• Published 21st Aug 2021
  • 780 Views, 189 Comments

Ponyville Noire: Rising Nightmares - PonyJosiah13



A masked assassin. A thieving archeologist. An ancient evil stirring beneath Ponyville. And the only things standing in their way are Daring Do and Phillip Finder.

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Case Twenty-Two, Chapter Nine: Snowblind

The hooded pony glared at the cabinet that the silver candlesticks stood in, his gaze seeming to bore through the reinforced glass. The reflection showed where Caballeron and his henchponies stood frozen, condemned ponies waiting for the ax to fall.

“You had it,” the hooded pony snarled. “You had the Alicorn Amulet in your hooves. And then it was destroyed. You had our foes in your grasp twice. And let them live.”

“Señor, I--”

“Silence.”

Caballeron swallowed and looked down at the floor, instantly cowed.

The hooded pony stood in silence for a few moments more, then huffed out a breath. “What progress have you made on finding Thicket?” he asked.

Caballeron had to take a breath to steady himself before replying. “Unfortunately, rather little, sir. There’s little information available on previous civilizations who lived in that area, and exploration into the Everfree Forest is limited.”

He glanced at a frame on the wall that carried a torn piece of canvas, upon which was a crude map. A line led around a mountain, past a group of cottages clustered around a statue of a bipedal creature with arms outspread, and over a river before disappearing off the torn edge of the canvas.

“Put frankly, señor, until we know where exactly this is, we don’t have much to go on,” he admitted.

“I will try to make arrangements for further exploration into the forest,” the hooded pony grunted. “In the meantime, I want your focus to be on that.”

“Sí, señor,” Caballeron nodded as he and his companions all sighed in relief.

“The next time our targets try to interfere, you will contact me immediately,” the stallion growled, still refusing to look at his hired help. “Clearly, you need more experienced hooves to handle two detectives, an RBI agent, and a reporter.”

Rogue scowled and started to open his mouth, but Biff struck him on the shoulder and firmly shook his head. Rogue fell silent with a huff.

“Continue. And don’t give me more reason to doubt your competence, doctor. Or I’ll arrange for you to have additional therapy,” the stallion declared, turning just enough that Caballeron could see the shadowed profile of his black snout. The doctor gulped and nodded rapidly.

With a flash of dark scarlet light, Sombra disappeared, taking the heavy weight of his presence with him. Caballeron sagged to the ground, shivering and gently placing a hoof on the bandages beneath his eye.

“Easy, boss,” Biff soothed him. “We’ll find that city and get him what he needs. And finally get the proof that we’re both looking for.”

Caballeron had to take a few more shaky breaths before nodding. “Right, right,” he said, rising back to his hooves. “Back to work, then, amigos.”

“And maybe something a bit lower-risk,” Withers suggested, letting out a quiet groan of pain as he moved. “I’m really not eager to get my ass kicked and get another chewing out.”

“We’ll get them next time,” Rogue snarled heavily through his broken nose. “Because next time, we’re not bothering with taking them alive. Next time, I'll slit their throats the first chance I get.”


Sombra slowly lowered his hood and sighed heavily into the empty darkness, sagging into a chair. The Alicorn Amulet, one of the greatest weapons in the world…lost forever. His masters would be furious with him for this, another failure.

Because that was all that he had done. Fail. He’d failed when he first attempted to summon his masters so many centuries ago. He’d failed dozens of other quests, under dozens of different masks. He’d failed as the Crystal Emperor in his war against Equestria. And he was failing now, here in Ponyville.

And the punishment for every single one of those failures had been death. Sombra shuddered as he recalled the myriad methods of death that he’d suffered over the years, spanning near the entirety of the many possible ways to kill a creature. He’d been burned alive, drowned, crushed, poisoned, beheaded, executed by firing squad, and incinerated by the wrath of three angry alicorns.

And every single time, his masters refused to let him rest. Every time, they’d torn him from the world beyond and crafted him new flesh and bones, pouring him back into them like molten metal into a mold.

Not until his promise was fulfilled.

To his masters.

And to her.

Sombra reached down and pulled a small snow globe of blue crystal out of his pocket. He stared into the tiny glass sphere at the figure inside: a unicorn with a pale heliotrope coat and the cutie mark of a golden caduceus. Her eyes, the same arctic blue color as her mane, stared up at him through the glass, full of sorrow. And questioning.

Sombra shook the snowglobe slightly, whipping up a flurry of white flakes about the lone little figure. He lifted it up and tenderly kissed the cold glass.

When he pulled it away, the unicorn inside had closed her eyes and turned her head away.

I will get you back, my love.


The train let out a loud whistle and began to slow as it pulled into Ponyville station. Phillip looked up from his seat to see a collection of familiar faces waiting for them outside the window.

“Thought it’d be a bigger crowd,” Daring Do commented from her seat next to him, glancing down at the copy of the Foal Free Press from two days ago spread across her lap. Splashed across the front page was a great bold headline.

Gritish Isles Intrigue: Local Detectives Stop Mercenary Archeologist from Stealing the Alicorn Amulet!

“You never do anything halfway, do you, Autumn?” she asked, smiling to herself as she ran a hoof down the article narrating their exploits in grandiose detail.

“It’s how I pay the bills when I’m not dancing,” Autumn replied with a grin, her voice still carrying a nasal undertone. “Ow,” she added, wincing and gently rubbing her bandaged nose. “And besides, you deserve to let everypony know what you did.”

“What we did,” Daring replied, leaning forward and tussling Autumn’s mane, earning a sheepish giggle. “Saved the world and stuffed Caballeron and Sombra.”

“You know, in the movies, the hero never winds up spending three days in the hospital with a concussion, or needing several stitches on his face,” Strider grumbled, gesturing to his head, then to the jagged red line across Phillip’s face, stretching from above his right eye to his lower left cheek.

“I think it makes you look badass,” Daring smiled, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

“Thanks,” Phillip smiled, giving Daring a kiss back.

“Nor do they have to spend five hours explaining to their superiors that yes, they actually did have to spend all that money and yes, they did wind up finding and destroying a legendary ancient magical artifact,” Strider continued unabated. “Sometimes I envy you independent contractors.”

“If you do go solo, you’ll have to find somewhere else to operate,” Phillip said as the train halted with a screech.

The four ponies gathered their bags and departed the train to meet their welcoming committee.

“Welcome back!” Twilight declared, giving Phil, Daring, and Autumn each a hug as they stepped off the platform. She looked at Phillip’s scar and winced. “Oh, what happened?”

“Got hit in the face with a shovel,” Phillip replied, turning to Flash and Red. “Heard about your case.”

“Well…just doing my job,” Flash replied with an embarrassed smile.

“Yeah, it might shock you to know that we didn’t let this city burn to the ground while you were gone,” Red replied. “After Steno Pad confessed, we turned Steel Bar’s place upside-down. Got loads of info on the Industry Kings, and Iron Forge is willing to cut a deal.”

He pulled out a file and showed it to Phillip. Phillip opened up the manila folder and glanced at the title.

“The Sealight Delight,” he read aloud.

“We’re gonna nail those assholes to the wall,” Red said with a wolfish grin.

“Ripper job, both of you,” Phillip beamed, clapping both pegasi on the shoulder.

Flash flushed with pride. “Thanks, Phil,” he said.

“Ugh,” Red rolled his eyes. “I’m outta here before I choke on all the sap. See you back at the precinct.” He spread his wings and took off, heading south.

“Hey, where’s Spike?” Daring asked, looking around.

Autumn sniffed at Twilight. “And, hey…you don’t stink anymore!”

Twilight beamed, then turned and shouted. “Spike, Smolder! Come on out!”

Two figures flew up from behind a nearby shack, soared through the air, and glided down in front of the group. Smolder hit the ground in a three-point landing with a grunt and a cocky smirk. Spike flapped his scaly wings hard upon his descent and flopped to the ground before coming up with a “Ta-da!”

“Whoa,” Daring breathed, her eyes widening.

“What do you think?” Spike said, turning to show off the new appendages. “Just got ‘em yesterday!”

“Aces,” Phillip nodded. “See you’re getting in some good practice.”

“It helps that he has a real dragon to teach him,” Smolder smirked, rubbing Spike’s head. “Race you back, Spike!”

“You’re on!” Spike declared, taking off and heading south, his flight path wobbling and weaving in an almost drunken manner despite the wide smile on his face. Smolder followed just behind him, clearly holding back for his sake, the smile never leaving her face.

“Spike! Wait up!” Twilight called.

“Ah, let ‘em go,” Daring said. “He’ll be fine.”

Twilight watched them for a few moments, then smiled with a contented sigh. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

The party left the train station and headed south, following the flying dragons as they wove over the buildings of Ponyville.

“Wonder where the Plague Doctor was this whole time?” Daring said aloud.

“Don’t jinx it,” Strider urged her.

“Whatever he’s up to,” Phillip said. “It can’t be good.”


She crunched through the snow in the prison yard, her scarlet mane buffeted by the frosty wind--what little made it over the reinforced concrete walls.

She stared up at the gunmetal sky above her as snow continued to fall over Clovenworth Island, watching the distant birds slowly circling the prison, then slowly turned in place, looking through the electrified barbed-wire fence that surrounded the yard, the chain links rattling quietly in the wind. After so many months, she’d learned the rhythm of the prison by heart.

A stocky earth pony mare, her ink black mane drawn up in a strict bun, stomped out of the administrative building. Warden Brick Wall was out on her daily round of the prison, which meant it was almost 2:30. Which also meant…

“Yard’s over!” the officer in charge of the yard barked from the shack next to the gates.

The other female inmates began to trudge back to the shack to be searched before heading back inside, brushing snow from their garish orange jumpsuits.

The unicorn adjusted her own jumpsuit, scowling at the itchy fabric before moving on. As she proceeded towards the shack, she idly brushed a hoof through her mane.

No one noticed the little ball of paper that fell from her hair and onto the snow.

As the inmates filed through the gates, a seagull alighted on the ground, pecking at the snow that its white coat nearly blended into. The guard in the closest watchtower frowned at the little bird for a moment before shrugging it off. Probably just another bird pecking for some scraps amidst the snow.

So he didn’t notice the gull pick up the little ball of paper and hold it in its beak. With a flap of its wings, the gull took off, soaring over the walls, its flight tracked by the envious eyes of many inmates.

It glided over the churning dark waters of Manehattan Bay, grabbing every thermal it could on its way to its destination. The beaches of Manehattan were nearly deserted in the winter, with only a couple signs that they were ever inhabited: a closed-up snack shack and a lifeguard’s high chair facing the water.

A yellow pegasus with scruffy brown hair sat on the snow-dusted sand, staring at the distant hunk of rock, his cloak gently flapping about his body. The gull landed on the sand next to him and placed the ball of paper into his waiting hoof. The stallion unfolded the paper and scanned the message upon it.

All proceeds well. The ritual location has been set and the pieces are in place. I itch in anticipation of the day I finally get to see you again, my love.

The stallion smiled and lifted the paper to his nostrils, inhaling the subtle odor of the rose-scented shampoo. He kissed the paper and pocketed it, rising and heading back into the city.

Still so much work to do…but soon, she would be free. Soon she would be in his arms again, after so many years apart.

Soon their master would have an army at his command once more.

Author's Note:

Drama and intrigue! What comes next for our heroes? Find out in the following weeks!

This was kind of a buffer story, but I wanted to write a case where the good guys unambiguously win this time around. Plus, it gave me an opportunity to recycle a sunken ship plot that I had to drop earlier and experiment a bit with horror writing. I hope you enjoyed this case as much as I enjoyed writing it and you're looking forward to the next one!

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