“Redemption.” The word hung flat and heavy in the air. Applejack looked at Twilight, a dark frown on her face. “That’s what you call him nearly killin’ you?”
Twilight shifted slightly, but not because she was discomforted by Applejack’s tone. Her gaze ran from pony to pony, all five of her friends who were facing her and the Slender Man in a rough semicircle. They weren’t bearing the news of what had happened last night well. “Yes,” Twilight said carefully and deliberately. “Redemption. That’s the only word I knew that can describe what happened, Applejack. He – the Slender Man was going to kill me, but he stopped when he realized there was another way.”
Twilight looked from face to face. She had explained as best she could, but their expressions ranged from shock to horror to anger. Predictably, Fluttershy simply looked tearful and heartbroken over Slender’s actions, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash seemed to be in shock. It was Pinkie Pie and Applejack that surprised Twilight the most, however. Both their expressions were that of fury.
From Applejack, Twilight would have expected no less, but on Pinkie Pie…anger was such a foreign word when it came to Pinkie, but this was even more drastic. Rage was the only description Twilight could give, and it made her friend look…scary.
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Rainbow Dash said. “The Slender Man appears in your room. He tries to kill you by strangling you to death. And then he sees a bit of paper and stops, and suddenly everything’s okay?”
“Yes,” Twilight said levelly. “It wasn’t entirely his fault. He was compelled to try to kill me, kill us all. And when he realized that there was an alternative solution, he begged for forgiveness, Rainbow Dash. Do you understand that?”
Rainbow Dash thought about this for a second. “No.” She said flatly. “That doesn’t excuse anything. We gave him a chance the first time, and this is how he repays us? I say we kick his sorry behind out of Equestria right now.”
“Ah’m for that as well.” Applejack pawed the ground, her expression thunderous. “There’ve been too many near misses with this fellow. First the apple and now this? He tried to kill us all. No excuses, Twilight. He’s got ta go.”
Twilight didn’t turn around, but she felt the emotions emanating from the Slender Man. She could feel his sorrow, his guilt, and not least his fear of being labeled a monster and sent away. Was this what it was like when Fluttershy talked with animals?
“Look everypony, I know this was bad, but he didn’t kill me. He stopped, and apologized.”
“After he hurt you?” Pinkie Pie’s voice was a low growl. “He broke his promise and tried to kill you, Twilight! He. Broke. His. Promise!”
Twilight could almost feel the Slender Man cringe back from Pinkie’s anger. “I know you’re upset, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight tried again. “But I’d like you to reconsider one thing.”
“And what’s that?” Dash asked challengingly.
“This. I was the pony who nearly died. I was the one who decided to forgive the Slender Man, and it’s me that knows what really happened. Not you. You weren’t there. You didn’t feel what I felt. I’d like you to forget me nearly dying for one second, and just give him another chance.”
“But Twilight,” Rarity said pleadingly, “just look at what’s become of us, of Ponyville!” She waved a hoof at the town, which was as silent and empty as an unfilled grave. “Everypony is terrified to even leave their home, and he’s left chaos and destruction wherever he went. We’ve all nearly died, you still have bruises around your throat, and Sugarcube corner as well as my boutique is nearly in ruins!”
“I think your store and Sugarcube corner were less the fault of the Slender Man and more of two particular ponies,” Twilight said, glaring meaningfully at Rarity and Pinkie Pie. “I don’t recall him throwing chairs through the window, or setting fire to half the building.”
“That wasn’t my fault,” Pinkie Pie protested as Rarity spluttered and failed to meet Twilight’s eye. “I baked a perfectly normal cake! I just accidentally put fireworks instead of candles on the cake!”
“Pinkie, that means it is your fault,” Twilight pointed out.
“No way! They should totally put warning labels on the boxes telling ponies that fireworks aren’t candles! I’ve half a mind to sue them for fraud and deception!”
“Pinkie, they’re fireworks, their entire purpose is to…” Twilight sighed. “Never mind. What do you think, Fluttershy?” Twilight turned hopefully to her pegasus friend. “You of all ponies would be willing to forgive the Slender Man, right?”
Fluttershy didn’t meet Twilight’s gaze either. Instead, she looked at the ground, drawing an aimless pattern in the dirt. “Um, well Twilight, Angel still hasn’t come out of my closet.”
That was a rather odd thing to say. “And?” Twilight prompted when Fluttershy didn’t continue.
“And, well, none of my other friends will even come near my house, or even Ponyville.” Fluttershy looked up at last, meeting Twilight’s gaze sadly. “They won’t even come out of their homes to eat. They’d rather starve than leave.”
Twilight tried to say something, but she was at aloss for words. She had never expected Fluttershy of all ponies to argue against the Slender Man staying. But if all of her friends were in danger of dying of starvation…
“Look everypony,” she tried again, “I know it’s been hard, even frightening having the Slender Man here. I was terrified of him as well, and I was the most suspicious. But the thing is, none of us have really given him a chance. We showed him around Ponyville, it’s true, but we did it on our terms. We never tried to understand him, just make him understand us. Can’t we give him another chance this time?”
Even Applejack looked somewhat conflicted. But Applejack then looked at her hooves and back at the Slender Man and her tone hardened.
“Be that as it may, Twilight, there’s still the fact that he frightens ponies. Applebloom was fine, but Big Mac an’ Granny Smith didn’t sleep a wink last night. How can we be friends with a thing that makes other ponies too scared to sleep?”
“We can go pony to pony until everyone knows the Slender Man isn’t a threat,” Twilight said firmly. “We can do it if we try. Pinkie,” she made a desperate appeal to her friend, “you know the Slender Man. He isn’t completely bad, you must admit.”
“Yeah, he can be a lot of fun!” Pinkie smiled, but it refused to stay on her face. “But…” Pinkie Pie searched for words, “but Twilight, even though Slendy is a fun person to be around sometimes, he isn’t a pony. He’s something else. And I know, and you know that he could be really bad, even if he tries to be good.” Pinkie Pie seemed to struggle internally. “I just don’t want to see anypony get hurt, but the longer he stays here, the more dangerous it becomes for everypony.”
Twilight opened her mouth to argue again, and hesitated. She had been prepared to have to convince Rainbow Dash and Applejack and maybe even Rarity, but Pinkie Pie was expressing her doubts. Even Fluttershy wasn’t arguing for the Slender Man. What could she say? They were right. All of them had good points, and how could Twilight come up with a good answer for what lay in her heart? Logically, intellectually, Twilight knew that the Slender Man’s presence was like a ticking time bomb.
But she couldn’t leave it like this, surely. To just cast him out, right when they might be on a breakthrough? Was that right? But looking at her friend’s faces, Twilight saw nothing but opposition.
Twilight felt a gentle pressure on her head. She looked up, and saw the Slender Man’s tendril. He patted her gently on the head. Then he presented her with something.
It was a piece of paper. Twilight looked at the sketch drawing held in one tendril, and back at the Slender Man. He was giving it to her. Because…because he was willing to leave. Leave, and not come back.
Twilight looked at the paper, and back up at the Slender Man. She did not take it, but simply turned back to her friends.
“This is why we can’t give up everypony,” she said. “He’s willing to go, forever, so we don’t have to worry. Isn’t that something different from what we’ve seen so far?” Twilight looked from face to face. “It takes a being with lots of kindness to do that.”
Fluttershy avoided Twilight’s gaze.
“And not least because it means placing other ponies first. That’s part of generosity, and loyalty, to give up something for the sake of others.”
Rainbow Dash and Rarity studied the ground, also unable to look Twilight in the eye.
“Could anypony do that without being completely honest? A person that truly believes with all their heart to do what is right, and is willing to face the cold, hard truth and do something about it, isn’t that someone worth admiring?”
Applejack studied her hooves, a faint blush creeping over her face.
“And if we’re frightened of him, well, so what? There have been ponies we’ve been scared of before. Zecora, for instance. But we learned things and ponies are only scary if we let them be scary. For someone like this, shouldn’t we try our best to be happy, and to laugh and make them our friends?”
Pinkie Pie’s mane drooped at Twilight’s words, and she looked down as well. But Twilight reached out and touched her shoulder with one hoof.
“We all nearly died. We suffered a lot. It’s been the most terrible experience we’ve had so far, but that shouldn’t change who we are. We are the Elements of Harmony, but more than that, we’re friends. And we should always be willing to give another pony, another person a chance. If they’re willing to change, we should be willing to give them a chance to try.”
There was a long silence. Twilight held her breath as her friends shifted from a study of the ground and their hooves to glances at each other, and then at the Slender Man. Finally, Applejack cleared her throat and spoke.
“Ah don’t know about anypony else, but ah’m sorry,” she said, looking directly at Slender, “sorry about bein’ judgmental. That ain’t right, not for anypony and least of all for an Element of Harmony. If Twilight says it’s fine by her, I reckon we can give y’all one more chance.”
“Yeah,” the other ponies choruses as one.
“I think we’ve been terribly unfair to you,” Rarity said to the Slender Man, “talking about you as if you weren’t here, and not trying to understand what you’re saying. I apologize most sincerely.”
“I agree,” Fluttershy said. “It can be terribly unfair if somepony judges someone based on their appearance. All my manticore friends are always shunned – it should be no different in this case as well. I’ll talk to my friends, and get them to see you’re not a bad person.”
“Yeah! Everypony should get a second chance!” Pinkie bounced around the Slender Man and Twilight. “I’m really, really, really sorry about being mean and all! I’ll have to throw an extra-special ‘sorry I was a meanie-parts’ party for you! You’re not really a bad eldritch abomination, right Rainbow Dash?”
“Um, yeah.” Rainbow Dash said awkwardly. “I guess you weren’t so bad aside from the entire trying to kill us thing at the start.” Rainbow Dash suddenly grinned. “Besides, you were totally impressed by my amazing flying skills. Anypony who can see how awesome I am can’t be too bad, right?”
Twilight smiled. She had done it. Convinced her friends to accept an eldritch monster from the abyss and give it another chance. It was an impossible feat, but then again, she was with the Slender Man. Impossible was really quite easy when you looked at it from another angle.
“Alright girls, in that case we have a lot to do,” she said. “We’ll start with a door-to-door approach in Ponyville, and then go visit Fluttershy’s cottage. I suggest that Fluttershy goes home and talks to Angel and the other animals while we go to the Mayor’s first and explain things. Applejack, if you go to Sweet Apple Acres and get your family and if Pinkie Pie starts on her welcoming party, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and I can go with Slender man. On second thought, it might be best if Rarity tries sewing a new suit. Something other than the Slender Man’s usual attire might help matters, and—”
Twilight had a gift in making lists and delegating tasks. Few ponies possessed her natural ability to lead, inspire, order, and boss other ponies around like she did. She could and would give orders and instructions for extended periods of time if not stopped. But she stopped now, and without any pony having to interrupt her. This was so unlike Twilight that every eye was fixed on her, and then travelled to the point she was staring at.
It was at first hard to see what Twilight was looking at. To begin with, it was just a speck in the sky, but it was growing larger rapidly. As it approached, more details could be seen, but regrettably, they didn’t clarify matters.
Floating down from the sky on an umbrella was a…thing. It looked like a goat. Or at least, it had the face of a goat. To be fair, it also had the right arm of a lion, the left of an eagle, a lizard’s leg, a goat leg, a tail of a dragon, two mismatched horns, a single long tooth on one side of his face and a suitcase. The suitcase wasn’t attached to the body, merely held in the eagle hand.
To anyone watching this confusion of limbs and creatures, it would appear that this being might be some kind of chimera. He wasn’t a chimera, however. Even a chimera would have probably said he had too many different body parts. He was in fact known as a draconequus, which was a fancy way of saying something completely unique and unexplainable. This being was known to all as Discord, and he embodied his namesake.
Discord floated down on his umbrella, defying the laws of physics as he gently slowed to a stop before Fluttershy. He had eyes for no other being, most likely because he didn’t care about anyone other than his one and only true friend. Oh, Twilight and the others counted, of course, but to Discord, Fluttershy was his first friend, and incidentally the only being that could tolerate his presence for long.
He lounged in the air, sporting a bright blue shirt embroidered with palm trees and flowers. A pair of sunglasses rested just below his set of mismatched horns, and a suitcase hung from his eagle-claw hand.
“Fluttershy dear, I’m sorry I was out of touch for so long. Celestia wanted me to run a little errand in Saddle Arabia. They have the most marvelous scones. I brought you some. Anyways, I’m ready for our tea party now, so…”
Discord’s words halted mid-flow. He appeared to sniff, and said, “Fluttershy, have you been hanging out with the wrong crowd? I could almost swear that I sense something…strange around here. How odd. But of course you wouldn’t associate with that kind of monster.” Discord glanced around casually, seeming to take in for the first time the other ponies. “Oh, hello Twilight Sparkle, Elements of Harmony. Didn’t see you there. How are you? Say, you haven’t seen anything—”
Then he spotted the Slender Man. His smile vanished. His entire body froze. For one long moment he simply stared at the Slender Man. The suitcase fell from one claw, and the umbrella dropped to the ground.
Discord vanished. He didn’t teleport away in a poof of smoke, or a flash of light. He was just gone.
Twilight stared the spot where he had disappeared. Discord had fled? He never did that. Not ever. She had been afraid he would start causing trouble, and with the Slender Man that might have gone very poorly indeed. But his expression…
“Huh? What was that?” Rainbow Dash circled the air where Discord had been. “That was Discord, right? He just upped and vanished!”
The number of things that could make Discord stop smiling, let alone lose his cheerfully annoying attitude Twilight could count on of Spike’s claws. He had recognized the Slender Man, no doubt about that. But why had he run? He’d even abandoned Fluttershy. If he thought she was in danger, why did he leave?
“He must have been frightened off by the Slender Man,” Rarity said, “It stands to reason. Anypony would be frightened by a sight like that.” She glanced at the Slender Man. “No offense.”
“Oh no,” Fluttershy said. “I hope he hasn’t been scared away like my friends.”
Twilight couldn’t imagine Discord hiding in a closet unless it was to scare somepony. She cleared her throat for attention. “I think girls, that we should find Discord and explain about the Slender Man as soon as possible,” Twilight said. “Otherwise, he might—”
Something shook and threw Twilight to the ground. Instinctively, she surged back onto her feet, looking around for what had struck her. There was nothing there, only her friends, who were likewise fallen. Twilight looked at the Slender Man, thinking perhaps he had caused it when the world shook again.
It wasn’t an attack, Twilight realized. It was sound. A huge, deafening roar that reverberated throughout the air, almost physical in its presence. And more importantly, it was a voice. Twilight knew that voice. It was Princess Celestia. And she was speaking.
It was the Royal Canterlot Voice, and Twilight had never, ever heard it coming from Princess Celestia. Twilight had thought Luna was loud, but Celestia’s voice rang throughout Equestria, huge, bell-like tones that shook leaves from trees. And this was Ponyville, miles away from Canterlot.
“CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA,” Celestia’s voice boomed, “REMAIN INDOORS AND DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOMES. A GRAVE THREAT HAS EMERGED IN PONYVILLE. FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY, DO NOT GO OUTSIDE.”
And then the voice was gone, leaving only echoes bouncing back from distant mountaintops. Incredulously, Twilight got back to her feet. She touched her ears, which were still ringing. She wouldn’t have been surprised to find blood flowing from each.
“Wh—what was that?” Rainbow Dash looked nervously up at the sky, and towards the direction of Canterlot. “That sounded like Princess Celestia.”
“That was Princess Celestia,” Twilght replied, worried. “And it sounded like she was warning everypony.”
“Was it because of Discord?” Rarity asked. “He saw the Slender Man and vanished.”
“It had to have been,” Twilight said slowly. “Nothing else would explain that. But why did he leave so suddenly?”
“Maybe he recognized the Slender Man?” Pinkie suggested. “I did. And if he didn’t know that the Slender Man was a nice guy, and thought he was an evil eldritch abomination that destroyed worlds...”
“Oh no,” Fluttershy said as she caught on. “You don’t think he told Princess Celestia?”
“And if she thought there was a danger like that,” Twilight’s mind raced frantically. “We need to get Spike now.”
“Ya want ta send a letter?” Applejack’s question hung in the air, because Twilight was already galloping towards her home.
Twilight had chosen to talk to her friends in a private spot, which meant she had taken them to the outskirts of Ponyville. Unfortunately, she had chosen a spot far from her house. Twilight galloped down the empty streets of Ponyville, her friends and the Slender Man right on her heels. It took her several minutes to get back home. Not even bothering to stop as she hurtled into her house, Twilight grabbed Spike as he was finishing breakfast.
“Spike! Write a letter!” She shrieked at him. “Now!”
“Huh? What?” Spike was confused, his breakfast cereal lying all over the floor. “Twilight, what’s going on? I heard Princess Celestia’s voice, and—”
“No time!” Twilight dashed over to her writing desk and grabbed for paper and quill, spilling ink everywhere in her haste. She wrote furiously, and didn’t even bother to sign her name as she dropped her quill and spun around to face Spike again.
“Send this to Princess Celestia! Quickly!” Twilight ordered.
Spike grabbed the paper, for once not asking any time-consuming questions. He raised the paper up to his lips, took a deep breath, and choked.
Twilight looked around. The light in the library had dimmed for some reason. She looked up. The windows that had let in the light of the sun were darkened, and a half-light emerged. Twilight raced outside.
She stopped as she left her home. Overhead, the sun still hovered in the sky, but something was wrong. It was dark suddenly. Not the true dark of night, but an eerie glow that allowed Twilight to see. The sun was still in the sky, yes, but something else hung in front of it.
A shadow was in front of the sun, a dark circle that allowed only a circle of light to radiate outwards. Twilight couldn’t see the shape, but she knew what it was. The moon had been positioned in front of the sun, blocking most of its radiance.
It was an eclipse.
Twilight felt her blood freeze in her veins, and she turned to go back inside. That’s when she saw it. Something flashed and flickered in the light of the eclipse, coming over the horizon. Twilight leapt into the air, beating her wings frantically for height as she strained to get above the rooftops of Ponyville.
She finally managed to reach a point higher than her library-tree, and looked around. She had a pretty good view of the surrounding sky and land around Ponyville. What she saw turned her frozen blood to ice and her heart stop in her chest.
From the sky there were flashes of movement, hundreds of specks of color moving towards her at speed. Even at this distance, Twilight could see they were blue. From the ground, Twilight spotted glints of light off of steel and metal. Golden armor shone in the faint light, and she could see a darker purple armor mixed in with the gold as well.
A mass of shapes charged towards Ponyville, hundreds, thousands of ponies in full armor. The Canterlot Guard, and what had to be Princess Luna’s Lunar Guard as well. That meant the shapes in the sky were Wonderbolts, probably every single member in Equestria. Even the recruits, by the looks of it.
A flash of light from the south caught Twilight’s eye. In the other direction, another group of ponies had arrived in a burst of teleportation magic. The sun glinted off their armor as well, but it had a duller sheen. Crystal armor. And at the head of that army were two familiar pink and white ponies. Princess Mi Amor Cadenza and Shining Armor, her brother.
Twilight turned back to the other army. At its head were two other ponies, and they were far taller than the rest. One was dark blue, and shorter than her counterpart, a radiant white pony with a flowing multicolored mane. Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna.
But these weren’t the two kind princesses Twilight knew and loved. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia both wore battle armor, and the led their armies of guards and the Wonderbolts at a dead gallop, surging towards Ponyville. And in the sky, speeding alongside the Wonderbolt captain Spitfire? Discord, both eyes narrowed, no hint of laughter on his face.
Slowly, Twilight landed on the roof of her library. Within seconds, the three armies had encircled Ponyville, and spread out to form a wall of flesh and armor. The Wonderbolts winged through the sky, streaks of color as they formed a barricade in the air.
Princess Celestia stepped onto the main street of Ponyville, Princess Luna at her side. Cadence and Shining Armor joined them a second later, and Discord alighted from the sky. They walked slowly down the street, towards Twilight’s library, towards the Slender Man and her friends, who were standing just outside of it.
Twilight could make out Princess Celestia’s face now. She had thought she had seen her mentor angry when she had lectured Twilight after his want-it-need-it spell. She had thought she had seen Celestia at her most intimidating when she had confronted Chrysalis. She had thought wrong.
Celestia’s face was a mask of fury and cold steel. Her eyes were narrowed, her wings slightly upraised, her expression murderous. Her armor gleamed in the eclipse’s light. Her horn glowed, and she walked with a deliberate, steady pace. She stopped ten feet away from the Slender Man and Twilight’s friends and said not one word. Beside her, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor and Discord fanned out, two on each side.
Twilight didn’t have to cast a spell to detect the magical energies swirling around the group. The very force of the magical might of the five beings was distorting the very atmosphere, making their images waver with the force of their power. The air crackled and hummed with spells on the brink of being cast, and Celestia’s form glowed with her magical power.
Twilight was at a loss for words. She stared at the five silhouettes standing facing the Slender Man, and then at her friends and the Slender Man himself, facing them. She looked back at the armies surrounding Ponyville, the rows upon rows of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi armed to the teeth. She said the only words that came to mind.
“Oh horseapples.”