Lost in a Terrifying World

by Erisn

Part 12: Party Time

Twilight was floating in a world made of light. It seemed to her that she was in some kind of celestial paradise, where the pain and suffering she had endured had vanished, leaving her in a state of bliss. And she was rising, rising into the light. It seemed to engulf her, a heavenly radiance from above that promised peace and rest eternal.

Twilight had fought the good fight for a long time. At Princess Celestia’s behest, she had faced down Nightmare Moon, more myth than legend, saved Equestria from a changling invasion led by a duplicitous queen, even fought hoof-to-hoof with a monster that threatened to steal the magic of every pony. She had made friends, and cared for them, had helped them solve their problems and stood by them in the worst times. And now, Twilight was receiving her reward.

Above her, the lights of the Eternal Pasture glowed, promising a place where Twilight would never know the meaning of stress, never have to deal with another rampaging monster, never fear Princess Celestia’s pop quiz. It beckoned to her, and Twilight felt her soul begin to drift upwards, leaving the earthly lands of Equestria behind.

But something else rose with her. The darkness. The darkness that seethed and roiled beneath Twilight, threatening pain and anguish, turmoil to rend both mind and body. It called to her, trying to tempt her back to the cruel mortal world, enticing her with familiar voices.

“…Twilight…have to…dig everypony…”

Twilight tried to ignore them, but the voices exerted their own pull on her body. She felt the darkness reach up to envelop her, and struggled to remain free, to go back to the light almighty. The voices grew louder, and with it, the darkness rose, catching at Twilight, pulling her down even as she fought to remain free.

“…Think I see a mane! Everypony pull!”

The darkness rose, and Twilight sunk beneath it. Yet still she fought, desperately now, trying to reach the light. It was so close. Her reward. She just wanted to rest, to forget the pains she had suffered. Was it too much to ask?

She had been ill-used by time and circumstance, ground down by destiny and fate. Would the heavens turn their back on such a loyal pony, such a faithful pony that had done everything asked of her? Surely it would not.

But the darkness sucked Twilight down, and now she could feel the real world around her, and hooves and claws pulling at her. And then there was light.

Twilight opened her eyes. The beautiful heavenly light of the firmament was gone. It was replaced instead by the dull, ordinary light filling Sugarcube Corner. Framed by the light, the face of Rainbow Dash, poised to give Twilight the kiss of life.

Twilight’s hoof shot out and clocked Rainbow Dash in the face, sending the pegasus flying. Then she sat up, and looked around. Surrounding her were her friends, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, all watching her with concern. Rainbow Dash was lying on the ground, stunned. And there was her assistant, Spike, nearly in tears with his relief that she was well. How touching that they all cared so much about her. How sweet.

And then Twilight’s roaming stare found the last occupant of Sugarcube corner. The tall, dark stranger. The monster clothed in flesh and clothes that stood in the corner, watching her. The Slender Man. Strangely, Twilight didn’t feel as much animosity or fear as she had earlier.

She had been terrified of him, of what she had learned of his past, of whom he was and what he would do. But now she had seen the light. No matter what he might do to Twilight here in this mundane world, he could never take the light away from Twilight.

Twilight was aware that somepony was talking to her. “N’ what’s that?”

Applejack was speaking to her, looking concerned for some reason. “Ah said Twilight, are ya feelin’ well? You were under for a long time before we could dig ya out.”

“Hm? What? Oh yes, I’m fine.” Twilight smiled absently. “Fine. Better than fine, actually. Don’t worry anypony.”

“Are you sure?” That was Rarity. She seemed anxious as well for some reason. How kind of her. “You look quite…um…”

“You look like you’re half dead!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Ah yes. Twilight smiled at Pinkie Pie as well. She bore her friend no ill will anymore; quite the opposite. It was thanks to Pinkie Pie that she had seen the light. “Actually, wait. I take that back. You look…three quarters dead. Maybe five eighths dead?”

“I’m sure Twilight will be fine,” Fluttershy said. “She just needs a bit of rest after her ordeal. Being buried alive by confetti is a scary experience for anypony, and Pinkie Pie is very, very sorry about that, aren’t you?” Fluttershy stared at Pinkie Pie meaningfully.

“What? Oh yeah, I’m really sorry Twilight.” Pinkie Pie’s mane deflated slightly as she bowed her head. “Can you forgive me?”

“Hm? Oh yes, absolutely.” The world was spinning in a most lovely way for Twilight. All the lights were blurring together. “No problem Pinkie, glad to help.”

“That’s great! Then we can get this party started!”

“No party, Pinkie.” Applejack said firmly. “Twilight, ya don’t look well at all. Howabout we get you to have a lie down over there for a bit?”

“Lie down? Yes, that would probably be a good idea.” Twilight felt gentle hooves picking her up and steering her somewhere. She walked forwards, guided by those hooves until she bumped into something hard. “Let Pinkie Pie have her party, Applejack. I’m sure it will be fun.”

“Uh, if ya say so Twilight.”

“Good, good. I’m just going to take a rest. Applejack’s in charge, alright everypony?” Twilight smiled again. “I’ll just be here. Thinking.”

“That sounds good Twilight, but don’t you think you should lie down? You’re standing and staring at a wall.”

Twilight ignored this last remark, and continued staring aimlessly ahead. She could remember it even now. The brilliant light awaiting her, the final resting place in the sky. She had been brought back to the darkness, but she remembered the promise of the light. She could go through any trial, any challenge if it meant she could return to that place again.

Twilight closed her eyes. The light beckoned her, and in her mind she soared towards it, flying up into the infinite sky and paradise.

----

Applejack watched Twilight with some concern. Her friend was staring blankly at a wall, and was mumbling to herself. ‘The light’, and ‘go towards the light’, seemed to be the main things she was saying. Applejack wasn’t a medical doctor, but she was sure that not being able to breathe for five minutes wasn’t a good thing.

Then again, it seemed to have mellowed Twilight out quite considerably. She was no longer screaming and running around in a panic. There was something to be thankful for, at least. About the only thing to be thankful for, in Applejack’s opinion. She turned back to the other ponies, dragon, and Slender Man and put a smile on her face.

“I reckon Twilight’s just gonna be havin’ a little nap,” Applejack said with forced cheerfulness. “When she’s had a good bit of rest, ah’m sure she’ll be back to her usual self.”

“That’s great!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down excitedly. “I’m glad Twilight’s not dead! For a little while when she wouldn’t wake up I thought she wasn’t going to make it! And then when she opened her eyes for a moment I thought she was a zombie! But she’s not moaning and eating pony’s faces, so I guess everything’s fine!”

Applejack paused to give herself time to decipher Pinkie Pie’s comments. When that didn’t work, she tried ignoring it. That usually worked. “Well, Twilight’s okay and that’s good and all, but ah’d feel better if you were to sorta sit with her, Spike. Ta make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.”

Spike nodded and made his way over to Twilight, who was still staring at the wall with a glassy smile on her face. After a few tries, he eventually got her to sit, although she still stared at the wall as if it weren’t there.

There was a groan from Rainbow Dash and she sat up slowly, rubbing her face where Twilight had struck her. “What happened? Where am I? Did someone get the license of that train?”

“Twilight punched you in the face, silly!”

“Was that what happened? My face feels like somepony ran it over with a wagon.”

“It looks like it too!”

“Nice ta see you’re with us, Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said. “But ah was thinkin’ that we should have Pinkie’s little ‘Slender party’ now before anypony else starts dyin’.”

“That sounds like a fine idea to me,” Rarity said carefully. “Pinkie, you can have your party now while we take Twilight back to her home for some rest.”

“Oh, we can’t do that!” Pinkie Pie said, “We’re going to need everypony for this super-duper awesome party!”

Applejack’s heart sank. “Uh, everypony?” Applejack said slowly. “Wasn’t that party just going to be with you and the Slender Man?”

“Of course not! It’s open to everypony!”

“Well, that sounds…lovely, darling, but I might have to decline.” Rarity said hurriedly. “I need to sew up some more ties, and perhaps work on my latest line of dresses. I’m quite behind as it is. The theme for this week is uh…crippling despair.”

“And I should probably go back to Angel,” Fluttershy said. “He’s still hiding in my closet. Not that I don’t want to have a party or anything.”

“And ah need to go check on my trees,” Applejack said. “I need to, uh, make sure they haven’t been contaminated by the Slendy apple.” That sounded like complete hogwash, but Applejack hadn’t ever been good at lying and so she went with it. “Yup. Trees. Need tendin’ all the time or the apples go sour. Certainly not ‘cause I don’t like this party. Nope. Not at all.”

“I wouldn’t mind a party,” Rainbow Dash said. Applejack nudged her with one hoof. Rainbow Dash looked blank, and Applejack glared at her. “What? Oh yeah, but um, I have to…check on the clouds! Yeah, they keep raining backwards, so I need to recalibrate them. Or something.”

Pinkie Pie’s face fell. “Nopony can make it?” She seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Applejack felt a pang of guilt, but she overruled it. “Sorry Pinkie, but ah think a small party would be best. We’d all love to come a’course, but fewer ponies means less chance of…”

“Horrible death?” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“Yeah, somethin’ like that.” Applejack agreed. “Sorry about that, Pinkie. I reckon you can still have a good party with only two people, though.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem Applejack!” Pinkie Pie bounced back to her cheerful self. “I invited lots of ponies.”

“That’s nice, Pinkie”, Applejack said absently. Then Pinkie's words sunk in. “Wait, what was that?”

Somepony knocked loudly on the door to Sugarcube Corner. Applejack turned to the door. She walked over to the door.

Applejack opened the door. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were standing just outside.

“Um, is there a party going on in here?” Sweetie Belle asked uncertainly. “Pinkie Pie said we should come by for a, uh…”

“A slender party or something.” Applebloom said. “Does that mean we’re supposed to eat only healthy food like carrots an’ lettuce?”

“If we eat five carrots each, can we still have the cake?” Scootaloo wanted to know. “Or is it going to be a carrot cake?”

Applejack stared at the Cutie Mark Crusaders for a few seconds. Then she carefully shut the door and locked it.

“Pinkie?” She called over her shoulder. “Did you invite the Cute Mark Crusaders to this here ‘Slender party’?”

“Yep!” Pinkie Pie appeared at Applejack's side. “I invited the Cutie Mark Crusaders, because they already met the Slender Man. Is that them?”

Applejack glanced at the door. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were hammering on it and demanding to be let in. “Nope. Somepony must have gotten lost.”

“Oh well, they must be a bit late.” Pinkie Pie giggled. “Fashionably late! Which is so much better than being unfashionably early, right? But how late should you be? What if you skipped the party? Would that make you the most fashionable?” Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves to her face. “Oh no! Maybe nopony will come because they all want to be fashionable!”

“Pinkie, that’s not how it works,” Applejack said, trying to ignore the banging on the door. “Now, ah’d like you to talk to the Cutie Mark Crusaders when they arrive and tell them to go back home so—”

“Hello?” Applejack froze. That wasn’t the voice of one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She knew that voice.

“Ooh, that sounds like the mayor! Hello Mayor!” Pinkie Pie called out.

“Hello Pinkie Pie,” Mayor Mare replied through the wooden door. “I’m here for your party, but the door seems to be stuck.”

“It is?” Pinkie Pie looked at the door. “You’re absolutely right! It’s locked! I wonder how that happened.”

Pinkie Pie reached for the lock, but Applejack grabbed her. “Pinkie,” she hissed under her breath, “just how many ponies did you invite to this party?”

“Hm.” Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her mouth in thought. “Well, I invited the Crusaders first, but then I thought I should invite the mayor because she’s so important, and the Slender Man is a menace to the safety of everypony in Ponyville. And of course, if I invited the mayor I have to invite all of her friends as well. And while I was at it, I met Cranky Doodle, and of course I invited him and Matilda, and then I thought it would be great if he brought his friends, so I told him to invite anypony he knew, which isn't many since Cranky Doodle is kinda cranky, so I also went to—”

Applejack put her hoof over Pinkie’s mouth, because that was better than strangling her. Pinkie Pie kept talking nevertheless. “Pinkie, do you mean to tell me that you invited every pony in Ponyville to this party?”

Pinkie thought about this for a second. “Don’t be silly Applejack,” she said at last. “Of course I didn’t! What do you take me for?”

Applejack relaxed for a second, which was a mistake.

“I invited everypony, everymule, and everydonkey in Ponyville! Jeez, Applejack, talk about insensitive. I like to think I don’t see things like species. I don’t see color. Of course, that’s because I’m colorblind!” Pinkie Pie laughed. “Not really, actually. I see lots of colors!”

Of all the ponies in Ponyville, and possibly all of Equestria, Applejack was the least likely to be given to flights of fancy. She was a down-to-earth pony that didn’t have much to do with high flyin’ philosophy and question about ‘who are we’, and ‘why are we here’.

She was an Apple. Apples bucked apples. Sometimes they ate apples. Other times they made it into cider, or apple pies, apple jam, apple fritters…the point was that they were sensible, straightforward ponies. Applejack wasn’t a dreamer. But right now Applejack was imagining what would happen if all of Ponyville were to meet the Slender Man right now.

Applejack was a realist, so her imagination was very real and accurate, and not prone to flights of fancy. And she didn’t like the conclusions her mind presented her with. She couldn’t hide the Slender Man, mainly because he probably wouldn’t go. She couldn’t barricade the door, because eventually somepony would open it, probably Pinkie Pie. That left one option left: lying. It was too bad that Applejack really sucked at it.

“Uh, ain’t nopony here,” Applejack called through the shut door. “Been a mistake! No party! Everypony can go back home, sorry for the inconvenience.”

“What!?” Pinkie Pie screamed, and her protest was echoed by many, many voices from outside Sugarcube corner. And by the sounds of it, many more ponies arriving every second.

“Pinkie Pie said there was goin’ ta be a party!” Applebloom shouting accusingly.

“Yeah! Open this door!” Scootaloo yelled. “I wanna eat cake! Even carrot cake!”

Sweat was pouring down Applejack’s brow. “All a misunderstandin’,” she tried. “Can’t open the door right now, it’s uh, stuck!”

“Ah know that voice!” A familiar reedy tone rose in the hubbub outside the door of Sugarcube Corner. “That’s Applejack! You open this door right now young filly, or you’ll regret it!”

Granny Smith. Applejack closed her eyes. That would about do it. But what could she do? Applejack didn’t want to disobey an order from her grandmother, and the door to Sugarcube Corner was shaking as ponies tried to open it. Sometimes you just had to take things as they came.

Life was like an apple, that was what Granny Smith had always said. Sometimes it was good, sometimes it was bad, and that was that. Right now, Applejack’s life was looking less like an apple and more like a pear. She had a definite premonition about what was about to come next. Applejack took a deep breath. And then she opened the door.

The collective gaze of Ponyville’s inhabitants fell upon her and Pinkie Pie, and then swept into Sugarcube corner. Countless eyes took in the heaps of confetti, the uncertain Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash and the comatose Twilight sitting in the corner with Spike. Then they saw the Slender Man.

There was an awful lot of screaming.

----

“Well, that could have gone better,” Rainbow Dash commented sometime later. “On the other hoof, it could’ve gone worse, I guess.”

Applejack grunted in reply.

“I mean, not everypony ran away. And there weren’t that many injured ponies. Only a few of them got trampled, and anyways, it wasn’t anything too serious.”

Applejack grunted again.

“Town hall is destroyed again, though. And…it looks like they got the water tower too. Lots of pegusus ponies flew into it.”

There was silence from Applejack.

“But now everypony’s indoors, at least. And locking their doors. And…I think they’re barricading their doors too.” Rainbow Dash turned to look back inside Sugarcube Corner. “And at least the Cutie Mark Crusaders seem to be having fun.”

Applejack turned her head to look. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, the only ponies that had stayed after seeing the Slender Man, did seem to be having a good time. They were the only ones. Fluttershy was holding a glass of punch and talking to the Slender Man. Pinkie Pie was receiving a lecture from Rarity at full volume, and Twilight was still sitting in a corner staring at a wall. She still had the same vacant smile on her face. At least Spike had a slice of cake as he kept her company.

“And I mean, it’s not like anypony died,” Rainbow Dash continued. “I’m sure that tomorrow everypony will feel a lot better.” She glanced over her shoulder at the rows of locked doors and darkened houses behind her. “If they decide to come out in the morning, that is.”

Applejack still said nothing. What was there to say? The entire population of Ponyville had been frightened indoors, and was not likely to come out again tonight, or even tomorrow. Probably they wouldn’t come out again until they ran out of food. That would probably be sometime next week.

She didn’t have any ideas of what to do now, except perhaps tossing Pinkie Pie down a well. Maybe if Applejack was very lucky, Pinkie Pie would finish her party without something else going wrong. This was of course, false hope, but it kept Applejack happy for about five seconds.

Pinkie Pie’s mane had remained deflated and her head bowed for nearly a full minute after Rarity had finished her lecture. Now, it sprang back to life, and Pinkie Pie jumped up onto a table. “Is everypony having a good time? Great! Well, I’d like to thank you all for attending this very special Slendy party tonight! It’s Mr. Slender Man’s first party, and so I’ve prepared a special song for this occasion!” Pinkie Pie paused, and held a hoof out for silence, which there had been already. “Prepare yourselves for…the Slender rap.”

Applejack didn’t blink and she didn’t lose sight of Pinkie Pie, but somehow Pinkie Pie was holding a microphone, and dressed in a blue hoodie with black baggy pants. She also had a hat on her head, and a large, gaudy necklace made out of gold with an oversized ruby in the center.

Applejack’s blood froze. She remembered that clothing. More importantly, she remembered that song. She started forwards, trying to intercept Pinkie Pie, but it was too late.

Pinkie Pie bounded over to a set of speakers and DJ’s mixing console that Applejack hadn’t seen before. From out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie seemed to pull out Vinyl Scratch, just as she had at Shining Armor and Cadence’s wedding. The speakers started to pulse a heavy bass beat, and Pinkie Pie was surrounded by a group of similarly dressed ponies, all wearing flashy rings and jewelry, and for some reason, backwards baseball caps.

And there was music. Of a kind. Pinkie Pie began to rap.

I’ve been hiding all day, and now it’s time to unwind.

Run fast, search hard; eight pages to find!

I’ll be running for help, I’ll be out of my mind!

We’ll all start screaming ‘cause it’s Slender time!

Everybody’s gonna die cause it’s Slender time!

The ponies surrounding Pinkie chorused as one.

Slender time! Slender time!

Pinkie Pie continued as Applejack edged around the rapping, dancing ponies.

Too late to cry cause it’s Slender time!

Slender time! Slender time!

Leave your mind at the door, leave your worries behind!

When Slender catches you there’s nothing to find!

Slender time! Slender time!

Everybody’s gonna die cause it’s Slender time!

At this point, everypony was spared further lyrics as Applejack kicked Vinyl Scratch’s electronic mixer into a wall. In the sudden silence, every eye turned to Applejack.

She grinned sheepishly. “Oops, heh. Sorry about that everypony. My hooves must have slipped.”

“Aww!” Pinkie Pie looked downcast. “Now I can’t finish my rap!” She brightened again in an instant. “What did you girls think?”

Rarity coughed. “Pinkie Pie, I know you like songs, but how shall I put this delicately? Rapping isn’t…one of your stronger points.”

“Are you kidding me?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “That was even better than the Wonderbolts rap!”

“Yeah!” Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo chorused as one.

“That was awesome,” Applebloom said. “Ya gotta teach us how ta sing like that!”

“Maybe later,” Applejack said hurriedly. “Thank you for the song, Pinkie Pie. But why don’t we all play some games?”

“Sure!” Pinkie Pie waved to Vinyl Scratch and the other ponies, who were already leaving Sugarcube corner. “Thanks guys! Can’t wait ‘till next time!” She turned back to the other ponies, half of whom were grinning happily, the other half, and this included Applejack, looked as if they wished they were leaving too. “And now it’s time to play some games with Slendy! We’ll start with tag! We’ll all take turns, and—”

“No.” Applejack said flatly.

“What? But it’ll be so much fun!”

“No.”

“Please? How about hide and go seek, then?”

“No.”

Pinkie Pie blew out her cheeks and pouted for a few seconds. “Fine. I guess we’ll have to play another game, then. How about charades? Or, I know! We’ll play a board game! Or maybe charades and a board game! Or maybe we should have cake. Do you want cake Applejack? You’re not looking too good.”

There comes a point where any pony breaks down. Where the strain simply becomes too much, and their mind retreats from the world for a while. Twilight had reached that point, and now Applejack found it too. It is a retreat into one’s mind to save them from the mental anguish of the present, and that is exactly what Applejack did now.

Quietly, and without any fuss, Applejack turned and slowly walked over to Twilight. She was still staring at the wall, quietly, without making any fuss, her eyes unfocused. Applejack hesitated, then sat next to her and stared at the wall. She didn’t turn around, not once, not even when the cake exploded and set fire to half the room.

Author's Note:

The Slender Rap is based off of a certain infamous rapping dog. The original found can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxHNztg0X3s

The rap itself starts at 0:30. Fair warning: this song has been known to make people's brains explode when listening to it.

Comments

[Coli Chibi]

What are you doing, you fool!? You've exposed even more innocents to that Devil-work that passes for a song! You maniac! You sick maniac!

Oh, and good chapter.

[Episke Afire]

I think looking at the wall sounds great, yeah, I think I'll do that right now