• Published 4th Aug 2012
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The Creepypasta Ponies - Shadowed Rainbow



The Mane Cast and others must survive various creepypastas in order to safely get home.

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Level 1 - Candle Cove

"Dang it," Lightning muttered quietly as the vision of the Dreamworld faded from view, the portal vanishing. "I thought that we'd finally get answers..."

"Calm down," Crescent whispered back, placing a shimmering hoof on her companion's shoulder. "We'll get answers." Her gaze focused on the group below. "Soon enough, somewhere on these levels..." After making sure no one was listening to them, she leaned closer to her companion, whispering so quietly that even he could barely hear her. "I think that was one of them."

Lightning looked at her in understanding, knowing exactly who they were. "You mean the cloaked one right? The constant in the Dreamworld?"

A nod. "I think... after all this time Seeking-"

"We'll talk later," Lightning hissed quietly, noticing the curious glances of several of the participants. "We have our guests in this first level waiting, remember? Let's wait until they find the first Note, then we'll have time during the preparation stages. While they ascend to the next Level, we'll have our chance to talk."

Crescent nodded in reluctant understanding. "Fine, then." She glanced at him curiously, the ever-shifting colors of his eyes revealing just how anxious he was at the thought of who that cloaked figure could have been.

"So, uh, what's the next story?"

The game masters looked down from their platform to gaze at the pony who had spoken. It was Pinkie Pie, head tilted upward with a slight grin.

"What are you smiling for?" Chrysalis asked, looking incredulously at the young mare as if she wasn't right in the head. "Have you forgotten that we're in a presumably deadly arena?"

"They said nothing on this first level can hurt us, remember?" Pinkie said, gesturing above to their overseers with a hoof.

"Maybe not physically," Rarity said quietly, tightening her hold on her frightened little sister.

Pinkie didn't seem to hear her friend - or was trying to ignore the implications. "If we just remember to laugh the fears away, we don't have to be afraid of anything here!"

Directly following the earth pony's words, a portal opened on a wall to her right, next to one of the small staircases. The edges of the portal itself were a shimmering silver, the inside revealing a cavalcade of ponies - earth pony pirates by the looks of it, save for the unicorn captain - looking more puppet-like than anything else. That is, except for the young filly with them on a ship.

"Ooooh, a pirate story?!" Pinkie exclaimed as her grin grew wider. "Man, Pipsqueak would love-"

"Don't give them ideas!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted at once.

Pinkie blushed in slight embarrassment, twiddling her front hooves. "Oh, sorry."

Lightning chuckled lightly. "It seems like Candle Cove has been the next chosen tale. That's an interesting one!"

"Isn't a cove some sort of cave thing?" Scootaloo questioned, her mind still momentarily lingering on the unwelcome possibility of Pipsqueak being dragged into the Arena as well. "It sounds kind of like cave."

"A cove is a bay or inlet at the coast," Cheerilee clarified. "That's a pretty appropriate setting for pirates to be in."

Diamond Tiara looked confused. "Who would be dumb enough to put candles on a cove if they just get put out by-"

"That doesn't matter!" Jeff snapped, looking thoroughly irritated at the ponies' debating. "Just somepony go into the portal already so we can-"

Crescent shot Jeff a warning look. "Be patient, Jeff. We'll get there.". She knew full well that Jeff was eager to get to the more dangerous stories, but they had to just wait until the time came. She then turned her gaze downward. "How about you, Pinkie Pie?

Pinkie smiled, bouncing on her hooves lightly. "You got it!" she exclaimed as she seemed to get to the forefront of the portal within a second. "How bad can it be if I remember it's not real?" With that, she bounced into the portal as the overhanging screen lit up to reveal the world of the story to everyone else.

Within several moments, the view of the others began to rapidly fade, bringing the earth pony fully into the scene of the story. She stood on a rocky outcropping, a large boat sailing toward the cave behind the new arrival. The ponies on the boat seemed friendly enough - one was a yellow-maned, light orange young filly who couldn't be much older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders - but it was the boat that really caught Pinkie's attention. Where the wooden bow of the boat should have been blank, there was instead a large wooden face. The eyes looked just as constructed aw the rest of the face, though still mobile, and the ship bore a grin that was wider than Pinkie's on an ordinary day. Part of the ship's jaw was hidden under the water, appearing almost to swallow the sea itself.

And, to everypony's surprise, the boat began to speak. "You have.... to go..... INSIDE!" exclaimed the boat, letting out a laugh that sounded both jolly and unsettling at the same time. He seemed to be directing the remark primarily at the passengers, but Pinkie Pie couldn't shake the feeling that he was talking to her as well.

In the Arena, Jeff appeared to be in a sort of eager mood, humming along with the theme as he twirled his knife, letting the cheery tune play out:

"Far off in the land of Candle Cove,
Somewhere in a forgotten grove,
You might just find a treasure trove,
Of memories from the past."

Images flashed in the mysterious world to correlate with the words of the song. One second Pinkie found herself in the cave with the boat's captain and crew, the next they were sailing on the ocean. The audience was staring in mesmerized wonder as Pinkie bounced on her hooves to the tune.

"Pirates outside of creepy caves,
Girls in danger who must be saved,
Sometimes things can look rather grave,
The oceans can seem very vast."

The dark blue pony who appeared to be the captain wore a black pirate's hat atop his head, a head which appeared to be made of porcelain rather than the living structure of a normal pony. In fact, the beige-colored, yellow-maned filly seemed to be the only member of the group who was of flesh and blood.

"But Pirate Percy is on your side,
The Laughingstock's mouth is open wide,
Ebbing and flowing with the tide,
Get up and hurry on in."

The scene altered to find the group in the darkness of a cave, Pirate Percy looking even more nervous than the rest of his crew as a rusted treasure chest rest in front of them. The dark green face of a stallion was barely visible in the shadows, his wodden face primarily taken up by a straight mustache like a handlebar and tall wide teeth, with a clear monocle over his left eye. His gray eyes appeared to glint in the darkness before he slunk out of sight.

"Horace lurks in the shadows deep,
No need to worry 'bout that creep,
Although the Skin Taker may leap,
Ready to grind up your skin!"

At those words, the image briefly revealed the descending form of a dirty skeleton-pony who wore a hat and cape, his sockets occupied by a pair of glass eyeballs with haunting deep blue irises. The preceding line was sung in such a sudden, raspy tone that it caused more than a few of those in attendance to get shivers down their spines.

With a still silence penetrating the Arena, the theme tune continued to play..

"Sometimes things take a dramatic twist,
Strange and messed up and static twist,"

Here the scene around Pinkie briefly appeared to stop cold, lined momentarily to those outside by the distorted static of a broken movie. The static's presence only remained for an instant before returning to a clearer view of the boat and its crew once more. The others had a feeling that "static twist" had a more sinister meaning than just the lyrics of a typical theme tune.

"And yet oddly a magic twist,
It's like an enchanted dream.

So hurry on to the open sea,
Off you sail, so fun and free,
I can almost guarantee,
That you might just want to SCREAM!"

The volume and growl-like tone on the verse's last word caused several of the ponies below to jump. Grinning, Jeff said the next words along with the final verse in almost a mantra, as the Laughingstock began to sail across a seemingly endless ocean. The music accompanying the lyrics began to slow to a haunting, distorted melody.

"So sail and sail and... sail... and sail
And sail and sail and sail.... and sail
And sail and sail and sail and sail
And sail and sail and sail and sail..."

The colt above the observing group was practically doubled over in mad fits of laughter about halfway through the repeats of sailing that seemed to never end, leaving the words of the theme to fade in volume as his laugh drew the attention of some of the guests.

Following the constant repeats of sailing, the mantra was then replaced by an unsettling bout of laughter, the scene shifting to bring the audience back to a view of the young filly, staring up fearfully at the leering skeletal being. Even Pinkie shrank back a little at his cold blue glass eyes.

"Why does your mouth move like that?" the filly asked in a timid voice, emerald eyes wide.

There was a pause before the Skin Taker replied, looking not at the filly nor Pinkie but directly at the audience who observed him through the portal. It was as if the words were meant to be heard by every one of them, as if he could see each observer and pull them right into the world of Candle Cove. "To grind your skin!"

There was a brief silence as the scene faded to black before the world returned into view once more. The setting of Candle Cove began to settle into a more stable appearance, revealing the forms of the crew at a table by the rocky seaside setting rather than the shifting scenery which had accompanied the theme.

"What kind of theme was that?!" Scootaloo questioned, looking understandably weirded out at the questionable repetition of lyrics and the Skin Taker's piercing, knowing gaze.

"The producer - he went by the last name of Grimes - lost his mind," Crescent explained. "It's only natural that you would feel uncomfortable by the end." He gestured a hoof toward the screen, where the episode in question was being played out. "Now watch."

A faint track of calliope music could barely be heard as the atmospheric track, faintly reaching the ears of Pinkie and the a audience. It was lively, but also possessed a somewhat quiet air, as if there was something hidden within it that the music didn't yet want to reveal.

As Pinkie stepped closer, she instantly noticed a few features about the table that made her heart leap. There were colorful streamers around the table's edge, assorted candies on its surface, a cake with candles being put at the end... clearly it was somepony's birthday! The young filly, by the looks of it,

"Oooh, a birthday party!" Pinkie exclaimed with glee, bouncing over as any potential danger seemed to be forgotten. Surely nothing bad could happen at a party...

The other ponies, living and puppet alike, turned to their new arrival with puzzled gazes - at least, as much puzzlement that was possible as far as the puppets were concerned.

"W-Who are you?" Pirate Percy asked hesitantly. His head tilted slightly to the side. "I've ne'er seen you around here."

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" the young mare in question responded with a giggle. "Helping throw parties for other ponies is my special talent!"

"Oh, hi, Pinkie!" the filly waved at the newcomer as she lowered herself from the chair. "I'm Janice."

Pinkie's smile widened happily as she threw her front hooves up in the air. "Happy Birthday, Janice!" Confetti seemed to fly out of nowhere as she spoke. "Ooooh, too bad I didn't bring my party cannon here! Then we could have had a whole bunch of balloons and streamers, and I could have made a line of them in the air and put, 'Happy Birthday Janice!' on the line of them, and-"

"Does she always go on like that?" Flim whispered to Twilight uncertainly.

Twilight was briefly surprised that the former cider salespony was speaking to her, but she replied anyway. "Nothing makes Pinkie happier than having parties."

"I think it's a bit too soon to be celebrating," Flam remarked. "Knowing these stories, something could jump out at them at any moment."

Unsurprisingly, he was right, as a voice cut Pinkie's "Happy Birthday" excitement short.

"'Happy'?" a low male voice said in a mocking tone, "you keep believing that." The voice was accompanied by an unnerving giggle.

The pirates all turned at once to see the moustached, dark green pony walk out from behind some tall rocks on the cove. His tall teeth were clearly visible as he spoke, making his teeth look far too big for his mouth. The other pirates glanced at Pirate Percy, seeming to have more confidence in him to face the stallion. Unfortunately, Percy didn't appear to have much confidence in his own abilities.

"Who's that?" Pinkie inquired to Janice, noticing the look of recognition in her green eyes.

"That's Horace Horrible," the filly whispered in reply.

A wary expression appeared on Pirate Percy's face as he saw the moustached stallion, scrambling to pull his sword out and using the azure light of his magic to brandish it in front of himself. "I'm warning y-you-" He attempted to sound brave despite the sword in his mouth, though the fact that he was trembling slightly gave the impression that he wasn't the bravest of the bunch. "I wouldn't expect you came here to celebrate Janice's birthday party."

Hoarace rolled his eyes. "I stopped celebrating my birthday in the usual way long ago. Those 'Happy Birthday' songs aren't quite as fitting."

"Not fitting?!" Pinkie gasped as if it was one of the most heinous things a pony could say. She bounced over to Hoarace, who looked at her with the same sort of attitude that Cranky Doodle Donkey once had. "How can you not sing birthday songs?!" she asked in a shocked tone, staring into his eyes. "That's one of the most fun things about parties!"

"Because my boss taught me that birthdays are nothing more than grisly reminders of fate," Hoarace hissed, lifting a hoof to adjust his monocle. The circular pane of glass made the gaze of that eye seem almost intimidating to the young mare. "Something that the more innocent-minded don't seem to realize." His gaze turned to the birthday celebrant in question, and leered dangerously at her.

"Oh stop fooling with them, Horace," said the raspy voice of another pony, seemingly from above, "you know that I'd like to reveal that little detail myself. Especially considering what day it is."

Horace quickly looked upward, stepping aside. "Oh, of course, Boss." He let out a nervous giggle and stepped aside. With that, the skeleton unicorn known as the Skin Taker descended from above on his puppet-strings, his face turned up in a wide grin.

Pinkie looked up, nervously, the strings visible with a greater clarity than the rest of the puppet-ponies. The strings on the puppets appeared to simply fade into the cloudless sky, fading as if they were merely illusions.

Now, they all were able to get a better view of the infamous Skin Taker, rather than simply the brief shot of his face they had seen in the haunting theme imagery. They were clearly able to see the detail of his brown top hat, somewhat haphazard and incomplete, and his long, sinister cloak, both sewn up erratically and seemingly without any pattern. As the audience observed him, they could see that the coat was an erie sewn tapestry of a multitude of colors and images of cutie marks. The implications were true - he really had taken the skin of ponies. The audience didn't want to ponder just how many the Skin Taker might have killed.

"They say that every time he kills a pony, his cape gets a little longer," Jeff whispered with a maniacal cackle. "Oh, if only I had that kind of ability!"

"It's not real," Sweetie Belle whispered quietly to herself, attempting to ease her feelings even though the thought of the Skin Taker tearing the bubbly earth pony apart was the last thing she wanted to think about. The distorted illusion of her mother which she herself had gone through was a preferable thought.

"Why, Janice, I'm hurt." The Skin Taker put on a disappointed expression that was obviously false, a look that was almost too expressive for his marionette mechanics. "To decide not to celebrate your birthday at my place... the furniture would be made for you like a second skin!" He laughed as his jaw slid back and forth, knowing by the expression on the young filly's face that she had gotten the message.

Pirate Percy's magic hold shook as he dared to step closer to the Skin Taker and his sidekick. "If you don't leave right now and get back to your little hiding-cave, Skin Taker, I'll... I'l..."

"You'll what, stab me through with that sword?" The Skin Taker laughed. "If you're going to use that sword on anyone," he used his own dark red magic to point the sword's tip at Janice, "use it on that lass there. Her skin would make a fine addition to my hat."

Janice shook with fear as the sword drew a little closer to her, before full control of the weapon was returned to Pirate Percy.

"I suppose I'll spare you for now, since it is your birthday, after all. Then again..." he stepped closer to the shuddering filly, brushing a hoof on the cake and smearing the white frosting, "it's my birthday too..."

"And birthdays are supposed to be happy, not scary!"

The Skin Taker's head whipped around, his strings twisting as he swiveled around to see Pinkie Pie. "Hmm, I haven't seen you around Candle Cove before."

"I'm not from here," Pinkie exclaimed, attempting to keep her voice in the bubbly tone she was known for. "I was just trying to wish Janice a happy birthday!"

"Oh foolish pony," the Skin Taker chastised, briefly lifting Pinkie into the air to be at level with his eyes, "don't you know what the real purpose of birthdays is?"

Pinkie nodded, managing a laugh to disguise her unease. "For fun, and to celebrate your friends being one year older!"

"Ah, but have you ever pondered what that really means?" the Skin Taker inquired as he set the pony down "You need to understand the bigger picture of it all that I've come to know..." He laughed, though it was more of a sinister cackle. "Besides, it's my birthday too. How about I sing a little song for both of us?"

And with a grim smile on his puppet-face, the Skin Taker began to sing. The manner in which the Skin Taker sang his "birthday song" was a sing-song, bouncy tone. And it was the most frightening birthday song that Pinkie - or anypony else watching - had ever heard when they paid attention to the lyrics:

"One year closer,
Another year's past,
Soon you'll find out that your body won't last.

One year closer,
Another year's end,
A few more years with your family and friends."

Pinkie felt her mind freeze up with the horrifying implications of what the Skin Taker was really trying to imply. She didn't want to admit it. She wanted to deny such an implication with every fiber of her party-loving being. Throwing parties was part of who she was...

"One year closer
The time flies by
Get on your knees and begin to cry
because
One year's closer
You can't hold on
You will slip away and then you'll be gone."

"I-I don't like this song," the young filly named Janice whispered quietly, getting off her chair and clinging to Pinkie protectively.

"Me either," Pinkie whispered back, her thoughts still in a turmoil with what the Skin Taker's song was making her aware of,.

"One year closer,
It's too late.
Everyone in the world will share your fate.
One year closer,
Time grinding away.
I'll sew you in on that day."

The static began to obscure the scene still further, the Skin Taker, Pinkie, and Janice the only beings which seemed to remain unfazed.

"So remember..."

"One year closer,
One year dies.
One year wasted,
No matter how you try.
No matter how you try."

Pinkie Pie was trembling. The static of the atmosphere began to overtake everything else. Masking the smiling boat, the pirates, and the party balloons. Taking her away from the crew that seemed so unnerved by the skeleton-like pony. Despite her grip on Janice in an attempt to comfort her, the young filly was trembling as if fearing she'd vanish from Pinkie's embrace. All that remained clear was the voice, which sang in it's eerie lullaby tone. The face of the skeletal form that wore the skin of foals was burned into her mind, attempting to convince her that parties weren't something to be celebrated.

If anything, they were something to be feared. Feared more and more with each passing year of somepony's life as they drew closer to their departure from the living world.

"One year closer.
One year closer.
I will hunt you,
And then it'll begin."

The earth pony felt the cold touch of the bony hoof on her coat as the other hoof gently cupped Janice's head, the only clear sensations she was aware of. It was as if the Skin Taker were right there, his voice whispering in her ears.

"You will scream,
And I will grind the skin.
I will grind the skin."

With that final chilling whisper, the Skin Taker and Janice both vanished, casting Pinkie into a cold darkness as the static, too, faded away.

As suddenly as the others had disappeared, the theme tune started again, at a much more rapid and distorted pace. After its hurried conclusion, the imagery of the other ponies returned - and with it, piercing screams.

All of the inhabitants of the show who Pinkie had encountered reappeared within the vision of the observers, their faces contorted as they screamed simultaneously. The eyes of the puppet-like ponies moved around wildly, and Janice was wailing as if she had been tormented by these screams for an indeterminable period of time. How much time had passed in that world? Hours? Days?

Pinkie didn't know. Her eyes were wide as she put her hooves over her ears, still in a mild shock from the Skin Taker's twisted interpretation of birthday parties. Her color darkened and her mane and tail fell straight as the screams grew louder, the carnivalesque soundtrack rising in volume as well.

The Skin Taker's jaw careened wildly like a carnival ride gone out of control as his scream turned into a wild laugh, which seemed to resonate in Pinkie's head, even reaching out to the assembled crowd outside that world.

The static returned anew, going back and forth at an increasing pace from static to the screaming ponies.

Pinkie had her hooves tightly over her ears, but she couldn't ignore the shouts of fear and pain, so loud that several of those outside the portal world were also forced to cover their ears.

"M-Make it stop!" Applejack cried out, looking more angry than frightened.

"It'll stop on its own terms," Lightning said casually. "Which should be right about... now."

Following the words of the iridescent young stallion, the sights and sounds of Candle Cove vanished into a blackness, as Pinkie felt herself tumble out of the portal. With a final burst of static, the portal vanished to reveal a solid wall once more.