//------------------------------// // Part 6: Something New // Story: Lost in a Terrifying World // by Erisn //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle looked at her hooves. Her glorious, plain, unbroken hooves. She tapped her right hoof experimentally, flinching for a pain that never came. Then Twilight raised both her wings, stretching them towards the ceiling of the cavern. Nothing was broken, nothing was bent. She was healthy. Whole. Undamaged, and more importantly, alive. Getting a pile of new books for Hearth’s Warming Eve wouldn’t have made Twilight as happy as she was now. Receiving an award for being the Celestia’s Greatest Pupil wouldn’t even merit a blip on Twilight’s Happiness-O-Meter by comparison. Being named the next Star Swirl the Bearded wouldn’t— …Okay, maybe that would rival Twilight’s current state of exultation. But for the moment, the purple alicorn just gave thanks that she was alive and well enough to give thanks. The Tree of Harmony had done it. The Elements had blasted that creature all the way into oblivion and everypony was safe and healed and free to— It’s a very unpleasant experience to have one’s hopes shattered. Twilight had been dancing in happiness on Cloud Ten, but the sight of the grey and black figure standing in the center of the cavern brought her back down to earth instantly. It was still here? That was it. Twilight was going to send Princess Celestia a very upset note about the Elements of Harmony. The figure was just…standing there. This was good at least. Twilight hoped it was dead; perhaps the Elements had left it brain-dead and it was just standing still in rigor mortis. Twilight doubted it, but she could hope anyways. What was even more disturbing than that however, was Fluttershy still standing just opposite the thin thing and still staring at it. It wasn’t The Stare however; it was just a normal Fluttershy stare. Twilight’s natural thought processes as her brain temporarily overclocked to analyze the situation. It was clear that Fluttershy’s last words had done…something to the monster. The Elements of Harmony had made something happen, no doubt about that. Add in the fact that Twilight had been healed and that the creature wasn’t attacking her or Fluttershy at the moment and you could make the case that it had been subdued, or pacified in some way. Twilight didn’t like the explanation her brain gave her, but her mind had quintuple-checked the details, and it was impossible to argue with your own brain. Besides, even if the slender figure was going to start attacking them again, what could Twilight do about it? Some days you just had to turn your brain off and roll with what was happening. Twilight trotted across the cavern, not to Fluttershy, but to where her friends had been. Each one of them was groaning, standing up in some state of confusion, but very much alive and no longer injured. Rainbow Dash was holding her head in her hooves and Applejack as on her front hooves, as if not trusting her back legs to have healed, but both looked relatively okay. Rarity on the other hoof was clutching at her horn with both hooves, holding it firmly and refusing to let go. “Rarity, are you okay?” Twilight asked in concern. She would have been very surprised if the answer had been ‘yes’, but asking simple questions had been part of the instructions on dealing with shock in her book, Treating Mental Psychosis for Dummies. Rarity jerked, but quickly glanced up at Twilight before hastily removing both hooves for her horn. “Twilight! Why yes. I’m…fine darling. Absolutely fine.” One of her hooves rose almost unconsciously to touch her horn again. “Well, I’m not okay.” Rainbow Dash stood up, both wings raised in anger or excitement. “What the heck happened? One minute I was flying through the sky, then bam. Everything goes dark, and now I’m here!” “Ah don’t even remember that!” Applejack interjected. “Ah was about ta give that grey beanpole a right buckin’ when everything went dark!” Her eyes widened as more memory unearthed itself. “Apple Bloom! Is she…?” “Ah’m right here sis.” Applebloom got to her feel with a groan. “Ah feel as if ah’ve been drinkin’ too much cider again. What the hay happened?” “Yeah!” A pink blur raced around Twilight and the others and stopped, vibrating. Pinkie Pie’s coat gleamed in the cavern’s light, and her fluffy mane was back with extra sproing. “I thought for sure I was a goner when Slender finally got me. I was bleeding all over the floor, and I was seeing my entire life flash before my eyes, except with more balloons, and then, suddenly I was here! And unharmed! It must have been magic!” “It was magic,” Twilight said before Pinkie could speak again. “The Elements saved us at the last moment when we were all about to die.” “You mean they activated on their own after all our efforts to use them?” Rarity was indignant. “Preposterous!” “I’m not sure that it was entirely random,” Twilight said slowly. “Everypony was down, including me, when Fluttershy tried to stare down the thing. She was using The Stare, but that didn’t do much. And then she said ‘stop’, and there was a flash of light and…” Twilight’s voice trailed off helplessly. “Ya mean ta say that the Elements worked after Fluttershy talked to the thing?” Applejack’s voice was just as incredulous as Twilight felt. “That don’t make a lick a’ sense!” “Yeah, who ever heard of a monster that went away because someone asked it nicely?” Rainbow Sash sneered. “Maybe I should go and tell Chrysalis that I think she’s a jerk. I bet that’d scare her away.” “Um girls?” Applebloom tried to speak, but Rarity interrupted her. “That’s as may be Rainbow Dash, but we simply must go looking for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo! They were in the forest, and I dread to think what might have happened to them.” “Girls…” “That’s right! We’ve gotta look for Scoots and Sweetie Belle right away!” “Hey girls?” Pinkie Pie interrupted the conversation. “Why is Slender Man still standing over there and not ripping our guts out as we speak?” All heads turned, and four voices gasped as one. “It’s still alive!?” “We gotta get out a’ here and call in reinforcements!” “What’s Fluttershy doing with that monster? Oh quick, Twilight, blast it with a spell!” “QUIET!” Twilight screamed and was rewarded with a shocked silence. “Girls, I don’t know what in Equestria is happening, but we need to keep calm. Clearly, that thing isn’t attacking us any longer. If everypony is okay, I think we need to go to Fluttershy and see if we can communicate with this monster…thing.” “What?” Pinkie Pie screeched. “You want to talk with the Slender Man? Are you crazy?” “What in the hay is a Slender Man?” Applejack asked. “Is that another one of them humans Twilight mentioned?” “The Slender Man isn’t a human, silly! The Slender Man is an eldritch abomination from urban legend that preys on humans and ponies, slowly driving them insane with his presence, haunting them until they go insane and die or become one of his mindless proxies!” There was a lengthy pause. Finally Rainbow Dash asked, “Pinkie, did you just make all that up?” “Me? Don’t be ridiculous Dash! The Slender Man is an established being from the beyond that has laid waste to countless realities before this one! I thought everypony knew about the Slender Man. He’s famous among the multi-dimensional community as one of the scariest, most deadly beings from the unknown that exists!” Pinkie Pie looked around at her stupefied friends, and seemed to think some further emphasis was needed. “Duh.” “That’s…I don’t…I think I…” Twilight felt her mental gears begin to slip, but rallied with all the aplomb she could muster. “Thank you, Pinkie. Maybe you could explain that to us again? Later? At length? Repeatedly? But right now, we need to do something about that.” Twilight indicated the still figure of what was presumably the Slender Man. “He’s not attacking us anymore. Pinkie, is that normal?” “Absolutely not! The Slender Man never shows mercy, or gives up! It’s totally impossible!” Pinkie gave Twilight a huge grin. “I guess the Elements must’ve deangrified him or something.” “Deangri—you mean pacified?” “Yep! I bet he’s thinking of love and happiness now! He’s probably ready to give us all a great big hug!” ---- The Slender Man wondered whether killing all the ponies would make him feel better. His head was aching, not with physical pain, but with the mental confusion accompanying a major paradigm shift. Ponies could talk. Which meant…what, exactly? Everything. Nothing. But ponies talked using sonic vibrations in the air. That meant humans talked. In fact, it meant that a lot of other species Slender had killed over the years probably had been able to talk. Which meant… Nothing. The game was clear. He was supposed to kill anything and everything he encountered, allowing them to attempt to gather the eight pages while he hunted them to their doom. That was the rules of the game. But that had been different. Slender had regarded himself as the extra-dimensional equivalent of a pest exterminator, ridding reality of the annoying forms of life that seemed to pollute it. He cleaned up the ecosystem, raised the fertility of the surrounding area…he even helped stop global warming! But that had been about killing nuisances, not people. Slender had watched humans interact down the eons. They had families, some sort of culture, and interacted every day. But he had never been able to communicate with them. So he wiped them out. But now… He had once seen a family of humans sit down at a table and consume pieces of roasted animal flesh. They had been using the same kind of sonic vocalizations that yellow pony had spoken to him with. He had listened for a time, wondering perhaps whether they were actually intelligent in some way. He watched them eat for five whole minutes, and then he had killed them all. The Slender Man wondered what that family had been talking about. He certainly didn’t feel bad for killing humans; he had no moral system whatsoever to speak of, and regarded humans as nothing more than highly-advanced ants. But he had wondered, some days, when the corpses piled high enough to blot out the sky. Slender had sometimes wondered what it would be like to talk to another being like himself. The eldritch didn’t speak to one another. Instead, they competed. It was all just a contest of whom or what could wipe out as many humans as possible, in the most horrific ways possible. Oh, there were moments when one of the ancients would make some kind of contact with another, but they were never more than brief exchanges of data, humans killed, interesting realities visited, and so forth. The eldritch never talked with each other. They simply…drifted. Slender looked down. The yellow pony was still staring at him. It wasn’t the soul-piercing stare she had used earlier, but it was still pretty creepy. “Um, hello. Can you understand me?” And now it was talking to him. That was worse. What was it saying? Slender wasn’t smart. For one thing, he rarely needed to use his brain when playing the game. It was just appear, watch his victim’s head explode, disappear, rinse, repeat. Another consideration was that Slender didn’t have a brain, not physically, at least. But his mind was capable of more than three-dimensional thought, and was able to think sideways as well as back to front. And now that he knew the pony was talking to him, he could concentrate on the verbal transmissions and decipher them. Let’s see…the pony had given him some kind of greeting-welcome phrase, and then had inquired into his comprehensive ability in regards to her own action-word-thoughts. Perhaps the magic that had made him understand her words earlier was still working, because this was easy. “My name is Fluttershy.” Fluttershy. An amalgamation of the concept of limited flight with awkwardness-anxiety-timidness based off of social dynamics. Slender Man was intrigued. It seemed an odd name for a pony that could stare one of the Eldritch down. “I…uh, I hope you’re not planning on doing any more mean things.” Slender wondered what Fluttershy’s response would have been had he tried to kill her after that statement. Stared at him some more, probably. He also wondered about her sanity. He was clearly not responding to Fluttershy, but the pony seemed capable of carrying on a conversation without his contribution. Slender had always assumed conversation involved two people, but maybe he had been wrong. “It’s not that I think you’re a bad person, I just think you were confused about things.” Slender was certainly confused. Did she mean he was a bad person because he tried to kill her? He hadn’t been confused about that. Killing ponies, humans, and other life was part of his purpose. “I’m sure Twilight and the others will forgive you if you apologize really, really nicely.” Twilight? Others? That must be referring to the other ponies he had encountered. And they all had names. Fascinating. But apologize? It was a word that seemed to mean to request forgiveness-absolution for deeds committed. Why would he do that? Slender would really have preferred Fluttershy to look away, or even blink so he could move. He couldn’t do anything with her staring, and he really wanted to move. “This was probably a great big misunderstanding, and we’ll all feel better once we say sorry. Um. Maybe.” Yes. A misunderstanding. Apologies. Slender was willing to exude as much sorrow for attempted murder once she stopped looking at her. He really, really wanted to move. He wasn’t used to being kept in one place for more than a minute or two at most. “Um. What’s your name?” Slender was screaming inside his head. There’s nothing worse than wanting to move and not being able to. “You seem very still.” Slender had been to hell, on occasion. Hells existed in the spiritual planes of many realities, or underground, or even inside strip malls on occasion. It wasn’t a bad place to hang out when you were terror and nightmare incarnate. Even the denizens of the most horrific purgatories tended to walk warily around the Slender Man. He had thus never gotten the idea of ‘being in hell’ until now. “Are you…unhappy? Is that why you’re not talking?” Maybe it was possible to destroy oneself with the power of one’s own mind. Slender gave it a go. Self-annihilation did not occur, but he was willing to repeat the process as many times as required. “Maybe you’re just surprised. I certainly was when the Elements of Harmony healed me.” Ah yes, the Elements. That must have been the burst of concept-magic that he had felt. It had originated from the glowing tree. Slender wondered whether the Elements could kill him. He could but hope. “Oh, maybe I should explain about the Elements of Harmony.” Oh, please no. “You see, I’m one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I’m actually the Element of Kindness.” Slender felt hope at that. Maybe Kindness extended to a mercy killing? “I’m sure you must feel very disoriented by what’s just happened. But don’t worry: I’ll help explain everything. You see, you’re in the Everfree Forest, which is right outside of Ponyville. Oh. You don’t know where Ponyville is, do you? Well, Ponyville is in Equestria. And Equestria is ruled over by Princess Celestia. Do you know her? She’s a wonderful alicorn who’s always so nice whenever I see her, and she has a sister…” Slender floated in a world of mental agony. He had no desire to kill Fluttershy or anything else at the moment; he was far too interested in their ability to communicate. But if she didn’t stop staring at him in a few seconds, he was about to crank his aura back up and eviscerate her with his tendrils. Fortunately, the Slender Man was spared having to kill Fluttershy by an interruption. Five ponies, and one of the fillies were making their way towards him and Fluttershy. The Purple One…or rather, the purple pony (name currently unknown) was leading the group. “Uh, Fluttershy.” The purple pony interrupted the pegasus as she was describing something she called ‘Angel’ in minute detail. Fluttershy turned her head, and Slender felt relief like nothing he had ever experienced. Thank the eternal void. Thank the endless gibbering, and the space-beyond-spaces. Slender disappeared into his shadowy world and relaxed there for a few blissful seconds. That had perhaps been the most unpleasant experience he had ever had in his entire duration of being. Slender wasn’t…used to other beings staring at him. It made him feel almost prickly, and filled with a yearning desire not to be the target of their attention. Slender’s entire experience with humanity as a whole had been from the behind, so to speak. Most of Slender Man’s time spent with humans was with the back of their heads as they ran in fear. Only in the last few seconds did they see him from the front, and that was usually the unseeing sight of a corpse. But the pegasus pony, Fluttershy, had been staring at him – and talking to him – as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Did other ponies and humans talk like that all the time? Ridiculous! Slender floated in his void world, where was slowed to the point of nonexistence. This day had been the strangest he had ever had, and he hadn’t even killed anyone. But he had learned that ponies and presumably humans could talk, and he had even had one stare at him for minutes without dying! Incredible. But what should he do now? Well…he could kill them. It was what the game told him to do, anyways. The part of his mind that was the game urged him to ignore this newfound knowledge, and just wipe the ponies out. It was tempting, but Slender was curious. The ponies could talk, and that meant they were intelligent. He wanted to know more, even at the cost of being stared at. It hadn’t been entirely unpleasant, mark you. It was just a new and uncomfortable experience. Murderous intent and curiosity warred in Slender’s being, but curiosity won out in the end. He could stand a little staring, if it meant finding out more about these ponies. ‘You could only disembowel a mammal once’, as the saying went. Slender reappeared behind the group of ponies, but as he did so, a horrible thought occurred to him. If he wasn’t exuding his presence, they wouldn’t have trouble staring at him. And if they didn’t need to look away, how would he get them to avert their eyes? He had no mouth. How could he talk without a mouth? ---- Twilight realized the Slender Man was gone the instant Fluttershy’s eyes left it. One moment it was there, the next it had disappeared. All things considered, Twilight might have panicked, or at least cried out in alarm, but the figure reappeared behind her before she could even react. Twilight spun around like a top, and aimed her horn at the thin figure. She was glad to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack had adopted similar postures of readiness. Fluttershy might believe the monster was harmless, if her nonstop description of her pet Angel was anything to go by, but Twilight wasn’t convinced. There was a tense silence as Twilight and her friends stared at the Slender Man. It seemed completely unchanged since the first time she had seen it. The tendrils were gone, and its face had resumed that blank, unchanging mannequin look that was creepy but at least not openly hostile. Still, Twilight waited, the beginnings of a destructive magical spell sizzling away in her mind. The Slender Man didn’t move. Twilight wondered why. Surely it would do somethi— Oh. That’s right. “Uh, I don’t think it’s going to do anything, girls.” Twilight said somewhat sheepishly. “It can’t move when we’re staring at it, apparently.” “Really? That’s stupid.” Rainbow Dash hovered in front of the still figure, staring at it from all angles. “Why can’t it move when we’re staring at it?” “Ah dunno. Maybe it’s shy?” Applejack suggested. “Don’t be silly Applejack!” Pinkie Pie giggled, “the Slender Man can’t move when anything looks at it! That’s just how the game works!” “You keep saying that Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said patiently, “but what is this game you speak of? I certainly don’t think this thing has done anything that merits the title of entertainment, do you?” “Oh, that’s all part of the game! All the Eldtrich play it. The goal is to kill as many sentient beings as possible and only ends when the multiverse is scoured of life, and nothing but death and dust remain in every reality!” Pinkie Pie gave the others a huge smile. “But that would be too easy normally, so every monster gets a big restriction like not being able to move when somepony’s watching it, or being allergic to shellfish. That way, there’s always a chance for someone to survive!” There was a silence. It stretched out for a few minutes. After a while, Twilight managed to close her mouth. She trotted over to Pinkie and stuck out a hoof. “Hair sample.” Pinkie Pie’s smile didn’t falter as she plucked a strand of curly cotton-pink hair and handed it to Twilight. Twilight examined the pink hair with an examination spell. Nothing. She turned to Pinkie again. “Mouth.” Pinkie Pie obligingly opened her mouth. Twilight looked inside, but saw nothing. She smelled Pinkie Pie’s breath. It smelled like candy and sweets, but nothing more. Twilight stepped back, and nodded to her friends. “She’s clean.” Everypony sighed, but not out of relief. Pinkie Pie had never failed a drug test, but sometimes Twilight wished she would. It would make life a lot simpler just to pin all of Pinkie Pie’s behavior on heavy-duty narcotics. Maybe she should include a blood test for sugar-content from now on? “Hooray!” Pinkie Pie jumped up and down in excitement. “That makes the 132nd drug test I’ve passed so far! We should have a party!” “Later, maybe,” Twilight said, rubbing her forehead with one hoof. “But right now, we have bigger problems.” “Yeah, like how we’re standing right next to a ponicidal mass-murdering monster!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Is anypony else here a little bit worried about that?” “Yeah!” All heads turned as Applebloom piped up. The filly had been uncharacteristically quiet, but she spoke up her eyes barely visible above Applejack’s flank as she hid behind her older sister. “We dunno what happened to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle either! What if it ate my friends?” “Oh, I’m sure it wouldn’t do that.” Fluttershy moved over to nuzzle Applebloom comfortingly. “I gave Mr. Slender Man a good talking to, and I think he’s learned his lesson now.” Twilight avoided looking anypony else in the eye as she replied carefully. “Right. Good job, Fluttershy. But we don’t, uh, we don’t know exactly what this…Slender Man…wants, so we’re a bit stuck. And we need to find Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle of course, but maybe we shouldn’t…” “Leave the Slender Man here to follow us home and horribly murder us when we sleep?” Pinkie Pie interjected. “Good idea, Twilight!” “Oh, he wouldn’t do that, I’m sure.” Fluttershy said cheerfully. “All he wants to do now is learn more about us.” The yellow pegasus turned to smile brightly at the thin figure behind her. ---- The Slender Man nearly jumped out of his skin. How in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster had Fluttershy known what he was thinking? Was she psychic? Could ponies read minds? “Oh, I can’t read minds,” Fluttershy said without looking at Slender Man. “But I can understand what you want to say. It’s the same with my animal friends.” Slender stared at Fluttershy. It is possible to give a damn good stare even without eyes, and Slender was a professional. He could elevate creepy staring to an art form, but Fluttershy didn’t seem to mind at all. Psychic ponies that talked to animals. Slender couldn’t have made this up if he tried. On the other hand however, this was good. This was in fact, perfect. If Fluttershy could translate his thoughts into words— “Oh, I can do that,” Fluttershy said. –Then he, Slender might be able to communicate with these ponies after all. But what should he say? Slender was deeply aware that first impressions were important. Proper presentation and atmospheric build-up was vital before appearing before humans. Do it right and you could give them a heart-attack. Fail, and they’d just laugh at you until you eviscerated them out of sheer exasperation. Slender considered his thoughts carefully. A diplomatic approach would be required given previous events… ---- Twilight watched Fluttershy watch the Slender Man. It was quite interesting, in a creepy sort of way. The still figure didn’t move in the slightest, but Fluttershy nodded her head and twitched her ears back and forth as if listening to something. It made Twilight slightly uneasy. Squirrels, rabbits, even the odd manticore or two was perfectly understandable, but this? Twilight decided to give Fluttershy a psychology evaluation as soon as she had time. Schizophrenia seemed unlikely given that Fluttershy had reliably proven that she really did hear what animals were saying, but you never knew. Fluttershy eventually stopped listening to whatever unseen voice she had been hearing and turned to her friends. “Well, I think Mr. Slender Man would like to apologize to us all.” “Oh really? Sorry? That’s great,” Dash said sarcastically. “What did he say? Yeah, sorry I nearly killed you, but no hard feelings?” “Actually, he wants to give us congratulations on being the most difficult prey he’s ever encountered,” Fluttershy said. “He says that we are ‘clearly superior members of our species’, and thus have ‘demonstrated our genetic viability for future generations.’” Fluttershy gazed at her friends’ expressions, which ranged from blank to horrified. “I, uh, don’t think he really knows what proper compliments are. He was trying to be nice, I think.” “Um. Good. Yes. That’s good.” Twilight said, at a loss for words. “Ah don’t get it. What does ‘genetic viability’ mean? And what the hay does that have to do with future generations?” Applebloom asked, bewildered. “Nothing,” Twilight said hurriedly. “It, uh, means that we’re really…athletic! In good shape. Superior to the average pony.” Applebloom considered this. “Y’know, that don’t sound too bad. Ah guess that’s a pretty good compliment.” “Yeah, but it still don’t excuse him tryin’ to kill us,” Applejack growled. “Anypony else remember that? What’s Mr. Slender Guy got to say about that?” Fluttershy turned back to Slender Man, and seemed to listen for a minute. “Um, well, he says, um, that he was just doing his job,” she explained. “He says that he didn’t know ponies could talk. Or that they were intelligent. If he had, he wouldn’t have tried to kill us.” Fluttershy listened for another second, and then added, “probably.” “That hardly makes me feel reassured,” Rarity exclaimed. “I think this Slender Man seems like a shady, not to mention violent character. Fluttershy, please inform him that while we accept his…apology, we would prefer him to take his homicidal tendencies somewhere else.” Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Applebloom all nodded in agreement. Only Pinkie Pie was silent, apparently in deep thought. Well, deep thought for Pinkie Pie, anyways. Fluttershy however looked distressed at Rarity’s remark. “I don’t think that’s very nice, Rarity. ” “Nevertheless, my point stands. This…Slender fellow must really go. I think I speak for all of us on this.” Fluttershy looked shocked and opened her mouth to protest, but Twilight cut in. “I think Rarity’s right, Fluttershy. Even if it was a…mistake, he did try to kill us. That’s sort of hard to forgive. For everypony’s sake, I think he had better go.” Twilight glanced at the Slender Man. He hadn’t changed but now there seemed to be a, well, drooping quality about him. He seemed almost depressed. Still, Twilight vividly recalled him snapping her wing like a twig. That sort of dampened her pity-factor. Pinkie Pie, who until this point had remained uncharacteristically silent, sidled over to Twilight. “Uh, Twilight,” she whispered. “Even if you tell him to go away, how are you going to make him do anything?” “What?” Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes. “Well, you know Twilight, he’s a being of unimaginable power with the ability to do anything he likes. So how are you planning to stop him following us back to Ponyville? Even if we didn’t want him here, we can’t make him go away, right?” The Slender Man seemed to visibly brighten at Pinkie Pie’s words. Twilight groaned internally. “Pinkie,” Twilight said carefully. “Remember when I had that talk with you about not giving other ponies bad ideas? Like asking if Rainbow Dash could do three Sonic Rainbooms in a row?” “Yes, Twilight?” “I really think that this was one of these times.” Pinkie Pie’s mane deflated slightly. “Sorry, Twilight.” ---- Twilight walked down the road back to Ponyville. She was not alone. Beside her, Fluttershy trotted along, and next to her, Pinkie Pie, bouncing in her unusual state of excited happiness. On Twilgiht’s other side, Applejack was carrying Applebloom, while Sweetie Belle was clinging to Rarity’s mane. Scootaloo had declined to be carried, and instead rode slowly next to Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo’s course was erratic however, and Twilight was glad that Rainbow Dash was hovering right next to her, in case the young pegasus should fall. All three Cutie Mark Crusaders more than half asleep, and completely exhausted from the day’s events. Twilight and the others had found Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, passed out at the edge of the forest. They too had been healed of all wounds, and remarkably coherent and calm for ponies that had nearly died. Twilight believed the Elements of Harmony were responsible for this. They must have blocked the trauma of what had occurred with their magic. Otherwise, Twilight suspected all of her friends would currently be crying, gibbering wrecks. Instead, they were just tired. Twilight herself could have slept for weeks, but it wasn’t even far past midday yet. The entire ordeal with the Slender Man hadn’t even lasted more than an hour. All things considered, Twilight would have given thanks for her survival, tottered off to bed, and sent a letter to Princess Celestia in the morning about her latest adventure. It was just too bad it wasn’t over yet. “Hey Pinkie Pie,” Twilight whispered. “Is it still behind us?” Pinkie Pie seemed to concentrate for a second. Her left ear twitched twice, and her eyebrows wiggled. “Yep, my Pinkie Sense tells me he’s still right behind us.” “Perfect,” sighed Twilight. “I just hope he decides to leave before we get to Ponyville, or there’s going to be a real panic.” “I still don’t understand why we can’t show him around Ponyville,” Fluttershy said quietly. “It wouldn’t be that hard, and he really wants to know more about us.” “Fluttershy, he nearly killed you,” Dash shout-whispered. She was clearly trying not to disturb Scootaloo, who was barely keeping awake as she pushed her scooter along. “He tried to kill all of us! I know you’re the Element of Kindness and all, but don’t you think you’re getting a little carried away?” “I know he was bad, but I think this is like Discord, Dash, I really do. Mr. Slender didn’t know he was doing anything wrong. If we can teach him right from wrong, maybe he won’t hurt other ponies anymore. Remember how Princess Celestia was willing to give even Discord a chance?” “Yes, but Discord never snapped my horn off,” Rarity said. “Honestly Fluttershy, Discord may have caused chaos and transformed Ponyville into a disaster zone, but he’s an innocent scamp compared to this thing. Discord never hurt anypony. Slender Man kills.” “Well, he’s not going to go away even if we ask, so why not show him around Ponyville?” Fluttershy retorted stubbornly. “I think it’s worth a shot.” “Y’know, I think it might be a good idea after all,” Applejack remarked. “Ah hate to say it, but it’d be worse if he decides ta go wanderin’ off and scares somepony out of her wits. ‘Least if we’re watchin’ him, he won’t go around scarin’ folk.” “Yes, but what do we teach him?” Twilight wanted to know. “I don’t even think this Slender Man’s in the same time-space dimension as we are. He had no idea about emotions, or talking, or…anything.” “We can show him what we do every day,” Fluttershy said firmly. “If we show him what ponies do, maybe Mr. Slender will understand more about us.” “Could be worth a shot,” Twilight said carefully. “And I suppose it would allow us to supervise him. Still, it seems sort of risky…” “Please Twilight,” Fluttershy pleaded. She gave Twilight one of her most adorable, pleading stares. “I just know I can make him understand.” “Oh, very well.” Twilight really didn’t see that she had any choice in any case. Begrudgingly, Twilight looked over her shoulder. The Slender Man was right behind her. Twilight jumped nearly ten feet into the air before she managed to control her wings. “Uh. Right. Did you hear that Slender Man? We’ll show you how we ponies live for the rest of the day, but after that you have to promise to leave. Got that?” “He says, ‘yes’,” Fluttershy said after a moment. “And ‘thank you.’” “Great,” Twilight said, unsure of what else to say. “Glad that we’re all on the same page.” She had a feeling that it was all going to go wrong, but what could a pony do? He was a being of unimaginable power and scale. He couldn’t be chased away, and Fluttershy was right in that he didn’t seem prone to violence any longer. Twilight hoped that she and her friends could show him a bit of pony culture, and get him to leave without too many problems arising. Somehow, she doubted very much that would be the case.