Blaze sat on his chair, explaining every loophole and weakness, every strength and power. He had claimed himself an expert on Slendermane, and so he was proving so right now.
"There are no direct ways to attack him. He can't be affected by magic, or hurt by a weapon. The only thing that can stop him long enough is some kind of hyper-condensed energy." Blaze kept on with his explanation when Twilight interrupted him.
"The only thing that can make that kind of energy is either a large sound wave, or magic. Since magic doesn't affect him, we have to find some kind of stereo that is... how loud?" she asked. Blaze pondered the question in his head.
"One hundred and fifty decibels will do the trick. But where in equestria could we find such a loud machine?" Blaze asked confusedly, his mind wandering at light speed. Twilight was amazed by this red pegasus. He was incredibly smart, and his mane looked like a enormous fire. She couldn't tell why, but she liked him.
"I have no idea. But I know a pony who can hook us up with something pretty close." Pinkie chimed in as she sipped a hot chocolate. Blaze's eyes lit up like little fires.
"Who?" he asked. Pinkie smiled, and she pulled a piece of paper off of the floor. She held it up to Twilight and Blaze as they looked at each other with the exact same thought
"I really hope she's in the mood to help us." They looked back at the sheet. In big bolded letters it read
"Vinyl Scratch preforming live at Canterlot! Tickets = five bits."
Blaze sighed as he took the piece of paper.
"Well, if Vinyl's at Canterlot, then that's out destination. Twilight?" He looked back at the purple mare. She rolled her eyes and said
"Lets go then."
She held out her hoof. Blaze and Pinkie piled their hooves onto hers as her horn shone bright violet.
And in an instant, they were gone.
-=Meanwhile, outside the everfree forest=-
Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were trotting over to their tree house when Sweetie heard a voice.
"Come into the forest, Sweetie." Sweetie held her head as her vision became blurry with static. She fell over and her friends rushed to her aid.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" Scootaloo said as she knelt over her fallen friend.
"Uh, I'm okay, but did you guys hear that?" she said as Apple Bloom helped her up
"Hear what?" Apple bloom asked. Sweetie's expression became terrified.
She stood up, and gazed into the forest where the voice had came from. She saw some kind of monster in the distance. Her emerald eyes opened as wide as they wold in her life, and she screamed as loud as she could muster. The creature somehow appeared five meters in front of her, it's lifeless face sideways. It knocked Apple Bloom to the side, and it grabbed Scootaloo and threw her into the woods. It only had Sweetie to deal with now. Sweetie looked at the thing with an intense hatred and a limitless fear, as she ran as fast as she could into the woods. She tripped on a root and fell into a bush, clonking her head on the hardened mud.
"Shh, don't move." a voice whispered into Sweetie's ear. She screamed again. A hoof wrapped itself around her jaw, disabling her scream in a matter of moments. She wriggled and squirmed with all her might when the voice came back.
"I'm not going to hurt you, but you need to calm down. Don't scream when I let go of you, understand?" it whispered again into her ear. Sweetie nodded, and the hoof retracted into the darkness behind her. A face emerged from the darkness, revealing an orange unicorn with a scarlet mane. He held a knife with his magic, and had an incredibly focused look in his eye.
"Listen, you need to get out of here. I'll get it's attention, and when i give the signal, run as fast as you can. Got it?" he silently asked Sweetie.
"Got it." she whispered back. The orange unicorn emerged from the bush, yelling into the pitch black night.
"COME ON, YOU UGLY ****" he swore, his knife readied. The creature appeared behind him without warning. Sweetie knew what to do.
"HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" she screamed as she dove at the creature. For a second, her green eyes flashed a small bit of red. She tackled the monster as the unicorn yelled
"RUN NOW!"
Sweetie ran, and she heard Rarity's voice calling her name at the edge of the woods. She finally saw the light of dawn, and she ran faster than she ever thought she could.
But it wasn't enough.
The creature grabbed one of her legs and began dragging her back into the woods. She screamed for help, and instantly a beam of teal blasted from the outside. It hit the hoof of the creature, or at least Sweetie thought it was a hoof. It was actually a black tentacle that continued to writhe around on the ground. Sweetie took a final jump from the woods, and she landed safely in Rarity's hooves. She passed out again, her mind a static blur of motion as Rarity called for a doctor.
-=Back in Canterlot=-
The energy grew brighter and brighter until the three ponies emerged. Blaze held his head as he felt a rush of nausea run through him. He leaned into a nearby trash bin and let loose. Pinkie laughed.
"Oh it's not that bad, you'll get used to it." Twilight said. Blaze looked up from the trash bin, his face a sickly green.
"How many more?" he asked as another wave of nausea flew through him. He leaned back in.
Pinkie was rolling on the ground, dying of laughter. She got up and looked around, instantly noticing a poster on a nearby wall.
"I think we're in the right place, guys." She said, pointing her hoof at the exact same poster Twilight had been holding. They were in the right place, alright. Blaze took his head out, and savored the fresh air around him. The trash bin smelled a lot worse than anything back home. He was taking in a deep breath when he noticed a green flame floating towards Twilight.
"Message!" he hollered out.
The scroll appeared in Twilight's hooves, and she read every single word on the inside out loud.
"Dear Twilight
Rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle has been attacked by the monster you are currently hunting. Return to Ponyville immediately!
Sincerely, Nurse Redheart." she said, her voice a shaky tone.
Blaze's eyes were wide in disbelief. Slendermane never had this little time between attacks, at least not before. He turned to Pinkie, who he could tell felt he exact same emotion of disbelief.
"Pinkie, we need that sound system. You stay here and get it while me and Twilight go back home." he said, his face as serious as he could. She nodded, and started towards the theater. He looked back at Twilight, who was already charging the spell. He placed his hoof on hers, and once again they were transported.
"Ugh, why did I have to stay." Pinkie thought to herself as she trotted towards the theater. She smiled at a couple of ponies, but they didn't look at her.
"I guess things aren't going to be the same anymore." She thought once again.
-=At Ponyville=-
Twilight and Blaze emerged from the portal of purple energy. Blaze nearly puked, but this time he held it in. They were outside Rarity's boutique, and the shop was marked closed. Blaze sighed to himself, grabbing Twilight's attention.
"Whats wrong?" she asked him. He looked at her, and he started talking.
"When I was just a foal, my parents died. I was raised in an orphanage, with only my older brother to trust. We got along sometimes, and sometimes we had arguments. Normal sibling things. But one day, a group of unicorns decided it would be 'Fun' to raid the orphanage. I got stuck under a broken bed, and they were just about to kill me when he tackled them to the floor. He lifted the bed so I could escape, but he didn't follow me. He instead held off the unicorns long enough for me to escape. I watched the place burn down, and I haven't seen him since." his large scarlet eyes had begun to leak small tears, but Twilight didn't notice.
"Well, you've got me now." She tried to cheer up the pegasus.
"Well, I guess that's pretty good." he let out a small chuckle. He straightened himself up, and he started towards the hospital with Twilight not far behind.
Sweetie opened her eyes to see Rarity sound asleep in a nearby chair. She looked around the room, gasping as she realized:
"I'm in the hospital?!" she exclaimed, waking Rarity. She ran over to Sweetie, getting her in a hug. Sweetie hugged back, her eyes weeping tears of fear. She could tell that Rarity was crying too.
"I'm s-so glad you're alright." she was full on bawling now. Sweetie hugged even harder, her hooves sore from the embrace. She broke apart, and told Rarity the whole story. She had gone from crying to afraid by the end.
"So, a monster attacked you and an orange unicorn helped you escape? Nopony has found either the monster or the unicorn. We're you simply imagining a helper from fear?" Rarity asked her, unsure if the unicorn existed or not. Sweetie had a look on her face that would not be the face of a liar. Just then, the nurse, Twilight and a pegasus stepped into the room.
"Twilight! Thank goodness your here!" Rarity exclaimed, her face completely painted over with joy.
"Not now Rarity, we have to see Sweetie." Twilight said quickly. Blaze rushed over to the filly, his face determined. He checked for any of the symptoms.
"I've got good news, and bad news." He said grimly.
"Good news?" Sweetie asked
"The good news is that you haven't been infected by the creature." Blaze said, looking at status reports.
"The bad news?" Rarity asked, her voice shaky and nervous.
"The bad news is that the creature isn't just hunting the elements anymore. Its hunting anything it can get its tentacles on." he whispered.
Everyone in the room went silent, like the words were floating in the air.
Pinkie burst into the room, her breath quick and her face urgent.
"Its back, and its not stopping. Canterlot..." she stopped herself
Twilight's eyes bulged out of their sockets, her jaw dropped and she felt herself feeling limp. She fell over, her body limp. And she saw the circled X, taunting her as she fainted.
"TWILIGHT!..." Blaze's voice trailed off as she hit the ground.