• Published 2nd Jun 2012
  • 13,299 Views, 252 Comments

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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Guilt of The Writer

The Taken soldier never came to the door, the lights inside the shop holding him at bay. By some miracle, it was the shop they had been searching for. The Record Store, the racks filled with vinyl records from all different kinds of bands and genres.

Still, it did little to console the ponies. Again, as the panic and the fear of the moment subsided... sorrow and pain rose up in its place. Rarity and Pinkie Pie... they were gone. Three friends, lost in a short few hours. It was spirit breaking. Only Fluttershy found motivation to do anything, using a first-aid kit from behind the counter to tend to cut on Twilight’s shoulder before going to tend the stallion, who was unconscious.

Dash and Twilight, however, could do little more than lay on the floor. They just couldn’t bring themselves to do much else. As before, Dash did her best to keep herself from crying, face bent in a half scowl as she tried to keep the tears at bay. For Twilight, while she didn’t cry vocally the tears flowed openly. Memories of her three friends keep spreading across the canvas of the unicorn’s mind, fond memories torturing her with the knowledge that she may never see those three ponies ever again.

There was no clock to be seen in the record shop, so there was no way for the ponies to know how long they just lay there. Fluttershy finished tending to the stallion’s wounds, many of the bandages stained with the tears she hadn’t been able to stop. The only thing not marred with tears or blood was Applejack’s hat. Fluttershy wasn’t sure how the stallion had gotten a hold of it, but the pegasus had been careful to keep the hat as pristine as possible, hanging it on a corner of one of the sales racks.

When the final bandage for the stallion was in place, Fluttershy’s distraction was over and the pain of the moment welled up in her. The yellow pegasus then moved over by Twilight, the unicorn and pegasus crying together but trying to stay quiet so the stallion could rest.

It was a moment of mourning, where the three that remained cried for the three who had been stolen.

Silence... tears and silence for those who fell to the darkness.

~~~

Alan groaned, the pounding headache forcing the writer awake. He half expected to wake up and find himself dead, or even in the Dark Place as just another victim that was stolen in the night. But instead, upon opening his eyes, Alan was greeted with the interior of the record shop, three brightly colored mares lying several feet away from him.

While Dash had her back to the rest of the group, Alan was able to clearly see Twilight and Fluttershy’s faces. Their eyes were red and puffy... the pair had undoubtedly been crying for a long time. The room itself was silent, minus the occasional whimpers of tears. It was the atmosphere Alan would have expected to find in a funeral home or graveyard, the pain of lost friends choking any possibility of happiness from the room.

Several surges of pain shot through Alan as he tried to sit up, his pounding headache only getting worse. God, he hadn’t felt this bad since the hangover he had from the Anderson Brothers’ moonshine. He didn’t know how those old rockers brewed that stuff, but it didn’t take much of that stuff to knock a man off his feet.

Probably even less to knock a stallion off his hooves.

Fluttershy took notice of Alan’s movements, getting up and trying to dry her eyes as she moved over to him. “Hey... you’re awake.” She said, her voice muted and quiet... more so than usual. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got run over by a train.” Alan replied, lifting a hoof and gingerly touching the large lump on the back of his head. “How did I get here?”

“Oh, we brought you here. If Twilight’s right, it’s the least we could do after you saved us.”

Alan turned his gaze to the unicorn. “What makes you think I saved you?”

“Whatever you did to save us left a trail of smoke in the air, and it lead straight to you.”

Alan smiled a little, the unicorn was smart... but he already knew that. Still, hadn’t she noticed his voice sounded familiar? Was she just that out of it or did his voice change after becoming a pony? Alan didn’t think he sounded different... still, his ears were different now to so there was no telling what he really sounded like.

“So, I’m Fluttershy. That’s Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash is over there. What’s your name?”

“Alan Wake.” The author replied, realizing that his name probably sounded strange compared to the normal names in Equestria. The short flash of confusion on Fluttershy’s face confirmed that. Still, the pegasus didn’t let the expression linger, putting another smile on.

“Well, that’s a very... nice name... oh, wait... you shouldn’t.”

Alan, however, didn’t listen as he forced himself to his hooves. “We can’t just stay here. The darkness will figure a way into the shop sooner or later. The longer we stay here, the longer we give Nightmare Moon a chance to figure out how to shut off the lights.”

Twilight was up on her hooves quickly, moving over beside Alan. “Wait, you know about what’s going on? How? Did the creature visit your dreams too?”

“No.” Alan replied, starting to walk along the store racks filled with records. “Though, I did visit your dreams.”

“My dreams?”

“Doesn’t my voice sound familiar?”

“Now... now that you mention it...” Twilight muttered, before her eyes narrowed. “Wait, are you saying you’re the creature from my dreams? The one that told me about the darkness and Nightmare Moon?”

Alan nodded, not taking his eyes of the store racks as he continued to move around the store.

“But... but... you weren’t a pony in my dreams. How did you even get in my dreams... or how did you get out of them?”

“I wasn’t a pony in your dreams because until a few hours ago I wasn’t a pony. I was something else... but the only way I could save you three was to let myself become a pony so that I could write myself into the story.”

“Story... what story?”

Alan stopped, turning his eyes away from the store shelves and focusing on Fluttershy and Twilight. He knew he had to tell them the truth... they needed to know the full extent of what was going on. Still, that didn’t mean it was going to go over well.

It took sometime, but the writer told the ponies almost everything. He told them of about his own world, how he had been a writer and how the darkness had kidnapped his wife Alice. He told them about how he wrote “Departure”, a story where he became the protagonist fighting against the darkness. He told them how, to save his wife and Bright Falls, he had let himself become trapped in the darkness.

That was the easy part. Next came the part that Alan struggled with. He told them how he was first contacted by Nightmare Moon, how the mare had whispered in his ear and tempted him with information about Equestria. He told them how it was his fault the darkness had escaped, and how he had been fighting to try and fix his mistake.

“But how were you helping us fight back? How were you getting into my dreams?” Twilight asked.

“The Dark Place gives powers to words. Nightmare Moon couldn’t escape on her own; she would need someone to write a story or poem where she takes over Equestria. I feared that if I let Nightmare Moon find some pony to write for her, that pony wouldn’t realize what was happening before it was too late.

“So... I began a story of my own. I began typing out a story called ‘Creeping Darkness’, in hopes that I could write a store where Nightmare Moon was defeated. I began the story with a nightmare. Twilight, it was the dream you had on the train, running through the Everfree Forest towards a pillar of light. That was my first attempt to warn you. From that point until the moment before I saved you three, I’ve been mostly in control of what’s happened.”

“You’ve been in control? So everything that’s happened to me and my friends, to Celestia and Luna... that all happened because you wrote it into a story?”

“...... Yes.”

“YOU MONSTER!!!”

Dash tackled Alan without warning, knocking the stallion down. The writer cringed in pain from his place on the floor, a number of his injuries flaring up as Dash stood over him. The blue pegasus had tears streaming down her face from eyes filled with rage. She put her hoof on Alan’s neck, starting to apply pressure. Not enough to choke Alan but enough to communicate the fact she pegasus wanted to strangle the life out of him.

“Dash! What are you doing?” Fluttershy asked, darting over to try and get Dash off of Alan only to be pushed away.

“Didn’t you hear him? Everything that’s happened is because of him! It’s because of him that Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are gone!”

“Alan... is that true?” Twilight asked.

“...Yes...” Alan replied. He would have said more, but the words were interrupted as Dash put more pressure on his throat.

“Why? Why did you do it?” Dash snapped, her voice hoarse with anger but also starting to tremble with the sorrow she had been trying to bottle up inside. “They never did anything to you. You didn’t even know them. They didn’t deserve it.”

“I had to... the story... the story demanded it.” Alan choked out.

“Demanded it... is that all we are to you?!” Dash half screamed, putting more weight down on Alan’s throat. “Are we just characters in your story, to be killed off when it’s entertaining?!”

“Rainbow Dash, stop it! You’re killing him!”

“He deserves it!”

Alan was now starting to have trouble breathing, his hooves grasping at Dash’s as he tried to get the pegasus off his throat. Still, the struggle only made Dash put more pressure down. Alan could feel himself getting light headed, his movements getting more sluggish as his lungs desperately tried to draw in a fresh breath of air.

“Dash, that’s enough!” Twilight barked, her horn lighting up. She levitated the pegasus off of Alan, the stallion coughing as his ability to breathe freely was restored.The pegasus thrashed in the air, trying to free herself but the magic kept her in place.

“Twilight, put me down! He deserves it! It’s because of him that Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are gone! HE DESERVES IT!!!”

“Dash, he’s been trying to help us. If it weren’t for him-”

“If it weren’t for him none of this would be happening! He admitted it! It’s his fault all this is happening. How can you be defending him? Rarity, Pinkie Pie... Applejack... they’re gone... not only that, but they could be dead for all we know! Twilight, THEY COULD BE DEAD!!!”

Twilight’s magic faltered, the unicorn losing her grip on the pegasus. Dash dropped back down, landing on her hooves. She moved towards Alan again, wishing nothing more than to put her hoof back on his throat. Yet her path of vengeance was blocked again... by Fluttershy.

“Get out of the way.” Dash ordered.

“No.” Fluttershy quietly muttered.

“Fluttershy, he hurt our friends. He may have killed him. He deserves this!”

“No!”

“Why... why are you two defending him!?! He’s a MONSTER!!! He killed our friends! He may have doomed us all to be swallowed up by the dark!”

“Because I don’t want to see any other pony get hurt!” Fluttershy shouted, one of the rare moments the yellow pegasus managed to find strong volume in her voice. She then dropped to her haunches, eyes watering up again as she stared at the floor.

“Hasn’t there been enough... haven’t we seen enough ponies get hurt? I just want it to stop... I want it all to stop.”

The rage died from Dash’s eyes as she just stared at her pink maned friend. Without a word, the blue pegasus moved forward, leaning in and hugging Fluttershy with a single hoof. Twilight also joined in, the three friends doing their best to console each other in what was easily the bleakest situation they had ever been in.

Alan watched all this and it felt like someone was digging the heart form his chest with a rusty, dull knife. The guilt was overwhelming, drowning... it was the worse feeling Alan had ever experienced. The only thing that had ever hurt worse was the terrible realization that he lost Alice to the darkness.

What had he done?

~~~

Comforted by the embrace of her friends, Fluttershy calmed down fairly quickly. Dash and Twilight had also taken the time to cry, to let anything they had left out. It had felt good, just getting it all out.

Alan had slipped away, limping slowly around the room as he searched the record racks. He came back just as the three mares were stepping back from each other, their embrace ending.

“Uh... I found it.” Alan offered, slightly worried that saying anything might re-ignite Dash’s anger.

“Found what?” Dash asked, using a hoof to dry her tears. There was still pain and hatred in the eyes, but for the moment the pegasus was content to just glare the writer down.

“The record from the ‘Old Gods of Asgard’.”

“But, you’re not in control of the story anymore.” Twilight pointed out. “How is that song supposed to help?”

“It’s how the magic of the Dark Place works. What’s written becomes reality. In the story, I told you that this record could tell you how to defeat the darkness. The Old Gods of Asgard is a band from my world. This record shouldn’t exist, but because I wrote about it in the story it does exist. It does exist... which makes me believe it may be able to tell us something. Though... honestly, I don’t know if it can tell us something I don’t already know.”

Twilight levitated the record away from Alan, carefully removing the vinyl disk from its paper sleeve. The unicorn then trotted over to the counter. A record player, hooked into the shop’s speakers, was tucked just below the cash register. Twilight set the record into place , starting the turntable and setting the needle down.

There were just pops and cracks from the record for a moment, and then the song began to ring out from the speakers set about the shop. Someone was picking at some guitar strings, the melody of the song resembling The Poet and the Muse. Still, it wasn’t the same song. Twilight levitated the record sleeve, reading the words printed out on the cover.

Old Gods of Asgard
Writer’s Folly

The guitar player picked at his strings for a bit longer, and then a voice came over the record. The lead singers voice carried the tune with soft, stretched tones. It was a mournful song... a song of warning and sorrow.

Once we told a tale of mystery, of Tom the Poet and his muse
and the darkness that bent and twisted the words the poet used

But the tale didn’t end just there, no more still remains
Others in time would be bound the nightmare’s garish chains

Even we old gods once faced the darkness and its might
And the next to be ensnared was a writer and his wife

And now to see the sun set free
To see the moon regain its majesty
Find the strength for the fight where the sun rests at night
That’s how you reshape destiny

The nightmare twisted and corrupted both the writer and his tale
Hoping to escape from the lake, both its home and its jail

But the writer, aided by the poet and we the elder gods
Managed to beat the darkness back, defying all the odds

But to do all this, to save us all, to set the story right
The writer had to give himself to the darkness of the night

And now to see the sun set free
To see the moon regain its majesty
Into the lake you must dive, the darkness you must survive.
That’s how you reshape destiny

Never again was the writer seen, his vanished from this place
Torn away from his home and his wife’s warm embrace

He struggles on, even now, to return from the gloom
To see his wife again, to leave the darkened tomb

And yet we gods offer this one word to our fallen friend
Those who face the dark alone... are doomed... in the... end

(Guitar Solo)

And now to see the sun set free
To see the moon regain its majesty
Seek out your friends, with their power it can end
That’s how you reshape destiny

And now to see the sun set free
To see the moon regain its majesty
Offer a warm heart to those lost... in the dark
That’s how you reshape.......... destiny..........

The needle reached the center of the record at this point, the speakers filling with the mild static until Twilight lifted the needle and shut off the turntable. The room was silent for a time, the three mares looking at Alan. The song had been about him, about his own fall to the darkness. It had dredged up several painful memories for the writer, including the single fact that he may never see Alice again... especially after he sacrificed his human body to try and save these ponies.

Still, like Dash, Alan chose to bottle these emotions up, putting on a stern face as he looked up at the mares. “We need to go back to the castle.”

“That castle? What about that song makes you think we need to go back to the castle?”

“The first line of the chorus says to see the sun set free. The sun, however, isn’t what’s being held captive. It’s Princess Celestia. Then, in the first chorus, the song said something about finding the strength for the fight where the sun rests at night.”

“Oh,” Twilight mouthed, comprehension striking the pony. “If Celestia is called the sun in the song, then its tell us to go where Celestia rests at night. And, assuming the song isn’t talking about Canterlot, then we need to get to Celestia’s private quarters in Lakeshore Castle.”

Alan nodded. “That would be my guess.”

“Wait, wait wait wait.” Dash said, pointing a hoof at the door. “Did you two forget about the fact we were surrounded by Taken the last time we were outside. And you two want to try and get all the way to the castle and you’re just guessing?!”

“Do you have a better idea?” Twilight asked.

The pegasus opened her mouth, ready to snap out some better plan. Still, for several moments no words came out and then Dash dropped her head in defeat. “I got nothing...”

“Then it looks like we’re going to the castle.” Twilight argued. “Still, Dash is right. How are we supposed to get there? I doubt Nightmare Moon will let just walk up the road.”

“No, she won’t, but we won’t be defenseless either.” Alan said, a small smile pulling at his lips.

“What makes you say that?” Fluttershy asked.

“I couldn’t make use of it on the way into town, but I remember seeing a place selling fireworks.”