The sun hung low in the sky as Fluttershy began her descent to her humble cottage, just outside the Everfree Forest. Opening her wings, she glided gently to the ground, landing as delicately and smoothly as she could. The injured passenger on her back made smoothness and delicacy a must, lest is broken leg becomes any worse.
As she trotted up the lawn to her cottage, she looked over her shoulder at the pony, still lying unconscious on her back. His hair had fallen, lank and knotted, over his facemask. His tail was clumped together by clotted blood that seeped from the deep gash on his thigh, which dangled limply over Fluttershy’s side.
“Hmm…this is honestly a new experience for me....” She muttered aloud to nopony in particular “Most of the time, I don’t have to treat anything bigger than a dog or cat. Still, a patient is a patient… And you need help especially. I mean, it’s a long flight to the clinic in town…”
She continued talking to herself, occasionally addressing the limp form on her back, as she pushed the door open and headed inside. Gently, gently, she hoisted the unconscious pony off her back, and lowered him onto the couch, careful to prop up the broken leg with a pillow.
“There we go. Now, let’s get you some bandages.” She said as she bustled off to her cabinets.
As she busied herself in the medical cabinet, she failed to notice that the colt had begun to stir. Groaning slightly, he raised his head. Gazing about a moment, he took in his strange new surroundings. A small, wooden cottage, humbly decorated, with a distinct smell: a gentle, sweet smell, like a mix of freshly baked pastries, animal fur, with the slightest hint of the sterile smell of medicine. But any further rumination was cut short as an intense, stabbing pain shot through his leg. He doubled over in pain, grunting slightly.
“Now now, lie back down. You need to relax,” called Fluttershy’s voice from the next room. “I’ll be right there with your bandages.”
The masked colt almost considered making a run for it. But any time he tried moving his leg, that same stabbing pain shot through him. So, he humoured his hostess and obediently lay back, trying to relax.
He then felt an uneasy tingle on the back of his neck. Opening his eyes again, he saw a pair of long ears just peeking over the top of the couch. Craning his neck, he saw a small, white rabbit, standing on its hind legs, paws on hips, scowling at him.
“What do you want, furball?” The masked pony croaked weakly “Get lost!”
Moments later, Fluttershy returned, a fresh roll of clan, white bandages held in her teeth, and a small bowl of water balanced on an outstretched wing, complete with a sponge floating in the water. A thin metal splint lay on her other wing. She placed the bowl on a wooden footstool that sat next to the couch, and put the roll of bandages on the ground.
“Now Angel, please move aside. Give our guest some space.” She said to her white companion.
The bunny gave one last disapproving scowl at the masked pony and hopped off to his own hutch. Fluttershy smile as she watched him leave “Oh, don’t mind Angel. He’s always like that… Now, please relax, you’ve lost alot of blood.”
The colt flinched as he felt the wet sponge press gently against his wound. As Fluttershy cleaned the dried blood from his fur around the wound, she hummed a tune to herself. But not a word came from her masked patient. The timid Pegasus smiled slightly at the thought that she may have found a pony even less talkative than herself!
“So…um, if it’s alright, can I ask you your name?” she said at last, the awkward silence even getting to her.
But he just stayed silent, any change in emotion hidden by his white mask. He just lay on the couch, twitching every now and then if Fluttershy touched his wounded leg in the wrong spot.
The Pegasus coughed nervously as she finished cleaning the dried blood from his leg. She picked up the roll of bandages, holding one end in her teeth, “Now, this might hurt a bit, but I need you to stay as still as you can. Can you do that?”
He nodded silently, and Fluttershy went to work. Holding the metal splint against his leg, she slowly wrapped the bandages around, securing it in place. As she wrapped, silenced reigned between the two ponies.Never much of a fan of awkward silences, Fluttershy once again tried ease her patient into conversation.
“Erm…So, why do you wear that mask? Is it some sort of symbol of…” but she trailed off as he turned to face her, his blank, dark eyeholes staring back at her. She gulped and continued her work. Her eye was caught by the colt’s flank. His usual cutie-mark was obscured by a symbol that as cut into his skin; a rough circle, crossed by an X. She made a mental note to ask him what it meant if he ever felt like speaking.
After what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence, Fluttershy finished his bandages and gently lowered his leg back onto its pillow. “There you go. Now, just stay off that leg and you should be alright in no time.” She said gently, to no reply.
Clearing her medical apparel away, she sat down on a small cushion next to the couch. The masked colt just lay, silent, on the couch, the only sign that he was still awake being when he swept the hair out of his eyes with a forehoof.
“If it’s alright…erm, maybe you might be a bit more comfortable if you take the mask off…Here, let me…” she raised a hoof to remove the white facemask.
But the colt threw out a hoof of his own and struck her arm away from his face. Fluttershy recoiled with a squeak, holding her forehooves close to her body as if she had touched a burning iron “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I-I didn’t know it was that important to you…I mean, it’sokayifyoukeepitonIwasjustcurious, oh dear…”
Grunting slightly from the sting in his leg, he rolled over until his back was facing Fluttershy. The young Pegasus hung her head, letting her rose-coloured mane fall over her eyes, hiding her blushing face. She was used to patients being stubborn or uncooperative, even aggressive at times. But it felt different when the patient in question was a pony just like her. It just seemed to hit harder. It was as if a close friend was shouting at her, or a sibling had just struck her.
“Erm…I-I’ll go get some food going…” she muttered timidly, her voice barely above a whisper. Getting up, she trotted into the kitchen and out of view.
A few minutes later, she returned, a tray held in her teeth. On it rested a bowl of hot soup and a spoon, and a small loaf of bread rested by its side, with a cube of butter and a knife. Nothing like hot soup to cure what ails you, like she thought half-heartedly.
She balanced the tray of food on the footstool next to the couch and sat back on her cushion, no longer even trying to start a conversation. After what seemed an eternity, the masked colt rolled slowly over, gasping again as he gingerly shifted his leg. He gazed down at the steaming bowl of soup that lay before him, a humble loaf of tough bread by its side.
“Why?”
Fluttershy raised her head as she heard that reedy voice emanating from behind the mask. She smiled slightly: was he finally opening up a bit? “Oh, well…soup works well as a comfort food, and often I slip some medicine into it to help make recovery go smoother…”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” He cut her off “I mean, why help me? Does this mean that you’re sympathetic towards our cause?”
“Well, actually, erm…I honestly think that what you and your friends are doing is bad… Even if it means that Equestria will be made a better place…well, don’t you think you’re going about it the wrong way?...I-I mean, if it means hurting so many other ponies to reach it, is it really worth it?”
“A few impure souls to get a world of purity. I’d say that’s a fair exchange, miss…er…”
“Fluttershy. Just Fluttershy, n-no ‘miss’. And to me, anything that causes other ponies to suffer isn’t worth doing, no matter how great the result could be. Especially if it’s my friends who are getting hurt. But anyways, that wasn’t your question was it?” She added, getting back to the subject at hand “I chose to help you get better…well, because I wanted to. I can’t stand to see a pony in pain, you see. It doesn’t make any difference what they did; if they need help, I’ll give it to them.”
Her piece said, Fluttershy sat back, slightly surprised at herself. How was she able to speak so freely and openly with this strange colt? Sure, she was alright speaking with her friends, but most of the time she’d clam up and never speak with strangers. She didn’t even know his name, or his face for that matter!
“The masks are the symbol of our order.” The colt spoke up again, grudgingly “It marks our allegiance to our Master, our willingness to surrender our identity in the name of His cause. Once they are on, we can never take them off.”
Fluttershy smiled again, finally getting her answer “Oh, I see…But how do you eat then?”
When she got no reply, she coughed nervously and continued “And, what about that sign you…er, put over your cutie-mark?”
He turned to glance back at his flank, at the symbol carved over his cutie-mark. “It marks out the ones who have been enlightened by The Mighty. We cut it into our flesh as a sign of dedication, and as a symbol of abandoning our old identities by putting it over the one other thing that shows our identity, our cutie-marks.”
“Oh.” Fluttershy replied, grimacing slightly at the idea of cutting something into one’s flesh “B-but, doesn’t it hurt?”
“It’s worth it.”
The yellow Pegasus shrugged, wondering what sort of pony would be so willing to scar themselves like that . “Um…if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get some food for myself. I’ll be right back.” She got up again and trotted through to her kitchen, calling back in a slightly singsong voice “Eat your soup now, before it gets cold!”
She bustled about the worktop, putting together a small meal for herself: of a bowl of the remaining soup, a few slices of white bread and butter, and a mug of hot chocolate, complete with a blob of whipped cream and a straw.
Her ear perked up as she heard his voice again from the other room.
“So…once I’m all healed, does that mean I’ll be let go?”
“Well, actually…” she replied, slightly hesitantly “Twilight told me to make sure you stay here. I think she wants to ask you more about what you and your friends plan to do. So I’m sorry, but you’ll have to stay here. Besides, it’ll take a few days for you to heal enough to leave. Don’t worry…I’ll take good care of you.”
“Huh…Well, if I’m stuck here, I may as well be comfortable… You’re a kind soul, Fluttershy. I’ve never met a pony quite like you.”
Fluttershy smiled bashfully, her flushed cheeks blending with her hair “Oh…uh, thank you…”
Beneath his pale mask, the colt also broke into a hidden grin. Some ponies were just too easy. Of course he would have to wait. Until the unicorn was ready, there was no much he or his cohorts could do but wait. So he would humour this young filly. Let her play doctor to her poor sick patient. She might prove useful.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
However, in the overly-illuminated home of Talisman Tome, the mood was a far cry from the relative calm of Fluttershy’s cottage. A tense silence gripped the house as the door creaked open and Twilight staggered in, tired, nauseous and in an incredibly bad mood. Her hooves echoed on the wooden floor, a little louder than usual as she stomped into the living room and slumped on the couch.
Talisman followed in, his head hung low, ears drooped. Twilight had remained ahead of him the entire walk back, saying nothing, not even looking back at him. To be perfectly honest, he thought to himself, I think I’d prefer her to just yell at me and get it over with!
He made to join Twilight on the couch, but as he approached, Twilight raised her hind legs up and lay across the entire couch. The colt took a step back, standing guiltily in front of her.
“Alright Talisman.” Twilight said, her voice deceptively level. Pausing for a moment, she coughed for a moment before continuing “Start talking. What was that all about?”
He rubbed the back of his mane “You mean me runnin’ off into the forest?” he said, hoping to steer he conversation away from…
“I mean you trying to smash that pony into a pulp with a rock!” she snapped.
His ears drooped further “Oh, yeah…that. I guess…I guess I kinda lost my temper there…”
“No, no, losing your temper is throwing things across the room!” Twilight replied “Trying to kill somepony is a little more than losing your temper!”
She got up, stomping forwards until she was nose to nose with Talisman “Now, you’ve got some serious explaining to do. That unicorn friend of yours. What happened to him?!”
Talisman gulped, “I told you...h-he died. Long dead... The masked ponies got him.”
She glared into his eyes “I know that part. But that masked pony said that he had…ugh, harvested a unicorn before. He even thanked you for something. Now, tell me everything.”
He had hoped that he could have avoided this, for several reasons. For one thing, it was a bit of a painful memory. It’s never easy remembering your best friend being slowly drained of life before your eyes…especially with what he had to do at the end. But another little reason was Twilight Sparkles’s potential reaction. If she knew what was in store for her, would she still want to investigate?
Taking a deep breath, Talisman stepped back from the unicorn mare and sat down on the ground “Alright…Let’s see…so, there was me and Thistle, in the Everfree Forest. We’d been watching the masked ponies again tonight. But when me and him turn to leave, I step on a twig...”
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Talisman froze as he felt the twig snap under his hoof. The cracking sound echoed through the clearing. He looked up at Thistle, who stared back at him with a look of pure horror. The illuminating glow of his horn hastily went out “…Busted.”
There came voices from the clearing behind them, mingled with the sounds of hooves running here and there
“What was that?!”
“Somepony’s watching us!”
“They’re over there! After them!”
Talisman gasped as he saw the silhouetted forms of several ponies rushing in their direction. Taking instantly to his hooves, he called back to Thistle “C’mon dude! Follow me!”
He nodded and galloped in his wake. The pair ran through the trees, branches and brambles scratching at them. Looking back for the briefest of moments, Talisman saw the pale white masks of the ponies, hot on their hooves.
He took a sharp right, Thistle following behind. They ducked behind a broad tree trunk, crouching low as possible. Talisman tried desperately to keep his breathing as quiet as possible, but to no avail. It came in ragged wheezes as he struggled to stay calm. Thistle was no better. Eyes frantically glancing about, he quivered on the spot, trying to keep his own breath from coming out in shaky sobs. His denim jacket was torn and scuffed all over from the frantic run through the undergrowth.
Both ponies froze, however, as there came the familiar clomph, clomph, clomph of hooves on the ground. Backs pressed against the tree trunk, they listened as they listened to the voices that emanated from the other side of the tree.
“They can’t be far. I know they went this way.”
“Then hurry up and find them! They saw us! We can’t let them tell anypony!”
The sounds of the masked ponies came closer, as they fanned out to search. Thistle gulped silently, shuffling sideways around the trunk of the massive tree, as one of them seemed to be coming around the trunk.
It was not until he felt his hoof step onto a thin, wiry tail, that he realised his mistake. Then everything happened at once.
The masked pony spun around on the spot, shrieking as Thistle stepped on his tail. Both jumped back as their eyes met. But the masked one got his composure back sooner, lunging forwards at the unicorn.
“Tally! HELP!” he shouted as the pony landed ontop of his back. His legs
gave out from underneath him and he collapsed to the ground.
“I got him! Over here!” the pony shouted victoriously. Quick as a flash, the other three masked ponies hurried around the trunk to where he was.
In the rush of activity, Talisman had managed to jump into a thorny shrub that lay nearby. Gasping with pain as several thorns embedded themselves in his flesh, he peeked through the foliage.
There, he could see Thistle, pinned down by the hooves of two of the masked ponies. He bucked and heaved, desperate to be free, but they were strong. They determinedly held him down, while the other two masked ponies came around the trunk, with another figure with them.
Talisman felt his blood run cold. It was that strange, faceless creature. On gaunt, skeletal limbs, It strode in the wake of the masked ponies, only just taller than Its cohorts. It turned Its blank visage to look down at Thistle, who lay frozen in fear as he looked up at the monster that had so haunted his dreams ever since he saw it illustrated in that storybook.
Both he and Talisman could only watch in petrified terror as the back of the hideous thing began to shift and ripple. A small black lump appeared to sprout from Its back and extend out into a thin, black tendril.
Talisman did not bother to blink back the tears which now flowed freely down his face as he watched the black tendril snake through the air towards his friend. He wanted to help him, he wanted to rush in, buck those masked ponies out of the way, grab Thistle and run for it, back to Ponyville. But his limbs were seized up from a mix of exhaustion and sheer terror.
He could only watch in horrific fascination as the tendril inched closer and closer to Thistle’s face. The unicorn turned his head and gave one last teary-eyed look to his friend, before the tendril looped around his horn.
It was as if his body had been hooked to a massive battery, as he bucked and writhed. His face contorted into a silent scream, his eyes rolling in their sockets. His clothes were scuffed and shredded even more as he slammed onto the ground again and again, his sunglasses lying shattered on the ground. As he squirmed and convulsed, the black tendril pulsated, as if something was passing from Thistle’s body and up the tendril into It. With each pulse, both Thistle and It twitched: the former in agony and pain, the latter in pleasure and satisfaction, like one enjoying a sumptuous meal.
Talisman watched for several more minutes as the faceless thing continued to drain Thistle. With every minute of the sick ritual that passed, Thistle grew more pale and thin, while Its limbs grew less skeletal, stretching further up, as Its coat grew subtly more bright and pale.
By the time the creature had drained Its fill, it was almost twice as tall, almost taller than one of the Royal Princesses. Its tendril relaxed its grip on the unicorn’s horn and retracted into Its back once again. Then, without another word, the masked ponies and the faceless thing turned around and returned to the darkness of the trees. As he stumbled against an exposed root, one of the masked ponies failed to notice as a small, black book fell out of his jacket pocket. It lay on the ground behind him as he silently followed his cohorts.
It was several minutes before Talisman could work up the courage to leave his hiding place. His quivering limbs carried him into the small clearing, silent once more. With a twinge of nausea, he looked down at what was left of his friend.
Thistle resembled something out of a grave. His coat, once an earthy tan colour, was now a sickly pale colour. His once bulky frame had become skeletal and frail, as he lay curled up on the ground. His eyes were rolled up in his head and his mouth hung open. His mane and tail, once thick and brown, was shedding around him.
But he was not dead!
His hoof twitched as he looked feebly up at Talisman. His mouth moved silently, forming unheard words.
Talisman leaned in close to Thistle’s head and heard the faintest whisper escape those cracked and pale lips:
“…Kill me…”
He leapt back. Somehow, Thistle was still alive, after his ordeal. If one could call this living.
“…Kill me…please…do it…”
Talisman grimaced at the pitiful and disgusting sight. His limbs twitched weakly as he scuffed the dirt with a forehoof.
“Please…Kill me.” Thistle wheezed again, a little louder.
The colt gulped. He had to. In this state, Thistle may as well be. Stepping forwards, he looked away from his friend at his feet, and placed both forehooves ontop of his head. Thistle’s skin felt as thin and flimsy as pastry under his hooves.
“…Th…thanks…”
Talisman closed his eyes, preparing to do the unthinkable “I’m sorry…I’m so, so sorry…”
With a push, he leaned all his weight onto his forehooves and pushed down.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Twilight held a hoof to her mouth as she coughed and hacked again, struggling not to vomit. “Y-you…killed him?”
Talisman sat down on the floor, nodding pitifully “Had to. H-He was as good as dead anyway... It was an act of mercy for him…”
He slumped forwards until his head rested on the floor. His voice held the slightest hint of a sob as he said “S-still feel it…His skull, just giving way under me…”
Before the unicorn could say another word, her stomach heaved without warning. Putting a hoof to her mouth, she staggered to the kitchen and hung her head over the sink. Here come those sweets...
After a few minutes of spectacular vomiting, Twilight took a deep breath, soaking her head under the tap. Leaving the water on to wash away the contents of the sink, she took another deep breath and headed back into the living room. As she left, she failed to notice the subtle streaks of blood in the sink, mingled with what was once her lunch.
When she returned, she found Talisman in quite a state. He lay on the floor in a fetal position, his hooves up against his chest. Twilight watched the pitiful display as the young colt curled up on the floor, quivering and muttering to himself. All this time, she thought he was just a strange little colt. But this story shed a little light on his current state of mind. At least, now she knew the point when he had snapped and turned into the twitchy, paranoid wreck that lay before her.
“So…is that why you didn’t tell me?” She said, her voice barely above a whisper.
He snapped ”You try talking about mercy-killing your best friend! It’s not exactly a walk in the park!”
Twilight stepped back “Okay, okay…I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”
Talisman got up and silently walked over to a bowl of sugarcubes that rested on the low table in the middle of the room. Dipping his head into the bowl, he emerged with a white cube held in his teeth. He slurped noisily on it for a few moments. “I-I guess yer wanting to leave now. Go ahead, I understand…Not exactly comforting, knowing your study partner is a murderer…”
He hung his head, his brunette mane hanging over his eyes. Here it comes, he thought. She’ll agree and leave, and she’ll start researching on her own. And I’ll be back to square one...
But his inner voice was cut off as he felt a pair of soft, violet forelegs wrap around his shoulders and draw him into a gentle embrace. Opening his eyes, Talisman saw the back of Twilight’s dark purple mane, as she held him close to her, like a mother embracing a child. His limbs froze stiff against his side as a bead of cold sweat ran down his snout. She was hugging him. Twilight. Was. Hugging. Him.
After a moment, Twilight broke the hug and looked at Talisman, a gentle smile on her face “You numbskull.”
Talisman could only look back at her, dull surprise in his eyes.
“You really think I’m gonna abandon this, just because you did what you had to? Granted, you did…kill Thistle. But like you said, it was an act of mercy. You might remember, the Slendermane tried to drain me before.”
She shuddered as she remembered the horrific experience. “I know how he felt. If I had to go through any more of that, I…I probably would have preferred to die.”
Twilight stood up, determination burning in her eyes “And that’s why I’m going to stick by you, and see this through to the end. I’m not going to let that monster get away with what he did to me…what he did to Thistle.”
She stamped a hoof as she said in a voice, clear and purposeful “I’m going to stop those masked freaks. I’ll stop their Great Work, before they hurt anypony else. And wherever that Slendermane monster came from, I’m gonna make sure he goes back there, and stays there for good!”
She held out a forehoof to Talisman, who still lay on the floor. She looked
down at him, her face set in a grim smile “What about you. Are you still in?”
Talisman looked up at her. He saw he determination burning in her eyes. He marvelled at her strength and tenacity, her stubborn refusal to give up. Even in the face of sheer horror, even against unnameable horrors from beyond the farthest walls of reality, she stood her ground. Rubbing his eyes, he got to his hooves and tapped a forehoof to hers. He returned her resolute grin in full.
“I’m in.”