Due to a landslide victory in the comment section below, your next chapter will be Slender! I would like to address a few things regarding the 'suggestions' element of this story, however. First, I will do a People's Choice chapter every 4 or 5 chapters, and it's unlikely that I will break that pattern. Second, if the top voted game just won't work with the story, or if I think it's inappropriate, then I will have ultimate veto power. Finally, if I see a suggestion that I think is a really good idea, and it doesn't get many votes, it will likely be turned into a regular chapter, rather than a People's Choice chapter. Thanks for your time, and please, sit back and enjoy; Slender.
Luna walked slowly through the fog-shrouded forest and flashed her torch through the darkness, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was following her. The night was normally her domain, but there was something in this forest even more at home in the dark than she was. Once or twice she thought she had caught a glimpse of a tall dark figure, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had shown up.
Her reasons for being in this forest were unclear, although she did know that it had something to do with the pages she kept finding taped onto landmarks in the forest. Perhaps when she found them all... something would happen. Maybe she would be shown how to get out of the forest, or would be given something to defend herself?
While she was distracted by her thoughts, she rounded a corner and found what looked like some kind of bathroom complex. Feeling herself inexplicably drawn towards it and yet simultaneously repelled away, Luna passed through the door and into an empty tiled hallway. The building gave off a strange sense of foreboding, as well as a vague feeling that the princess found herself unable to put a hoof on.
Walking through the building, Luna felt her heart sinking further and further into her stomach. Just as she was about to give into her growing sense of dread and run out of the building, she saw something glowing on one of the walls. On further inspection it turned out to be one of the pages she was looking for. As she was moving to grab it, something held her back. Yes, she needed all of these pages, but every time she took one the dark being following her seemed to get closer.
Swallowing her fear, she walked up to the page on the wall and ripped it down. Immediately, the constant booming noise that had slipped her mind became much louder, almost sounding like it was coming from the next room. Looking at the only exit the room had, Luna accosted herself for falling into such a basic trap. If she was lucky, maybe the creature shadowing her wouldn't be waiting around the corner for her.
Steeling herself, she ran out of the room, glancing up and down the hallway. Seeing nothing, she bolted for the exit. When she rounded the corner, her heart stopped. There, standing not two metres away, was the monster that had been following her through the woods, and now into the bathrooms. The princess screamed, just as she felt a hoof land on her shoulder. Slowly, she turned around, and was met with a blank white face.
"Hey, sis, what're you playing?" asked Celestia.
Breathing a sigh of relief, the moon princess took a moment to regain her composure before answering. "Why, hello sister! We were playing this 'Slender' game we heard so much about! Why do you ask?"
Celestia stared awkwardly at her for a few seconds before replying. "Well, probably because you're playing it in my room, on my computer, at twelve o'clock at night. I was kind of trying to sleep, you know."
"Oh, we are very sorry sister. 'Tis simply that we do not have a computer of our own, and we had been told by several of our guards to try this game out," said the moon princess sheepishly.
Celestia sighed. "So, that means that you have to sneak into my room at midnight and use my computer? Couldn't you just get one yourself or something? You are royalty, after all." Luna just stared dumbly. "Uh, right. So, what made you think you could even play this game, anyway? Judging by your performance a few days ago, I didn't think you had it in you to have another go."
"Well, you see, sister, we have been practicing!" She grinned. "We realised how awful our skill was the first time, so we decided to increase it while you were busy attending to royal functions and such."
Celestia's jaw dropped. "So, you've been practicing on all my games?" the princess of the sun asked. Her sister smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Overwriting all of my saved games?" she asked again, a bit more menacingly this time. Luna drew in a small breath and gave an uneasy smile.
"Maybe?"
Celestia's face went a deep red. She clenched her teeth, trying to force words out. "WH- I CAN'T- I MEAN, WHY WOULD YOU- FUUU- I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!" Luna cowered in fear, trying to get as low to the ground as possible so as not to be burned when her sister exploded. Suddenly, calm spread through her sister's face. Her eyes focused on the wall, and she began speaking in a low monotone.
"No. It's okay, you didn't know what you were doing. Don't worry, everything is going to be okay." She sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself than Luna.
A few more minutes passed in awkward silence before Luna spoke up. "Hey, you are really good at video games! Why don't your try this one?"
Her sister snapped out of her funk and her eyes refocused. "Wha-? Oh, sure. Whatever. It didn't even look that scary, really. You're probably just a wimp," she said, taking the lunar princess's place in front of the keyboard.
"See, this isn't so bad," she said confidently. "It's just a forest. A big, dark, foggy forest. Full of scary trees an- what was that?!" She thought she saw a tall, black figure through the trees, but when she looked again, she saw nothing. "See... not so bad," she said again, slightly less confident this time. Luna had to try hard to suppress a snicker.
"Come on Tia, nothing's even happening yet, and you're already losing it."
Celestia glared at her sister. "I'm not losing it! I just... wasn't ready!" She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "See, I'm ready now. Look at my ready face!"
"You're just stalling. Eyes on the screen, sis," Luna laughed.
The princess of the sun turned back to the screen, muttering under her breath. Finally, happened on a massive rock. As she was walking around it, she caught sight of a glowing piece of paper taped to one side. However, instead of taking it, she sat there staring.
"Uh, Tia, you have to take the paper to progress," said her sister, looking over her shoulder with a grin.
Celestia gulped. "Yeah, b-but, like, what if I take it, then I turn around, and there's some monster or something. What if I don't take the paper? Can't I just run out of the forest?" she asked, looking to her sister. Getting no reply, she waffled between taking the page, and just getting up and leaving.
"What's the matter, Tia? Is this game to scary for you? I'm not cleaning the carpet if it is, you know."
Celestia stared at her giggling sister, and, seeing no other option, took the paper. As soon as he did, a loud 'Boom. Boom. Boom.' started playing from the speakers, and the sun goddess froze.
"What. In Equestria. Is that." She looked over to her sister, who was now rolling around on the floor with her hoof in her mouth, desperately holding back laughter. "What?! What's so funny?!" she almost yelled, getting more and more panicked by the minute. When Luna didn't answer, she returned her wide-eyed gaze to the monitor.
Walking through the forest, she got the feeling that someone was watching her. Frantically, she jerked around. Finding nothing, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned back around. She was not prepared, however, for the enormous faceless figure standing there in front of her when she did. She gave a loud scream and mashed the keyboard, causing her character to run blindly into several trees before settling onto a clear path. breathing hard, she looked over to her sister, who was practically in hysterics by that point.
"Shut up, Luna! That was terrifying! What if that thing, I don't know, kidnapped me and sold me into slavery?"
Luna gawked. "Wait, what? You are afraid of being sold into slavery? What if it dragged you into the woods and tore you apart or something? I think that's a bit scarier!"
Celestia waved her hoof dismissively. "Pfft. Shows what you know about scary."
"What's that supposed to mean? I am the princess of the night! I have a whole holiday devoted to just how scary I am!"
The sun goddess was about to reply when she looked back to the screen and saw that she had found another page. She ripped this one down a lot quicker than the first, knowing that time was of the essence. As she was booking to wherever the next page was, she got the feeling of being watched again, and stopped. Slowly, she turned around in a broad circle, making sure that there was nothing following her. When she found nothing, she felt slightly reassured. With a bounce in her virtual step, she walked around a tree and came face to blank face with the creature once again.
She screamed and slammed her hooves down on the keyboard. Unfortunately, this caused her to walk towards the monster, and she just screamed louder when its face filled the screen in a wave of static and noise.
While she was still in shock, Luna walked over and placed a comforting hoof on her back. "It's okay, Tia. Two pages isn't that bad."
"Wh- how many did you get? Like, three or something?" she asked hopefully, still recovering from what she had seen.
"Oh, just seven... out of eight," she replied smugly.
Celestia glared at her. "Yeah, well... you probably cheated or something." She didn't want to believe that her sister could be better at something than her, let alone a video game.
"Well, it's getting pretty late, Tia. We had better go do some royal... stuff," said the lunar princess. As she was about to leave the room, she looked back at her sister and gave a malicious grin. "Sweet dreams, sister."
After she was sure that Luna was gone, Celestia ran through her room, locking all of her windows and doors, and drawing all the curtains. That night, the immortal master and goddess of the sun slept with the lights on for the first time in centuries.