//------------------------------//
// Night One: "My Name Is PinkieTail!" 
// Story: PinkieTail's Curse 
// by A Torn-Up Note 
//------------------------------//


	December 20, 1998
5 days before Hearth’s Warming


The clock in the hall began to chime, signaling that the day was finally over. At this time, most ponies would be asleep in their comfortable beds inside their safe homes, dreaming wonderful dreams, courtesy of their favorite princess of night. In the particular home of our story, not all was quiet as it should have been.
Tossing and turning in his bed, a little blue unicorn named Blake was having a very difficult time keeping himself asleep. All his excitement for the coming holiday brought too much energy to him, keeping him up. He let out a groan as he lied on his back, staring up at the ceiling. 
“How am I expected to sleep when we’re so close to Hearts Warming? It’s impossible!” He let out another groan, rubbing his face with his hooves. Sitting up in his bed, he began to think about how he could expel all this extra ‘energy’ he has. 
Then he remembered something. Earlier in the day, he heard his mother talk about the presents she got with a few of her friends she had brought over and how she ‘hid them in the basement.’ 
“Having great hearing really does pay off from time to time.” He said to himself, wearing a devious smile on his face. He quickly jumped off his bed and landed on the carpeted floor with a muffled ‘thud.’ He then turned towards the door of his room and began to walk towards it, leaving his room.

As he walked down the hall, he looked around, getting a nice look of his home. It wasn’t anything fancy or special, just your average equestrian home. The walls were painted with white and several photo frames that contained pictures of him and his family (which, really, was just his mother) hung up on the wall. There were a few pictures that he wasn’t as happy to see up there, but there was nothing he could really do about it. 
Further down was a wood door that had a coat of brown paint that lead into the living area. It was currently closed, not that Blake wanted to go into the living room for any reason other than to see the tree. Beyond that was another set of doors, though these ones had a glass center that allowed Blake into the dining room. He wasn’t interested with what was in there. 
On the other side were a couple more doors that were closed. One that lead into the bathroom and the other that belonged to his mother’s room. Blake moved up to the door and looked at it for a quick couple seconds before he knocked on it. There was no answer. “I wonder if mom’s either asleep or is out with her friends again…” He quickly shook his head, returning to the task at hoof. 
The next room he entered, which was the second biggest on the upper level of the house. There were counters, cabinets, a sink, everything you would find in an average kitchen. There was also a fridge… Yeah, maybe the house was a little more fancy than Blake had originally thought. To the right of the fridge was a double door that led outside. To the left was the door that led to the basement, which, surprisingly, was left open. Blake arched a brow at this, slightly confused, but he didn’t worry too much. “Less trouble for me,” Blake said as he began to walk down the steps.

While the upper part of the house was clean and organized, with the exception of Blake’s room, the entire basement wasn’t as pretty. Boxes and furniture was piled up against the stone walls of the hall and shelving units held cleaning supplies that were covered in dust. Not only that, but the air of the basement was stale and had small particles of dust floating about. Blake simple shooked his head. “One day… One day, mother will get this cleaned… But not today…” Blake began his little journey traveling down the hall of the basement.
At the end of the hall was a doorway which led into a large, open room. There were four wooden pillars that held up the ceiling in each corner of the room. In the center of the room was a chair and an empty table. Blake walked past these has he headed towards the opening beyond them. There was no door into this room, but just a big hole in the wall, which Blake figured it was smashed down before they had moved into the house. Beyond that was a polka dotted curtin that only blocked part of the room. Blake pushed past the curtain and found a brown table on the other side. On it was a red and white box wrapped up with a red bow. 
“There you are, my precious.” Blake said with an evil grin. He trotted over to the table and lifted himself up with his front hooves. With his head over the edge of the table, he was able to examine the box more closely, though there wasn’t much detail to explain. He grabbed the box in his silver magic, lifting it off the table, and brought down onto the floor. “Now, to find out what’s inside.” He said, smiling. 
He began to remove the bow with his magic, along with the top of the box. He neatly set those down on the ground next to him, then began to lift the box inside the box (BOX-CEPTION!). Lifting it into the light, he was able to see what it was. The label on the box said ‘Talking Tattletail’ in a special looking font and the edges of the box was decorated with light patterns, but what interested Blake the most was what was inside.
Inside was a small pony doll that had a pink coat. It’s sky-blue eyes were open wide and were staring in Blake’s eyes with an unbroken gaze. Its mane was a huge darker hue of pink mess, with curls everywhere. Blake only stared for a couple moments before he decided to move on. He opened the top of the box carefully, as to no damage it in any way, and slowly pulled out the pony doll. After getting it out, he lowered it into his hooves and looked more closely at it. Then he turned it over onto its stomach and took a look at its back. There, on the back of its head, was an ON/OFF switch. He flipped it up into the ON position and quickly turned the pony back over.
Suddenly, the eyes began to move about inside the tiny pony’s head, looking left, then right, then back at Blake. A smile came to its face as it opened its mouth. “Hello! Me PinkieTail! Me love you!” The sudden noise from the pony doll startled Blake, who tossed the doll up into the air before quickly catching it in his hooves. 
“Woah! You startled me…” He said nervously to the doll. 
PinkieTail’s face drooped slightly. “Me sorry. Me no mean to scare you.”
Blake looked at the doll in surprise. Did it really just answer him? It can actually do that?
PinkieTail smiled. “Happy Birthday, Blake!” She said in a cheery voice. ‘Creepy. The doll knows my name.’
“Well, little doll, it’s not my birthday. But we are close to Hearth’s Warming, so…” 
“Happy Hearth’s Warming, new friend!” PinkieTail said in response. Blake smiled at his new toy. Then he heard a rumbling. “I’m hungry. Could you please get me a treat?”
Blake looked at the doll in surprise. ‘It eats, too? Wow, they went all out making these things, huh?’ He smiled at the little pony in his hooves. “Of course! There may be some snacks in the fridge upstairs.” Putting PinkieTail on his back, Blake began his journey back upstairs.

Digging through his fridge, Blake found a daffodil sandwich. One that his mother made for him earlier in the day, but he never ate it. He picked it up with his magic and tore off a couple of pieces. He gave a few to PinkieTail, who gulped them down rather quickly. “Wow, you really are hungry, aren’t ya?” Blake said with a mouth full of sandwich. The pony on his back smiled in response.
After the two finished their snack, Blake closed the fridge and turned his attention back towards PinkieTail. The first thing he noticed was strands of loose hair poking out from her head. “My mane is a mess. Could you please brush me?” PinkieTail asked with a cute little smile and pleading eyes. 
Blake sighed. “I think there’s a brush in the living room.” He said aloud, moving himself from the kitchen, through the dining room into the living room. 
Out of all the rooms, the Living Room had to be the biggest. In the wall that was shared with the wall of the hall was a fireplace that had a singular stocking hung over it. On top of the fireplace were some more pictures, but these were of the cat that Blake used to have. “I wonder what happened to Mittens?” Blake thought to himself. Across the room was a couch and on that couch was the brush that they were looking for. 
“AH! Here we are!” Blake said with a smile. He grabbed the brush and sat down on the couch with PinkieTail in his lap. Then he started to brush at the mane, cleaning what he could of the curls on the pony’s head. It only took a few minutes, but soon he was finished. “There you go. All better.”
PinkieTail smiled, then let out a huge yawn. “Me tired. Time for bed.” 
Blake nodded in response before letting out his own yawn. 
“Yeah. I guess it is.”

When Blake walked down the stairs and turned the corner into the hall in the basement, the lights suddenly shut off, plunging the two into darkness. In his hooves, PinkieTail began to shake. “It’s dark!” 
Blake held the little pony close. “Don’t worry… I’m here…” He said, his own voice shaking slightly in fear. Blake had never been a fan of the darkness. He held PinkieTail close to him as they traveled through the darkened hall until they got to the large open room. With the light surrounding him, Blake let out a sigh. PinkieTail let out another yawn. Blake quickly moved into the backroom of the basement where he had found PinkieTail. Her box was laying in the same spot as he left it, on the floor next to the present wrapping. He reopened the box and carefully placed PinkieTail into the box. “Goodnight, PinkieTail.”
“Goodnight, Blake…” PinkieTail said, shutting off. Blake rewrapped the present and placed it on the table, making sure it looked like it was touched. He smiled at his work before he left to retire to his own bed.

As Blake stepped into the kitchen from the basement, the phone on the wall started to ring… Wait, since when was there a phone there? Blake’s confusion only grew when he pulled the device down so he can hear. All there was on the other side was the grinding of something, a loud screeching that drove holes into Blake’s soul. Then it clicked and a beeping tone came through the line. Blake quickly shook off the feeling he had, placed the device back on its stand and headed off towards his room, uncertain of what just happen.