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// Chapter Two: Myths That Are More Than Fancies 
// Story: A Slender Chance 
// by The Young and Free Dragon 
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A SLENDER CHANCE
BY THE YOUNG AND FREE DRAGON

It is by universal misunderstanding that all agree. For if, by ill luck, people understood each other, they would never agree. 

~Charles Baudelaire


CHAPTER TWO: MYTHS THAT ARE MORE THAN FANCIES (August 1st 2012)

I don't buy anything Rainbow Dash hasn't seen, at least I try not to. If Rainbow hasn't seen it, then I haven't.

~Scootaloo's Diary (October 31st, 2011)

The trip had to be postponed until the next day because darkness had fallen and the fillies were expected home, as well as the fact that Apple Bloom would not be caught dead (or otherwise) in the forest at night now. Whether she doubted the existence of Slendermane or not was not the case, she was frightened no matter what. And now as she and the other Crusaders trekked through the forest in broad day light, she still continued to shake in fear.
The atmosphere was of course, not and felt barely breathable and light came through the trees, but she hadn't heard anything in the myth saying that Slendermane couldn't attack during daylight. And if Slendermane didn't exist at all, then daylight certainly wouldn't stop whoever took Pipsqueak.
It had crossed her mind that maybe Pipsqueak had run away, but the circumstances just didn't feel right. He left his flashlight, camera, and left without saying anything to her? That was hardly like him, and he was so young. It wasn't like he was capable of plotting elaborate tricks or anything. He knew what was in front of him, and that was it. She was sure of it.
In the meantime, the two other Crusaders had fun giggling at Apple Bloom's fear. This left her with serious disdain for them. Out of everything they'd been through, and the alienation they claimed to have experienced (They had always had each other though, hadn't they? She'd gone it alone for quite some time.) they obviously didn't know what it felt like right now to be the laughing stock of the ponies closest to her other than her family. That was probably worse than the ponies at school.
But if anything, she'd show them. Zecora would at least scare them, and then it would be her turn to laugh. This was the only comfort she found in the existence of Slendermane. At least she would be right....
“There's Zecora's place,” Scootaloo pointed out.
Apple Bloom was fairly sure Scootaloo wouldn't have done that on a normal basis. It was because of how funny she found this whole serious matter that she found it necessary to point out obvious things...obvious things that Apple Bloom was sure she would have noticed, given a second or two more.
As soon as her hoof knocked on the door, it swung open. This was strange, as was the steam that drifted out of the house. The windows were closed. Could Zecora be hurt? They rushed in to find out, but after thoroughly checking the hut, and getting most of the steam out of the house, they found no sign of her. The steam had been produced by her cauldron, which had boiling water in it, and a few plants mixed in with the water, but it had all been left unattended. Zecora was lucky that her house didn't burn down. Whatever she had left to do or get must have been important.
“Well, she's not here,” Sweetie Belle observed. “Let's get back home. It's really hot out here.”
Indeed it was, but the sweat pouring down the young Apple family member's face could not mask that it was not all from heat. There was a sweat that was produced as her brain began to imagine the worst possible scenario and then her heart began beating faster and spreading extra warmth through out her body. There was no doubt that Zecora had left her hut quickly and without preparing to be gone as long as she apparently had been. It might have been only a few minutes, but surely she had the common sense to put out the fire? Of course, this had only occurred to Apple Bloom because she was beginning to think things through, and reading between the lines was opening up new doors that her normal common sense wouldn't have pointed out to her.
“No,” Apple Bloom said, breaking from thought. “We have to figure out why she left.”
Her real wish was to find out where Zecora was. Already, bad ideas that Slendermane didn't mind taking adults were crawling through her mind and so far there was nothing to disprove that except what her aged Granny told her.
“She probably went to get something for whatever she's making,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Why did she leave the fire going then?” Apple Bloom prompted.
“Maybe she forgot about it,” Scootaloo suggested. The filly studied her red maned comrade for a moment before smiling deviously. “Don't tell me you think Slendermane took her.”
“I didn't say that,” Apple Bloom said, but the other two Crusaders were already convinced that that was what she believed, and she wasn't sure they weren't correct.
“Apple Bloom, this has been fun and all, but I really think you need to drop this,” Scootaloo said, like a parent might after a childish game had progressed a little far. At least it seemed she was beginning to understand the seriousness that Apple Bloom felt about this whole situation. “There's no such thing as Slendermane.”
“Okay, maybe there ain't,” Apple Bloom replied. “But Zecora didn't leave to take a walk through the flowers.”
“Apple Bloom this--” Sweetie Belle began, but was cut off.
“Look, it ain't gonna kill you to be sure!” The red maned filly shouted, surprising her companions. “If she's hurt, then we'll save her! If she's not, then we wasted a few minutes!”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood silently for a moment before nodding, finally realizing just how seriously Apple Bloom was taking the situation. They all began searching through the hut, looking for things she might have touched before leaving, or things that might have made her leave. There was no sign of a struggle, nor were there signs that Zecora had been well organized before taking off. Many of her normal ingredients were mixed together in random piles, that surely couldn't be any sort of mixture for a potion. Some of the leaves and other items were even rotting, leading Apple Bloom to believe that Zecora might have actually known that Slendermane was coming for a while now.
They found nothing of interest however, but one room was left unchecked. It seemed wrong to go into somepony else's bedroom while they were away, and without their consent, but this common idea was not present in the brains of the three fillies as they opened the door.
The room was without windows, so it was pitch blank inside. They bumped around for a few minutes before discovering candles and lighting them. When the room was revealed by the burning flames, several things became very clear. The first that came to them, met their noses. The candles had a pungent odor that wasn't exactly pleasant, but perhaps could be enjoyed by strange individuals such as Zecora.
The next was that the bed sheets looked undisturbed except for ripples that spanned outward from the middle of the bed. The pillows were perfectly fluffed, and it seemed as though Zecora had spent some time simply sitting in the middle of t he bed, without using it since the last time that she had fixed the bedding. The next were the books lying scattered around the bed. Upon reading the titles it seemed some didn't fit among the others.
The titles were as follows: “Atlas of Equestria”, “The End is Near and What He Will Look Like”, “Accounts From Equestria Mental Institute Residents”, “Old Equestrian Art”, and “Turning Circles”. They skipped “Turning Circles” because it was an actual novel with small print and no pictures and went to the others in order.
In the atlas, locations were circled all over Equestria, dated and numbered. Paths were traced to connect the locations but none of them were possible to take by anypony but Pegasi. The second book was flipped to a specific page and several parts of the three paragraphs left of the picture were underlined. However, being fillies; their eyes were not attracted to the words, but to the picture, which brought a chill down Apple Bloom's spine and perhaps the others.
The picture showed a tall pony standing in the middle of a path. He was about eight feet tall and long branch-like appendages stretched from his back and were focused upon reaching a small filly, who was cowering below him. He had no face, and no mane upon his head.
They moved to the next book, which had several pages bookmarked and when lifted, dropped several photos on the ground. They examined the photos first and found them to be more disturbing than what they imagined the context of the book to be. There were five photos, three depicting forested areas where a strange tree, seemed shaped like a pony (each was circled among the photos). And the other two featured fillies and colts at play on small playgrounds. The first was near a forested area, and a blurry figure stood among the trees.
The last (and second of the different environment ones) presented itself to the fillies as one that Zecora had taken the most interest in, as well as apparently feared the most. The photo showed what looked to be Canterlot, a playground somewhere near the royal grounds. The photo was rather old, and ragged but they noticed a filly that made them all gasp.
Cadence could be seen being pushed on a swing by a young Shining Armor. They were circled by Zecora, and then a line drawn from the circle showed something that was nothing but definite proof. A clear image of a tall pony with tendril like appendages and no face stood in the background, touching no trees or any sort of object that he could be mistaken for being part of. He two, was circled and words were written above him; He came all the way out of the forest to get somepony. He's looking at Cadence and Shining Armor. But he didn't take either of them.
A colt at the very bottom of the picture, looking dejected and lonely was sitting in the sand box alone. He was circled and below him was written; Slendermane took him. Why?