Talisman Tome bustled about in the dusty, messy dining room of his house, brushing the surface of the table clean with his tail as he callously pushed the half-eaten pie aside. He then proceeded to light all the lamps in the room, and draw the curtains on all the windows. The six ponies stood by and watched curiously as the colt pulled up six moth-eaten cushions, arranging them around the table.
In the awkward silence, Twilight felt compelled to offer assistance “Er…Do you need any help?”
But Tally waved her down, not even raising his head to look at her; he just carried on with putting out cushions around the table, calling out “No, no, I got it…Caught me at a bit of a bad time, y’see. If I knew you were coming so soon, I’d have done somethin’ about the mess… I’ve been a bit busy lately… Erm, help yerself to some sweets while you wait, if you want.”
Twilight looked about and saw a bowl of gumdrops on the floor right next to her. Not wanting to appear cold, she politely chewed on a few, while her friends did the same, politely, if hesitantly, helping themselves. Pinkie Pie, however, needed no second bidding and eagerly dug into the remainder of the discarded pie.
Twilight watched Talisman as he finished laying out cushions and sat down on one. “Have a seat…er, please.” He said, motioning with a forehoof. The unicorn sat down opposite him as her friends followed her example. In her mind, she was still sceptical about how this colt could help her. He honestly wasn’t what she was expecting. Granted, he had seen him before, but only briefly. When Pinkie Pie talked about him, she pictured some wise old stallion, well versed in ancient lore and legends. His name only added to the image: Talisman Tome, a protective magical artifact and an ancient book. To instead find that he was a nervous, skinny colt, no older than she was, living in a squalid little bungalow… It did seem a bit of a letdown. But, beggars can’t be choosers, she thought. He definitely has something to do with this, so maybe he can help me find some answers.
He sat down opposite her, nervously shuffling in his seat, “So…uh, I guess a good place to start is so we’re all on the same level…so, can you tell is exactly what’s been happening?
“Hold it!” Rainbow Dash raised a hoof “I dunno about the others, but I think you’re the one who needs to explain things first.”
Twilight nodded “I agree. For starters, who are you, and why have you been following me? And what did you mean, ‘If you knew I was coming so soon’?”
Talisman leaned forwards, as he took a deep breath and spoke:
“Okay then… You already know my name, and no doubt Pinkie Pie’s talked about me, right?”
Twilight nodded “Well, not much, but yes.”
“Well, whatever…I’ll start from the beginning. I’m Talisman Tome, my special talent lies in studies of ancient lore and old myths... heh, as you can see.” He stood up for a brief moment and turned his flank to the other ponies, showing a cutie mark shaped like a large old-fashioned book with a star on the front. “Now, A few months ago, a friend of mine and I read about a strange creature.”
He grabbed an old, tattered book from a heap on his left, hastily wolfing down a cupcake on his way. Flipping it open to a certain page, he nudged it towards Twilight. The unicorn looked over the pages of the book, and felt a chill of fear. There he was again, that ever-present creature; the pony that was not a pony, devoid of facial features, with spindly legs longer than any pony. It was depicted in an old woodcut engraving. However, instead of being clad in a black suit and tie, he appeared to wear a long black cloak that draped over him, down to his knees. All around him were ponies of all ages and kinds, their faces contorted into terrified screams. From the creature’s back several long, spiderlike limbs stretched out over the ponies, one limb grabbing a young Pegasus pony, pinning her to the ground.
“Somethin’ called the Slendermane. According to the stories, this creature would emerge from the darkest forests at night and eat up anypony it crossed. It j-just seemed like a standard boogymare story, meant to scare little foals. But there seemed more to it to us. I dunno what it was,” Talisman said “But something about this legend really interested us. So, we kept studying it. Turns out a similar figure appears in a lot of stories and legends from all over Equestria. He always has different names, like the Tall One, the Faceless King, The Pale Knight, Der Ritter, Equitem... We got onto reading some really interesting stuff in some…interesting, books.”
“You mean like that black book you sent me?”
The pale colt grinned sheepishly “Heh…guilty as charged…But actually, that one’s a bit different. Anyway, we kept researching, trying to find out everything we could. Then one night, I see something moving around in the Everfree Forest. So I go to check it out, and I see these ponies all standing in the middle of this clearing, wearin’ these weird masks.”
Twilight held a hoof to her mouth in silent shock.
“I just watched them for a while, but they just stood there, totally silent. I managed to take a few pictures, but when I got them developed…well…”
Talisman got up for a moment and entered the room off to the side, the one with the walls covered in photos. Moments later he returned, a photograph held in his teeth. Setting it down on the table, Twilight got a good look at the blurry image. There were the four ponies in masks, all standing in a clearing, as if forming the corners of an imaginary square. But in the middle of them, there stood the tall, faceless figure that haunted her so.
“Thing is, I didn’t see him there when I took the photo, but then I get it developed, and there he was.” He continued nervously “It was that same creature I’d read about. I showed it to one of my unicorn friends, and he told me that he’d seen him too! Spotted it walkin’ around in the woods one night when he was walking home from a party.
So then, we both start heading out at night to try to spot this thing again. Only now, I could see him for real too… Every night we’d see him and those masked ponies just standing in a clearing in the woods. But one night, we get too close. They spot us…”
He paused for a moment, as if in thought. Yawning suddenly, he gasped to himself and hastily grabbed another cupcake from the dresser on the side of the room and wolfed it down. Licking his lips, he continued:
“Anyways, the masked ponies all freak out and rush us. In the scuffle, I manage to get away, and while I ran, I found this ratty old book -The book you now have, Twilight. But…” Talisman shrugged “I’m clueless on what that book means.”
Twilight raised a hoof as something came to her attention in Talisman’s story “Hold on… You said there was another pony researching with you, a unicorn. What happened to…?”
“But! But then,” Talisman quickly interrupted “Then, one night I’m out heading to do another investigation, and who do I see but our tall friend, and you, out for a moonlit walk.”
All eyes turned in surprise to Twilight. Her mind went back several days, to that night when she saw him for the first time, peering in at her through unseen eyes from the window. He reached in with its tendril of inky blackness and…
“Ah yes, I remember that night!” Rarity spoke up “I saw Twilight walking about at night a few nights ago, and then saw another pony following not far behind…Which was you, I presume?”
Talisman nodded, “I followed until the pair of you went into the Everfree Forest…I didn’t go in after you…not-not going in there again. S’Bad in there...”
“But wait…” Rainbow spoke up, “You say you saw Twilight and…that thing, walking together, but Rarity says she saw Twilight out walking alone.” She tapped her chin with a forehoof as she continued “Come to think of it, when I found Twilight outside the Forest a few days ago, she told me later that she saw Him standing in front of us, but I didn’t see anypony.”
“Really?” Talisman’ ears perked up “N-Now that is interesting…So, only certain ponies can see him, huh?”
Everypony sat back in silence, each dwelling on this new-found fact. As they ruminated, Talisman grasped a pen in his teeth and eagerly scribbled down notes on this discovery, next to previous notes that speculated theories on why he used to not be able to see him. Needless to say, these new discoveries fairly threw his old theories out the window.
A-anywho,” Talisman spoke up again, breaking the silence “There’s more. So Pinkie Pie come for my next delivery... I describe you to her, in case she knew you. She tells me, she says…’That’s Twilight Sparkle, Tally. One of my bestest friends, a real genius’.”
“Oh, Tally, stop it!” Pinkie Pie giggled “You’re embarrassing me!”
Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie “Why didn’t you tell me somepony was asking about me?!”
The pink pony shrugged “You never asked, silly!”
“Well, I thought it was mighty interestin’ to see somepony else involved with Him. And with Pinkie calling you a genius, I sent the book to you...hoped you’d be able to make sense of it.” Talisman finished.
Twilight’s ears drooped slightly as she smiled bashfully “Oh, well… I’m flattered, but I’m afraid I’m just as clueless with it as you…”
Silence once again descended on the assembled ponies. Pinkie Pie took advantage of the lull in activity to help herself to the bowl of gumdrops by Twilight’s side. As she chewed the gummy treat, a sudden thought came to her.
“Hold on a sec! If you wanted to see if Twilight could make sense of the book, why didn’t you just go and see her?”
“She’s got a point there, partner.” Applejack piped up.
“Well, ah…Y’know, I, er, didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself. I wasn’t sure if those masked ponies knew I was still watching them, you know?” The colt replied, nervously scratching at his mane.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at this reply. Was there something else to it?
“But that’s not the big question, nonono. The big question is ‘why?’” He continued, getting up and walking around the room until he was face to face with Twilight.
“Why you in particular? What is He after?” Talisman wondered aloud, looking Twilight up and down “Why are you so special?”
“To be honest, I was hoping you’d know.” Twilight replied, gently pushing the colt a bit further back from her.
“Well, I’d think it’s a bit obvious.” Rarity spoke up “Twilight wakes up after being attacked by this thing, nearly drained of all her Vita energy, and the next day, receives a mouldy old book that apparently belongs to those masked fellows, that talks a lot about Vita energy? I think the connection is rather clear.”
Talisman took up his pencil again and noted down the fact “Interesting, interesting…Vita energy, that’s the magical energy unicorns use to do magic, right?”
“Yeah, and since he attacked me,” Twilight replied “I haven’t been able to use my magic as much. But I'm slowly getting it all back.”
“Right, right…But still the question is still what do they want with your Vita…” Then, without a word, Talisman put the pencil back down on the table and rested his head upon the table. An awkward silence hung over the room as every pony present waited for the colt to continue. Finally, Twilight cleared her throat and broke the silence
“Ahem...Talisman?”
He raised his head “Hmm?”
“Was there anything more you wanted to say?”
“Huh? Oh, no no...Actually, I’m done, yeah...so, you can all, y’know...go now.”
Twilight’s ears pricked up “What?! Whadaya mean? Why?”
“We were makin’ great headway here!” Applejack added
“I-I got nothing else... This is all I got. Come by tomorrow, Twilight...Give me some time to get my stuff together. Makes it easier for us to research. Best you all get going. It’s getting late.”
Twilight groaned. That old argument again: it’s getting late. With what she was going through, did that honestly matter? There were still so many more questions to ask: Where did this thing come from? Why was Talisman so interested in the whole matter? Why was he such a shut-in? Who was this friend of his...and furthermore, where was he now? Her mind returned to that strange collage on his wall, with her photo circled, and that other unicorn crossed out. What did that mean? Her unnatural thirst for knowledge would not let this go.
“I’m in no rush, Talisman.” Twilight replied, “Spike will be taking care of things back at the library. Can’t we just keep going a bit longer? There’s so much more I want to ask!”
BONG!!
Her words were cut off as there came from the living room, the chimes of a grandfather clock. It tolled five more times, then fell silent, the echo of the chimes fading away.
“Six o’clock.” the colt muttered “Sunset at any time now.”
“And?” Twilight asked.
He looked to her “You know what’s out there. You really wanna be outside after dark?”
Twilight made to answer, but caught herself. He did have a point. Last time she had been outside after dark was...that night. “You’re right. It wouldn’t be safe to walk home in the dark. We should get going now, while the sun’s still up.”
The other five saw the reasoning behind her decision and got up. “Well, thanks anyway, Talisman. I gotta say it’s good to know there’s somepony out there who knows about this whole thing as well.”
“Makes you feel a little saner, huh?” Talisman retorted with a grin, which Twilight returned, “You’re welcome...A-anyways, come back tomorrow and we can carry on. I’ll have everything in order by then...Uh, just on your own, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, er...okay.” Twilight said, unsure whether she liked the idea of being alone with this possibly unhinged colt. Still, it would be her only chance to figure out anything more about this whole ordeal.
____________________________________________________________
“So, what do you guys think of him?” Twilight asked her friends as she returned to the library. She honestly did not know what to make of Talisman, never being a very good judge of character.
“Well, his house could do with a good clean for one thing. I mean did you see the rotstains on the walls?!” Rarity said indignantly, shuddering at the thought of the offending rot.
The other five laughed as they continued to discuss the strange little colt.
“He seem a little…well, jittery to y’all, or was it just me?
“Yeah, he was kinda jittery. Like he was always a bit nervous about somethin’.”
“But he did seem to know what he was talking about.”
“And he was very friendly to us. For somepony as shut in as him, he at least treated us nicely.”
“Still,” Applejack added “Y’all can clearly see he don’t go for company much. Probably why he asked that only you visit tomorrow, Twi.”
Twilight nodded “Yes...It’ll be interesting to see if he’s any different with just me there.”
“Yeah, well, just don’t go gettin’ too friendly with him, y’know?” Rainbow said with a wry grin.
The collective ponies giggled at the blush that slowly crept up on Twilight’s face.
As they reached the massive hollowed-out tree of the library, goodbyes were said and the other ponies went on their way. Twilight watched them leave before turning and pushing the door open.
She barely had time to remove her saddlebag before the air was knocked out of her by something small and scaly.
“Twilight! You’re back! You’re okay!” Spike cried as he hugged her tightly. “What happened?! The nurse said that…”
But Twilight hushed his anxious words as she hugged him back, smiling. “Sshh, it’s alright Spike. I’m back now, and I’m fine.”
“But what happened to you?” Spike asked again “Nurse Redheart said something about you turning up outside the Everfree Forest or something.”
Twilight gently prised him loose and set him down. “You might want to get some food, Spike. I’ve got a lot to talk about, and it may take a while… Oh, and just so you know, for the next few days, you’ll be in charge of the library. I’ve got some work to do with a friend of mine.”
“Anypony I know?”
She shook her head “I doubt it. He’s pretty reclusive.”
Spike nodded, before realisation hit him. He?
And so, Twilight began to relate to Spike everything that had been happening to her since the night when something trashed the library. Unbeknownst to either, at the window there watched two pairs of dark, masked eyes.
“Is she ready?” said one to the other.
The other shook his head “Not yet. Give her a few more days.”
“But the more time she has, the more she knows! Can we really risk it?”
“It doesn’t matter.” The other masked pony replied, running a forehoof through his messy brown mane. “She’ll just be another key for the gateway.”