Sweetie Belle played on the school playground, enjoying life. She swung on the swings. She dangled from the monkey bars. She made Apple Bloom fall off the merry-go-round. All in all, she was having a fantastic time.
And then, on a whim, she looked off into the distance, toward Everfree.
And she saw it.
A tall, pale figure, clad in a suit. He just stood there. Sweetie Belle could discern no facial features, but she knew that he was staring at her.
"Miss Cheerilee," Sweetie said. "Who is that?"
Cheerilee looked at where Sweetie was pointing, and the color drained from her face.
"Get inside," she said quietly.
"Why?..." Sweetie asked. Some of the other colts and fillies were also looking at Cheerilee with confused expressions, or at the pale figure on the horizon.
"Get inside. Now," Cheerilee said, her voice wavering. She quickly gathered all the kids, and rushed them inside.
Soon enough, all the curtains in the school were drawn, all the doors and windows locked. A hushed silence fell over the premises.
Cheerilee moved the curtain aside a fraction of an inch, to see the figure slowly walking away towards the forest. She shuddered, and breathed a sigh of relief.
On the edge of the forest, a single tear formed on the face of Slendermane. It rolled down his cheek, and fell to the ground, burning through the layer of leaves that covered the forest floor.
***
There was nothing quite like walking through the forest at night. The way the moon shone through the treetops, the glistening dew on the leaves, the woodland creatures that scurried out of Fluttershy's way as she went along the path, the static.
... The static?
Fluttershy recoiled in fear as her vision was obscured by a field of static and her ears were filled with an awful screaming, like nails on a chalkboard.
And then, as he appeared in front of her, she relaxed.
"Oh, you," she said reproachfully. "Don't do that, you know it scares me."
She stood on the tips of her hooves, and kissed the white cheek of Slendermane, paying no mind to the cold, numb feeling that spread through her lips. She could swear she saw his face darken in tone, as if he was blushing.
"Anyway, how have you been?" she asked, lying down on the ground. She smiled at him. Her image was reflected slightly by the moonlight on his face.
I visited the schoolyard today, Slendermane said.
"Oh? Did you say hello to anyone?" Perhaps this was the time...
They fled from me. I could not bring myself to approach them after the fear they displayed.
Such was how it always was. She sighed inwardly.
Her vision filled with light static, as it did when he was distressed.
I can sense your disappointment, he said. I simply cannot socialize with others as I do with you.
She reached up and brushed his face with her hoof. "You have to someday," Fluttershy said. "I won't always be here to keep you company, you know."
Please, do not say such things, my love, he said. I do not know what I will do when you depart. You still have time before this happens.
"Yes," she said. "But time runs differently for you and me. You know that."
Her vision filled with static once more, and she saw with sadness that her friend was weeping. The tears slid from his face and dropped to the ground, leaving little smoking holes.
"Please don't cry," Fluttershy said. "I'll always be there for you until I go. Whatever you need, I'll be there. But, Slendermane... Someday soon, you'll have to go into town. You'll have to show these people that you're no monster. I have a friend that lives in these woods. She was an outsider too when she first came to town-"
I am aware of your friend Zecora. She hangs talismans outside her home to keep me away. She has no more love for an outsider like myself than your other friends in Ponyville.
This saddened Fluttershy to hear. She'd been sure that Zecora would befriend Slendermane in time.
"People will accept you. Just give them time to get accustomed to you, they'll learn how amazing you are-"
DO NOT PRESUME TO LIE TO ME. BEFORE YOU CAME I WAS EXACTLY WHAT THESE PEOPLE IMAGINE I AM. Fluttershy cringed as the scream of static raged inside her head. I WAS A MONSTER, A MURDERER, UNTIL YOU CHANGED MY WAYS. SO DO NOT TELL ME THAT I AM SOMETHING THAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO THEM.
Fluttershy?
My love?
Fluttershy lay on the ground, curled in a ball, sobbing. She heard the thud as Slendermane sunk to his knees beside her, but recoiled. She couldn't help it. She'd never experienced his wroth to this degree.
Her mind was a wreck. The buzz of static still rang in her ears, and her body convulsed even as she tried to keep still.
What have I done?
Fluttershy, my love, please wake up! Please! PLEASE! I cannot go on without you here!
Fluttershy heard these final pleading words as her mind slipped into unconsciousness.
***
Twilight Sparkle surveyed the streets of Ponyville from her library's balcony, as she so often did in the night. Her dreams had been troubling her as of late, and she found stargazing to be a most relaxing hobby. She looked through the lens of her magically-enhanced telescope, and the clay-red planet of Mars filled her vision.
Such majesty, she thought, with some degree of sadness. Such a shame I'll never tread upon its surface.
I quite agree, said a voice, high and cold, behind her. There is nothing as grand as Mars on a clear night. Twilight Sparkle spun around, knocking her so-precisely-tuned telescope to the ground. There stood a stallion, tall and white, wearing a suit. With a chill, she realized he had no face.
It was the monster from her dreams, come to life. It stood on its hind legs, and... Held in his forelegs... Was Fluttershy.
Please, do not be frightened, it spoke once more. With another jolt, she saw that the... Thing... Was crying. That is to say, it was secreting what seemed to be tears from the craters where its eyes should have been, which pattered onto the wooden deck- and proceeded to burn straight on through.
Your friend is merely asleep. I knew to come to you from my observations over this town. You seem to be one of Fluttershy's closest friends.
Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to reply, but the voice cut her off.
Please, let me finish, it said. I did this to her. It was an accident. I was very... Angry, at what I now realize was merely an expression of her kindness. Even so, I let my rage get the better of me, and I hurt one whom I love.
Twilight's mouth dropped open.
I cannot let this happen again. I must diminish, and leave this place. I cannot allow myself to come into contact with another living being, lest I only cause more pain and death. Take Fluttershy, and tend to her until she awakes. When she does, tell her all I have told you tonight. Tell her not so be sad, and tell her I love her. And, finally, I ask one thing of you: Remember me. Remember me not as I was, a mindless monster, but as I am, a changed being who owes all he has to the kindness of another. Tell others of me. Tell them I was the one who saved their friend, not the one who caused her such pain and misery. Remember me.
And with that, he gently laid Fluttershy down on the wooden planks of the balcony, lowered his head, and faded into the night.
