The creature’s wings and horn slid seamlessly back into its body. It cocked its head at her.
“Puzzled that I am not afraid?” Luna narrowed her eyes. “I have looked into the darkness before, beast. I even fostered the darkness in my very soul for a time. I was a monster.” She smirked. “Just like you.”
The creature continued to watch her.
“You know that I am all that remains. Otherwise, you would have taken me already. When I am gone, there will be nothing more for you to feed on.”
Silence.
“Perhaps… I can help you.” She sat lightly on the ground. “But first, I must understand you. A difficult prospect, isn’t it? How can one speak with no mouth?”
Silence.
“I have the ability to dream-walk, to enter the dreams of the ponies I once watched over. I believe that if you let me into your mind, then I could actually communicate with you.”
The Slender One seemed to tense suddenly. A dozen black tentacles emerged from its body and pointed dangerously at the princess of the night.
“Or you could just take me, just as you took all the others. Just as you took my sister.” She glared. “And then you would have no food. I wonder… could you starve?”
The Slender One seemed to consider, then its tentacles retracted back into its body.
Luna nodded. She closed her own eyes and began to breathe deeply. Slowly, steadily, she relaxed herself. She slipped comfortably into her familiar meditative state like a warm blanket. Suitably prepared, she sent her dream-self outwards, towards the beast. She felt herself approach it, felt herself pass through a barrier that felt almost like some kind of oily liquid…
NiGhTmArE
LoOk UpOn YoUr YoUnG
lOoK uPoN mY pReY
Luna found herself drowning in a sea of screaming souls. They rocked and churned like waves on the ocean, their every movement seeming to cause them agony. It rained the same black liquid she had felt as she passed into the Slender One’s being. The taken soul’s eyes were all gone. Only black sockets looked at her with desperation. Every pony in Equestria sang a chorus of misery and despair that never ended.
“WHAT ARE YOU?!” She screamed into the void of sadness.
eTeRnAl
EvErLaStInG
hUnGrY
“NO!” She gazed in horror as the shade of what might have been the one called Applejack floated past her, still calling out for her sister. “WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?”
“It’s old.” The voice of an old mare drawled from amongst the souls as the waves began to churn harder. A bitter wind began to blow, pulling the tortured souls into a whirling vortex. “Older than the goddesses. Older than Equestria.”
iN tHe BeGiNnInG
hE cReAtEd ThE hEaVeNs AnD tHe EaRtH.
Luna felt herself being drawn into the vortex. She flapped her wings against the pull, straining to understand what was being said.
tHe EaRtH wAs FoRmLeSs AnD eMpTy
DaRkNeSs WaS oVeR tHe SuRfAcE oF tHe DeEp
Luna felt her wings beginning to strain. She lit her horn and filled the void with the glorious light of her magic, the light of the stars themselves.
LeT tHeRe Be LiGhT
The light seemed to comfort the tormented souls in the depths of the Slender One’s very being.
hE sEpArAtEd ThE lIgHt FrOm ThE dArKnEsS
hE cAlLeD tHe LiGhT dAy
ThE dArKnEsS hE cAlLeD nIgHt
Luna felt herself being forcefully purged from the Slender One’s being. The captured souls cried out as her light began to fade away, leaving them to drown in darkness once again.
DaRkNeSs He CaLlEd NiGhT
hE cAlLeD nIgHt
CaLlEd NiGhT
nIgHt
Luna’s astral form slammed back into her body and she fell to the dirt gasping, the last thought echoing in her mind as her eyes focused on the beast.
ThE dArKnEsS tHeY cAlL sLeNdEr
Breathing heavily, Luna stood on unsteady hooves. “You were the darkness that existed before the universe.” She took a step towards the creature. “You were driven away when this world was born.” Another step. “You were formless, mindless…” A third step. “But you fed on our fears and our nightmares as we grew. You made a shape for yourself so we could perceive you. Our dreams were the gateway for you to come here.” A fourth step. “You came amongst us and began to feed, taking ponies one by one.”
The Slender One watched silently as the alicorn pushed her nose against the spot where another nose should have been.
“But when you found the Everfree Forest, a place full of fear and shadows… you got greedy, didn’t you?”
It lashed out a tentacle, wrapping it about the princess’ throat. It squeezed dangerously.
“I… can… I can send you someplace else. A whole new world in which to feed. A chance for you to start over.” She choked out. “But you have to do something for me.”
The Slender One squeezed her throat again.
“You… have… to… bring… them…back…”
A breathless moment passed… and the tentacle went slack.
Luna inhaled deeply, greedily, and spread her wings. “Then we have an arrangement?”
Nothing.
“Follow me.”
/////////////////////////////////////
Luna wiped the film of dust from the large mirror’s surface and caught the Slender One’s reflection behind her own. “My sister and I had plans to send this someplace else very soon. But then… other matters took precedence.” She turned and looked at it. “This mirror acts as a portal to other worlds. According to different phases of the moon, different gateways are opened.” She pressed a hoof against the mirror’s face and pushed. The glass rippled inwardly like water. “If I am correct, the world currently beyond this doorway is teeming with new life.” She turned and faced the beast. “I will allow you to pass through only if you do as I commanded.”
The Slender One took a step.
“Be careful.” She raised a back hoof dangerously. “I know just the spot to shatter this mirror.”
The Slender One paused and focused its impossible gaze on the mirror.
Luna lowered her own hoof. “I know what you’re thinking; why am I doing this? Why am I infecting an innocent world with your evil?” She closed her eyes. “I would do anything to have my ponies back. I will weep for whatever world is saddled with you, but I will take solace in every smiling face I see in my own.”
She blinked and the Slender One was at her side.
“Leave my world, monster.” She glared at it. “But repair your damage first.”
The Slender One looked down at her… and something on its face twitched.
Luna stared, not sure of what she had seen.
The twitch came again, somewhere close to where the mouth should be.
Luna peered closer.
A jagged line began to tear across the Slender One’s white head. It formed a kind of smile, or a horizontal lightning bolt.
Something pushed from the inside of the rudimentary smile.
Luna’s eyes widened. “What is…?”
The mouth split wide open, viscous black fluid dripping from the new orifice.
The head of Princess Celestia emerged from the Slender One’s blank face. Her fur was matted with the black ichor of the Slender One’s innards.
She stared at Luna with empty black sockets.
She screamed.
Luna screamed with her.