The Beat of a Drum
She sits and watches me. I watch back. Her rose eyes look right at me, though I can see that I am not truly seen, not the focus of her gaze. She stares at the wall, at the candle and at the shadow it casts, a shadow that creeps up the cloud wall of her home and dances with the fire. In the darkness of the night the candle is the only light she can see; high above us the clouds conceal the moon’s glow, and below the unicorns sleep in their beds, few even thinking of illumination spells. There is only her, the candle, and me. I dance with the fire and the light it casts, and she watches the shadows moving, her wings spread and her back arched like a cat ready to pounce.
No.
Not a cat.
A mouse.
She doesn’t fear the dark; why should she? I’ve listened to her boasts, to her claims. Rainbow Dash, hero of Equestria, only pegasus to perform a sonic rainboom, the top candidate for the Wonderbolts, the element of loyalty. She doesn’t fear shadows or my dance, nor should she. My dance is a thing of beauty, a shadow cast by the candle, flowing light hitting a form to create movement. But she is tense, ready to bolt.
Because a shadow must be cast. A shadow does not simply appear and choose to entertain. A shadow does not move where there are none, does not defy all that is known as right in the world. I should not be there moving freely along the walls. In the darkness she suddenly moves, slow, calculated movements that allow her to stay away from me as she retrieves another candle. She lights it, and I feel the light upon me. Another shadow cast, another dancing figure.
She dives at me, and she lands face first in the clouds. I don’t stop, don’t even miss a step as she rises and starts swinging at where I stand in the room, at where my shadow ends. She hits empty air, and I begin to laugh at her silliness. It’s a light-hearted laugh, a childish laugh, the laugh a filly makes when she sees a clown throwing pies, or watches a bully slip on a banana peel. I laugh, and she tenses up again.
For a moment, I wonder if she can hear the music. The soft, steady drum beat, that steady thumping that drives me to move. Despite the flames controlling my form, I keep to that steady beat. As I giggle and dance, the beat picks up its pace, and she starts to back away, starts to creep away from the shadows, still staring at me. Her eyes are wide, bloodshot and unblinking, trying to understand. I keep moving, and energy begins to grow within my unseen form. My shadow begins to change, the blurred edges becoming crisp, my form becoming more whole.
The pounding beat picks up as she returns to her bed, pulls the cover over her head and stops looking at me. It doesn’t matter; I’m having so much fun, enjoying myself in the candlelight, dancing my dance as my form shows across the wall. An errant breeze removes my second shadow, and with a single candle lit I find myself across from her huddled form. She peaks out, and she sees my performance.
She watches me dance.
She sees what she cannot understand.
The pounding drum echos, beat faster and faster, and in the heat of the moment, I let go of my inhibitions and begin to sing. The notes are mostly those of a soprano, the words a long dead language, the pace set by her drumming beats. I sing and dance, my voice hitting notes as high as the moon, my words a haunting melody. Music begins to accompany my speech, screeching violins and low, deep booming brass instruments that come from nowhere. I can feel the pace increase to its climax, can feel my dance hit its peak, its stride.
And I change.
For a brief moment, I am no longer a shadow. For a brief moment, I am flesh and blood again, skin made of darkness stretched over long, spindly limbs, a single eye on the right side of my face, those markings of lavender that cross my form. I am alive, and I smile. I show her my joyful grin.
And then the drums miss a beat. Her hoof goes to her chest, her eyes wide open. Another missed beat. Another. I become shadows again, and I stop singing. The music stops, and I stare at her in silence as the beats become sporadic, unpredictable. She cries out, in pain, in suffering, and her cries hurt me.
And then it all stops. She clutches at her chest one final time before she collapses to the floor, eyes wide. I stare at her form as the door opens and her friends charge in, afraid of the screams that had echoed through the night air. One sets to work shocking her, pumping her chest, trying to start the drums once more. I cry, tears slipping down a face that does not exist, silent sobs unheard because there is no mouth from which to moan.
And then I hear it; a thumping, pounding beat. A drum, a hardy, powerful drum beat. I look around, listen for the noise, and I find it. She’s strong, an earth pony with a golden coat and an orange mane. In an instant I’ve crossed the candlelit floor and hidden myself in the shadows. She doesn’t notice, she won’t, not until I reappear. Dash begins to cough and sputter as life returns to her, and my heart aches just a bit less at the sight. She stares at the candle, ignoring her friends as they ask her what happened, why she had fallen.
She goes to the candle and blows it out. A beam of moonlight is cast through the window, I can’t stop myself, and I reappear. The drums beat faster for just a moment, and I bow before the ponies.
The drums skip a beat, and I vanish. My concert is over for the night.
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Nice!
Great job man!
Loved it!
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Thanks everybody!
So the 'drum beat' is Dash's heartbeat...and the shadow made her have a heart attack...damn tnis actually scared me....slightly.
Not quite what I expected. It didn't go for the "money shot" I had anticipated, and the one I got kind of left me... hanging. The build up was alright and the premise is novel indeed, but it feels lacking, like it didn't go far enough. A little more buildup, a little more payoff.
Hi! I just wanted to let you know I've done a reading of this story :) thanks for writing such an awesome story!
so its a metaphor of how sometimes we see shadows moving? nice story.
Wow, really nicely done! I love the conceptual nature of the entity you imagined and how ambiguous it is in its alien/"other" nature. It's refreshing to see an entity in horror that isn't malicious, but kills (even unintentionally?) according to some incomprehensible nature. You almost made me feel as sorry for it as I do Rainbow. On that note, I think saving Rainbow's life at the end was a very effective choice on your part. The tragedy would have overwhelmed the element of mystery in the particular case of this story, in my opinion. Oh, and the use of sound to carry the events and transform our understanding of what is happening is masterful. Atmospheric, mysterious, and surprisingly emotional. 10/10.
5857083 ... Woah. This, this is incredible. Dear God this is amazing; thank you, thank you so much! This is awesome!
5857914 Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the story!
5716382 Sorry that you weren't satisfied, I know I have trouble with endings for my stories, and I want to say thanks for your comments.
Man, I love the writing in this story, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what was going on, or at least what the 'dancer' was.
5965850 I'm glad you like the writing at least, and I'm sorry if the story was unclear. I was trying to keep the dancer's identity as an entity a bit uncertain, and I hope I didn't overdo it.
5967279
For most of it, I was thinking it was the shadow, or maybe the night or darkness or something, but shadows don't cast shadows.
5967431 True, true.
loved it, especially the fact the concept of the protagonist. She's(He's, It's ?) not evil and doesn't want to hurt anyone but she still leaves a path of destruction in her wake and we don't know how long she's existed how many pony's she's killed or mentally broken. was she something else before this or has she always been this way and is just continuing to her species next stage of life? so many questions.
I'm so glad there are writers who are still making original stories for this fandom, stories that are actually good. It's tiresome to read about the same antagonist over and over again, written by coward writers who refuse to utilize any characters other than those that have been directly shown in the series.
But this story, your story, is fresh and new and wonderful. I know you hinted that the shadow creature may actually be a character that we've seen before, but even if that is the case, your presentation of it here is wholly original, especially in that it drains the life force of any creature it 'taps into' in order to physically manifest into the world. Thank you for writing this.
Awesome beginning! Very creepy setup of a staredown...
These are some amazingly well-written passages. I'm really impressed with the level of description here. :)
It's brilliant to have the drums that the character dance to actually be the heartbeat. I suspected this and it was good to see it confirmed. :)
I love that ending. Smooth, creepy but also endearing. I'd say that sums up this whole story.
Wonderful work! Fav and upvote :)
Is there a sequel yet? I could of sworn there was..
I thought you might like this. a reading of your story
Nah, the story is pretty cool of you aske me
