“Are you sure we should be doing this?” asked Sweetie Belle. “I mean, Big Mac seemed really scared of us going.”
The crusaders were in their clubhouse, packing saddlebags full of things that they would probably need for the trip through the mysterious forest. “Well, yeah,” replied Applebloom. “But this could be our one chance of getting our cutie marks.”
“That’s what you said about journalism!”
“Well we had Diamond Tiara to ruin that for us. I’m sure that not only will we get our cutie marks, but we’ll be famous throughout Equestria!”
“Gee,” Scootaloo said under her breath. “And I thought I was ambitious over Rainbow Dash commenting on my scooter skills...”
“Even still, aren’t you a little curious about what all’s there? Who knows, maybe there’s some hidden treasure that nopony knows anything about. It wouldn’t kill us to try.”
“Actually, it could,” commented Sweetie Belle. “Don’t forget that only a few ponies ever returned.”
“No pony ever said they actually died. Maybe they were just teleported to some faraway land where they spent the rest of their lives in...”
“Terror? Fear? Agony?”
“I was going to say ‘paradise’ but you had to darken the mood, didn’t you?”
“Well, we can see your mind’s made up, Applebloom,” said Scootaloo. “I guess we’ll go with you, but only to gallop off back to Ponyville to get help once something goes wrong.”
“You say that as though it’s a guarantee!”
“Only because it is!”
“Both of you, stop!” Sweetie Belle shouted suddenly. “I agree with Scootaloo in the fact that something will go wrong, but I think we should go for it, anyway. Besides, strength in numbers, am I right?”
“I guess,” said Scootaloo.
“Then it’s settled,” said Applebloom. “We’ll all meet at Sweet Apple Acres at midnight tonight. Are we all in agreement?”
“Sure,” said Sweetie Belle.
“I’m not getting out of this one, am I?” asked Scootaloo. She was answered by the other two quietly shaking their heads. “Fine.”
The three then did their group high-hoof. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, Explorers!”
That night, Applebloom was having a pretty restless sleep. She dreamt that she was walking through a forest with nothing but a flashlight in her mouth. That’s when she heard a strange noise similar to static but not quite. She turned around to find a tall dark creature with a white, faceless head staring back at her. She tried to scream, but her own voice was drowned out by the ever-intensifying static. She did her best to gallop away, but something had caught her hooves. The creature had tentacles coming out of its back and was using them to bind her hooves. She continued to try screaming, but the static kept getting louder and louder. The creature leaned in closer to Applebloom and seemed to say over the static, “I’m waiting for you. If I couldn’t have your brother, I’ll take you instead. You and your little friends... and I’ll make sure you suffer. I’ll make you suffer like you never have before. You’ll never know peace, quiet, or your precious ‘harmony’ ever again...”
Applebloom was suddenly awakened by a ‘moo’ that came from outside. She was breathing heavily and wouldn’t have noticed the noise if she hadn’t heard it again. She went over to her window where Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were waving. She waved back and rushed out the door, downstairs, and outside to join the others. “Are you packed?” asked Scootaloo.
“Yeah,” Applebloom replied weakly, “Packed everything before I went to bed.”
“Applebloom, are you okay?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yeah,” Applebloom replied, yawning. “Just a bad dream, that’s all.”
“Well, just shake it off,” said Scootaloo. “I wanna hurry up and get this overwith.”
Just as the trio was about to leave the farm, they were stopped by Big Mac, who seemed to be waiting for them at the exit. “Going somewhere, my little ponies?” he asked. (Don’t worry, this won’t turn into another Sweet Apple Massacre)
“Uh, no,” Scootaloo replied. “We were just...”
“There’s a way to beat him.”
“What? Beat who? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Heh, heh...”
“Slender. There’s one way to beat Slender.”
“Why would we want to know that?” asked Applebloom. “It’s not like we’re going up to Slender’s front door and taking him on hoof-to-hoof.”
“Applebloom, I would have thought Applejack would have taught you better about honesty. Now, are you going to take my life-saving advice or not?” The three fillies looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to Big Mac and nodded. “Okay. The thing is, Slender isn’t really all that worried about trespassers, just trespassers stealing his journal pages that he has hidden around the forest. He spends the entirety of your stay trying to stop you from collecting them all, but if you find all eight, he kicks his efforts into high gear. When he catches you then, he doesn’t kill you like he normally would.”
“I told you this really could kill us, Applebloom!” Sweetie Belle said.
“Anyway, he doesn’t kill you, he knocks you out, recovers his journal pages, and condemns you to a life of fear on top of your previously normal life. However, if you can collect all eight pages and escape the forest before he finds you, he may not be able to affect you, anymore. There’s a chance you’ll become ‘Slender-proof.’”
“‘Slender-proof?’” repeated Scootaloo. “How would that help us once we’re out of the forest?”
Big Macintosh pointed up at his head. “You won’t end up like me.”
“Don’t worry, big brother,” said Applebloom, hugging Big Mac. “If we can’t help you, we’ll at least make sure Slender pays for what he’s done to you.”
“Thanks, little sis,” Big Mac replied with his voice breaking a little. “I hope you come back safe.”
“I will, don’t worry.” Applebloom then broke off from the hug. “Good bye. I’ll see you soon.” She and the others then trotted off towards the forest.
“One can only hope,” Big Mac said to himself. He then turned around and made his way back to the house.
After a little while, the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally made it to the entrance to the forest. “Wow,” Applebloom said as she was looking up at the forest. “This place is kind of scary.”
“Yeah,” commented Scootaloo. “Look at how high those trees are.”
“And look at the ground in front of us,” added Sweetie Belle. The ground before them was, indeed, strange. There was an evident border to the forest. On their side, there was moonlight, but on the forest side, it was nearly pitch-black, making the moonlit grass seem like it were in the shining sun.
“Heh, anypony feel like chickening out, yet?” asked Scootaloo in a shaky voice.
“I’m not going to let my brother down,” said Applebloom. “I’m going.”
“I want my cutie mark just as much as you two do,” said Sweetie Belle. “I’m going, too.”
Scootaloo sighed in defeat, hung her head, and raised her hoof. “I’m going, too.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” asked Applebloom. “Let’s go.” And with that, the three naive fillies galloped at top speed into the forest.