An adventure through Slender Forest, but with something different in mind...
"To the East of Ponyville lies the Everfree Forest, to the South, Sweet Apple Acres, and the North, Canterlot. However, no matter what map you read, nothing seems to exist in the West. Many ponies have tried to map this area, but few ever returned, and those who have returned were never the same as when they left."
This just screams "Cutie Mark Crusaders Adventure" doesn't it? (Since there's no "horror" category, I'm telling you right now that this [might] fit under that category if it existed.)
“To the East of Ponyville lies the Everfree Forest, to the South, Sweet Apple Acres, and the North, Canterlot. However, no matter what map you read, nothing seems to exist to the West. Many ponies have tried to map the area to the West, but very few have returned, and those that have returned were never the same as when they left...”
Applebloom put down the book she was reading from and stared at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo expectantly. “So, why did you read this, again?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Duh,” replied Applebloom. “We’re going to be the first ponies to explore and map the area to the West and get our cutie marks in exploration!”
“Yeah!” shouted Scootaloo. “Wait, didn’t that book say that nopony ever returned?”
“No. It said some ponies returned.”
“Still, I think we should get a little more information on this,” added Sweetie Belle. “Let’s go ask Twilight if she has some other book on this ‘unexplored area.’” And with that, the three fillies galloped out of their clubhouse towards the library.
Spike was on his own at the library that day. Twilight was called to Canterlot for some royal duties that he honestly didn’t care much about. He was almost done reshelving when the Cutie Mark Crusaders bursted into the library, knocking Spike off his ladder and causing about a dozen books to fall. “Twilight!” Applebloom called. “Twilight, are you here?” She was answered by a moan from Spike, who was buried under a pile of books. “Spike! Are you okay?” The three fillies galloped over and threw some books off of the baby dragon.
“I’m alright,” Spike said, getting up. “Twilight’s not here,” “She was called off to Canterlot earlier this morning. How can I help you three?”
“Oh, we were looking for a book about the region West of Ponyville,” said Sweetie Belle.
“I know where that book is, and while it’s technically my obligation to let you borrow the book, I need to warn you that it’s a very dangerous topic and suggest that you don’t borrow it.”
“Oh come on, Spike,” said Scootaloo. “How horrible can it be?”
“It’s pretty bad. I’ll show you. Follow me.” The three fillies followed Spike to the back room where he pulled out the book he was looking for. “Here it is. ‘The Legend of Slender.’ I warn you, though, it’s got some scary stuff in it.”
“Thanks, Spike,” said Applebloom, taking the book. The three fillies then excitedly galloped out of the library.
Back at Sweet Apple Acres, the Crusaders were hanging out in Applebloom’s room reading the book that they just got. “Huh,” said Sweetie Belle, “There is some pretty scary stuff in here.”
“Yeah,” added Scootaloo. “Listen to this. ‘This area is said to be inhabited by a tall dark creature with no face who will chase down any trespassers.’”
“Hey!” shouted Applebloom, suddenly. “It shows the names of a few ponies who have tried exploring this area and survived. Let’s see... ‘Time Turner,’ ‘Lyra Heartstrings,’ and... MY BROTHER!?”
“What?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Are you sure you read that right?”
Applebloom re-read the list. “Yup. It says ‘Big Macintosh’ right here.”
“Hey,” said Scootaloo. “Maybe we can ask him about it.”
“Ask me what?” asked Big Macintosh from the doorway.
“Big Mac! What are you doing here?” asked Applebloom.
“You three were making so much noise, so I came to see what was going on.”
“We wanted to ask you something,” said Sweetie Belle, approaching Big Mac. “Have you ever explored the area to the West of Ponyville?”
Just as Sweetie Belle asked this question, all the color instantly drained from Big Mac’s red face. He then shut the door and dashed across the room to close the windows. “How do you three know about that?” he asked in a shaky voice.
“We were reading this book and it said that you explored the area once,” said Applebloom. “We wanted to know what was there and maybe-”
“NOOOOOO!” Mac suddenly began shouting. “I can’t re-live it! I can’t! There’s nothing there! Nothing!” He then collapsed onto the floor in fetal position, repeating, “He doesn’t exist. He doesn’t exist. He doesn’t exist.”
“Who doesn’t exist, Big Macintosh?” asked Scootaloo.
Mac looked up for a moment. His face was already drenched in tears. “S-S-Slender,” he whispered to himself. “He can’t get you, now. You’re safe. He’s far away from you.” He then resumed his sobbing.
A few hours and several cups of tea later, Big Mac was finally done with his sobbing. “Are you okay, big brother?” asked Applebloom.
Big Mac sniffed and set down his cup of tea. “E-yup,” he said in a shaky voice. “I-I think I’m okay.”
“Do you feel like talking about it, yet?” asked Scootaloo.
“Scootaloo!” scolded Applebloom. “Give him a chance to breathe.”
“No, I think I can talk about it, now.” Scootaloo smirked a little and sat down in front of Big Macintosh with the others. “When I was just a little colt, I was so curious about the Western part of Ponyville. I wanted so badly to explore it, but Granny Smith never let me. She told me it was dangerous. But, because I was so young at the time, my curiosity got the best of me. So I snuck out of the farm, one night, to explore the West. I came across this eerie, pitch black forest. Fortunately, I had packed a flashlight so I could see. Good thing too, because without that flashlight, I would have been blind.”
“‘Pack... flashlight...’” Applebloom said aloud as she was writing on a piece of paper. “Go on.”
“Anyway, I went into the forest, not knowing what to expect. I walked for a while before I came across a piece of paper stuck to a tree. I took it down and read it. It said ‘Run.’ I wasn’t sure what to make of it, so I stuffed in my saddle bag and kept going. I was nervously trotting along when I suddenly began hearing this strange noise...” Mac began tearing up a little more when he said this. “I’m sorry. I-I just can’t do this!” He then galloped out of the room, sobbing loudly.
“Well that was a total bust,” said Scootaloo.
“Scootaloo, stop it,” said Applebloom. “Something obviously happened that has him beyond terrified. We need to go check on him.”
The crusaders searched the entire farm for Big Macintosh until they finally found him sitting quietly in the barn. “There’s a reason I don’t always talk,” Mac said when he noticed the fillies, though he never looked up. “It’s because, even though he’s so far away and I know he can’t hear me, it still feels like I can hear him. The noise that invades your ears when he’s near... I haven’t stopped hearing it for years, and talking just makes it louder. The only thing that takes my mind off of it is all the hard work I do around the farm. But I always hear it. It never goes away. It’s his final twisted act of revenge if you escape.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” asked Applebloom.
Big Mac just sighed and still didn’t turn around. “Just promise me one thing. Never make the same mistake I did when I was your age. Never go into that forest. It’s hard enough watching Lyra and Time Turner suffering similar fates... I just couldn’t stand watching any of you ending up the same way.”
“Don’t worry Big Macintosh, we won’t go,” said Applebloom. “I promise.” The others nodded in agreement.
“I’m really sorry about the way I acted. I wish you could understand without ending up the same way.”
“It’s okay.” Applebloom then hugged Big Mac. “We forgive you.”
“Thanks little sis.”
“By the way, how exactly did you escape?”
“I’m actually not entirely sure. I found about seven similar pages in different areas of the forest and was suddenly jumped by the creature. I blacked out and woke up in my bed at home with that noise still in my ears. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
After a while, the trio of fillies left the barn. “We’re still going to explore that forest, right?” asked Scootaloo.
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” asked Sweetie Belle. “I mean, Big Mac seemed really scared of us going.”
The crusaders were in their clubhouse, packing saddlebags full of things that they would probably need for the trip through the mysterious forest. “Well, yeah,” replied Applebloom. “But this could be our one chance of getting our cutie marks.”
“That’s what you said about journalism!”
“Well we had Diamond Tiara to ruin that for us. I’m sure that not only will we get our cutie marks, but we’ll be famous throughout Equestria!”
“Gee,” Scootaloo said under her breath. “And I thought I was ambitious over Rainbow Dash commenting on my scooter skills...”
“Even still, aren’t you a little curious about what all’s there? Who knows, maybe there’s some hidden treasure that nopony knows anything about. It wouldn’t kill us to try.”
“Actually, it could,” commented Sweetie Belle. “Don’t forget that only a few ponies ever returned.”
“No pony ever said they actually died. Maybe they were just teleported to some faraway land where they spent the rest of their lives in...”
“Terror? Fear? Agony?”
“I was going to say ‘paradise’ but you had to darken the mood, didn’t you?”
“Well, we can see your mind’s made up, Applebloom,” said Scootaloo. “I guess we’ll go with you, but only to gallop off back to Ponyville to get help once something goes wrong.”
“You say that as though it’s a guarantee!”
“Only because it is!”
“Both of you, stop!” Sweetie Belle shouted suddenly. “I agree with Scootaloo in the fact that something will go wrong, but I think we should go for it, anyway. Besides, strength in numbers, am I right?”
“I guess,” said Scootaloo.
“Then it’s settled,” said Applebloom. “We’ll all meet at Sweet Apple Acres at midnight tonight. Are we all in agreement?”
“Sure,” said Sweetie Belle.
“I’m not getting out of this one, am I?” asked Scootaloo. She was answered by the other two quietly shaking their heads. “Fine.”
The three then did their group high-hoof. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, Explorers!”
That night, Applebloom was having a pretty restless sleep. She dreamt that she was walking through a forest with nothing but a flashlight in her mouth. That’s when she heard a strange noise similar to static but not quite. She turned around to find a tall dark creature with a white, faceless head staring back at her. She tried to scream, but her own voice was drowned out by the ever-intensifying static. She did her best to gallop away, but something had caught her hooves. The creature had tentacles coming out of its back and was using them to bind her hooves. She continued to try screaming, but the static kept getting louder and louder. The creature leaned in closer to Applebloom and seemed to say over the static, “I’m waiting for you. If I couldn’t have your brother, I’ll take you instead. You and your little friends... and I’ll make sure you suffer. I’ll make you suffer like you never have before. You’ll never know peace, quiet, or your precious ‘harmony’ ever again...”
Applebloom was suddenly awakened by a ‘moo’ that came from outside. She was breathing heavily and wouldn’t have noticed the noise if she hadn’t heard it again. She went over to her window where Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were waving. She waved back and rushed out the door, downstairs, and outside to join the others. “Are you packed?” asked Scootaloo.
“Yeah,” Applebloom replied weakly, “Packed everything before I went to bed.”
“Applebloom, are you okay?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yeah,” Applebloom replied, yawning. “Just a bad dream, that’s all.”
“Well, just shake it off,” said Scootaloo. “I wanna hurry up and get this overwith.”
Just as the trio was about to leave the farm, they were stopped by Big Mac, who seemed to be waiting for them at the exit. “Going somewhere, my little ponies?” he asked. (Don’t worry, this won’t turn into another Sweet Apple Massacre)
“Uh, no,” Scootaloo replied. “We were just...”
“There’s a way to beat him.”
“What? Beat who? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Heh, heh...”
“Slender. There’s one way to beat Slender.”
“Why would we want to know that?” asked Applebloom. “It’s not like we’re going up to Slender’s front door and taking him on hoof-to-hoof.”
“Applebloom, I would have thought Applejack would have taught you better about honesty. Now, are you going to take my life-saving advice or not?” The three fillies looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to Big Mac and nodded. “Okay. The thing is, Slender isn’t really all that worried about trespassers, just trespassers stealing his journal pages that he has hidden around the forest. He spends the entirety of your stay trying to stop you from collecting them all, but if you find all eight, he kicks his efforts into high gear. When he catches you then, he doesn’t kill you like he normally would.”
“I told you this really could kill us, Applebloom!” Sweetie Belle said.
“Anyway, he doesn’t kill you, he knocks you out, recovers his journal pages, and condemns you to a life of fear on top of your previously normal life. However, if you can collect all eight pages and escape the forest before he finds you, he may not be able to affect you, anymore. There’s a chance you’ll become ‘Slender-proof.’”
“‘Slender-proof?’” repeated Scootaloo. “How would that help us once we’re out of the forest?”
Big Macintosh pointed up at his head. “You won’t end up like me.”
“Don’t worry, big brother,” said Applebloom, hugging Big Mac. “If we can’t help you, we’ll at least make sure Slender pays for what he’s done to you.”
“Thanks, little sis,” Big Mac replied with his voice breaking a little. “I hope you come back safe.”
“I will, don’t worry.” Applebloom then broke off from the hug. “Good bye. I’ll see you soon.” She and the others then trotted off towards the forest.
“One can only hope,” Big Mac said to himself. He then turned around and made his way back to the house.
After a little while, the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally made it to the entrance to the forest. “Wow,” Applebloom said as she was looking up at the forest. “This place is kind of scary.”
“Yeah,” commented Scootaloo. “Look at how high those trees are.”
“And look at the ground in front of us,” added Sweetie Belle. The ground before them was, indeed, strange. There was an evident border to the forest. On their side, there was moonlight, but on the forest side, it was nearly pitch-black, making the moonlit grass seem like it were in the shining sun.
“Heh, anypony feel like chickening out, yet?” asked Scootaloo in a shaky voice.
“I’m not going to let my brother down,” said Applebloom. “I’m going.”
“I want my cutie mark just as much as you two do,” said Sweetie Belle. “I’m going, too.”
Scootaloo sighed in defeat, hung her head, and raised her hoof. “I’m going, too.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” asked Applebloom. “Let’s go.” And with that, the three naive fillies galloped at top speed into the forest.
In the center of the forest, Slenderman and Slendermane were talking about Applebloom and her friends. “What do you suggest we do?” asked Slendermane.
“Just a few more of those pathetic ponies from that nearby town,” replied Slenderman. “I can take care of this group.”
“Oh come on, Slenderman. You took care of that last stallion that came in. Why can’t I take care of these?”
“Because I have the most experience out of the rest of The Slender in this forest. No one else here is prepared for more than one intruder.”
“Excuse me,” said a voice from behind a tree, “but may I offer some out-of-the-box thinking?” Out from behind the tree came an alicorn with the same body as an ordinary Slender, (white face and black business suit) but the only difference was that he actually had a face.
“What do you want, Silph?” asked Slendermane.
“I was just thinking that maybe we should stop trying to kill these intruders and talk them away,” said Silph.
“What do you mean ‘talk them away,’ Silph? Are you suggesting we stray from our traditions and show these... ponies that we’re weak?”
Silph looked down in shame and disappointment. “No. I’m suggesting no such thing, Slendermane.”
“I didn’t think so. Now, return to the base. We need you out of the way for this group.”
“Yes, Slendermane.” Silph then turned and began to walk off. Once he was out of range of the two Slenders, he said “I’ll show you ‘stray from traditions,’” to himself and then flew off.
Meanwhile, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were making their way through the same forest, all looking around with their flashlights. “Applebloom,” said Sweetie Belle, “can’t we just turn around and go home, now? Who knows how long we’ve been walking for already?”
“I’m not going back until I’ve found the pages,” said Applebloom. “I promised Big Macintosh I would find them and I plan on keeping that promise.”
“Hey!” shouted Scootaloo, “I think there’s a page over there!” She was pointing her flashlight at a tree that did, indeed, have a page attached to it.
“Well what are we waiting for?” asked Applebloom. The three fillies then galloped over to the tree Scootaloo indicated. They were right in front of the tree when a voice stopped them.
“Turn back,” said the voice. “Turn back while you still have the chance. Forget you ever came here, and nopony has to get killed.”
“And who are you to tell us what to do?” Applebloom asked the voice.
“It doesn’t matter. Just turn back, please. Ignore the pages and-” The voice was suddenly cut off.
“What was that all about?” asked Scootaloo.
“Not sure,” replied Applebloom. “But what’s important is that we have the first of the eight pages.” She then grabbed the page and put it in her saddlebag.
“All right!” shouted Sweetie Belle. “Only seven more to go, then we can get out of here.” The three fillies then galloped off in search of the rest of the pages.
Meanwhile, Silph, the voice that was telling the fillies to turn back, was tackled to the ground by a black bird with a white, faceless head called Slenderhawk. “Slenderhawk?” asked Silph, getting up. “What are you doing?”
“I might ask you the same thing,” Slenderhawk replied. “You know Slenderman had those ponies covered.”
“I know that, but I honestly don’t see the point in killing these ponies. Why can’t we just drive them off so they can go back and tell the rest of their community that we don’t want them coming into this forest?”
“They won’t convey that message. They’re just going to tell the rest of their community that our forest is safe for them to invade and ‘colonize,’ thus, driving us out of our home.” Silph looked down while Slenderhawk continued talking. “Do you understand me, Silph?”
“Yes,” Silph said, not looking up. “I understand you. I’m just saying-”
“NO!” Slenderhawk shouted. “We are not going with your idea. We are not showing any weakness or hesitation. Slenderman is going to kill those ponies and keep them from stealing our sacred pages and we’re going to stand by our traditions. Now come with me back to base.” Slenderhawk then flew off, pausing when he noticed that Silph was not following him. “Are you coming or not?”
Silph decided that there was no point in trying to push his idea forward any longer and slowly turned around. “I’m coming,” he said, trotting past Slenderhawk. The two then made their way back to the center of the forest.
Following the achievement of obtaining the first of the eight pages, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were continuing their trek through the Slender Forest. They were walking in general silence for awhile, then Scootaloo broke the silence. “Hey, girls. Does anypony else get the feeling that maybe we should have listened to that strange voice from earlier?”
“I’ve already told you, Scootaloo,” replied Applebloom, “I’m going to get those eight pages and beat Slender for Big Macintosh. I’m tired of reminding you two.”
“Still, don’t you think that voice was seriously trying to warn us about something?”
“Well of course it was. It’s not like Slender is going to just give us his pages on a silver platter. Besides, of course he wants to get rid of me in particular. He narrowly missed my brother, so he’s gonna take his revenge on me.”
“Hey,” said Sweetie Belle. “Can you two stop bickering and get focused on the mission?”
“Fine,” said Scootaloo. The three fillies continued walking when they saw yet another page attached to a stagecoach. “Huh. Why would a stagecoach be all the way out here?”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Applebloom. She then broke off from the group and trotted over to get the page. Just as Applebloom had grabbed the page and put it in her saddlebag, the three suddenly began hearing a strange static-like noise. Applebloom instantly recognized the sound from her dream and galloped at top speed back to the other two. “Girls! We need to get out of here now!”
“What?” shouted Scootaloo.
“It’s Slender! He’s near!”
“I can’t hear you! There’s this weird noise!”
Applebloom saw that the static was too loud for either of them to hear her, so she grabbed the two other fillies and lead them into a full-speed gallop away from where they found the page. After a while, the static died down and the three could hear each other again. “Everypony all right?” asked Applebloom.
“What was that?” asked Sweetie Belle, breathing heavily.
“I think it was Slender. Remember when Big Macintosh began telling us about a strange noise? Well, the night before we left, I had a dream about this Slender creature. When it was near me, I heard that same static noise.”
“Well at least we’ll be able to know when Slender is near,” Scootaloo replied. She then looked over to find another page attached to another tree. “Hang on. I’m gonna go get that page.” Scootaloo then began trotting over to the tree the page was on and grabbed it. “I have the third page!” she shouted. She was trotting back to the others when the three suddenly heard the static again.
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Hurry back!”
“I’m coming!” Scootaloo replied, now in full gallop. However, before she could reach the others, something grabbed her hind hooves and began pulling her back. “AHHH! HELP!”
“SCOOTALOO!” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle shouted in unison. The two then galloped over to Scootaloo and each grabbed one of her hooves to try to pull her away. They were pulling as hard as they could, but Scootaloo was starting to slip from their hooves.
“Applebloom!” Scootaloo shouted. “Get the page from my saddlebag! Make sure you find all eight! Keep your promise to Big Macintosh!”
“But I can’t just leave you,” replied Applebloom.
“You have to! I’m done for! Take it before it’s too late!” Applebloom reluctantly grabbed the page in Scootaloo’s saddlebag with her mouth. “I’m sorry about this.” Scootaloo then leaned up and kissed Applebloom.
“WHAT THE HAY IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Applebloom shouted.
“I’m about to die. I’ve gotta do something to piss you off. Anyway...” Scootaloo then slipped out of Applebloom and Sweetie Belle’s hooves and was dragged off into the darkness, screaming.
“SCOOTALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” shouted Sweetie Belle, even though the only pony around to hear her plea for her lost friend was Applebloom.
Slenderman walked through the center of the forest, whistling a rather cheerful tune. Silph was sitting around doing pretty much nothing when he noticed Slenderman walking by. “Hey, Slenderman,” Silph said. “How are you whistling if you don’t have a mouth?”
“That’s easy,” Slenderman replied. “I- uh... How can you be part Slender, part Equestrian if your father was neither?”
“I asked you first, you answer me.”
“Let’s forget either of us asked anything. Have you seen Slenderwolf? I forgot to walk him earlier.”
“I think Slendermane took care of him. What kept you from walking the dog, anyway?”
“Oh, I was chasing those fillies around and it took me longer to catch one of them than I thought it would, but I got one anyway.” Slenderman then held up Scootaloo’s lifeless body with one of his tentacles. “Another one for the pile.” He then threw Scootaloo’s body into a pile of other dead ponies.
“You killed her?” shouted Silph, getting up and galloping towards where Slenderman threw Scootaloo. “What happened to giving peace a chance?”
“We never agreed to that.”
“But making peace with the Equestrians is entirely possible. If my father could to it, why can’t we?”
“Your father was a fool! He calls himself a lord of chaos, but he let himself fall victim to that pathetic ‘friendship’ those ponies use... twice!”
“He befriended one of the Equestrians. That means they’re entirely capable of making peace with just about anything, no harm done.”
“I will have no more of this, Silph! For the last time, we are not giving up our traditions and that is final!” Slenderman then turned around and began to walk off. “I’m gonna go take care of those last two fillies. You stay here and stop your nonsense about peace with the Equestrians.” Slenderman then walked off, leaving Silph there to do nothing but sit around.
“Grr... I can’t just stand by and let this happen. I need to do something.” Silph then flew off in the same direction as Slenderman.
Meanwhile, Applebloom was trying to comfort Sweetie Belle over the loss of Scootaloo. “How could it just take her?” Sweetie Belle said through a fountain of tears. “How could it be so cold-hearted?”
“I’d say it’s like Discord,” said Applebloom.
“How so?”
“He doesn’t care about anypony because he treats everything like a game. He finds everything he does fun. He does whatever he wants and treats it all as a joke.”
Sweetie Belle just stared at Applebloom for a little while, then bursted into tears again. “How was that supposed to help me?”
“Shh, Sweetie Belle. There’s nothing we can do except understand there’s nothing we could do. It wasn’t our fault.”
“Actually, you’re wrong, Applebloom. It was your fault!”
“What? How?”
“If you hadn’t read that book--if you hadn’t asked Big Macintosh about the forest--we wouldn’t be here and Scootaloo would still be alive!” Sweetie Belle then resumed her crying.
“How about this,” Applebloom said after a while. “Let’s go back to Ponyville and see if Twilight or somepony else can help us. Maybe then we can find some way to beat Slender and possibly save Scootaloo. What do you say?”
“Fine,” Sweetie Belle finally replied. The two then galloped off, hoping to be headed towards the edge of the forest. They were galloping for a while when Applebloom suddenly stopped.
“Sweetie Belle,” Applebloom called. “I found another page.”
“Applebloom!” shouted Sweetie Belle shouted, annoyed. “I thought we gave up collecting the pages!”
“We did, but the more we have, the better chance Twilight will have of understanding this forest... hopefully.”
“Good point, but we still need to get back as soon as possible.”
“Right.” The two fillies then continued their galloping towards the exit. They had been galloping for a while when they could finally see Sweet Apple Acres.
“Applebloom, look!” shouted Sweetie Belle. “I think I can see the way out!”
As Sweetie Belle galloped towards the light, Applebloom called after her, trying to get her to stop. “Sweetie Belle! Come back!”
“I’m not spending another second longer in this forest on nightmares!”
“Sweetie Belle, wait! You-”
“I can smell the fresh air!”
“SWEETIE BELLE!!!” But it was too late. Sweetie Belle had hit the fence and was knocked several feet back.
“What?” asked Sweetie Belle, rubbing her head. “What happened to Sweet Apple Acres?”
“It must have been one of Slender’s tricks,” Applebloom said, helping her friend up. “He creates an illusion to fill us with hope, then we fall flat on our backs when we get to close. We’re fenced in.”
“But that means... there’s really no way out?” Applebloom shook her head. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Slenderman was walking through the forest, looking for Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. “Come on, Slenderman,” he said to himself. “How hard can it be to track down a couple of fillies?” That’s when he heard Sweetie Belle’s shout from the edge of the forest. “I’ve got you ponies now.” He then ran off to the source of the noise. However, he didn’t notice that Silph was hiding behind a tree behind him.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Silph said to himself. He then flew off to follow Slenderman, making sure to maintain a safe distance for stealth.
Meanwhile, Applebloom was trying to calm Sweetie Belle down. “Sweetie Belle, hush!” she said. “Who knows whether or not Slenderman can hear you?”
Sweetie Belle finally ran out of breath and replied, “Maybe never being able to go home again or never seeing your friend again is easy for you, but I’m kind of upset about all of it. Don’t forget that I knew Scootaloo longer than you did.”
“I know that, but it’s no reason to scream at the top of your lungs when there’s a dangerous monster stalking us.”
“I guess you’re right, Applebloom. What do we do now, then?”
“Now, we need to get back to our original goal. We have four pages, so that means we need to find four more. Let’s get going.” Applebloom then got up and offered her hoof to help Sweetie Belle up.
“Okay,” replied Sweetie Belle, taking Applebloom’s hoof. “For Scootaloo.” The two ponies then galloped off away from the fence.
The two ponies had galloped through the forest for a while before Slenderman finally found them. “Ah,” he said quietly to himself. “That makes five pages you’ve found. I won’t let you take a single one more, though.” He then began moving closer to the two fillies, making sure to stay out of sight.
“Applebloom,” Sweetie Belle said as Applebloom stuffed the fifth page in her saddlebag.
“Yeah, Sweetie Belle?” Applebloom replied.
“Do you hear that static noise, yet?”
“I don’t think so. Do you?”
“No, I just wanted to make sure-” Sweetie Belle stopped suddenly, her ears perked up, and a weird expression came over her face.
“Sweetie Belle? Are you okay?” Sweetie Belle just silently pointed behind Applebloom. Appelboom turned around slowly and saw what Sweetie Belle was staring at. It was Slenderman himself, standing ominously over the two fillies. Applebloom let out a huge gasp of horror. “Come on, Sweetie Belle! We need to move!” Applebloom began galloping off, but Sweetie Belle never broke her gaze on Slenderman. “Sweetie Belle, what are you doing? SWEETIE BELLE!”
Sweetie Belle still continued to stare at Slenderman, but Slenderman didn’t seem to be doing anything. At least, that’s what Applebloom thought. After a while, Sweetie Belle’s vision began getting fuzzy and she began feeling dizzy. After a few seconds, she finally fell to the ground on her back. Silph saw this from behind a tree and instantly knew that Sweetie Belle was in major trouble. “I won’t let you do this, Slenderman!” Silph shouted. This got Slenderman’s attention, but he didn’t turn around in time to avoid Silph’s tackle. Slenderman was knocked back about 20 feet. Silph quickly turned around, picked up Sweetie Belle, and flew her over to where Applebloom was. “Take your friend and run, filly!” Applebloom was beyond scared by all that had just happened, but she knew not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Silph placed Sweetie Belle on Applebloom’s back and Applebloom galloped off as fast as she could.
“Silph,” Slenderman said angrily, walking up behind Silph. “Would you mind explaining to me what you just did and why you did it?”
Silph turned around with a look of determination on his face. “I just saved that filly from the horrible death you were about to give her. She didn’t deserve to die. She never did anything to harm us. None of them did. We don’t need to keep killing them.”
“I will have no more of this nonsense!” Slenderman interrupted. “You have become a hazard to our mission. You will go back to the center of the forest and you will stay there!”
“NO!” Silph shouted. “I’m not taking another order from you or any of the others! I will fight you, if I have to!”
“Then prepare to have to!” Slenderman then threw Silph into a tree using his tentacles. Silph was stunned for a moment, but he quickly shook it off and charged at Slenderman, horn-first. Slenderman managed to block the charge, but Silph quickly spun himself around and bucked Slenderman in the face, knocking him to the ground. Silph stood over Slenderman, about to finish him off by stabbing him with his horn, but Slenderman teleported behind Silph and knocked the confused pony into a tree, knocking him out. “You are good at defending yourself, but you don’t know everything about combat.” Slenderman then walked off, leaving Silph where he lay.
Applebloom had narrowly saved Sweetie Belle from Slenderman and was trying to wake her friend up some distance away from where they originally were. “Sweetie Belle, please wake up.”
Sweetie Belle slowly opened her eyes and groaned softly. “Applebloom?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Is that you?”
Applebloom breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you’re alive. We were both lucky to get out of there.”
“What happened?” Sweetie Belle asked, rubbing her horn.
“Slenderman attacked you with some weird power that looked almost like Fluttershy’s Stare. He knocked you out and very nearly killed you. You were saved by some alicorn, but I never got a good look at him. He just threw you on my back and told me to gallop away as fast as I could with you.”
Sweetie Belle was barely listening. She had a huge headache and a ringing in her ears. As well, her vision was blurry. “Applebloom, I can’t hear you too well.”
“Oh. Well then you won’t hear this at all.” Applebloom began tearing up. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I pulled you and Scootaloo into all this. I never should have even gotten this idea. I never should have asked Spike for the book... never should have asked Big Macintosh about the forest... never should have ignored that voice that tried to warn us before we got the first page... never should have forced you two to come along with me. We should have stuck to trying to get the skydiving thing to work.”
“Applebloom,” Sweetie Belle moaned. “You don’t have to be sorry.”
“But Scootaloo is dead and you’re dying, too.”
“I know, but you had to do this. It was always up to you to defeat Slender and grant Big Macintosh peace. We were there to help you, but only you really had to survive.” Sweetie Belle then motioned for Applebloom to lean in a little closer. “When Slender did that Stare on me, I saw everything. I saw Big Macintosh when he was colt in this forest. I saw Scootaloo in her final... agonizing moments. I saw inside Slender. But I saw one more thing... Fear. He’s afraid of something, and I think it might be you. He knows that you really can find all the pages, so he picked Scootaloo and I off first to weaken your resolve. That means something good. It means that not only can you do this, but it could do something to Slender. If you can find all eight pages, you might be able to defeat him once and for all.”
“No, Sweetie Belle. We can beat him. We can do it together.”
“You’re wrong, Applebloom. I’m finished. I can barely move and Slender will be here any minute.”
Applebloom began tearing up once again. “No!” she shouted. “You have to try! I’m not going to leave you here to die!” (WTF? When did Applebloom suddenly become Zecora?)
“Look, Applebloom,” Sweetie Belle said, her voice getting weaker. “There’s nothing you can do for me unless you can find the rest of the pages.” She then rolled over and pointed at a tree in the distance. “There’s a page on that tree over there. If you keep going in that direction, you should find another page after a while.” Sweetie Belle rolled over back to Applebloom. “It’s up to you and you alone, now. Find the pages for me, for Scootaloo, for Big Macintosh... for Equestria.” Sweetie Belle then slowly closed her eyes.
Applebloom just sat there for a moment, doing her best not to cry, but she couldn't hold back her tears. She leaned over her fallen friend and sobbed for several minutes. “This is all my fault,” she said. “I'm so sorry.”
“I’m not dead, yet,” Sweetie Belle said. “And while I appreciate your apology, please don't cry on me. Just get going.”
“Oh, okay,” Applebloom replied, getting up and wiping her tears. She then galloped off to the tree where Sweetie Belle said there was a page. Sure enough, it was there. Applebloom took it and looked back at her fallen friend. She looked so peaceful yet so tormented laying there as she was. Applebloom forced herself to turn around and keep going. “Don’t worry, Sweetie Belle. I won’t let you down, and I’ll save you if there’s any possible way to.” She then continued on, eventually hearing Sweetie Belle’s scream in the distance. Slender had already gotten to her. “I’m sorry,” Applebloom said quietly to herself. She then continued, all alone with nopony to turn to and a deadly monster that already took two of her friends and is coming after her with a vengeance.
Applebloom trotted cautiously through the area of the forest where Sweetie Belle had indicated just before Slender got her. She wasn’t trotting for too long before she heard Slender’s static. She began to pick up speed, but she quickly realized that Slender wasn’t following her. In fact, he was moving away. Applebloom was sure investigating was a stupid idea, but she just had to know why Slender was suddenly not chasing her. For a while, she thought it was because he was taking Sweetie Belle’s lifeless body somewhere, (a thought she just couldn’t stomach) but it wasn’t Slender at all. At least not the one that’s been chasing the crusaders. In fact, it almost didn’t look like Slender, at all. It was a pony. An alicorn, no less. It had the same body patterns as Slender, but a face, tail, horn, and wings. It was walking along, massaging its horn with its hoof. “I don’t appreciate you watching me like that,” the alicorn said, suddenly. “But I can assure you that you don’t need to run.”
Applebloom was prepared to run, anyway, but the alicorn approached her. “Who are you?” Applebloom asked, prepared to gallop at the drop of a hat.
“I figured you wouldn’t recognize me,” the alicorn replied. “I never even had time to introduce myself, earlier. My name is Silph, and I’m the one who tried to save your friend earlier.”
“Silph,” Applebloom repeated. “Well, thank you for trying... even though Sweetie Belle...” Applebloom turned her head to try to hide her tears.
“I apologize for not being able to act sooner, but you have to understand that there wasn’t much else I could do.” Silph then leaned down and put his hoof on Applebloom’s shoulder, causing her to jump a little. “Sorry, Applebloom. I didn’t mean to startle you just now.”
“Wait. How do you know my name?” Applebloom asked, pulling back.
“You overhear a lot of names when you try to protect ponies.”
“You mean... you were trying to protect us the whole time?”
“Yes, but my powers are limited. Watch.” Silph turned and tried to use his horn to levetate a rock next to them with little success. “See?”
“So you couldn’t do a thing?”
“Not true. My wings work like a charm and the sharpness of my horn makes it an effective weapon.”
“So you why didn’t you do anything sooner? Couldn’t you have stopped us before we even entered the forest? Couldn’t you have saved Scootaloo?”
“I’m afraid not.” Silph got up and turned, looking out at the darkness of the forest. “There are many more Slender than me and the one that’s been attacking you, and they’ve all had eyes on me for the 15 centuries I’ve been among them. Wait, none of them have eyes,” Silph added. This actually made Applebloom chuckle a little, but she quickly snapped back to her original defensive state. “Again, you don’t need to fear me.”
“I know,” Applebloom said. “I’m just on edge in case another one of you sneak up behind me or something.”
“Believe me, I’ll be the first to know and the first to warn you if another Slender is on his way.”
“Okay. I guess if you’ve been trying to save me and my friends... I could probably trust you with warning me of other Slender coming this way.”
“Don’t worry, there won’t be any Slender after you for at least another few minutes. He’s taking your friend to the center of the forest and adding her body to a pile of ponies they've built up over the past few years.”
“A pile?” Applebloom looked down, more tears in her eyes. “Scootaloo would be there too, wouldn’t she?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.” Silph layed down next to Applebloom and just stayed there for a while, waiting for Applebloom to do something. “I can still help you, ya know,” he finally said.
“Really?” Applebloom asked, raising her head. “How?”
“I could help you track down the last page.”
“But I only have six pages.”
“No you don’t,” Silph said, pulling out a page that was tucked behind his wing. “From the looks of it, you do, indeed, have seven pages.”
“Wow,” Applebloom said, taking the page and putting it in her saddlebag. “Thank you, Silph. So how are you going to help me find the last page?”
“You’re hooves must be aching from all the galloping you’ve been doing over the past couple days.”
“Days? It’s only felt like a few hours.”
“Time is different in this forest. Anyway, hop on. I’ll fly you to where the last page is.”
“Okay. I’ll trust you with that much... for my friends.” Applebloom then climbed onto Silph’s back. Silph got up and extended his wings.
“Hang on tight,” he said. Applebloom hung on for dear life as Silph took off into the canopy of darkness.
Slenderman walked through the center of the forest, carrying the lifeless Sweetie Belle in one of his tentacles and throwing her body into the pile, right on top of Scootaloo’s body. “Another catch?” asked Slendermane, sitting on a log, not really paying any attention.
“Yeah,” Slenderman replied. “I barely caught her, though. Silph attacked me before I could finish her. He’s revealed himself to be a full-blown traitor.”
“I thought so,” Slendermane said, not even looking up. “He’s just as deceptive and unpredictable as his father was.”
“The problem is that I didn’t have time to kill him. He helped those ponies escape and I needed to chase them, first.”
“Look on the bright side. You caught one of them. There’s no way the last one will be able to even continue, now. Those ponies care too much about each other.”
Just then, they heard a cawwing noise above them. “Slenderhawk?” called Slenderman. “What are you doing here?”
Slenderhawk landed on Slendermane’s back. “We have a big problem. Silph’s a traitor.”
“I think that train’s left the station,” Slendermane said, shaking Slenderhawk off his back. “Silph being a traitor is pretty well established at this point.”
“I know,” Slenderhawk said, getting up off the ground and shaking himself off. “But I actually saw him with the filly. He gave her one of the pages and is guiding her to the last page as we speak.”
“Sweet Celestia!” Slenderman shouted. “If Silph’s guiding her, we don’t have much time before she reaches the eighth page.” Slenderman then hopped onto Slendermane’s back. “We haven’t any time to lose! Hi-ho, Slendermane!”
“Excuse me?” Slendermane asked.
“You of all Slender know that you’re faster than I am.”
“Fine.” Slendermane then galloped off into the distance with Slenderman on his back.
“I guess I’ll just... stay here, then,” Slenderhawk said to no one.
Meanwhile, Silph and Applebloom landed in front of some kind of building towards the heart of the forest. “So the last page is somewhere around here?” Applebloom asked, hopping off of Silph’s back.
“Inside that building,” Silph replied, pointing at the doorway. “Go on, I’ll stand guard out here in front of the door.” Applebloom nodded and galloped into the building.
The building looked like an old bathroom that hadn’t been used (or cleaned) in years. Applebloom moved her flashlight left and right looking for the page that Silph said was in here. She looked all around and even inside the stalls. all she found for the longest time was smelly toilets.
Meanwhile, SIlph stood like a guard dog outside the bathroom, paying attention to every square inch of the area. Suddenly, he heard hoofsteps from off in the distance. “Slendermane?” he asked himself. “I didn’t expect Slenderman to come with backup.” He got himself into a combat postition and prepared for the other two Slender.
Inside the bathroom, Applebloom had checked just about everywhere and was just about to give up when she noticed something behind one of the mirrors. When she walked over to investigate, she found that it was the last page. She had done it! She found all the pages! She was going to succed, after all! However, just as she reached for the page, she began hearing strange noises. Not noises like Slender Static, but rather... cries for help? “Applebloom,’ the noises moaned. “Applebloom, where were you?”
“What?” Applebloom asked the air around her. “What’s going on?”
“Applebloom, why didn’t you save us?” Suddenly, Applebloom recognized the voices. One sounded like Scootaloo, one sounded like Sweetie Belle, and one even sounded like Big Macintosh.
“Where were you?” the Scootaloo voice asked.
“Why didn’t you save us?” the Sweetie Belle voice asked.
“Why did you let us down?” the Big Macintosh voice asked.
“I-I’m sorry,” Applebloom said panickedly. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I can save you, I swear.”
“Where were you?”
“Why didn’t you save us?”
“Why did you let us down?”
“No, I can do this. Just please, stop.”
“Where were you?”
“Why didn’t you save us?”
“Why did you let us down?”
“Stop! Please leave me alone! I never meant for any of you to get hurt!”
“Where were you?”
“Why didn’t you save us?”
“Why did you let us down?”
“No! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!” The room around Applebloom began spinning and she was very near falling over. Meanwhile, Slenderman looked on.
“Heh heh heh,” he laughed quietly to himself. “A little torture before death never hurt anypony. Oh, wait. It hurts anypony, and that’s the joy of it.” He then used his power to trigger the voices again.
“Where were you?”
“Why didn’t you save us?”
“Why did you let us down?”
“Stop it!” Applebloom shouted, doing her best to block out the noise. “Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!”
“Where were you?”
“Why didin’t you save us?”
“Why did you let us down?”
Applebloom screamed loudly and was about to break down in tears when she suddenly heard a familiar noise. Static. Applebloom instantly recollected herself. “Clever trick, Slender,” she shouted. “but I’ll never let my friends down!” She then grabbed the eighth page and put it in her saddlebag. “You lose!” She then galloped out of the bathroom with the voices doing their best to follow her.
“Damn it!” Slenderman shouted. “So close! Guess I’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.” He then walked around to the front of the bathroom.
Applebloom galloped excitedly out of the bathroom, calling to Silph. “Silph! I have the eighth page!” However, she didn’t come out to the excited response of her new friend. Rather, she found him on the ground beneath the hoof of another pony that looked like a slender, only closer to one than Silph. (earth pony, no face)
“Applebloom,” Silph moaned. “Run.”
“Silence!” the other pony shouted, kicking Silph’s head.
“You aren’t going anywhere, little filly,” Slenderman said behind Applebloom. Applebloom immediately tried to gallop away, but Slenderman caught her before she could even put a few feet between herself and Slenderman. Slenderman held her up to the front of his head (yes, this would be his face if he had one) and just held the struggling filly there for a moment. “I told you I’d get you, little filly,” he said finally.
“You can’t hurt me,” Applebloom said, struggling though knowing not to open her eyes. “I have all the pages! You’ve lost!”
“Au contraire, little one. (ごめん浅い [sorry] my French is bad) I can harm you quite freely, because you took MY pages infused with MY power in MY forest. Nopony does that to me. Not even a little filly like you. Now, I will finish you once and for all.”
“No!” Silph shouted, struggling to break away from Slendermane.
“Keep quiet, you,” Slendermane said, kicking Silph’s head once more.
“Get... OFF!” Silph shouted, knocking Slendermane off of him and several feet away. He then galloped as fast as he could towards Slenderman. “Applebloom! I’m coming!”
“What?” Slenderman shouted, turning towards Silph. “You! Get back!” Slenderman then sent a wave of magic towards Silph, sending him flying back. “Now, back to you, little filly.” He then raised his tenticle into attack postition.
“Applebloom!” Silph shouted on the ground. “NOOOO!” But it was too late for him to do anything. Slenderman had already thrust his tentacle into Applebloom’s chest.
Silph could only watch helplessly as Slenderman stabbed his tentacle through Applebloom’s chest. How could he have been so slow? He could have prevented this. He could have taken down Slenderman before he even caught Applebloom.
He could have stopped the whole ordeal, altogether.
If he had just gone and confronted the Crusaders before they got the first page rather than try to talk them away with a faceless voice, he could have kept all three of them from dying. Instead, Slenderman got all three of them, only the third one was taken right before his eyes. He let his guard down and the fillies payed the price for his mistake.
“No...” Silph said to himself, even though no one could hear him or was going to hear him. “How could this happen? How could I let this happen?” Just as tears began appearing in Silph’s eyes, his horn began glowing a greenish color. “Slenderman... how could you?” As Silph’s sadness turned to anger, his horn began glowing brighter and his wings extended. “I won’t let this stand...” Silph somehow levitated into the air and his whole body began glowing the same color as his horn.
“What’s going on?” Slendermane asked, getting up.
Silph continued to rise into the air and glowed brighter than ever. “I WON’T LET THIS STAND!” Then, out of nowhere, he unleashed a massive pulse of magic, sending Slendermane flying at least several miles away.
Slenderman put the dying Applebloom down and turned to Silph. “How dare you, Silph, you traitor!”
Silph turned to Slenderman. “So what if I am a traitor? What you’re doing is wrong and you are going to pay for it!” Silph then fired a massive ball of magic at Slenderman, who tried to block it. However, Silph’s rage was too powerful for Slenderman to challenge and he was sent flying into the air. After this happened, Silph slowly stopped glowing and lowered to the ground. “Woah,” he said to himself. “Did I seriously just do that? Did I even use magic at all, just now?” He silently questioned what just happened for a few seconds before he remembered that Applebloom was dying. “Applebloom!” he shouted, flying over to where Applebloom lay, barely alive and a massive hole straight through her body.
“Silph?” Applebloom asked weakly as Silph flew to Applebloom’s side.
“I’m so sorry, Applebloom. This was all my fault.” He began tearing up, once again. “I should have been faster, more decisive... but look what happened.”
“Silph, you did what you could, and I forgive you for that.”
“No, I could have done more. I could have easily saved you as well as your friends.”
“Silph, please, just listen to me.” Silph kept quiet and listened intently. “You need to promise me one thing. One thing before I pass.”
“What is it? What can I do for you?”
“The reason you wanted to save us was because you thought peace was possible. I need you to make sure you’re right. I need you to make sure that me, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle didn’t die for nothing. I need you to promise me... that the suffering ends.”
Silph held Applebloom close to him, and he could literally feel her slip away into the darkness. “For you, Applebloom, I’ll make sure your sacrifice won’t be for nothing.” He closed Applebloom’s eyelids with his own hooves and whispered two final words:
