Story of the Blanks

Story of the Blanks, also titled in-game as My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Story of the Blanks and Friendship is 8-bit: Story of the Blanks, is a fan-made video game first made available on Newgrounds.com. The player takes on the role of Apple Bloom as she discovers a hidden town in the Everfree Forest, where the game delves into the horror genre. The game was created by Donitz, and it is constrained to use genuine NES graphics and graphical limitations.

Story
Apple Bloom is on her way home after adventuring with her friends when she finds Twilight Sparkle on her way to visit Zecora in the Everfree Forest. Apple Bloom insists on tagging along, much to Twilight's dismay. They deliver the books to Zecora's house safely, but she warns Twilight and Apple Bloom to leave the forest as quickly as possible. As they try to leave, Twilight finds some trees have fallen in their path. While she tries to move them, Apple Bloom spots another filly watching them, and decides to follow her through the forest.

She eventually finds herself in a quiet village known as Sunny Town, where none of the residents living there have their cutie marks, despite all being adults. After some exploration, she finds an abandoned house hidden behind the town. She makes her way in, only to find the burned skeleton of a filly sitting in the fireplace. As she tries to escape, she discovers the town ruined and covered in overgrowth. Zombies of the ponies she had met stalk her as she runs. It's revealed that a young pony named Ruby had discovered her cutie mark, and the townsponies, believing it to be a curse, murdered her, inadvertently cursing themselves in the process. Ruby's ghost eventually helps Apple Bloom escape, and she and Twilight go home together.

Ruby
A young earth pony who lived in Sunny Town prior to the curse. She had discovered her special talent for finding things, signified by a magnifying glass cutie mark. The townsponies believed the mark to be a curse; Ruby was murdered, her skeletal remains in the fireplace in an abandoned house. Her ghost roams the Everfree Forest, and when she accidentally leads Apple Bloom to the haunted town, she apologizes and helps her escape. She has a grey coat and an orange mane with lighter orange highlights, and her eyes glow gold.

Mitta
An earth pony living in Sunny Town, presumably Ruby's mother. When Apple Bloom finds her, she is locked up in the house Roneo was standing in front of and crying over Ruby's death, feeling guilty for allowing her to die. Later, when Apple Bloom tries to escape the town, Mitta appears as a zombie and holds the other zombies back, giving Apple Bloom a chance to run. She has a light grey coat and a dark red mane. Her zombie form has a dark red coat and a jet black mane, and her eyes glow red. She appears to be the only benevolent resident of Sunny Town, and the only one who knows that everyone in Sunny Town was zombified as punishment for murdering Ruby.

Grey Hoof
An earth pony and self-proclaimed "celebration planner extraordinaire" who was arranging a party around the time of Ruby earning her cutie mark. It was under his orders that her murder was executed, believing "the mark" to be a curse, hinting that other ponies had been murdered for earning cutie marks too. He has a grey coat and black hair.

Roneo
An earth pony living in Sunny Town. He has a crush on Starlet, and he had been planning on giving her a gift (a red ruby) before losing it. Apple Bloom helps him find it, and he presents it to Starlet. His house is used to lock up Mitta after Ruby's murder. He has an orange coat and a blue mane.

Starlet
An earth pony living in Sunny Town. She has a crush on Roneo, but gets worried when he doesn't talk to her. When he presents his red gemstone to her, she tells him that his love was more than enough of a gift. She has a white coat and an orange mane.

Gladstone
An earth pony living in Sunny Town. When Apple Bloom talks to him, he says he's never heard of cutie marks before. He has a brown coat and an orange mane.

Three Leaf
An earth pony living in Sunny Town. She explains that since their town has everything they could ever need, nopony leaves the town. She has a green coat and a mossy green mane.

Zombie ponies
After Ruby's murder, a curse was put on the residents of Sunny Town, turning them into zombies. Their flesh hangs off their black bones, and they have glowing red eyes and fangs. They chase Apple Bloom, trying to force her to become one of them. They also claim this mutation "protects" them from obtaining a cutie mark as the player will read if caught by one, hinting that once they become this form, they will never obtain their cutie mark.

On Newgrounds
The game was submitted to Newgrounds on July 2, 2011. As of March 31, 2012, it holds a general rating of 4.43 out of 5 (after 7,141 votes). It was the daily featured game of July 3, 2011.

On Equestria Gaming
Story of the Blanks was the winning entry to the Creepypasta Game Contest on Equestria Gaming, which ran in July 2011. On July 13, 2011, the game was reviewed by Strawberry Spice, the site's owner at the time, who gave the game a score of 8 out of 10, making it the first game on the site to be given the score. As of March 31, 2012, there is only one other game on the site to receive that score (the other being Pony Platforming Project, reviewed on December 21, 2011.)

Derivative works
Story of the Blanks has inspired several other works, such as a prose version of the game's story and these pieces of fan art.

Trivia
During the beginning of Bridle Gossip, Spike and Twilight discuss the possibility of zombies being the reason Ponyville's residents are in hiding. Twilight chalks it up as "not likely," to which Spike nervously adds, "...but possible?" Incidentally, Bridle Gossip also happened to be Zecora's debut episode.