//------------------------------// // Part 15: Escalation // Story: Lost in a Terrifying World // by Erisn //------------------------------// “Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia said, “what is the meaning of this?” Twilight alighted on the ground before her mentor, teacher, and friend. “Princess—” she began, but Celestia cut her off. “I did not believe Discord at first when he told me one of the Monsters from Beyond was here in Equestria. But I sensed his presence as soon as I looked for it. And what it worse,” Celestia pointed a hoof at Twilight, “I found you and your friends with it. Consorting with it. Even trying to protect to it. You of all ponies should sense what this monstrosity is. I will hear your answer. Now.” Twilight cringed, but stepped forwards and bowed her head to her mentor. “Princess Celestia,” she said, “allow me to explain. I encountered this being, known as the Slender Man yesterday when the Cutie Mark Crusaders first spotted him in the woods. He attacked me and my friends, but with the Elements of Harmony, we managed to communicate with him. Ever since then, we’ve been trying to teach him about ponies and Equestria.” “Teach?” Luna broke in incredulously. “He tried to kill you!?” Shining Armor roared. “Silence!” Princess Celestia’s Canterlot Voice was deafening at close range, making everypony wince in pain. “Shining Armor, Cadence, Luna, and Discord, withdraw twenty feet. Your friends will do likewise, Twilight Sparkle. I will not have any pony attack until I give the order.” “But Princess—” Shining Armor began, but Celestia cut him off with a glare that would have cowed a cockatrice. Silently, he bowed his head and walked back Cadence, his expression thunderous. The other Elements of Harmony needed no encouragement to hang back, and withdrew to just out of earshot, leaving Twilight, Princess Celestia, and the Slender Man standing in the center of the street. Celestia glanced back at Shining Armor, and then at Twilight’s five friends before fixing Twilight with another steely glare. “You were explaining to me why you decided to consort with a creature such as this,” Celestia said quietly. Twilight gulped. “Princess Celestia, as I said, my friends and I talked to the being known as the Slender Man, and even managed to prevent him from harming any other ponies. We’ve shown him around Ponyville with no more than a few mishaps, and aside from another incident last night, I feel that we’re making solid progress towards a possible friendship with him.” “Friendship?” Celestia’s voice was beyond incredulous. She looked Twilight straight in the eye. “You may be the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, but this is folly. Do you not realize whom you seek to protect? This is an eldritch abomination, and it is the duty of all beings to send it back into the abyss. There can be no friendship with something that seeks only destruction and death.” “But why?” Twilight said. “How do we know that’s all they want?” “Because they have left nothing else in all the realities they have visited before this one,” Celestia snapped. “Nothing but dust and ash. And you expect me to believe one of them has had a change of heart? Has it really not hurt anypony at all since you met him?” Twilight hesitated. “There were several incidents.” “Such as?” “An apple,” Twilight said reluctantly, “and he attacked me last night. But it was a mistake, and he apologized for it,” she hastened to add. Princess Celestia’s countenance only darkened at this. “You give me no reason to believe this monster has changed in any way, and even more suspicious about your own judgment, Twilight Sparkle. Only my desire to avoid a battle with the Elements of Harmony and this ‘Slender Man’ prevents me from ordering the attack right now.” “Princess, please,” Twilight begged, “hear me out! This is an eldritch being, true, but it— he isn’t a monster like the others! I truly believe he can be reasoned with, talked to. He’s changed so much from when we first met him!” Celestia was silent for a long time. And then she spoke. “I understand fully now.” “You do?” Twilight gasped in relief. “Yes, I do. The Elements of Harmony have taken control of your mind. They have made you their instrument.” Twilight gaped. “What?” Princess Celestia looked at Twilight for a long moment. “The Elements of Harmony seek harmony in all things. Even the greatest of enemies they shall not destroy, merely contain, imprison, but never kill. In the case of a being such as this Slender Man, they have not the power to hold him or defeat him. Thus, they use you and the other Elements as agents of their will – to befriend an eldritch monster such as this rather than battle it.” “N-no!” Twilight stammered. “That can’t be. They wouldn’t...we couldn’t…” “The Elements cannot directly affect a pony’s mind,” Princess Celestia continued. “Nor can they control your actions. But you are the bearers of the Elements. They can steer your hearts the way they wish. Have you not felt them change your mind before?” Twilight suddenly remembered the shine of a rainbow. A flash of color, a moment of indecision changed to perfect calm certainty. The moment when she had traded the magic of all the Princess’s for her friends and Discord. Each of her friends had talked about a similar moment, when they had come to a sudden revelation. It couldn’t be… Princess Celestia was watching her closely. “It is not the subtle dark magic that whispers in a pony’s mind; it is the certainty that comes of inspiration. That makes it all the more dangerous and harder to detect. With it, the Elements can guide you into choices you would never normally make. Such as attempting to befriend the Slender Man.” “I…” Twilight felt a cold hand squeeze her heart. “But we decided, we gave him another chance because—” “You gave him another chance because the Elements desired you to,” Celestia interrupted ruthlessly. “Even if he had tried to kill you again, the Elements would have manufactured an excuse for you to accept.” “But it can’t be all their influence!” “How so?” “I…remember,” Twilight tried to speak slowly and clearly. “I remember when I was in mortal fear of him after I learned who he truly was. Even the Elements couldn’t stop me from being afraid. And when he attacked me – it wasn’t the Elements – I’m sure it was me that forgave him, and nothing else.” Celestia paused. “Even if you thought it was your own choice, you cannot be certain that—” “I know it was me!” Twilight said. “I know. Because I had seen what he was. I read a book describing what he had done. Everything. And it broke me out of the influence of the Elements, and it left me frightened. But then after he tried to kill me, Princess, he apologized to me afterwards. He begged for forgiveness. It wasn’t the same as before. This time…I felt as though I was actually connecting with him. It truly felt like friendship, Princess, it did!” Celestia shook her head slowly. “Friendship is a wonderful thing, Twilight. It connects every living being and can work wonders. However,” and here her eyes flicked to the Slender Man, “that only applies to beings that are part of life and reality. Those such as it seek nothing else but our destruction. There cannot be peace with their kind so long as stone stands upon stone, so long as life remains to hold back the darkness.” “But can’t we try?” Twilight pleaded. “We make friends with Discord, after all. How different is the Slender Man?” Celestia shook her head again. “Discord, no matter how capricious is still a being made of this reality. Even the most twisted, evil beings such as King Sombra or Tirek would have a far greater chance of becoming friends with you that this thing. It is not a question of desire. They cannot make friends, or do anything else but destroy. That is their nature. To chance that, they would have to deny the very thing that makes them eldritch. It is impossible.” “But why an army, Princess? He would leave if we asked him, I know he would.” “Would he? You seem to place much trust in him after he has nearly taken your life twice. Should I have brought anything less to force one of the eternally damned from my kingdom?” “But this army would be enough to conquer another kingdom!” Twilight argued desperately, “at least pull them back so I can talk to him. You’re treating the Slender Man as if we were at war with him already!” “We are already at war, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia said quietly. “And it is a war without mercy or end. Until death and beyond. Reality will not give up quietly and let these monsters try to destroy all we have built. Stand aside now, Twilight, or I will be forced to consider you an enemy as well.” Twilight’s lips were numb, but she moved them anyways. “I can’t do that, Princess Celestia. Even if the Elements weren’t affecting me, I think I would say the same. I saw something of myself in him. I can’t let you destroy what might be our only chance. Please, just give us time.” Celestia paused, and looked at Twilight. Forever seemed to stretch out as the two alicorn’s gazes locked. And then Celestia slowly looked away and shook her head. “No.” “No?” Twilight’s voice quavered in the silence. “No. Even for you, my dearest pupil, I cannot, will not risk all of Equestria on this. You may be right, but should I risk everypony’s life on that small chance? Even if you say it is no longer a threat, it could kill every living being in Equestria in under an hour whenever it so desires. I am sworn to protect my people and this land, and I shall. Until the end, Twilight Sparkle. Until the very end of time. And if that end draws near, if it seeks to claim Equestria for the dark abyss and to plunge this land into darkness and despair, it shall not be without a fight.” Celestia drew herself up to her full height. Her voice suddenly boomed out across Ponyville, reaching the combined armies beyond. “Soldiers of Equestria! The hour of the end is upon us. A being from the deepest beyond has come to destroy our home. It has taken the minds of the Elements of Harmony, yet we remain as the last guard between it and our world. Let not a single terror set hoof upon this earth while we draw breath. In the name of Equestria, attack!” Celestia’s horn ignited to a white-hot blaze, and she sent a blast of golden magic at the Slender Man. It was joined by more flashes of light: Luna’s dark blue magic of the stars, Cadence and Shining Armor’s spells, a…series of fireworks from Discord, and more, spells from the unicorns in the Canterlot Royal Guard, a twenty-one gun salute a hundred times over. The spells burst in magical explosions or flashes of light against the Slender Man as he stood in the center of a maelstrom of energy. Twilight gaped in horror. She tried to run towards him, perhaps to cast a shield spell or to try to stop this madness, but she ran into a sudden wall. A dome of golden energy held her in place, her as well as her friends. Celestia regarded Twilight with a disappointed look before turning her attention back to the Slender Man. Twilight tried to cast a spell to break the containment, but her magic fizzled and failed. She struck the dome, but her hoof simply rebounded off the magical surface. She was helpless. All she could do was watch as enough magic to slag a continent poured down on the Slender Man, who was already standing in a crater ten feet deep. But he didn’t move, or even react to the magic surging around him. Twilight could feel his pain, the pain from the magic emanating from him, but he made no move. All he did was stand, and stare. Yes, stare. Stare at one being through the vortex of color and light. Her. And she could feel his shock and pain turn to anger, and his anger to rage, and she could do nothing. All she could do was watch helplessly as for the first and possibly last time, the Slender Man truly lost his temper.