid to go down into the darkness, but at the same time part of her was worried about the owners of the cabin. If they were down in the basement, they were in danger... they could have already been attacked and need help. In the end, Twilight’s conscience won out against her common sense as she began to descend the steps into the basement.

The single hanging bulb at the bottom of the stairwell didn’t provide much light, but it was a safe haven Twilight was thankful for as she used the light from her horn to scan the room. The basement was filled with old boxes and canned and dried foods. Either leftovers form the previous winter or the first boxes of fresh supplies for the coming cold season.

Across the room the light from her horn swept, until it caught sight of a figure crumbled against the staircase. She jumped a bit, Twilight fearing it was a Taken... but unlike the Taken, when Twilight’s light fell on the figure it didn’t elicit a grunt and the sound of burning darkness. Instead, it caused the figure to moan, as if the pony had just been woken up and was in a lot of pain.

Twilight moved over beside the pony, letting the light from her horn spread evenly around like a lantern instead of a flashlight. The pony had a trickle of blood running down from his mane, and there was a large bump as well. He had been hit in the head... hard... and was probably lying there unconscious until the light in his eyes stirred him back into the waking world.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked, using her magic to try and help the pony to his hooves.

“Ya... but my head is killin’ me.”

“You’ve got a nasty bump. What happened?”

“I rightly don’t know.” The stallion replied, carrying an accent similar but not exactly like Applejack’s. “I was just down here rummaging for a jar of grape jam when something went and beamed me on the head. It wasn’t you was it... and what are you doing in my cabin?”

“No, it wasn’t me, and I’m in your cabin because... um... it started to rain and I was hoping I could wait here until the storm passed.” Twilight lied as she went up beside the pony, letting him lean against her as they moved towards the stairs. They began climbing, but halfway up all the lights in the house blinked out, causing the stallion to curse.

“Oh hayseed, the fuse box is acting up again. You’ll have to go check it.”

“Where is it?”

“In the kitchen, just to the left of the fridge.” The stallion replied as he sat down on the stairs. “I’ll just wait here... don’t think I can navigate these stairs in the dark... not with this headache.”

“Okay, just stay here and I’ll get the lights back on.” Twilight replied, trotting up the stairs and making a b-line for the kitchen. She found the fuse box easily, but that’s only because it was spitting sparks and a giant ax was lodged deep into the metal. Twilight turned, trying to see where the ax had come from. She took notice of a window that stood on the wall opposite the fuse box, a window that had been left open. Outside, she thought she saw a figure disappearing around the corner of a tree.

“Hey... you’re back. Did you get the ligh... hey, what are you doing... Get your hooves off of me!!... No... AHHH!!!”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked back at the stairwell, the screams emanating up from the basement. The stallion was dragged back into the basement, roughly, and the final scream sent a shiver down Twilight’s spine. After that there was only silence, the house as still as a graveyard.

Moving as quickly as she dared, Twilight crept to the edge of the staircase, shining her light down into the basement. She couldn’t see the stallion, even tried to call out to him a few times. Still, there was only silence. Again, common sense was telling Twilight to just get out of the cabin and get to Emblem, but she couldn't just leave the stallion alone in the dark. If he was injured the Taken could get him... if they hadn’t already.

She took each step of the staircase one at a time, cringing whenever one of the aged boards creaked under her weight. Still, nothing leapt out from the darkness... and Twilight was able to reach the bottom of the stairs. The stallion, however, was nowhere to be found. It was like he had vanished... like Celestia and Luna did.

A resounding boom made Twilight jump, her head turning to focus on its source. The door to the basement had slammed itself shut. The break in the silence was followed by more noises, things shifting and walking in the darkness around Twilight.

Panic gripped the pony, Twilight calling on her magic as she made the light from her horn burn as brightly as she could muster and in all directions. Like a flare, the magic lit up the room. Three Taken ponies retreated from the light, covering their eyes. One of the ponies was the stallion Twilight had just tried to save. He was wielding a hammer his teeth, and glow from his eyes assured Twilight that he had been turned into a Taken.

Twilight kept her magic burning, satisfied that it was at the very least keeping the monsters at bay. Still, as she tried to figure out her escape one Taken worked its way around behind her, and without warning Twilight felt something hard hit the back of her head before breaking apart, the force of the blow knocking her to the ground and extinguishing her light.

For a moment the unicorn was in pure panic, feeling something oozing down the back of her neck. Her mind quickly jumped to it being blood or even her brains, but she couldn’t focus on that as she heard the ponies around her starting to rush in. They were on the attack, taking the moment of pure darkness to strike.

Twilight focused on her horn, begging it to bring back the light.

And it did, with an explosion of light that even blinded the unicorn for the moment. It was as bright as the light that had exploded in front of her in the dream, which saved her from the ax-wielding stallion. She heard the Taken around her howling in pain, a burning smell reaching the unicorn’s nose.

When Twilight dared to open her eyes, when the light of her horn had dwindled back down to normal, she saw that she was once again alone in the cabin and the threatening presence she had felt moments before had lifted.

Not only did the light seem to hurt the creatures, but enough of it at one time was able to make them disappear. It was a fact that Twilight seized with her mind, the idea igniting a small fire of hope. She could fight back against the Taken, but it wasn’t all good news. The flash of light had left her feeling drained. She wouldn’t be able to do that very many times in a row. The magical burst of light would be a good last resort if she got surrounded, but maybe she could figure out other ways to use her light that wasn’t as physically taxing.

With the Taken gone, Twilight next focused on the gooey ooze running down the back of her neck. She felt it with a hoof, noticing it was cold. She brought it in front of her face, and after sniffing at it and venturing a lick she breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t brains or blood... it was grape jam... one of the Taken had thrown a jar of preserves at her and the contents had spilled out when the jar broke.

The spot on her head where the jar had hit was sore, and it was going to swell into a solid lump. Still, Twilight couldn’t help but laugh, a laughter driven by the sweet relief of knowing her brains weren’t oozing out the back of her skull. The jam would get sticky and uncomfortable soon enough, but Twilight could wash up when she got to Emblem.

The house hadn’t proved the rest-stop Twilight was hoping for, and guilt clung to her about being unable to save the stallion... she didn’t even know his name. Still, she was thankful for the one good thing that had come out of the moment. She had a way to fight back, something that would maybe let her reach the town and her friends.

As Twilight left the cabin she couldn’t help but look back. Part of her wondered what would have happened to the stallion if she hadn’t stopped to seek shelter. Would he still be there, would he still be safe... or would he have still been a victim of the Taken?

Still, Twilight couldn't focus on the what-ifs. She needed to get to Emblem, find her friends... it was as simple as that. The town was close now, and looked closer than it had a few minutes ago now that she had a means of defending herself.

Turning back to the road, Twilight stepped out in a quick trot, distracting herself from the darkness around her by trying to think of other ways to use the light from her horn to fight back against the Taken.