"STOP!!!"
Didn't expect to see them here. Didn't feel them coming. Caught off-guard. My tendrils freeze. They are not tightening their grip on the ponies anymore. I look down to face the well-known trio.
"Please, let them go, Mister Slender! They didn't mean to hurt you. They're just super afraid of you!"
Sweetie Belle... Her voice snaps me out of a hunger trance. I'm thinking over the past few minutes. That was a bit too close. Meaning: must find a way to keep the hunger at bay. But how? Perhaps, the answer... the answers are already staring at my lack of face. And hugging my forelegs.
I'm noticing something that is different. That wasn't there before... I have a mouth now. How did it appear? And for what purpose? It shouldn't be there. As I'm thinking those thoughts now, the mouth is disappearing. Meaning: my body can transform. Must figure out what else can change about it. But not now.
My tendrils are slowly lowering the mares to the ground. Uncoiling them. I've already had a good snack. Plus, those fillies have just demonstrated the ability to supress my hunger a bit. Their facial expressions are much more relaxed now, since those ponies are no longer in danger...
...They aren't?
A sound of a cracked branch is echoing somewhere nearby. I'm expanding my vision. The place is surrounded by a hundred of timberwolves. Didn't feel them coming. Meaning: they don't fear me. The cause? Appears to be revenge. Must warn those ponies. But how? If my telepathy can easily hypnotize, then the effect should be weakened if I don't focus it on one target. Instead, I'll try focusing it all around me.
"WE ARE SURROUNDED BY THE TIMBERWOLVES."
My announce seemed to work. The ponies have already recovered. They have heard my voice. Their faces are expressing a confusion first, then an alert. They're looking around. Nopony dares to say anything. Until...
"Mister Slender?" - the sweet little voice is calling to me again. She knows my name. How? - "Could you save us again? Please..."
I don't need to save them. Those timberwolves have come for me. They are closing in.
"DON'T MOVE."
They're launching their attack. They are stopped by the tendrils. Their bodies will be easy to crush.
"Please, stop doing that," - another voice is calling out to me. The voice that is assertive only under circumstances like these, - "They don't deserve to die just because they attacked you."
No need to reason with her. Can ignore.
"Stand back, young Fluttershy. Let the creature destroy them for they are no ordinary timberwolves," - the voice of the lunar princess is calling to the yellow pegasus. If what she's saying is true, then it explains such an aggressive behaviour, - "They are touched and corrupted by the dark magic. We are lucky the opportunity to destroy them at once has presented itself!"
And destroying I provide. The cracks and howl are filling the area. Half of the present ponies are averting their eyes. I am feeling a fear coming from them again. Good. Should silence my hunger for the rest of the night.
Zecora had a nice collection of wonderful tea in her hut. She always loved the tea. Such a tasty drink that always helped her calm down the nerves and relax... That is why she had never thought that one day a tea party was going to make her feel so tense. Most likely, the same thing applied to all of the other ponies in her hut. All, except for one. The one with no face.
That creature was a pure mystery. Never before in her life had Zecora witnessed anything like that. She heard many legends, fairy-tales and spooky stories. But that "Slender", as Sweetie Belle called him, didn't fit any of them. Now, after spending a whole hour trying to communicate with the creature, she and the other ponies knew the reason behind the two attacks: one in Rainbow Dash's dream, and another one in Zecora's hut. It appeared, that creature had no control over the hunger for somepony else's fear.
That piece of news has put the royal sisters into a deep thought. As for the others, Pinkie Pie was the first one to adjust, if you don't count the three little fillies, of course. She was trying to get the creature to enable it's mouth again, so she could feed it a cake. Despite the fact it told her that it doesn't feed that way, she didn't give up her attempts. Good thing the creature claimed to experience no emotions at all... Who knows what would it's annoyance cause?
Speaking of no emotions, the creature had managed to earn some respect from the royal sisters by explaining how it had prefered to inflict the horrors inside a pony's dream instead of reality due to finding it a logical solution, however temporal. It wasn't a good solution, of course, but the attempt to minimize the possible damage didn't go without notice.
"If I have understood your explanation correctly," - The Sun Goddess began, - "Then was it not for your hunger, you wouldn't attack anypony at all."
The dark creature wasn't very talkative... Perhaps, that was a good thing. Every time it spoke, Zecora, along with the most of other ponies, couldn't help but flinch. It's voice dominated the air around it, and Zecora felt as if something ancient and all-powerful was talking. That time, however, the creature had simply nodded.
"And the hunger you experienced today was much stronger than yesterday..."
Another nod.
"And you don't remember anything about your origins and how you've managed to stay unnoticed until now."
"I WASN'T IN THIS WORLD."
That answer had earned a pause, but Celestia was quick to recover.
"I don't suppose the other... inhabitants of your original world have managed to find a way to live peacefully with you."
The creature shook it's head in response.
"Then, I believe, it wouldn't be wise to expect you to stay away from my little ponies while we're searching for a permanent solution. However... I do have a temporal one."
Everypony in the room, including her own sister, looked at the alabaster alicorn with awe. It's barely been an hour, and she already had a solution!
"Recently, I have received a report from Appleloosa about the Diamond Dogs attacking the ponies, stealing their food and other possessions. Here, in Equestria, we do not approve of any drastic measures like execution or inflicting serious harm, but I do believe a good scare could prove to be a perfect solution."
"It better be!" - the voice of Applejack rang through the hut - "Those good'fer'nothing critters will leave mah cousin out of business if nopony stops 'em!"
"SOUNDS LIKE... A FEAST."
The grim phrase has taken all the rage straight out of the Apple pony, who visibly gulped. Most likely, her thoughts had changed into the direction of the part of her family being so close to such a deadly creature. The Princess of the Day nodded and turned to her ex-student.
"Twillight, I want you and your friends to try and think of a permanent solution. So far, there has never been a pony in Equestria, who understood the Magic of Friendship better than you. I believe, you and your friends can solve this problem better than anypony else."
"I promise I'll study this problem inside out, Princess Celestia! I'll pass your word to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash tomorrow."
Celestia gave the Princess of Friendship a warm smile. And yes, that reminded her that not everypony was in the hut right now: Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went to guide the Cutiemark Crusaders back to their homes. The poor yellow pegasus had experienced enough terror for a whole month. And the brave cyan pegasus still wasn't over her last night's dream. In fact, it was the creature itself who offered her to accompany Fluttershy. The fact which didn't go unnoticed by the other ponies.
"Slender Pony, is it?" - Luna had finally decided to speak up, summoning a map and showing it to the creature, - "How long will it take you to get to Appleloosa?"
The creature studied the map carefully, which proved it's intelligence.
"THE NIGHT." - it had finally answered.
"Very well then... I shall make sure to lower the moon later than usual today. Is that alright with you, sister?"
"It shall have to do," - Celestia replied, giving her trademark polite smile, which most likely meant that she wasn't very happy about the decision, but found it inevitable. She then turned to the only zebra in the hut, - "Zecora, I thank you for letting us inside your hut to have this... meeting. I am sorry that we took your sleep hours away."
Zecora couldn't help but give a bow to the Sun Goddess.
"Don't worry, Princess, it's alright. I don't think I can sleep this night."
"Can you believe Sweetie's nickname turned out to be his real name?" - Scootaloo's wings were buzzing in excitement, - "And have you seen how awesome his counter-attack against those timberwolves was? Just... BAM! And they all are caught and tied!"
"Gotta admit, squirt, it is pretty awesome, unless you were "caught and tied" just like that a few moments earlier..." - Rainbow tried to support her favourite filly's excitement, but her voice betrayed her, getting shaky at the end. Scootaloo didn't hesitate to take her chance to look awesome in the eyes of her idol.
"Worry not, Rainbow Dash! He likes me, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. He even listened to us! As long as you have me by your side, he won't attack you again. I promise!"
Both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy chuckled at that. But it wasn't destined to last longer than just a moment, because a second later an all too familiar dark figure appeared in front of them.
"Mister Slender!" - three excited fillies called as soon as they got over the shock.
"NO TIME," - it spoke, - "MOVING TO APPLELOOSA."
And then it had disappeared, leaving two mares and three little fillies to their own guesses, which were soon interrupted by a thump near them. Spike had fainted... again.