Memories
“Princess, you okay?” The words earned Twilight’s attention. She turned from the picture in her magical grasp, looking at the Princess of the Night. By appearance alone, she looked fine. Her mane billowed in all the same manner as before, stance tall and proud, gazing at Rainbow Dash.
It was the gaze that irked her.
The eyes were wide as plates, pupils small as dots. They shook like flies in a wind Twilight imagined only a pegasus of being able to survive. Luna’s lips trembled as well, shaking with her jaw. It was as if she was trying to form a word, a syllable, a letter, but didn’t have the idea of how.
“Princess Luna?” Twilight asked carefully, trotting towards her ruler. The dark alicorn did not respond.
“Uh, your majesty?” Dash tried again, this time placing a hoof on the coat of princess.
Luna jumped with a single gasp.
Her hooves trotted backwards, pushing away from the pegasus before her. Her breath became rapid, pulse quick. And, still her eyes trembled, her lips shaking. Twilight looked to Dash, now far more concerned than before. The pegasus gave her only a look as shocked as Luna’s.
“Princess Luna? Are you alright?” Twilight tried again carefully, trotting towards the dark alicorn. This time, the youngest ruler of Equestria gazed back down at the unicorn, her gaze gaining focus as her features ceased their motion. Her underbelly grew and shrank with deep breaths, controlling the rapid pace of her heart. Taking in a mighty breath of air, she released it, shutting her eyes and lowering her head. When Luna looked back up, she appeared the same as when they entered Pip’s room.
“I…” Luna began weakly, eyes moving from the unicorn to the pegasus. “I apologize for my state,” she spoke earnestly. “I am familiar with the Slenderman of legend. Those are not tales I am kind of hearing.” Twilight’s brow screwed itself in confusion, but it was Dash to voice the question.
“How the hay do you know about Slenderman? Twilight didn’t even know about that dude until last night, and that was because she was reading stories based on other stories.” The unicorn forced herself to keep her gaze on the princess, avoiding an annoyed glance towards Dash. The princess was of much higher concern than a small jab or taunt.
“You forget my age, Rainbow Dash.” Luna spoke calmly. “My sister is my elder by scarcely a few years, and the tales of humans and their monsters is a mythology old. What better things did you imagine I do during the hours of my night while ponies still slept and dreamed?”
“Uh,” the pegasus began, catching herself between confusion and curiosity. “Count the number of stars in the sky?”
“That number changes as I see fit.” The dark alicorn shot back. Dash took a few hoof steps back, landing on the floor. “No, I filled my time with stories and tales, hoping to find a yarn or thread to which I could catch the attention of those around me. These well constructed words were what brought many ponies admiration and fame. My youthful form thought it would behoove me to learn such tales, in hopes and dreams of having others listen to these ancient stories.”
“Then, when you could no longer find any stories to entertain the ponies, they started to neglect you?” The unicorn’s words were scarce with compassion, but the alicorn paid them as much mind as a well-rehearsed and genuine apology.
“No, they never cared to listen to them to begin with.” Luna breathed a sigh of defeat, trotting to a far wall.
Twilight and Dash watched her, glancing to one another in confusion and worry. They both knew Princess Luna was a pony who hid herself well, much like her sister on the throne. Though undeniably strong and eternally wise, it did not make her any more of a god than the foal they were looking for. She was subject to the same emotions that fell over all of them. Worry, anxiety, nervousness, fear, and even loneliness. Unspoken again, they could agree that Luna knew the last better than any other.
Luna traced her hoof over the markings on Pip’s wall, her jewel adorned hoof scratching over the black lines drawn over enough paper to plaster every viewable spot on the young colt’s walls. She let out a cold breath of air.
“Pip was the first colt, first pony, to listen to my tales in many years, both before and after my banishment to the moon. A confinement I rightfully deserved.” Dash shut her muzzle before she could utter a breath of air. “He listened to me tell tales of many old ponies, forgotten now by even the eldest of the wise. Tales of brave knights defending Equestria when chaos was still rampant, of unicorns with magic so great, they could challenge us, though only on blessed days best me.” A small smile grew over the alicorn’s lips as she continued.
“I came to visit him often in his dreams, entertaining his nurturing curiosity with the stories. No matter how many words I spoke, he found them never enough. Odd as it was, and odd as it still is, I found no hardship upon myself in providing more for him. Rather, I enjoyed it.” Any trace of peace or happiness upon Luna’s features slowly vanished as she gazed at the wall her hoof traced, looking with her sapphire eyes at the marking and words that stained it.
“But I never spoke to him of terrors. I feared as a foal in the dark that tales of blackness or misery would frighten him away from me. I could not stand the mere nightmare that he would push away from me, too fearful to gaze at me because of the words I had spoken or shown to him.”
“Shown?” Dash questioned. Luna sighed before answering.
“You do not dream of words, Rainbow Dash.” The dark princess explained. “You see visions and hear the mind as you rest. The planes of dreams are pallets of color by which I speak. But these are things we can discuss at another time.”
“Wait, why?” The hard look from Luna answered all questions. “O-Oh, yeah.”
“I am familiar with the Slenderman.” Luna spoke again, eyes gazing now at Twilight, turning towards the younger mare as she did so. “It is one of the eldest and most horrific tales I have ever read. However, now it may come to our advantage, you, Rainbow Dash, and I.” Twilight absorbed the words of the princess like a dying mare and water.
“I don’t understand your highness.” The gaze Luna offered Twilight reminded the unicorn so much of the comforting aura Celestia gave during her lectures.
“Young Pip has displayed many symptoms pertaining to the tales of Slenderman, of the humans that fell into his twisted grasp. The fear of the light, the paranoia, sickness and the like.” Twilight nodded her head in understanding, checking off the list in her mind. “Yet, as Rainbow Dash has said in my case, the possibility of another pony knowing of these is low and unlikely.”
“Then… are you saying that this Slenderman dude really did this?” Dash sounded doubtful of herself, finding the words she was speaking hard to believe. A shake of Luna’s head answered her words.
“No, it is not a thing of reality. A tale for the fillies and colts of old to stay away from the forests and avoid the darkness, for in those times, other, more real, dangers lurked. No,” she spoke again. “The meaning of my words is two-fold. On one hoof,” Luna lifted one of her crystal hoofs into the air. “There must be a pony who knows of these tales other than Twilight and myself.”
“And on the other hoof?” Rainbow ventured, unsure of what the other finding was.
“There must have been a pony following Pip.” Twilight concluded for the princess, a proud smile on her face. “That severely limits the number of possible perpetrators in this, right Princess?” The smile had yet to fade from her lips.
“Correct, Twilight Sparkle,” the dark alicorn spoke with a smile to her, though far more subdued. “I doubt that there is much else in this room that can aid us. However, we must now search elsewhere.” Without waiting for a response, Princess Luna strode from Pip’s room, entering again the unblemished halls of his home, his mother nowhere in sight.
“Where?” Dash asked the princess’s retreating form. “We have a suspect now, and that’s definitely sweet, but unless we have someplace to look, it doesn’t really do much. I mean, sure we could look everywhere, but what would that do?”
“You ask the wrong question, Rainbow Dash.” Luna reprimanded lightly at the pegasus. The three walked from the home, princess in lead. Dash followed close behind her with Twilight at her side. “There is not a place we must search, not yet. What we must do now is question others regarding Pip’s whereabouts in the days to weeks prior. Somewhere in that time, a pony took an eye to him, no doubt the same pony that took him on my last night, and a pony that I intend to see punished and fearful by my next night’s end.” The darkness in her voice was unmistakable. Dash didn’t miss the small shiver that ran down Twilight’s body. It was impossible for her to miss the one that ran down her own.
“Well, that’s good too, but there are like hundreds of ponies in Ponyville, and we have no idea of knowing every pony Pip knows.”
“Then we narrow it down.” Twilight spoke up, pride in her voice. “Pip may have been seeing the Slenderman by some other pony’s trick, but as his mother said, his sickness was very real and very bad.”
“Yeah, and?” Dash led Twilight to continue. They turned down a street, still following the princess in front of them, near blindly. All three ignored the crowds that parted and ponies that bowed.
“Well, his mother wasn’t sick so that means that he didn’t get sick at home.” Dash nodded at the unicorn’s words. “That means that he would have had to have contracted his illness somewhere else. But, since he is still a colt, it’s likely that whatever he came down with wouldn’t affect a full grown mare or stallion as easily. That means that we should do two things.”
“And those are?” In answer to her question, Twilight did magic. The unicorn lit her horn with a just a spark of her imagination. Immediately, two numbers sparkled above her head, outlined with the same lavender aura as her coat, mane, and eyes.
“One,” Twilight began, crossing off the number that followed her every step. “We look for other ponies who have an illness similar to Pip’s if we know where he got sick, we may be able to find a pony who was following him there, or even responsible for it.”
“Okay, yeah, I got that. And the second thing?” With those words from Dash, the last number above Twilight’s head was given a magical slash.
“He definitely spends most of his time around other foals, so asking his friends is the best option for finding out the finer details than any other pony’s passive observations.” The unicorn smiled at the pegasus who kept her attention focused. “Thankfully, there’s one spot in Ponyville where we are likely to find both of those things.”
“The school.” Luna finished for the unicorn, her trot ceasing as well. Twilight turned her attention to the dark alicorn, beaming with excitement.
“Yes! That’s-” Her voice died on caught breath as her lavender eyes saw where they were. Just beyond Luna’s billowing mane stood a familiar building to many of Ponyville’s youth, complete with the red walls, playground, and large bell tower. The School House. The unicorn found her eyes wide and jaw lax at the sight. Rainbow was little different. “How did you-”
“You are wise for your age Twilight Sparkle, never will a pony deny this.” The princess turned towards the younger mare, smiling with a caring, yet slightly devious, grin. “But so too am I wise for my own, and I am far older than you. Do you disagree?”
“Don’t respond to that Twilight.” Dash cautioned next to the shocked unicorn. “I know Rarity and I know word traps when I hear them. No matter how you answer that, it isn’t going to be good.” The pegasus then felt her wings extend quickly before retracting against her side, the shock of the voice she heard.
Princess Luna was laughing just before her.
It wasn’t a bellow or scream, nothing in the range of which Pinkie Pie would dare to command, but it was still audible and proud, unhindered by any restraint to remain regal or in control. The princess’s cheerful voice slowly subsided into a giggle before she regained her composure, smile still present and wide upon her face.
“You are wise as well, Rainbow Dash.”
Without another word, and without motion to follow, the dark alicorn trotted towards the school building again. The pegasus and unicorn were quick to follow. The sound of an active class was clear even through the wooden walls of the structure. A few voices answering questions from an elder mare, learning with a practiced pace and small amount of joy. Twilight found herself smiling at fond memories. Dash found herself scowling at horrific nightmares.
Luna saved no ceremony as she approached the door of the building. Lifting her hoof, she rapped on the door twice, loud enough to cease the speech of the class. A muffled voice, doubtlessly the teacher, spoke beyond the wooden frame. A moment later the door opened. The mare fell back in shock. Dash started to wish she had kept count of the number of ponies that had done that today.
“P-Princess!” The pink pony spoke in shock, earning a collective gasp from the fillies and colts beyond the vision of the party of three. Luna nodded one towards the shocked teacher, wearing a smile fitting for royalty.
“Good morn’ subject,” The princess of the night spoke with her authoritative tone. “We request a minor audience with your class. There are questions one of your fillies or colts may bear fruit to answering.” The pink pony took a few deep breaths, eyes still wide and mildly terrified at the sudden appearance of the imposing figure. But with a lick of her lips, she regained, most, of her composure before speaking.
“Y-Yes, of course.” She spoke while standing. “Please give me only a moment and I’ll give you the floor.” Luna gave a respective nod of her head. Dash leaned close to Twilight before muttering in her ear.
“Was it like that with Celestia all the time? I mean, they’re both princesses, but is it really so terrifying?” Twilight leaned into the pegasus before responding herself.
“Close, but usually it’s more embarrassment than fear. A close metaphor would be… Scootaloo around you.” She heard Dash scoff and chuckle at the comment.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” They leaned away from one another as the voice of the teacher rose up from the room.
“Attention class?” A collective call of ‘Yes, Ms. Cherilee’ rose from the young crowd. “We have a very special guest today. I want you all to be on your best behavior. She wants to ask all you young geniuses something very important, understand?” again, the collective sound of ‘Yes Ms. Cherilee’ rose from the room. “Very good class! Now, please say your proper greetings to our royal guest, Princess Luna!”
At the call, the dark alicorn trotted forwards into the room. Twilight gave Dash a questioning look, one that the pegasus returned in kind. The lavender mare glanced inside again, seeing Luna already standing in front of the class of young ponies. Her dark eyes didn’t even glance towards the pair. With a small sigh and a shrug of her shoulders, she spoke to Dash.
“We can just wait here, I’m sure she’ll call us in if she needs us.” A smile blossomed from Dash’s lips, turning from a simple smile to her famous grin. That worried Twilight to no end. “Whatever you are thinking Dash, please save it for later.” The pegasus blew a breath of air from her nostrils.
“Attention my loyal subjects.” Princess Luna began, earning the attention of the pair and, doubtlessly, the class inside. “I am here looking for a… friend of mine.” Hushed whispers flowed from the room like a gentle mist. Noticeable, but nothing unexpected. “His name is Pipsqueak Pinto, a classmate of yours.”
“Um, Princess Luna?” A timid voice spoke from the back. Biting her lip, Dash leaned her head into the classroom, taking a peek at the filly that had spoken. She didn’t recognize the young pony, a unicorn with a pale purple coat and bright blonde mane. Cute, adorable even, but no pony she knew. “I think Pip has been absent for… um… a week now.”
“Yes, I am aware.” Despite the coldness of the words, the unicorn and pegasus could feel the patience and comfort on her voice. Must have been another practiced trait for princesses. “The reason why I ask you all is because I believe one of you may know how he contracted his illness. Do not fear, I am not here to judge or condemn any of you.” It was hard for Twilight not to groan. It was impossible for Dash not to snicker, hiding her muzzle into the coat of the unicorn next to her. A reprimanding look was all the pegasus received. “I merely wish to know how young Pip fell ill, so that I might better be able to help him.” Dash froze.
“Wait,” she whispered quietly to Twilight. “Did she just-”
“Yes.” Twilight spoke quickly. “And that is the exact right thing to do.” The pegasus lifted her face from her friend’s coat, looking at the unicorn with an incredulous look. With a sigh, the mare quietly spoke more. “Do you really think telling a room full of foals that one of their friends has been foalnapped is the right thing to do?” The questioning look from Dash fell in an instant, her hoof rising to scratch the back of her head.
“I might be able to help princess.” The voice made Dash freeze.
She knew that voice, she knew extremely well.
“What do you know, little one?” Dash and Twilight heard the princess ask. The pair looked inside as one, Dash hovering just above Twilight. They followed the gaze of the dark alicorn to the filly that she spoke to. Dash was having trouble on deciding what to do, laugh or gasp.
“Pip told me he did something wrong.” Scootaloo answered in a hushed voice.
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Since you already know my thoughts on this chapter, have a Scootaloo.
1741188
What... does that mean?
1741353
Confusion... it is abound.
Looks like too much fun, therefore:
1741869
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe.
1744347
That Dash face always confuses me. Is it a good or bad thing?
1744411
It's a good thing (at least for my purposes)! And to be fair, you started it when you uploaded the latest chapter
In all seriousness though, loving the story, loving the suspense, loving the mystery. Keep it up and can't wait for more!
1744411
It's Rainbow Dash, confused. What's confusing you? Also, you started it, so neener neener.
Damn, I can't tell if this is going to actually be a Slender story, or if there's going to be a Scooby-Doo type villain behind the scenes (Princess Celestia!? - I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling fillies, and that little dragon, too!). ((King Sombra!?))
Oh god I already know what is going to happen they are going to say he went into the woods or something then they are going to go and get buttraped. Nope nope nope nope they are all deeaaaaaaaad!
1747496
Not... quite that. That would be stupid and predictable. Who likes predictable?
... Damn you and ending each and every chapter on a cliffhanger!
1749088
It's a horror story, what do you expect?
Could you explain the rating so I can quote you on it for my user page's review of your story?
1776084
Sure, it means that there are dark themes, such as death, but does not describe graphic detail of the acts.
1776103 Alright, I'll add that. Go ahead and look it over, as it is better said than any comment I have posted. XD
1776106
Sweet, where can I find it?
1776123 Click my name, scroll way down on the right side. It's the third story down from the list, and the fourth story up (bottom three are my own).
1774823 Why is it catchy?
1774823
I didn't play this till recently... I'm playing it while I write this... I can't believe how much it's helping me finish this up. I'll probably be able to wrap this up before the month's end at this rate... I love making this symbol....
1800313 images.wikia.com/theslenderman/images/d/de/Slenderman_seal_of_approval.png
hmmmm... Now, the way I was sure this was going is Slender Man is definitely real. But if Luna, our man expert, says he's not and there's a different, equally plausible reason why Pip might've gone missing - and the Slender Man may be a fake- then I no longer know where this story is going.
And that makes me very happy.
1801392 your forgetting. One of the symptoms of slender sickness is memory loss and hallucinations. She could have easily forgotten or the slender man just covered his/hers/it's tracks.