On the western side of Ponyville, there is a modest house with bluish-gray shingles. This wouldn't be so unusual were it not for the fact that nearly all of the other houses in town have thatched roofs. The non-conformity of this house becomes even more bizarre when one learns that this house also predates most of the town.
If somepony were to ask Ebony Redwood, the unicorn mare who lives in the house, her opinion on this, she would look around nervously and say something about the original owner just wanting a nice place to live without bothering anypony, and not even considering the possibility of an actual town springing up nearby, especially considering how near the house was to the Everfree Forest, and all that.
Conversations involving Ebony Redwood tend to involve a lot of run-on sentences. She has never quite figured out why.
On this particular day, she opened her refrigerator and noticed she was low on milk. At around midday, she put on her saddlebags and left the house to head to the market.
It didn't take long for Ebony to get the milk, and since it was the only thing she needed to buy she turned to leave. As she did so, her vision was flooded with pink.
"Hi! There's a new pony in town, so I'm throwing her a welcoming party at the library in three hours, and you're invited! Her name's Twilight Sparkle, and just so you know she's a purple unicorn with a pink streak in her mane. Are you gonna come?"
Ebony looked to the side. Her hoof scraped the ground. "I, uh...I really appreciate the offer, and everything, but I don't do very well with parties, at least not usually, I mean there were one or two parties I've been to that were nice, but most of them end badly if I show up, and I don't really want that to happen to a welcoming party. Sorry."
Pinkie Pie laughed. "Okie dokie, no problem! Not everypony can be a party pony, after all! Just try to say 'hi, and welcome' to her if you see her, okay?"
Ebony smiled softly. "I will." And with that, she walked home.
Once she got home, Ebony put the milk in her fridge and sat down to read a book. A few hours later, the sun had set enough to make reading impossible without some sort of light source, which she wasn't going to use today. The Summer Sun Celebration was tomorrow, and she hadn't seen one of those in a while. Although it was, arguably, a party, she didn't think her presence wouldn't make it end any worse than it was already going to be.
Call it a hunch.
"Stand back, you foals!"
Ebony watched carefully from the back of the room as Nightmare Moon struck down the guards that tried to attack her. She hated not being able to do anything other than watch, but she knew from experience that doing otherwise would end up making things much more difficult in the long run. Moments later, Nightmare turned into mist and flew through the front doors, pursued closely by the town's headstrong weather manager.
After half an hour or so, the remaining members of the Royal Guard determined that Nightmare Moon had left Ponyville entirely, and wasn't likely to come back; as such, everypony was told to return to their homes. Ebony was on her way to her own house when something crashed into her and pinned her to the ground. A voice from above her proclaimed, "Hah! I've got you now, Nightmare Moon!"
A mare's voice huffed in exasperation. "Rainbow Dash, that mare is not Nightmare Moon. Her mane is red, not violet, and it's made of hair, not mist. She isn't any bigger than us, whereas Nightmare Moon was the same size as Princess Celestia. She doesn't even have wings."
"...Well, maybe she's in disguise!"
"Don't be silly, Dashie!" This voice was unmistakably Pinkie Pie's. "That's Ebony Redwood, she's lived in Ponyville for years! I invited her to Twilight's welcome party yesterday! She decided not to come though, I guess she doesn't really like parties much, don't really know why but I think something bad happened to her at a party once which is really sad because mrgle flim nrg mull mmph mig!"
There was the unmistakable squeaking sound of a hoof being inserted into a mouth. "We get the picture, sugarcube. Dash, could y'all get off of her already?"
"Ehh heh heh...right, sorry, uh, Ebony?"
Ebony stood up and shook her head. "Apology accepted. Now, what's this about heading out? Are you trying to hunt down that Nightmare Moon pony?"
The mare who matched the description of Twilight Sparkle smiled awkwardly. "Well...maybe? We've got an idea on how to maybe do that, actually, but it's kind of a long shot, and I don't really want to say any more about it than I already have, because, well..."
"We're barely acquaintances, even by Pinkie Pie's standards. I understand." Ebony sighed. "Well, whatever it is you're doing, I wish you all the best of luck."
Ebony watched the six mares trot towards the Everfree for a few moments, then continued on her way home.
For your sakes and mine, I hope your plan works.
Their plan worked. Apparently, those six mares had managed to find the Elements of Harmony, and by complete coincidence managed to get them to work. Nightmare Moon was purified and restored to her old form as Princess Luna; Princess Celestia came back from wherever she'd disappeared to. The party had lasted all day and proceeded well into the night, but Ebony had barely attended it; she'd only stayed long enough to grab a few slices of cake before disappearing into her home.
It was now quite late, and the noise from outside had finally died down enough that Ebony could get some sleep at last. Despite the shenanigans with the princesses, the past few days had gone much the same as any others, and she enjoyed the stability her life gave her. Nopony expected much of her, and nopony was really upset by anything she did as a result. She pretty much had everything she needed, and didn't really have anything to complain about. With this in mind, Ebony closed her eyes and laid back, waiting for sleep to come.
Maybe I should have gone to the party.
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So, you might be wondering why this is allegedly a story about a black-and-red alicorn, when there hasn't really been any alicorning going on thus far in the story.
To you I say, "To be continued."
P.S. original archetype do not steal
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY LIKE!
Will RIL I so dig the color scheme.
Not bad...not bad...
YAY!! YESH!! I LOVE THIS! MORE! MOOAAAAARRRR!!!!!!
I rather enjoyed this.
ALL MAH LIKES.
I GIVE TO YOU.
Wow, a red and black alicorn that I might enjoy. *Upvotes and favs*
You've got my favorite and watch just for that single line in the description
"What actually turned out to be Discord in a skirt"
A red-and-black alicorn story that I enjoy? You sir have my like and my favorite.
Ten bits says that your dislikes didn't actually take the time to read the story or the description in full. I'm definitely interested, at least.
The description alone earned you a fav. The story itself got you an upvote. In layman's terms: "Moar plz."
it was... good...
>she'd only stayed long enough to grab a few slices of cake before disappearing into her home
I do not know where "only" should go in this sentence ._.
Other than that, the only problem I noticed is your redundant "have got" usage
Doesn't seem 'sad' yet, but I'll give it time. Let my guard down and be suckered in the feels.
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The revolution of Alicorn OC's have begun!
1439377 Soon, they will no longer be mocked! (yeah right)
As most people said before me, that line alone earned you a like and a favourite. Perhaps I will read it tomorrow?
MOAR!
...pwease?
I am very disappointed in you, sir or madam. Everybody knows that black-and-red alicorn stories are supposed to be bad and terrible and bad, and here I find you writing a story good enough to make me want to read part two! This thing needs at least a hundred more spelling and grammar mistakes, and your OC should be making out with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy for absolutely no believable reason. At the same time.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself! As punishment, I'm liking this... but you're getting off light. Keep this up, and I might even favorite it.
An interesting take on the Black & red alicorn, I'm liking this so far
By the tone alone....
I give you my green thumbs and yellow stars! Please accept them. Please?
Four thousand years is enough time to get tired of hearing things you like, after all.
That line, plus the one about Discord in a skirt makes this fic almost deserve a like before a read.
Son of a bitch.
Just...
Son of a bitch.
It's finally happened, hasn't it? An intelligent writer has finally found that formula of OC and story, and applied a red-and-black alicorn to it.
...I have very high expectations for this. If you crush my dreams, I'll make you pay for it.
PAY, I SAY!
...In whichever method seems easiest for me. Don't let me down, Mr. Author. This is something authors have tarnished for years...this could be the first step the OC coloring needs.
This story!
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This needs new chapters! Taking brave, reckless steps into the scarred turf of the Red and Black Alicorns and turning our views of them upside down? I NEED MORE OF THIS!
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(couldn't find the book of equestria version.... )
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Colloquially, both uses are correct. Similarly, "have got" is used in conversation all the time, especially when the "have" is part of a contraction. ("You have got to check out this movie!")
If, on the other hand, I'm using too many "have got"s, I'll fix that. I do try to avoid repetition.
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It's nice to hear I'm doing Discord's characterization well.
1431867 huh, I havn't seen that gif before. I WANT IT
eh, now that I have actually read the first chapter, I liked the description better. This wasn't THAT well written, and you released the fic before anything even happened (DON'T DO THAT!)
Holy crap that is a long synopsis. really god but loooooooooooooooooooooooooong.
Well, it reads decently. I wants see where you go with the story before making any more judgements.
1440582 Use of "have got" and "has got" is generally accepted, but it is still redundant
>used in conversation all the time
That is not a valid argument
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I'm sorry to hear that.
On a completely unrelated note, there are a few thousand stories in which Applejack uses the word "y'all" which you might want to look into critiquing.
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1454323 Friendship flows through me every day…
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