/pone/ - My Little Pony

>>205549

CANTO I

Across the bridge and down the roads

As cobbles turn to loam

Past the pond with croaking toads

There stood a lonely home

And in the home there was a mare

Whose days were full of toil

She cultivated carrots there

In dark and fertile soil

Her cutie mark was just the same

As her delicious crop

It even spilled into her name:

They called her Carrot Top

She led a very simple life

Monotonous and dull

Enduring much hardship and strife

For one most noble goal

Her dreary life had but one light

One reason to exult

One thing that made the sun shine bright:

A darling little colt

She was his mom, and he her son

Though she was no one’s wife

She worked until the day was done

To give him a good life

He was an energetic boy

Quite perfect in and out

He brought his mother pride and joy

His name was Carrot Sprout

Yet their horizon held dark clouds

For just beyond their farm

Beneath the forest’s leafy shrouds

Was one who meant them harm.

It started on one bright fall day

As leaves were turning red

When little Sprout was made to stay

At home sick in his bed

His mother did not feel concern

The flu was all it was

But as his fever came to burn

It gave his mother pause

And when she woke up the next day

Poor Sprout was still quite ill

She knew that she would have to pay

A hefty doctor’s bill

She flung open her dusty purse

And laid her money bare

She sighed and mumbled a soft curse

There wasn’t enough there

As Carrot Sprout whimpered and cried

While in his bed he laid

She knew she’d have to squelch her pride

And beg the doc for aid

She made the long trip into town

And found the doctor there

She set her threadbare coin purse down

And pleaded for his care

And though the doc was old and gray,

He also was quite kind

He went to the farm without pay

To see what he could find.

Upon arriving at her stead

The doctor tasted fear

The young colt’s tongue was crimson red

His grim ailment was clear

He prayed that it was not the case

Ran all the tests he could

They failed, and so he had to face

An outlook far from good

He told the colt he’d be okay

And patted his sweet head

He did not have the heart to say

The child would soon be dead

But still, the mother had to know

Her son’s impending doom

He tried to blunt the heavy blow

With tact, grace, and aplomb

His tone was gentle as he spoke

He was direct, not vague

But still he watched as her heart broke

At news of the Red Plague

The weeping mare fell to the floor

Her agony was pure

Through sobs she managed to implore

The doc to find a cure

The doctor swore to do his best

To save the colt from harm

Advising water and bed rest,

He left the carrot farm.

>>205550

CANTO II

The doctor diligently sought

A cure for Carrot Sprout

But soon it seemed ‘twas all for naught

And time was running out

He wrote to colleagues far and wide

Read all the books he had

But none of these sources supplied

Salvation for the lad

The doctor was at his wit’s end

And tired to the bone

When he received word from his friend

In distant Griffonstone

It seemed the griffons had a brew

For Red Plague and its ilk:

Three cups of frost salts, cold and blue

Mixed with some buttermilk

While those two things were common fare

The potion needed more

Its final part was very rare

And steeped in myth and lore:

Born from the hearts of windigoes

That brim with icy chill

A flower grown in bitter snows,

The Crystal Daffodil.

But some old griffons had the skill

To find the bloom of ice

They’d ship some off to Ponyville

If paid the proper price

The letter then went on to state

The flower’s crushing cost

The doctor knew at that high rate

That Carrot Sprout was lost

For Ponyville was not a town

Imbued with massive wealth

And none could put the money down

To save the young lad’s health

The doctor set the letter down

And though his stomach churned,

He took the long path out of town

To share what he had learned.

Meanwhile, the carrot-farming mare

Was doing her utmost

To stop the sick child in her care

From giving up the ghost

Her many friends did what they could

To aid her in this task

They came because their hearts were good,

She didn’t have to ask

Sprout’s kindly friend from down the way

Brought water from her well

And came to help him pass each day

Her name was Sweetie Belle

Though bedridden, young Carrot Sprout

Did not fall to despair

He’d smile and laugh, he’d joke and shout

While in his sweet friend’s care

And when poor Sprout needed to sleep

She left most gracefully,

She crept downstairs without a peep

And joined his mom for tea

As they were sharing their Earl Grey

A rap came on the door

The doc arrived with much to say

About the bitter cure

And when he shared the sky-high rate

To get what Sprout would need,

The farmer’s heart was filled with hate;

She cursed the griffons’ greed.

As Carrot Top began to cry

The doctor hugged her tight,

But Sweetie wouldn’t let Sprout die;

She swore that she would fight!

She let the grieving mother be,

And headed home with haste,

For if she wanted victory

There was no time to waste

Though nobody in Ponyville

Alone was rich enough

Together, they could pay the bill

It wouldn’t be that tough!

And so the noble Sweetie Belle

Embarked on her bold quest

To end her good friend’s living hell

And let the poor colt rest.

>>205552

CANTO III

Young Sweetie gathered up her friends

And shared the plan she’d made

To satisfy her lofty ends

She needed both their aid

And when she told them what to do

To help the colt in need

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo

Quite happily agreed

The kindly trio set about

Preparing their campaign

They crafted slogans they could shout

To maximize their gain

And when the sun’s first golden ray

Came heralding the dawn

They set out quick and seized the day

Their fundraiser was on!

They knocked on every single door

Hit every merchant’s stall

“Save Carrot Sprout!” they did implore

To ponies great and small

And soon they found, to their surprise,

Bits filling up their cart

For Sweetie, with her sad, sad eyes

Could melt a frozen heart

And when the day was growing old

Their fundraising was done

They marveled at their pile of gold

That gleamed beneath the sun

Triumphantly, the fillies went

To Carrot Top’s chateau

They laughed and sang with merriment

Their hearts were all aglow

For nothing in this world contends,

As all can plainly see,

With bringing hope to downcast friends

Through generosity.

They knocked on Carrot Top’s front door

And showed her their surprise

The farmer’s jaw dropped to the floor

And tears came to her eyes

The fillies told her of their quest

To help her save her son

She quelled the sobs within her breast

And deeply thanked each one.

Soon Sweetie’s friends excused themselves

They had somewhere to be

And Carrot Top ransacked her shelves

To find her finest tea

The farmer and the filly sat

And sipped at their hot brew

They laughed and had a lovely chat

As good friends often do

Soon Sweetie went bearing a smile

To visit Carrot Sprout

And Carrot Top worked for a while

To count the money out.

She counted stack by golden stack

More than she’d ever seen

The sheer amount took her aback

She felt quite like a queen

But as she counted, she felt fear

Arising in her soul

Could even this cash see her clear

To pay her bill in full?

At last she set the money down

And choked up, lost for words

The alms of the entire town

Could not pay those damn birds.

Sure, she was close, but not quite there

Just what was she to do?

To save the young colt in her care

Her options now were few

When Sweetie said bye for the day

She smiled and stroked her mane

She did not have the heart to say

Her efforts were in vain

And once young Sprout was tucked in tight

With much water to drink

His mother stole into the night

To walk around and think

She did not care as she went ‘round

It all was just the same

She pointed her nose at the ground

And wandered without aim

But soon she let out a quick gasp

And looked up just to see

That she was in the forest’s grasp

This was the Everfree!

The woods beyond her house, she knew

Were dangerous at night

For monsters slithered, sneaked, and flew

And sought some prey to bite

She did her best to keep her cool

And head back to the east

She prayed she wouldn’t meet a ghoul

Who’d have her for a feast

She’d nearly reached the forest’s edge

When something caught her ear

A calm voice coming from a hedge

Spoke to her, loud and clear

“Oh please my child, please hear my rhyme,

I do not mean you harm

I’ve watched you now for quite some time

Down on your carrot farm…”

>>205551

Thanks for reading!

This poem isn't based on anything in particular, but you could say that it's something of a tribute to an author. I'm not sure I want to say who it is yet as it might make the plot predictable.

I keep strict structure with the meter and rhyme structures so that it can be sung, although I don't really have a tune for it. Think of a bard with a lute and you'll get the general idea of what I'm going for.

Updated pastebin for this story can be found here: http://pastebin.com/Cr7EYYGR

>>205555

Not much of a poetry guy but this was really enjoyable.

Updates tonight! Bumping so this doesn't get lost again…

Since all posts on this board are impermanent while we wait for the Next migration/assfucking, I think I'll reveal the secret theme that has run throughout all of my stories as a little treat to anyone still reading.

The secret theme is flowers. More specifically, the symbolic nature of flowers. In the Victorian Age, lots of flowers were assigned a symbolism or meaning of some sort, and a whole "secret language" of flowers emerged that allowed people to communicate messages wordlessly through gifts of flowers. In every single one of my stories, I have mentioned certain flowers. These flowers have always been intentionally included because they symbolized something about the character they were associated with or provided some sort of foreshadowing. What follows is a list of all of the instances of the secret theme that I can remember. I think there might have been another one in Warmth that I'm forgetting.

Love Conquers All: The story with the heaviest use of symbolic flowers. When Anon meets Octavia for their first real date, she wears a lily in her hair to symbolize her innocence and purity. He also gives her a bouquet of purple hyacinths, which symbolize sorrow and foreshadow their tragic end. The hyacinths are also appropriate because they are supposedly named after Hyakinthos, a Greek boy whose beauty inspired the gods Apollo and Zephyr to fight over him. Hyakinthos was accidentally killed as a result of their feud, and from his blood sprang the hyacinth. A pretty fitting parallel for Octavia's fate. Finally, when Octavia agrees to run away with Anon, thus sealing their fate, she does so underneath a willow tree, which symbolizes death and sorrow.

Warmth: In the flashback showing the fate of Hayseed's family, her parents are shown to grow flax, which is currently flowering. Flax flowers symbolize domesticity, which underscores the great family life that Hayseed had.

Bloom Together: Maybe the one I'm most proud of. On their first date, Spike brings Apple Bloom a bouquet of daffodils, which are meant to symbolize chivalry. Apple Bloom then shows that Spike's "m'lady" routine won't work on her by eating the daffodils.

Sweet: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon tell Anon to meet them at Monkshood Lake, where they proceed to extort him. Monkshood represents betrayal and treachery.

The Lost Honor of Griffonstone: Octavia Minor, Griz, and Galiena were all going to have flowers that represented them and what they were all about. We never saw Griz's, but Octavia Minor had a pot of purple amaranths in her dressing room, which symbolize undying love. Octavia Minor had been recently widowed, and would not have responded to romantic advances by the player, had they chosen to attempt it. As for Galiena, the pink yarrow on her desk at the museum unsurprisingly symbolized and foreshadowed war.

The Song of the Mandrake Queen: As I said, same thing as Bloom Together, but a different meaning. While daffodils can represent chivalry, they can also symbolize a new beginning, which is what the Crystal Daffodil is meant to mean. The fact that it is crystallized also means that it is very delicate and unattainable, though…

>>208794

i don't have a flower that symbolizes my blown up mind

>>205553

Holy fucking shit goddamn are we in Infinity now?

Anyway, to give you an idea…..

>can't do more than one

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>205553

CANTO IV

The strange sound coming from nearby

Gave Carrot quite a scare

She looked around, searched low and high,

And stammered out “Who’s there?”

“Come closer, child, and speak with me,

For I know all about

The deathly crimson malady

Afflicting Carrot Sprout…”

The farmer’s heart skipped quite a beat

At mention of her child

Though instinct told her to retreat,

She stepped into the wild.

The soothing voice, it led her on

As gentle as a breeze,

And soon enough she came upon

A clearing in the trees

The ground was covered with a plant

Of very ill repute

Its leaves hung in a drooping slant;

They called it mandrake root

When uprooted, the stories said,

The mandrake, without fail,

Would knock a foolish pony dead

With one ear-piercing wail

But stranger still, the form it took

Could chill a pony’s soul;

Its twisted roots would often look

Just like a little foal!

And at the clearing’s very core

A worn stone altar stood

It bore the evil runes of lore

To ward off light and good

Poor Carrot shook in fearful dread

At this corrupted place

But still she forged on straight ahead

To see what she must face.

As Carrot Top stepped with great care

Her mind quite ill at ease

She spied what seemed to be a mare

Emerging from the trees

“Now welcome, child, to my old shrine,

In this forgotten glade.

I think, with your son on the line,

A bargain can be made…”

The ragged mare looked small and old,

Though sturdy as an oak,

To ward herself from wind and cold

She wore an old green cloak

Her milky eyes seemed frail and weak

But held a hidden flame,

When Carrot brought herself to speak

She asked the pony’s name.

“Oh child, I’ve been called many ways

But none that you have seen

For ponies that I meet these days

I’m just the Mare in Green.

I’ve seen the trouble you’ve been through

With your son’s losing fight,

And so I wish to offer you

A chance to set things right.

For I can offer you great wealth,

Your coffers I can fill,

You can buy, for your son’s health,

That Crystal Daffodil!”

It all seemed too good to be true

Could such a thing be real?

The farmer asked what she must do

For her end of the deal

The Green Mare’s creepy laughing broke

The silence ‘round the glade,

She reached her hoof beneath her cloak,

And pulled a wicked blade.

“To this shrine, olden ponies came

To offer sacrifice

Now I want you to do the same

To pay this bargain’s price.

An innocent you must bring here

Whose life is at its start

Then lay her on the altar, dear,

And cut out her pure heart

When you’ve done that, I’ll let you see

The secret that I hold,

And you will most assuredly

Start raking in the gold

And once you’ve done it four times more

We’ll both have reached our goals

You’ll have your son back from death’s door

And I’ll have five more souls!”

The hag gave Carrot Top the knife

But Carrot shouted “NO!”

She swore upon her very life

She’d never sink so low!

“If that’s your stance, dear, I don’t mind

You’re free to walk on out,

Just know that you will never find

A cure for Carrot Sprout.

But should you do right by your son

And child, I think you will,

You cannot stop until you’re done

Once you’ve made your first kill…”

And as she muttered those last words,

She looked up to the sky

A flock of jet black, cawing birds

Came swooping from on high

They covered her from tail to face;

A most disturbing scene,

And when they left, there was no trace

Of any Mare in Green.

Then Carrot Top was wise enough

To quickly run away

And though she’d wheeze and huff and puff,

She didn’t stop ‘til day.

>>214031

CANTO V

‘Twas dawn when Carrot reached her home

And softly shuffled in

She swore that she would never roam

Into the woods again

She snuck upstairs without a peep

And checked on Carrot Sprout

Her darling boy was still asleep

So she went and passed out

But when she woke at eight o’clock

Groggy and hating life

Her nightstand gave her quite a shock:

It held the Green Mare’s knife!

She loudly gasped in utter fright

Her body shook with fear

She had not taken it last night

How had it gotten here?

But Carrot pushed fear from her head

And hid the knife away

With popping joints she rose from bed

And went to face the day.

She made some breakfast for her son

And took it up the stairs

She chatted with him one-on-one

To help ease all his cares

But soon she had to go away;

She had a farm to run

With mouths to feed and bills to pay

She stepped out in the sun

She tended to her tasty crops –

Her usual routine

She sprinkled water on their tops

To keep their lush leaves green

And as she gazed out at her fields

She prayed with all her soul

That harvest time would bring high yields

And keep her coffers full

For earning bits to save her son

Was always on her mind

But through hard work, she’d get it done

And put this trial behind.

She toiled for many hours straight

With countless chores to do

But as the day was growing late

At last she saw them through

But as she settled for the night

She heard a noise outside

And out her door she saw a sight

That she could not abide

Another filly from the school

Was standing on the road

And hurling insults sharp and cruel

At her humble abode.

She’d seen this young pink mare in town

And knew of her high rank

She wore a shining diamond crown

That also marked her flank

Her verbal barbs, so tinged with hate,

Were meant for Carrot Sprout

She mocked the sick child’s ghastly fate

And boasted of her clout

And up above her, Carrot Top

Heard Sprout begin to cry

This monstrous teasing had to stop;

So outside she did fly!

Her heart brimming with fury’s fire,

She stormed out on the lawn

She warned the filly of her ire

If she did not get gone

But to the farmer’s great surprise

The filly did not care

With hatred gleaming in her eyes

She made fun of the mare

Her country bumpkin life was sad

And what was even more

She raised her child without a dad –

She clearly was a whore!

But worst of all was Carrot’s shame

When it was cruelly said

That she deserved to take the blame

When her poor son was dead

For had she planned and saved a bit

Just stored some cash away

She’d be prepared when trouble hit

And Sprout would be okay.

It’s said there is no crueler thing

Than harsh words that are true;

That insult had a truthful ring,

The carrot farmer knew.

So down in Carrot’s timid breast

The mare felt something snap

A rage-filled cry rose from her chest;

She gave the girl a slap!

The filly rubbed her tender cheek

And gasped in disbelief;

The humble farmer, once so meek,

Was quickly filled with grief

But then the filly gave a frown

And cleared her throat to say

Her daddy owned the whole damn town

And he would make her pay

His legal team was up to snuff

For such an easy suit;

She’d sue the farmer, take her stuff,

And leave her destitute!

Poor Carrot Top was well aware

This was no idle threat

She lost her cool and now the mare

Was swimming in regret

She’d go to jail and lose her gold

To pay the legal cost

Her son would be out in the cold

And surely would be lost

But she knew deep inside of her

A simple truth was clear

She’d be safe if this filly were

To somehow disappear…

And plus, the Green Mare in the woods

Would want her soul to steal

She already would have the goods,

So why not make a deal?

She wrestled with that haunting fact

She weighed it in her soul

Could she commit an evil act

To save her precious foal?

In moments, her dark course was set

She cursed the stars above

Then struck her foe without regret

All in the name of love

The filly crumpled to the ground

Under her harsh attack

She dragged her off without a sound

And stuffed her in a sack

She tied the sack up extra tight

Then grabbed the Green Mare’s blade

And then she slunk off in the night

To seek the ancient glade…

Pastebin is at: http://pastebin.com/Cr7EYYGR

Too long I've languished

With no time

To set my poem right,

But work is vanquished

So I'll rhyme

And update this tonight.

I'm having some trouble finishing the current canto. It's going to be one of the most important ones in the poem, and it's just not coming out right. I think it might be best to focus on other projects and let this fade into the background for now instead of staring at a blank screen and then feeling shitty because I hardly ever update this.

Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread for their support. This was a very challenging experiment for me, and I think having to tell a story with strict rhyming and metric constraints has made me a better writer in general. I am not abandoning this project. I just won't be posting my updates, due to their infrequency. When the Song of the Mandrake Queen is finally complete, it will be posted in its entirety for /pone/'s enjoyment.

In the meantime, I'm thinking about doing a story in >>221771 if you'd like to keep up with my writefaggotry. I've also dropped my email onto this post if you'd like to speak privately about writing ideas or requests.

Have some donk ass as my way of saying sorry.

/blogpost

@seen OP

please come back to internet relay chat