This story is a sequel to A Glimmer of Hope in the Black
Declaration from White Clover
Date(s): April 26th
Relevant Case: Ponyville Mass Disappearance (#3467)
Classification: Top Secret
To whom it may concern,
As of this declaration, all those stationed in the town of Ponyville tasked with investigating the citizenship’s disappearance are to begin immediate psychological evaluations. If the results of an individual’s evaluation is considered troubling, a mandatory period of rest and recovery will be required before they may resume duty on any case.
Special thanks to Petrichord, Solocitizen, Garnot, Floydien, and Door Belle for their help with the writing, editing or proofreading of this story.
A print version of all the stories in this series can be found here. (There is currently a printing error I am working to correct. This will be available again soon.)
Leaving this comment for those curious: The story will be updated daily over the next week. It should all be at roughly the same time each day, but it will depend on my schedule.
I hope you all enjoy.
My all-time favorite stories on Fimfiction finally has its conclusion posted.
Best. Day. Ever.
Nice
Things are pretty pleasant so far, the tapping seems like a curiosity though.
This is pretty great so far. Between this and EverymanHybrid starting up again recently, I've got lots of spooks to look forward to.
I wonder if these beings are one of those types the becomes more powerful the MORE they are known about.
It was an absolute pleasure to read this installment of the narrative you've built. I'm excited for what comes in the future.
This is incredible. Getting some House of Leaves vibes now.
I'm assuming this was Fluttershy? According to the first story, she disappeared on 28th, while here they saw them on the 27th.
Gotta say, love these stories. Really curious whats happening and why.
Super solid! I absolutely adore the new audio tapes format, it shakes up the old formula quite a bit. I was a bit hesitant when seeing the last chapter being a journal, but heavens was that a lovely break from the norm! This story topped the original for atmosphere and certainly breathed some new and disturbing life into such a story. You did good sir!
8904230
I was a little worried the audio log format would come across poorly, but I'm glad to hear you liked it. I was basically concerned about it being X words of nothing but dialogue and feeling a little stilted.
Made an account just to comment on this.
I read A Fleeting Light back when it was originally posted, and adored it way back when. Then a Glimmer of Hope was posted I was absolutely elated and was very much looking forward to the next installment.
Gotta say, even after waiting years, it was very much worth the wait. This was absolutely fantastic to read and be engrossed in, between the audio log format and the final journal piece, it made each chapter incredibly engaging to read with a nice bit of background noise for mood.
Loved every second of it, and the final entries that finally explained what happened to the Mayor sent a chill down my spine. You outdid yourself here, I really look forward to any future ties in for this. Really interested in seeing what happened to Dash, or even Fluttershy. The possibilities make me absolutely tingle.
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Thanks for commenting. It means a lot to hear you say all of that.
This reeks of a Metric fuckton of Dark magic voodoo Satanic Bullshit. Celestia should give the investigators and guards a raise for dealing with this shit. Hell I would have noped the fuck out of Equestria when they found the first journal but nope not those guys.
Jeeez dude that final line gave me chills! And my heart was pounding for almost the entire chapter! Hope you continue with this series
8907777
The next one will be the finale, and I have it in mind. Hopefully it won't take 3 more years.
Just finished it! That last chapter gave me shivers. Looking forward to the final installment.
Ooohhh man! That ending gave me shivers! I can't wait till the next installment!
I am now inspired to make a journal mystery story based off of this, but not actually using your idea. If it looks similar, then I'll credit you in each chapter that it seems familiar in. YAY.
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I'm glad it inspired you, and I wish you luck. No need to credit me though if you're just taking inspiration from the idea.
8915947
Okay. But, if something looks extremely similar, I'll point it out and put who inspired me.
8915947
The ending still gives me chills oh my celestia
All three stories were amazing, with that Lovecraftian/other worldly/unexplainable horror I’ve come to love. Good job, and I hope you keep expanding on it.
A T M O S P H E R I C
OhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshOHMYGOSH!
I need to read this RIGHT NOW!
Love the mystery behind it all. Can't wait for the next entry.
The biggest question is what does this thing do? It seems to be a parasite type thing that eventually takes them to an 'upside down' type place. So far it seems to need to have the pony surrender itself via fear before it can take them fully.
It also makes me wondered who has died? Mayor mare and the apple family seem to be the only dead, but for the mayor it could have been the creature messing with Solace. With the apple family no bodies were found, though the have the biggest case of might be dead. Of course, the creature could be just killing them all, or perhaps converting them which might not be reversible. So many possibilities, can't wait to see what's next.
Series gives me a real dead space vibe - at least the part where the marker turns everyone crazy.
AWW YEAH!!! This series is about to go from Horror to Thriller!
I can't believe it came out! Thank you so much! I've loved this series since the beginning, and I'm super juiced to see its culmination.
They hoped, they hid, they gave in to the despair. Now, they're ready to fight.
Well...I did not see that coming.
It seems like these things, these interdimendional entities whatever they are, pose a far larger threat than imagined. And that implication of ponies taken being returned but not being the same is chilling. It also raises the question of what happens to the originals?
Glen Gorewood
She’s alive!
As for my thoughts on this. The maze reminds me of tales of people being “taken” away to spirit worlds or other places. The ones where they wander for years and come out and it’s only been a few days or weeks on the “outside”. Sometimes people are taken to be fed off of, slowly having their life and soul sucked out of them until they give in completely and die or worse.
Other people survive, and continue to survive till they escape or gain contact with the outside. It seems that wherever the missing ponies are is very similar to those types of places. Time flows differently, those things are feeding off of them somehow too. The real question is, why? Is it just a game, or is something far more sinister going on?
I can’t wait for the finale of this series.
Glen Gorewood
Good horror is an interesting beast. It grabs your attention with an unusual title and descriptive yet vague summary. It then intrigues you with strange circumstances and unknown things lurking. It must give enough information to allow the reader to form a somewhat coherent idea of what is happening, but not give so much it ruins the unknownness of it, at least not till the climax, if at all. However, in order to last longer than a one shot or so, it must then provide hope. After all, who wants to read 100k words of nothing but death and despair? The first story was fine without it because it was short enough that the everyone dies ending was satisfactory. As soon as the second story appears though, suddenly we realize that there are more stories to tell. Yes, AJ's journal was rather sad, but we now know that there is an ongoing investigation. Also, we never hear what happens to RD and the rest. And now with the third, now you've clinched us. Now you've shown us that perhaps things aren't as bad as they seem, and regardless of how it actually ends up, you've set up a fantastic end to this story. We await this story's next release.
IT JUST LEFT OFF LIKE THAT HOLY FUCK
I love what you've done with these stories!
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Thank you. Hopefully it won't take another three years to write the last one.
8951573
Hopefully!
I read the first installment of this series some time ago. I was surprised to see sequels when I returned to it. This has been a fantastically creepy/interesting journey from start to finish, and I look forward to more of it!
How did I miss this I'm two months late!!! Ahhh time flys too fast for me
Suspicion levels rising
So, he wasn't fine, as it turns out, after all.
I liked her, though....
8900258
Are you scared, yet?
So, they can take people in and out of this dimension at will?
It's quite obvious that Fluttershy survived-, and is somehow communicating with the investigators. But, why her?
Interesting.
But it leaves many questions unanswered... But that's what gives it the great creepy vibe. No answers, just theory.... But I'd like to know... Will they ever escape the Maze?
P.s. The last chapter reminds me of SCP-087-B.
Creepy as heck.
Firstly, I want to say that was fantastic. Every entry to this series has been amazing, and I have often pointed to it as an example of "true horror" when discussing the genre with people.
I know that I first read A FLEet|ng LIght |n thE DArknEsS some years ago, though when exactly I couldn't tell you. I vividly remember being unable to fall asleep that night, though. I had, partly by accident, been exposed to the gimmick without even realizing it (I never miss an opportunity to use dark mode), but the mystery of it still got to me. I was half-convinced that there was some ARG going on around that original story, but I don't have the drive for such things and didn't look into it myself.
I'm fairly certain I hadn't joined the pony fandom until A Glimmer of Hope in the Darkness was already written, but it wasn't until some time after reading A Fleeting Light that I stumbled across it, and was just as troubled (in all the right ways) by it as I had been with the previous story. They have both stuck in my mind as prime examples of why "the scariest door is the one left unopened."
If I'm being perfectly honest, I've been somewhat worried with each subsequent story that the mystery will finally be explained, and with it the horror will fade away, or otherwise the focus might drift too far toward the "creatures" behind the events and it morph into an action-y thriller. I'm glad that, so far, you've managed to walk that perfect line and not stray too far in either direction. I rather liked the audio log format, and truth be told I think I liked that portion of this story over the journal entry because the narrative conceit is a bit less obvious and/or more forgivable -- by which I mean that lines that work dramatically for the story, seem just a little out-of-place in a personal journal. Don't get me wrong, both are done excellently, and I wouldn't cut or split either section, but I enjoyed the paranoia and ratcheting tension of the audio log segment more than the supernatural horror of the journal because we've essentially seen it already. I hope I'm making myself clear and not just muddling my own meaning.
But, regardless, this was a fantastic read and I'm always eager to read more of these horror stories from you -- they're just so well done.
I realize this is just picking nits, but I feel that "Canterlot Bureau of Investigation" is a little unimaginative, perhaps? Mostly, I wonder how well-known the FBI as a government agency is known outside the U.S., but I also wonder if the CBI's purpose would be as immediately grokkable if it was substituted with some other made-up name.
More picking nits: wouldn't the CBI ponies be using military time? This would make literally no difference to the story whatsoever, but I'm used to any big agency using military time, though I suppose that may just be because I'm in healthcare.
My grammar isn't particularly strong, but my gut is telling me that this should be "none of these individuals have had" since individuals is plural. Just something that stuck out to me.
There's a missing period between "Doctor" and "Do".
I was confused by this line here. If he's regretful that he asked to come along, then either "agreed" isn't the right term, or the last "I" should be "they", as in "{I} am regretful that they agreed". If they asked if he would come along, then the "I asked" is incorrect here. If it's neither, then I'm confused as to what the doctor agreed to when he was the one to ask permission.
Should be "it at least gave me the time".
Should be "think that they can hear things".