What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse

by AdrianJNovelle

Chapter 4

"What was that?" Rainbow asked, jerking her head in the direction from which she had heard a mysterious noise.

"I don't know," Twilight mumbled. "Probably just the wind blowing."

"It sounded like a tree branch snapped."

"Is it possible we're being followed by anyone other than the Slender Mare?"

"I don't think so...everyone should be asleep by now."

"Wait, if the wind's blowing, and it's time for the Slender Mare to begin his strut through town to his victims...then shouldn't his pages be scattering right about now?"

"Uh, yeah, uh, I guess," Rainbow uttered nervously.

"Not very confident in your folklore, are you, Rainbow?"

"Hush," Rainbow propped herself up from the fountain and took a quiet look around the vacant town. The moon's glow did brighten the area, but it also made shadows all that more visible and eerie. If the Slender Mare were around them, he would be noticed more easily. But, let's not forget that Rainbow Dash said that his movements were inconspicuous.

"So, should we look for his pages now, and send him packing or what?"

"Uhm...m-maybe we s-should s-stay by the f-fountain instead."

"What? I thought the Great Rainbow Dash wasn't afraid of anything."

"Yeah, anything with a face. Which includes dragons, but not the S-Slender Mare."

Twilight grunted. "C'mon, Rainbow," she began to trot from the fountain in the direction Rainbow Dash was facing. "You're literally getting all worked up over nothing."

Even though she had said that, Twilight still played Rainbow's game of finding the missing pages of Slender Mare's book. If they couldn't find any pages, then clearly Rainbow Dash was making this whole thing up just to scare Spike, and Twilight was right all along. All they needed for evidence was a single page. They didn't even need to find all five by the end of the night.

Twilight began to wander aimlessly through town, just like during their hike before they arrived at the fountain. There was no sign of movement or a disturbance. No sound broke the night. All was calm and quiet. The only thing which kept Twilight on her toes (had she had any) was the unsettling cold of the wind which brushed through her mane so gently.

Then - a page.

The sound of rustling paper was heard, and a moment later, Twilight's giant eyes spotted a crumbled sheet of parchment paper attempting to escape from a leafless shrub nearby with the wind's blow. She trotted over to it, Rainbow Dash following right behind her. She picked it up, unfolded it, and held it loosely in her hooves.

"What does it say?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"It's a list of names that have all been crossed out," Twilight replied. "Shining Armor...Princess Cadence...Fancypants...and they're all from Canterlot."

"Canterlot? Well what does that mean?"

"I think it means that the Slender Mare has been to Canterlot...and he's making his rounds in Ponyville next."

Rainbow's eyes shrank to the size of peas.

"Twilight...I'm scared."

"Me too, but, since there's no chance for us to see him for find him until he kills us, and since we're still missing for pages, and since he can pop out anywhere at any given time, we have no choice but to just keep calm and find the rest of the pages."

"Easy for you to say - you don't believe in him. To you, this is just a piece of paper with names on it. To me, this is a death note."

"Well, nopony said you have to believe in him. It's your choice. That is, unless we're able to prove he's real or not."

"Isn't that paper proof?"

"Well...when we were walking around, I thought that if we found some parchment it would be evidence enough, but then I got to thinking: the wind blows all kinds of stuff around. This might not be a page of Slender Mare. This could be a page for an old party RSVP list or something. Who knows."

"From Canterlot?"

"The wind knows not of where she blows."

"Okay...but I'm still pretty sure he's here."

"What makes you say that?"

Rainbow Dash grabbed Twilight and pointed her head up in the direction of a towering shadow erected upon a tall wall of a building they were standing near, bearing disproportionate appendages as it stood gazing over the night like a hawk.

Without thinking, the girls took off screaming.

Comments

[Clover Sky]

Twilight's brother is dead?

[GoldenFlower]

Oh my gosh...