The Arkby BetariusChaptersMysterious letterNightmaresResearchThe huntThe journalMysterious letter It was Saturday, somewhat around 3 PM. The sky was very cloudy, the air was heavy, it felt like a storm was coming. It was actually making you sleepy. But only some, that didn't have any real duties at the moments, could let Morpheus carry them away. Twilight Sparkle was one of those ponies; she was laying on her bed, in her room in Ponyville library, listening to the sound of wind furiously banging the windows. It was not any ordinary storm, it was a gigantic cloud which came from Everfree forest. It was rare that a cloud from Everfree forest came to Ponyville, and all the pegasi did everything to prevent it. But when something as gigantic as this cloud was coming to the town, they could just look and watch. The lavender unicorn desperately tried to sleep, changing positions every minute, constantly wriggling in her bed searching for comfortable position. But it was no use, the constant banging did not let her rest for a minute. With resignation she magically levitated a book from her table and began to read. The book was one of Daring Doo series, telling the story of brave pegasus finding the ruins of an old race which lived long before ponies. The volume drew her in and the sleepiness disappeared very quickly. Some time passed, when the unicorn was startled by sound of lightning right outside her window. Twilight jumped terrified and fell off the bed. It began to rain. She groaned in irritation as she slowly got up, she looked out the window; The Ponyville streets were empty. Rain drops were falling quickly at the ground, sinking in. In the rain, stood a pony, definitely a stallion in a black coat. He looked like some thief or somepony from a violent cult. There was something really unpleasant in this pony, other than his posture; He was holding a briefcase in his mouth. To Twilight's surprise he came closer to the library. The unicorn did not want this pony anywhere near the library, who knows what harm he could do? "That's ridiculous", she thought. "I shouldn't judge ponies just by their looks. Maybe he is just a courier and that briefcase is a package for me? I don't remember ordering anything, but I could just have forgotten about it. There is probably nothing to worry about." She tried to calm herself, but she was still shaking. She hurried downstairs, she came to the front door and opened it. There was nopony behind them. Only a black briefcase lying on the ground. "Great job Twilight. He probably was tired of waiting here in the storm for me and just left the briefcase here." She scolded herself but deep inside she was happy that she didn't have to confront mysterious pony. Twilight levitated the briefcase closer to have better look at it. That's when she noticed a weird symbol on the front of briefcase, it was engraved on it. Probably with knife or a pair of scissors. It was a big crossed circle. Fear came back to the mare; Whatever that briefcase was, it was not an ordinary delivery. She thought about throwing the package away for a second, but even that she was scared of what could be inside, she was also curious, very curious. She took the briefcase inside and put it on the table. She looked at it for a while, still considering throwing it away and forgetting about it. "Maybe I should wake up Spike?" She asked herself, but quickly dismissed that idea, Spike would probably be even more scared than her. She should handle it herself, for now. She examined the black container with her magic, searching for any kind of curse, or maybe a trap-spell. It seemed to be safe. Finally, she slowly opened the mysterious briefcase, carefully, like there was a monster inside that she did not want to free. Inside of the briefcase at first did not seem harmful, there were some books, and a letter written on a light-brown old scroll. She ignored the books deciding to see the letter first. She levitated it closer and began to read. "Twilight Sparkle. You have been chosen because of your outstanding intelligence and hunger for knowledge. Do as we say and you or your friends will suffer no harm. DO NOT tell about this to your mentor or you and your friends will suffer consequences. Follow our instructions and keep your actions a secret. Your objective is simple, decode the texts we sent you and track the object known as The Ark. Failure is not an option. We are watching you. Find the ark or suffer death. This is not a joke, if you want proof... well I suggest you should look in your closet." Twilight finished reading the letter. The content was clearly threatening. This made her even more nervous than before. She had tons of questions. Who are these "We" that letter kept mentioning about? What is The Ark? Why do they search for it? Could they really harm her or any of her friends? She looked at her closet with fear. "Is there really something in there? How could they put something in here without me or Spike noticing?" More questions raced trough her mind. She slowly stood up, shaking. As she came closer, she noticed that dripping can be heard. There was definitely something in there. She feared what may be inside but she had to see it, there was no other way. She very slowly opened the door. Her eyes widened as the light slowly filled up the space behind the door, showing her the "proof". The dripping she heard before, was a sound of blood slowly falling onto the floor from a cut off hoof of a pony. Nightmares It's been some time since Twilight got the briefcase and found body parts in her library. Since the last storm, the sky was sunny. Pegasi had to keep the sky clean for the whole time, there was a huge risk that crops would rot because of water excess. But dying crops were least of Twilight's problems, she had somepony threatening her and a pony hoof in the closet. She rushed trough the library picking up all the books she could find. The books she got from the briefcase were written in some weird language that unicorn has never seen before. "Come on, come on, come on! There must be something about The Ark, or maybe something that will help me decipher the books," she said to herself. "Keep it together Twilight... You can get out of this." Her mane was a mess, she didn't have time to brush it, actually, she didn't have to sleep at all. She had to know what is The Ark. If a pony could kill for it... Twilight jumped and screamed when she heard Spike coming down the stairs. Baby dragon probably just woke up, he looked at the unicorn a little confused. "Twilight... is everything okay? You seem... nervous," he asked worried. Violet pony tried to make a fake smile. "I need to keep Spike out of this, he doesn't need to be a part of this..." She thought. "I have to lie." "It's nothing! You just startled me,a bit. I was working on something for Princess Celestia..." Spike did not look convinced, but Twilight knew that it'll probably wouldn't work; she was a terrible liar. "Twilight... what's with the mane?" He asked with confused look, "wait... did you even sleep?" "Of course I did! I just had a horrible nightmare, and didn't rest very well." That was almost true; she remembered trying to get at least bit of sleep, and waking in the middle of the night, crying and sweating. Twilight did not remember what she was dreaming about, purple unicorn only knew that she do not want to. Spike still looked worried, he crossed his arms and said. "You know that you shouldn't worry that much about your studies. Remember what happened last time right?" He said switching his voice to more serious tone. "I k-know Spike... just... listen I just re-e-ally want to get this done. T-this is really important. I will get some r-rest soon, I p-promise." She tried to be calm, but she was stuttering. Spike knew that she never stuttered. He knew that there is something more to it than that, but he didn't press on. Twilight wouldn't tell him anything more anyway. "Okay Twilight, just don't overwork yourself." "I won't," she said smiling. She calmed down a little, knowing that the dragon wouldn't ask anymore questions. She levitated the book closer to her face and continued searching. "Anyway... wait... do you hear dripping?" Twilight's eyes widened. The hoof. She completely forgot about it! "T-that's nothing. I just spilled some juice," she said. "I'll clean it up later." "Oh don't worry, I can clean it up.Just let me get the mop from the closet," spike said happily. He tried to open closet door but Twilight blocked it with her magic. "Twilight you are acting weird again. Tell me what is happening." Twilight ran close to Spike and again, determined to keep the search for The Ark as secret, she said with serious look on her face. "Listen Spike, I'll tell you the truth. I was taking some chemicals from the closet but I accidentally dropped them on the floor. They are everywhere in the closet and they are very dangerous so please don't come in. I will take care of it. I didn't want you to worry so I didn't tell you." "Oh, so that's why you were so nervous," he said relieved that he finally heard answer that satisfied him. "You could just tell me." "I know Spike, I just didn't want you to worry. You know what? Let me handle this and you go take a day off." The little dragon smiled. "Thanks Twilight, I think I will. I'll go see Rarity now, see you later." Then he opened the door and left. The Lavender Unicorn fell to the floor and sighed with relief. But she couldn't wait, there were things that she needed to take care of. She got up and went to the closet, slowly opening it. The hoof was still here, the blood was dripping slower, but it could still be heard easily. Twilight breathed heavily, she levitated the hoof with her magic, trying not to touch it. The unicorn covered the hoof with some material and put it in her bag. She took her bag and left the library. Walking alongside ponies with hoof covered in blood was a terrifying experience. Somepony could walk straight into you asking questions such as "What do you have in there" or "How are you doing". When it was just a normal day, that wouldn't be a problem. But for Twilight Sparkle, this wasn't a normal day. Thankfully nothing like this happened. Twilight reached her destination with no problem. An hour later she was standing at the entrance to Everfree forest. Looking around to see if nobody's watching, she took out the hoof from the bag. The material had gone dark red after a while. She hid behind one of trees, and started digging. She dug for a while but after some time, she managed to make a small hole where she buried the hoof. "Oh my Twilight." Said a gentle calm voice. Unicorn stood in place for a second. She turned around just to see a yellow, pink maned pegasus. "You're horribly dirty, like you were digging a grave." "Oh irony." Thought Twilight. "It's nothing." She said. "I have just fallen into big pile of dirt." "Um... okay. Say Twilight, do you want to come for tea with me? If it's okay with you of course, if you have something else on your mind I'll..." "I'm sorry Fluttershy," unicorn cut her off. "I would really want to, but I have something really important to do, I must hurry." "Okay Twilight..." Then Twilight trotted away saying just one small "bye". She didn't know that there was something else apart from Fluttershy that was with her that moment. She rushed through the ponyville, opening the door to the library and almost falling into stack of books. She quickly rushed to the closet and took out the mop and the bucket. Lavender unicorn scratched the bloody floor with mop for over an hour, when she was done, there wasn't any trace of blood on the floor... but the mop on the other hand... She quickly took the bucket and poured the water straight into the sink in the bathroom. She knew that this wasn't enough, so she went into the cellar. In the cellar, Twilight kept her laboratory. But there was also a large furnace, perfect for getting rid of wooden tools. Without much thinking she threw the mop and bucket into the furnace, she watched them burn for a while and then she slowly came back upstairs. Exhausted, she crawled herself in the bathroom and made herself a bath. The pouring water refreshed her a bit, but she was still very tired. She didn't even notice when she fell asleep . ~???~ There was a wooden boat, drifting slowly and lonely on an endless ocean. There was one lonely pony sailing in it. She did not remember how she had got here. She was lost, and confused, scared and screaming, calling for her friends for the whole time. "Pinkie Pie?!" No response "Rarity?!" No response "Applejack?!" No response "Spike?!" No response "Rainbow Dash?!" No response "Fluttershy?!" No response "Princess Celestia?" No response "Mom? Dad?" Not even a blow of wind. "Anyone?" She cried, she was alone with nopony to help her. She would probably die of hunger or dehydration. There was no hope. But then, a loud sound, a screech from the side of the boat could be heard. The purple unicorn stopped crying and looked in the direction of source of sound. She came closer and looked down. Somepony or something was climbing the boat. At first, she was happy. Maybe it was someone who could rescue her. But when the creature came closer, it became obvious that Twilight doesn't want this "thing" on the ship. It looked like an ape, crossed with the fish. It had large fangs, strange fins around the head, and horrible red eyes. Eyes filled with hate and bloodlust. The creature jumped, and in one second, it was on the ship. Twilight screamed as the fish monster ran straight at her. She jumped back and discovered that more monsters are coming on the ship. The unicorn tried to run, but the monsters had her surrounded. She cried as they grabbed her from all sides as she tried to escape. She cried as they pulled her towards them, slowly ripping her body apart. And then it came. All the fish-monsters stopped, looking at the giant rising from the water. Whatever it was, it was bigger than any building that Twilight has ever saw. It was an another monster, but this one was different. He seemed more powerful. More threatening than anything. As Twilight looked at it, she felt like with every second she stared she's more and more insane. Like that beast spreads insanity as timber wolves spread their odor. She screamed trying to break out. But the fish monsters were holding her tight. She saw visions. Vision of something that seemed like an another world. Where creatures that looked like bald apes lived. Visions of nonsense architecture, ancient wisdom, and a flood. A great flood that wiped all the apes from the world. A flood caused by that monster, the same monster which was showing those visions to her. She looked around and discovered that she wasn't on the ship anymore. There was no ocean, no giant monster and fish people. Only a white creature with no face closing it's tentacles on her. Then she woke up with a scream. ResearchTwilight screamed, her scream could be heard all over the library. It took her a while to understand that everything she saw was just a nightmare. There was no sing of a boat, there was no sea, no monsters and white creature without a face. Only her in the bathtub full of water. She calmed down a little and dived deeper into practically cold water. Spike knocked on the door. "Twilight? Is everything okay? I heard you screaming." He said over the door. "It's okay Spike, I felt asleep in the bath and had a nightmare." She looked out the small window she had in the bathroom. It was completely dark now. "Okay Twilight, but remember if something's wrong you can always tell me." Twilight could hear Spike walking away. Lavender unicorn felt strangely calm. After getting rid of the hand, she could finally think clearly. "Spike still doesn't know... that's good. I fear for his safety, less he has to do with The Ark, the better." Twilight thought about the letter, the briefcase, the hoof that she did just get rid off. "I should get to decoding the books... but the question remains... who have sent me that briefcase?" She levitated the towel and came out the bath, wiping her body out of water. "If they... can kill a pony because of it..." She shook, at the thought that one pony could murder another. "Then maybe I shouldn't give it to them. I don't have much choice right now... but if I find something they might try to contact me again." She opened the door to the corridor. She lit some candle and came downstairs. The baby dragon was lying in bed but still not sleeping. "You're not going to bed Twilight?" "I've had enough sleep now Spike, I think I will go down read something." Spike didn't say anything, but he was already too tired to say anything. Twilight lit some candle and came downstairs. It was dark, but after casting a simple spell, all the lights lit showing the room, it was acomplete mess. Twilight groaned, the books were everywhere, there were a lot trash lying around, and the whole place looked just dirty. She hated that. But it was no time for cleaning. Twilight knew what she had to do. She quickly levitated the books she got in the briefcase. Opening them all at once and lying them on the table. She carefully studied the alien sings. Making notes on every similarity she found. After some research she stated with satisfaction that she can recognize some letters and words. As she quickly discovered, the language was very similar to magic speech that the spells for unicorns were written in. But the problem was, every book was written in different variant of the language. There were also some really strange grammatical traps, like someone did not want the book to be read. The language was masterpiece. It had a really intelligent construction. But still it was really hard and different from the pony language. Twilight found out that she can't even speak some of the words properly. Even with her skills it would take a lot of time to decode the whole text. But then one thing struck her. "This language has a lot of similarities to magic speech. Could there be some mention of the mark in my spell books?" She took one of her spell books from the shelf. She opened it. Comparing speech helped a little to reveal some mysteries about strange texts. But many of the grammatical rules were different. Actually magic speech seemed like a really poor version of the language from the books. What Twilight noticed after a while is that the word Ark in magic speech, appeared constantly. It was used to create almost every protective spell that she could find. When she looked it up in magic dictionary, she found out that it means "safe". "Got ya" She smiled. She looked at the window, it was a dawn of a new day. "Maybe a little break." She thought. "I did not read the last newspaper... I wonder what is happening in Ponyville" She went to the kitchen and made herself a tea. Her stomach was growling at her but she ignored it. She wasn't in a mood to eat anyways. She levitated the newspaper with her magic and began to read. "The country is shocked! First murder in Equestria for over 1000 years!" Said one of the headlines. Suddenly Twilight felt the fear from before, she knew that the murder was connected to her, but she decided to read further. "Ponyville, usually a calm, small village lying near the capital of Equestria, Canterlot. But in the last weeks, this peaceful village became far less peaceful. It began with disappearance of a farm pony named Caramel. The family reported about this four days ago. Last time anypony seen Caramel, he was helping the Apple family keeping the crops safe during the great rain from Everfree forest. "I've told him to go check The Western Fields for the tools, he ran into the rain and BAM! He was gone" Says Applejack from the Apple family. The royal guards finally found Caramel impaled on a tree, one of his hooves missing. The Princess is shocked and refuses to comment on this situation. Since the Caramel's death, a lot of ponies disappeared without a trace, all seem to have some connection to the farm pony. If you know anything about Caramel or disappearances, please report this information to royal guards." Twilight breathed heavily. Her heart was beating quicker than before. Not because of fear, but because of guilt. She couldn't help but feel guilty for death of innocent farm pony. She knew that it wasn't her fault, but he died because of her. He died to give her the proof. "What about Applejack... she could be in danger..." She thought. "No... she is a hostage, even she doesn't know this. She is held alive to force me to search The Ark..." She thought about all her friends. They were all in danger, just like she was. What will happen when she will find the ark? Will the oppressors leave them alone? Or will they end just like Caramel? "For now we are safe... they would kill them only if they became danger to them or to the search... like if they could make a connection between me and..." She stopped. She knew where this was going. There was one pony that came too close when she was burying the hoof. That pony was in danger. She had to warn her. She ran out the library. It was still pretty dark and Celestia didn't rise the sun completely yet. Most of the ponies were still sleeping, so the town was almost empty. Twilight rushed trough the streets straight to Fluttershy's house. She kicked the door open. The cottage was completely empty. "No, no, no, no, no!" She screamed to herself. "Where is she?!" She looked around the whole place. Searching for any trace of the friend. The back door was open. She rushed trough and saw footprints of a chicken and pony leading to Everfree forest. "She couldn't go in here! That can't be true!" Unicorn followed the trail, she trotted inside the forest. The fear of loosing a friend kept her going trough the dangerous woods. She just hoped that she isn't too late. Then she saw it. A small meadow in middle of the forest. Fluttershy was here, still alive. Twilight heart calmed down a little. But then she noticed, the yellow pegasus was shaking, actually quaking in fear. She ran faster, jumping into the meadow. Knocking down Fluttershy and falling on the ground. She coughed as the flying dirt got in her mouth. She stood up, to see that a white, faceless creature in suit, from her nightmare was standing above them. The huntTwilight was paralyzed with fear. She could not move even a muscle. Her hooves were stuck in place, like frozen. She looked into creature, straight into it's face. Or place where the face should be. Twilight's vision blurred, slowly filling with static noise. Like the creature was an error in perfect world design. Thankfully for Twilight, Fluttershy sobbed in pain. The purple unicorn remembered that if she won't move, her friend will probably die. That thought helped her regain control of her body. He grabbed Fluttershy and ran. It didn't matter where she ran, it wasn't important. The important thing was to get away from the faceless monstrosity. She didn't look behind her. She did not really want to know what's behind her. Fluttershy didn't talk too much. She was mostly following Twilight, trying to keep up with her. Finally when Twilight felt safe enough to rest a little, they stopped. The unicorn was barely standing, so was the pegasi. "A-are you okay Fluttershy?" Asked Twilight, hardly catching her breath. "I-I think so" Fluttershy was almost crying. "Twilight... wh-what was that?" "I don't know Fluttershy. I really don't know. One thing I know thought, is that it was dangerous." Unicorn answered with a serious tone. "Did it... tried to hurt me?" Sobbed Fluttershy. Twilight looked at her, and smiled. "Don't worry Fluttershy, even if it tried to hurt you, I won't let it." The yellow pegasi calmed down a little by friends statement she even managed to make a small smile. "Anyways we should keep going, we must get out the forest as fast as possible." That said, Twilight looked at the sky searching for the sun. But to her surprise, it was night. "What the heck?" In her eyes you could see a mix of confusion, fear and disbelief. "This is not..." "Possible." Finished Fluttershy, just as shocked as her. "Twilight..." "I know Fluttershy, I know. Let's... just go before anything else changes..." Fluttershy just nodded and they were on their way. Twilight searched for star constellations that she knew, and was finding paths this way. They traveled slowly, and silently they were still afraid of the monster in the suit. They did not know if it was following them. And who knew, maybe it did. "Twilight..." Fluttershy's voice broke the silence. "Yes?" "You seem... like you know what's going on... do you Twilight?" Twilight stopped. She turned around. She felt guilty for all this. Fluttershy deserved to know the truth. "I will tell you the truth Fluttershy... I don't know about everything but... I think it haunts you because of me." Fluttershy was a little startled by this statement. But she knew that Twilight couldn't do anything wrong, she was a good pony. Wasn't she? "Why do you think so Twilight, I'm sure you did nothing wrong..." Twilight sighted and began walking again. Fluttershy followed her. "They... I don't know who they are and what are their true goals. But they, sent me a briefcase. Briefcase with letter that told me that I have to find... something. I don't even know what it exactly is. They left me something... horrible in my closet." Twilight remembered the "proof" that the mysterious oppressors gave her. What truly terrified her, was that she already accustomed to that thought. First time she saw it, she spent an entire hour in the toilet. Just throwing up. Now she didn't even shake a little. "They told me that that was the proof. The proof that they can harm me, and rest of my friends..." Fluttershy began to worry about her friend. She knew that she was acting strange lately. But if sompony was threatening her... She didn't even want to think about what did she find in that closet. "I had to hide it... but then... you've got too close. If someone found it, you could make a connection..." "So... it was when I found you all dirty..." She asked carefully. "Yes... I'm sorry... I could be more careful." The unicorn was almost crying. "Don't blame yourself Twilight!" Said Fluttershy in her more serious tone that she used on dragon. Twilight thought that she will use stare on her. "It's not your fault that some wicked, pony meanie tried to threaten you. Next time you should tell me and the rest of your friends. We would happily help you." "I.. know Fluttershy... but I really don't want anything to happen to you, or anypony that I know." "That doesn't mean that you can't ask us for help. Twilight, please promise me. When we get out the forest, we'll ask others for help. Even if it's a little dangerous. We will keep ourselves safe, together. " Twilight looked at Fluttershy surprised. She then smiled widely, ran up to her and hugged her. "How could I forget about that?! Thank you Fluttershy! I was so stupid. Thank you. You opened my eyes." She cried with happiness. Fluttershy smiled and hugged her friend back telling her just three words. "No problem Twilight." They traveled a little faster right now. Twilight felt a lot better and Fluttershy's words were enlightening her heart with new hope. She was a lot calmer right now. But as soon she made another step, her feeling changed a whole lot. Eyes of both ponies widened as they looked at terrifying picture. Eight ponies were impaled to a tree. Six pony body-parts were hanging the branches. The whole ground was covered in blood. On the trees a thousand or more times words "WHERE IS THE ARK? FIND THE ARK. WHERE IS THE ARK? THE ARK? WHERE IS IT?" were inscribed. One pony without, an eye, a hoof, a nose yet alive, screaming in agony on the ground before he left Equestria forever. "How could anypony... no, how could anything, any being do something like this?!" Fluttershy's hooves were shaking, she has almost fallen to the ground. She was crying. Mourning all the dead ponies who died from the heartless monster, or pony. Twilight did not know what to say. At first she didn't feel anything. Then the fear of complete emptiness. And then rage. She shouldn't respond to this scene like that. She knew she should be sad and terrified. But she was angry, angrier than ever before. Angry at those who did this. She was so angry, she would be ready to kill somepony. That scared her even more. She never even thought of killing. She didn't want to kill. Why did she feel that sudden urge? It didn't matter now, she wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. But then she saw him. How could she not see him at first. He was standing here near the pony on the ground, his head widened and took an unnatural shape. Like the faceless monster was smiling. The same monster from before. Only now she noticed how tall he was. He was far taller than any pony she met. A name popped in Twilight's head, all of the sudden. A name for this horrible creature. "Slenderman" she thought. She did not know what was a man, but that name seemed adequate. He looked at them, even that he had no eyes, Twilight could feel his look on them. The static that was covering her eyes before, it came back. She quickly turned her sight to Fluttershy, who only now did notice him. She looked at Slenderman again. He was not moving, only "smiling" with his hand behind his back. "It's fun for him." Twilight thought with disgust. "He waits for our next move, he is giving us the chance. Just to play with us some more." She thought for a second. "I will distract him. When I will teleport, run." Fluttershy looked at the unicorn terrified. "What?! Twilight, it will kill you!" She cried. "If he will kill me, then at least you will have chance to run away. But trust me, he won't." She smiled to her. "Please trust me on this one." Fluttershy stared at the unicorn for a bit, and then said. "I-I will be ready. But please, Twilight. Don't die." "I won't" she said and charged straight on the Slenderman. The faceless monster seemed surprised, but also amused by that decision. As Twilight came closer, he was getting ready to hit her. Static filled Twilight eyes. "Work, please. Work." She thought. She came very close to the monster. He tried to hit her, but instead he slashed trough thin air, as the unicorn teleported behind his back. Before Slenderman understood what happened. The yellow pegasii ran right next to him. But he didn't feel angered. He felt just amusement. Those two ponies were smarter than he first thought. It will be going to be fun. Twilight looked behind her. Slenderman was standing here, but now something like tentacles was coming from his back. Then she saw something that startled her greatly. Slenderman started sinking into the ground, very quickly, and then he just disappeared. Before she could think about it a shapeless shadow was creeping on the ground. Swinging from one dark place, to another with outstanding speed. The monster didn't give up. He just followed them in different form. Fluttershy's eyes were closed. She just ran straight, too scared to open her eyes. Then Twilight saw a beautiful light, behind an strange seal. "Of course!" She thought. "They set up a magical trap for us. That's why even that it should be day, we were wandering at night!" She smiled, if she saw the seal, that meant they are really close to exiting the forest. "Fluttershy! We're almost here!" She screamed. The yellow pony slowly opened her eyes. She saw the light. It seemed to be so close. She smiled. "Finally that nightmare will end" She thought. She ran faster than ever, almost catching up with Twilight. They were almost at exit, but then. Fluttershy tripped. It was a normal rock like any else in the forest. Sticking from the ground. The pegasii felt at her belly. She tried to get up, but she discovered that something was holding her hoof. She looked behind. It was one of Slenderman's tentacles. Coming from the shadow. She screamed. Twilight stopped hearing Fluttershy scream. She turned around. "No! Please no! We are so close!" She cried. She ran towards her. Slenderman was slowly changing form to his old one. The unicorn and pegasi were desperately trying to grab their hooves. Only one milimeter more and they would be saved. And then, a cracking sound was heard all over the Everfree forest. The seal has been broken. The forest seemed to return to normal. And Twilight was getting pulled to the exit by powerful magical force. "FLUTTERSHY!" Twilight screamed in panic, unable to save her friend." "TWILIGHT!" Cried Fluttershy, desperately trying to free herself from the tentacle. But it was too late. Slenderman "smiled" again. And Twilight was pulled out of the forest. Next thing she remembered was standing outside the forest. With Slenderman and Fluttershy nowhere to be found. She screamed Fluttershy's name. The journal9th of June I'm keeping this journal as a way to keep my sanity, if it's still possible. If somepony finds me hanging from the floor without any sing of life, this small notebook will be key to finding the reason of my death. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm Princess Celestia's personal student. I live in Ponyville library with my dragon assistant Spike. In the last days I was blackmailed, I found body parts in my closet, and one of my best friends died on my eyes. I'm shaking while I write this. *writing becomes more shaky* Yesterday I was running away from a terrible pale monstrosity that captured, and probably murdered my dear friend Fluttershy. I was able to escape, probably only because the creature needed me. After my escape I ran to the Fluttershy's cottage as I foolishly hoped that I imagined the whole thing. I felt like I died, painfully when I saw that the house was empty. I ran to the library, locked myself in my room and cried. I think I stayed there for two hours. *Writing becomes even more shaky* It is a horrible feeling, knowing that you will never hear her voice again, never see her again, never hug her again. Even more that she won't even get a proper funeral. She will be just missing forever. All of my friends will probably have hope that she can be found. But not me, I know the truth. I couldn't sleep last night., I didn't even really want to. I saw him again, he was looking trough my window. He was smiling. I was sure of that. He doesn't have a mouth, but I feel like he was smiling. Laughing at my sorrow. I want to die. I just want to end it all, I have enough. But I know, that if I commit suicide, they will kill my friends. Not even to punish me, just because they feel it's fun. 10th of June I feel nothing. Just yesterday I was crying, I was feeling sorrow, sadness. Today I feel nothing. My body still shakes, tears still run from my eyes. But I'm like empty shell. Like a puppet that only imitate life. It's even worse actually. Only thing I can feel now is irritation. I feel irritated that I can't feel anything. I cry, I scream, I shake, but that's only an illusion of real sadness. Today I tried to research The Ark. The object that I'm blackmailed to find. I have been able to translate some of the texts. From what I gathered, the books are writings on ancient mythology, telling the tales about the world before Celestia and Luna came to power. The stories are different, but all of them tell about a flood caused by Gods to kill an ancient race. Most of them tell that it was because of sins that this race committed, others tell that it was because of simple mistake. I'm still having those weird nightmares, strangely corresponding to what I read in the texts, this can't be a coincidence. 10th of June (night) I hear tapping when I go to bed. Like a giant frog slowly walking trough my room. I remember the fish monsters from my dreams. They are real, I know they are real. Spike can hear it too. He asked me about this. I told him that it's one of my devices, I need to fix. He does no longer believe me." 11th Of June *The writing is shaky and hard to read* They've told me that I can bring her back, only if I find it. This is probably a lie. I shouldn't believe in it, but I want, I really want to. Besides if they can control such monsters as... those I saw in the forest, then who knows? Maybe they can bring back the dead. 10th of June (afternoon) I saw the newspaper, Rainbow Dash found out that Fluttershy is gone. Rarity tried to visit me today, I did my best to act naturally but I saw in her eyes that she was not convinced about my state. I've done some more research and managed to translate some words, but no real progress was made. Twilight was lying in her bed, turning from side to side. Trying to not look behind her. There was something in the dark, lurking in the darkness. Observing her. Tap, tap, tap, tap tap. The sound repeated itself over, and over, and over. Driving her insane. She was close to crying, but she was too scared that the thing in the dark may hear it. Then it just stopped, as did her heart. She was laying like that for entire two minutes, listening to her surroundings. She decided to turn slowly to the side. As she was carefully tilting her head, she screamed, seeing white and blank face next to her. She could have sworn that it was smiling. She ran off the bed and out of the room, closing the doors behind her. She breathed slowly trying to calm herself down. She peeked trough the door, there was nothing inside. She heard knocking. She ran to the door, opening it. "Twilight is everything okay?" She heard Rainbow Dash's voice.
Mysterious letter It was Saturday, somewhat around 3 PM. The sky was very cloudy, the air was heavy, it felt like a storm was coming. It was actually making you sleepy. But only some, that didn't have any real duties at the moments, could let Morpheus carry them away. Twilight Sparkle was one of those ponies; she was laying on her bed, in her room in Ponyville library, listening to the sound of wind furiously banging the windows. It was not any ordinary storm, it was a gigantic cloud which came from Everfree forest. It was rare that a cloud from Everfree forest came to Ponyville, and all the pegasi did everything to prevent it. But when something as gigantic as this cloud was coming to the town, they could just look and watch. The lavender unicorn desperately tried to sleep, changing positions every minute, constantly wriggling in her bed searching for comfortable position. But it was no use, the constant banging did not let her rest for a minute. With resignation she magically levitated a book from her table and began to read. The book was one of Daring Doo series, telling the story of brave pegasus finding the ruins of an old race which lived long before ponies. The volume drew her in and the sleepiness disappeared very quickly. Some time passed, when the unicorn was startled by sound of lightning right outside her window. Twilight jumped terrified and fell off the bed. It began to rain. She groaned in irritation as she slowly got up, she looked out the window; The Ponyville streets were empty. Rain drops were falling quickly at the ground, sinking in. In the rain, stood a pony, definitely a stallion in a black coat. He looked like some thief or somepony from a violent cult. There was something really unpleasant in this pony, other than his posture; He was holding a briefcase in his mouth. To Twilight's surprise he came closer to the library. The unicorn did not want this pony anywhere near the library, who knows what harm he could do? "That's ridiculous", she thought. "I shouldn't judge ponies just by their looks. Maybe he is just a courier and that briefcase is a package for me? I don't remember ordering anything, but I could just have forgotten about it. There is probably nothing to worry about." She tried to calm herself, but she was still shaking. She hurried downstairs, she came to the front door and opened it. There was nopony behind them. Only a black briefcase lying on the ground. "Great job Twilight. He probably was tired of waiting here in the storm for me and just left the briefcase here." She scolded herself but deep inside she was happy that she didn't have to confront mysterious pony. Twilight levitated the briefcase closer to have better look at it. That's when she noticed a weird symbol on the front of briefcase, it was engraved on it. Probably with knife or a pair of scissors. It was a big crossed circle. Fear came back to the mare; Whatever that briefcase was, it was not an ordinary delivery. She thought about throwing the package away for a second, but even that she was scared of what could be inside, she was also curious, very curious. She took the briefcase inside and put it on the table. She looked at it for a while, still considering throwing it away and forgetting about it. "Maybe I should wake up Spike?" She asked herself, but quickly dismissed that idea, Spike would probably be even more scared than her. She should handle it herself, for now. She examined the black container with her magic, searching for any kind of curse, or maybe a trap-spell. It seemed to be safe. Finally, she slowly opened the mysterious briefcase, carefully, like there was a monster inside that she did not want to free. Inside of the briefcase at first did not seem harmful, there were some books, and a letter written on a light-brown old scroll. She ignored the books deciding to see the letter first. She levitated it closer and began to read. "Twilight Sparkle. You have been chosen because of your outstanding intelligence and hunger for knowledge. Do as we say and you or your friends will suffer no harm. DO NOT tell about this to your mentor or you and your friends will suffer consequences. Follow our instructions and keep your actions a secret. Your objective is simple, decode the texts we sent you and track the object known as The Ark. Failure is not an option. We are watching you. Find the ark or suffer death. This is not a joke, if you want proof... well I suggest you should look in your closet." Twilight finished reading the letter. The content was clearly threatening. This made her even more nervous than before. She had tons of questions. Who are these "We" that letter kept mentioning about? What is The Ark? Why do they search for it? Could they really harm her or any of her friends? She looked at her closet with fear. "Is there really something in there? How could they put something in here without me or Spike noticing?" More questions raced trough her mind. She slowly stood up, shaking. As she came closer, she noticed that dripping can be heard. There was definitely something in there. She feared what may be inside but she had to see it, there was no other way. She very slowly opened the door. Her eyes widened as the light slowly filled up the space behind the door, showing her the "proof". The dripping she heard before, was a sound of blood slowly falling onto the floor from a cut off hoof of a pony.
Nightmares It's been some time since Twilight got the briefcase and found body parts in her library. Since the last storm, the sky was sunny. Pegasi had to keep the sky clean for the whole time, there was a huge risk that crops would rot because of water excess. But dying crops were least of Twilight's problems, she had somepony threatening her and a pony hoof in the closet. She rushed trough the library picking up all the books she could find. The books she got from the briefcase were written in some weird language that unicorn has never seen before. "Come on, come on, come on! There must be something about The Ark, or maybe something that will help me decipher the books," she said to herself. "Keep it together Twilight... You can get out of this." Her mane was a mess, she didn't have time to brush it, actually, she didn't have to sleep at all. She had to know what is The Ark. If a pony could kill for it... Twilight jumped and screamed when she heard Spike coming down the stairs. Baby dragon probably just woke up, he looked at the unicorn a little confused. "Twilight... is everything okay? You seem... nervous," he asked worried. Violet pony tried to make a fake smile. "I need to keep Spike out of this, he doesn't need to be a part of this..." She thought. "I have to lie." "It's nothing! You just startled me,a bit. I was working on something for Princess Celestia..." Spike did not look convinced, but Twilight knew that it'll probably wouldn't work; she was a terrible liar. "Twilight... what's with the mane?" He asked with confused look, "wait... did you even sleep?" "Of course I did! I just had a horrible nightmare, and didn't rest very well." That was almost true; she remembered trying to get at least bit of sleep, and waking in the middle of the night, crying and sweating. Twilight did not remember what she was dreaming about, purple unicorn only knew that she do not want to. Spike still looked worried, he crossed his arms and said. "You know that you shouldn't worry that much about your studies. Remember what happened last time right?" He said switching his voice to more serious tone. "I k-know Spike... just... listen I just re-e-ally want to get this done. T-this is really important. I will get some r-rest soon, I p-promise." She tried to be calm, but she was stuttering. Spike knew that she never stuttered. He knew that there is something more to it than that, but he didn't press on. Twilight wouldn't tell him anything more anyway. "Okay Twilight, just don't overwork yourself." "I won't," she said smiling. She calmed down a little, knowing that the dragon wouldn't ask anymore questions. She levitated the book closer to her face and continued searching. "Anyway... wait... do you hear dripping?" Twilight's eyes widened. The hoof. She completely forgot about it! "T-that's nothing. I just spilled some juice," she said. "I'll clean it up later." "Oh don't worry, I can clean it up.Just let me get the mop from the closet," spike said happily. He tried to open closet door but Twilight blocked it with her magic. "Twilight you are acting weird again. Tell me what is happening." Twilight ran close to Spike and again, determined to keep the search for The Ark as secret, she said with serious look on her face. "Listen Spike, I'll tell you the truth. I was taking some chemicals from the closet but I accidentally dropped them on the floor. They are everywhere in the closet and they are very dangerous so please don't come in. I will take care of it. I didn't want you to worry so I didn't tell you." "Oh, so that's why you were so nervous," he said relieved that he finally heard answer that satisfied him. "You could just tell me." "I know Spike, I just didn't want you to worry. You know what? Let me handle this and you go take a day off." The little dragon smiled. "Thanks Twilight, I think I will. I'll go see Rarity now, see you later." Then he opened the door and left. The Lavender Unicorn fell to the floor and sighed with relief. But she couldn't wait, there were things that she needed to take care of. She got up and went to the closet, slowly opening it. The hoof was still here, the blood was dripping slower, but it could still be heard easily. Twilight breathed heavily, she levitated the hoof with her magic, trying not to touch it. The unicorn covered the hoof with some material and put it in her bag. She took her bag and left the library. Walking alongside ponies with hoof covered in blood was a terrifying experience. Somepony could walk straight into you asking questions such as "What do you have in there" or "How are you doing". When it was just a normal day, that wouldn't be a problem. But for Twilight Sparkle, this wasn't a normal day. Thankfully nothing like this happened. Twilight reached her destination with no problem. An hour later she was standing at the entrance to Everfree forest. Looking around to see if nobody's watching, she took out the hoof from the bag. The material had gone dark red after a while. She hid behind one of trees, and started digging. She dug for a while but after some time, she managed to make a small hole where she buried the hoof. "Oh my Twilight." Said a gentle calm voice. Unicorn stood in place for a second. She turned around just to see a yellow, pink maned pegasus. "You're horribly dirty, like you were digging a grave." "Oh irony." Thought Twilight. "It's nothing." She said. "I have just fallen into big pile of dirt." "Um... okay. Say Twilight, do you want to come for tea with me? If it's okay with you of course, if you have something else on your mind I'll..." "I'm sorry Fluttershy," unicorn cut her off. "I would really want to, but I have something really important to do, I must hurry." "Okay Twilight..." Then Twilight trotted away saying just one small "bye". She didn't know that there was something else apart from Fluttershy that was with her that moment. She rushed through the ponyville, opening the door to the library and almost falling into stack of books. She quickly rushed to the closet and took out the mop and the bucket. Lavender unicorn scratched the bloody floor with mop for over an hour, when she was done, there wasn't any trace of blood on the floor... but the mop on the other hand... She quickly took the bucket and poured the water straight into the sink in the bathroom. She knew that this wasn't enough, so she went into the cellar. In the cellar, Twilight kept her laboratory. But there was also a large furnace, perfect for getting rid of wooden tools. Without much thinking she threw the mop and bucket into the furnace, she watched them burn for a while and then she slowly came back upstairs. Exhausted, she crawled herself in the bathroom and made herself a bath. The pouring water refreshed her a bit, but she was still very tired. She didn't even notice when she fell asleep . ~???~ There was a wooden boat, drifting slowly and lonely on an endless ocean. There was one lonely pony sailing in it. She did not remember how she had got here. She was lost, and confused, scared and screaming, calling for her friends for the whole time. "Pinkie Pie?!" No response "Rarity?!" No response "Applejack?!" No response "Spike?!" No response "Rainbow Dash?!" No response "Fluttershy?!" No response "Princess Celestia?" No response "Mom? Dad?" Not even a blow of wind. "Anyone?" She cried, she was alone with nopony to help her. She would probably die of hunger or dehydration. There was no hope. But then, a loud sound, a screech from the side of the boat could be heard. The purple unicorn stopped crying and looked in the direction of source of sound. She came closer and looked down. Somepony or something was climbing the boat. At first, she was happy. Maybe it was someone who could rescue her. But when the creature came closer, it became obvious that Twilight doesn't want this "thing" on the ship. It looked like an ape, crossed with the fish. It had large fangs, strange fins around the head, and horrible red eyes. Eyes filled with hate and bloodlust. The creature jumped, and in one second, it was on the ship. Twilight screamed as the fish monster ran straight at her. She jumped back and discovered that more monsters are coming on the ship. The unicorn tried to run, but the monsters had her surrounded. She cried as they grabbed her from all sides as she tried to escape. She cried as they pulled her towards them, slowly ripping her body apart. And then it came. All the fish-monsters stopped, looking at the giant rising from the water. Whatever it was, it was bigger than any building that Twilight has ever saw. It was an another monster, but this one was different. He seemed more powerful. More threatening than anything. As Twilight looked at it, she felt like with every second she stared she's more and more insane. Like that beast spreads insanity as timber wolves spread their odor. She screamed trying to break out. But the fish monsters were holding her tight. She saw visions. Vision of something that seemed like an another world. Where creatures that looked like bald apes lived. Visions of nonsense architecture, ancient wisdom, and a flood. A great flood that wiped all the apes from the world. A flood caused by that monster, the same monster which was showing those visions to her. She looked around and discovered that she wasn't on the ship anymore. There was no ocean, no giant monster and fish people. Only a white creature with no face closing it's tentacles on her. Then she woke up with a scream.
ResearchTwilight screamed, her scream could be heard all over the library. It took her a while to understand that everything she saw was just a nightmare. There was no sing of a boat, there was no sea, no monsters and white creature without a face. Only her in the bathtub full of water. She calmed down a little and dived deeper into practically cold water. Spike knocked on the door. "Twilight? Is everything okay? I heard you screaming." He said over the door. "It's okay Spike, I felt asleep in the bath and had a nightmare." She looked out the small window she had in the bathroom. It was completely dark now. "Okay Twilight, but remember if something's wrong you can always tell me." Twilight could hear Spike walking away. Lavender unicorn felt strangely calm. After getting rid of the hand, she could finally think clearly. "Spike still doesn't know... that's good. I fear for his safety, less he has to do with The Ark, the better." Twilight thought about the letter, the briefcase, the hoof that she did just get rid off. "I should get to decoding the books... but the question remains... who have sent me that briefcase?" She levitated the towel and came out the bath, wiping her body out of water. "If they... can kill a pony because of it..." She shook, at the thought that one pony could murder another. "Then maybe I shouldn't give it to them. I don't have much choice right now... but if I find something they might try to contact me again." She opened the door to the corridor. She lit some candle and came downstairs. The baby dragon was lying in bed but still not sleeping. "You're not going to bed Twilight?" "I've had enough sleep now Spike, I think I will go down read something." Spike didn't say anything, but he was already too tired to say anything. Twilight lit some candle and came downstairs. It was dark, but after casting a simple spell, all the lights lit showing the room, it was acomplete mess. Twilight groaned, the books were everywhere, there were a lot trash lying around, and the whole place looked just dirty. She hated that. But it was no time for cleaning. Twilight knew what she had to do. She quickly levitated the books she got in the briefcase. Opening them all at once and lying them on the table. She carefully studied the alien sings. Making notes on every similarity she found. After some research she stated with satisfaction that she can recognize some letters and words. As she quickly discovered, the language was very similar to magic speech that the spells for unicorns were written in. But the problem was, every book was written in different variant of the language. There were also some really strange grammatical traps, like someone did not want the book to be read. The language was masterpiece. It had a really intelligent construction. But still it was really hard and different from the pony language. Twilight found out that she can't even speak some of the words properly. Even with her skills it would take a lot of time to decode the whole text. But then one thing struck her. "This language has a lot of similarities to magic speech. Could there be some mention of the mark in my spell books?" She took one of her spell books from the shelf. She opened it. Comparing speech helped a little to reveal some mysteries about strange texts. But many of the grammatical rules were different. Actually magic speech seemed like a really poor version of the language from the books. What Twilight noticed after a while is that the word Ark in magic speech, appeared constantly. It was used to create almost every protective spell that she could find. When she looked it up in magic dictionary, she found out that it means "safe". "Got ya" She smiled. She looked at the window, it was a dawn of a new day. "Maybe a little break." She thought. "I did not read the last newspaper... I wonder what is happening in Ponyville" She went to the kitchen and made herself a tea. Her stomach was growling at her but she ignored it. She wasn't in a mood to eat anyways. She levitated the newspaper with her magic and began to read. "The country is shocked! First murder in Equestria for over 1000 years!" Said one of the headlines. Suddenly Twilight felt the fear from before, she knew that the murder was connected to her, but she decided to read further. "Ponyville, usually a calm, small village lying near the capital of Equestria, Canterlot. But in the last weeks, this peaceful village became far less peaceful. It began with disappearance of a farm pony named Caramel. The family reported about this four days ago. Last time anypony seen Caramel, he was helping the Apple family keeping the crops safe during the great rain from Everfree forest. "I've told him to go check The Western Fields for the tools, he ran into the rain and BAM! He was gone" Says Applejack from the Apple family. The royal guards finally found Caramel impaled on a tree, one of his hooves missing. The Princess is shocked and refuses to comment on this situation. Since the Caramel's death, a lot of ponies disappeared without a trace, all seem to have some connection to the farm pony. If you know anything about Caramel or disappearances, please report this information to royal guards." Twilight breathed heavily. Her heart was beating quicker than before. Not because of fear, but because of guilt. She couldn't help but feel guilty for death of innocent farm pony. She knew that it wasn't her fault, but he died because of her. He died to give her the proof. "What about Applejack... she could be in danger..." She thought. "No... she is a hostage, even she doesn't know this. She is held alive to force me to search The Ark..." She thought about all her friends. They were all in danger, just like she was. What will happen when she will find the ark? Will the oppressors leave them alone? Or will they end just like Caramel? "For now we are safe... they would kill them only if they became danger to them or to the search... like if they could make a connection between me and..." She stopped. She knew where this was going. There was one pony that came too close when she was burying the hoof. That pony was in danger. She had to warn her. She ran out the library. It was still pretty dark and Celestia didn't rise the sun completely yet. Most of the ponies were still sleeping, so the town was almost empty. Twilight rushed trough the streets straight to Fluttershy's house. She kicked the door open. The cottage was completely empty. "No, no, no, no, no!" She screamed to herself. "Where is she?!" She looked around the whole place. Searching for any trace of the friend. The back door was open. She rushed trough and saw footprints of a chicken and pony leading to Everfree forest. "She couldn't go in here! That can't be true!" Unicorn followed the trail, she trotted inside the forest. The fear of loosing a friend kept her going trough the dangerous woods. She just hoped that she isn't too late. Then she saw it. A small meadow in middle of the forest. Fluttershy was here, still alive. Twilight heart calmed down a little. But then she noticed, the yellow pegasus was shaking, actually quaking in fear. She ran faster, jumping into the meadow. Knocking down Fluttershy and falling on the ground. She coughed as the flying dirt got in her mouth. She stood up, to see that a white, faceless creature in suit, from her nightmare was standing above them.
The huntTwilight was paralyzed with fear. She could not move even a muscle. Her hooves were stuck in place, like frozen. She looked into creature, straight into it's face. Or place where the face should be. Twilight's vision blurred, slowly filling with static noise. Like the creature was an error in perfect world design. Thankfully for Twilight, Fluttershy sobbed in pain. The purple unicorn remembered that if she won't move, her friend will probably die. That thought helped her regain control of her body. He grabbed Fluttershy and ran. It didn't matter where she ran, it wasn't important. The important thing was to get away from the faceless monstrosity. She didn't look behind her. She did not really want to know what's behind her. Fluttershy didn't talk too much. She was mostly following Twilight, trying to keep up with her. Finally when Twilight felt safe enough to rest a little, they stopped. The unicorn was barely standing, so was the pegasi. "A-are you okay Fluttershy?" Asked Twilight, hardly catching her breath. "I-I think so" Fluttershy was almost crying. "Twilight... wh-what was that?" "I don't know Fluttershy. I really don't know. One thing I know thought, is that it was dangerous." Unicorn answered with a serious tone. "Did it... tried to hurt me?" Sobbed Fluttershy. Twilight looked at her, and smiled. "Don't worry Fluttershy, even if it tried to hurt you, I won't let it." The yellow pegasi calmed down a little by friends statement she even managed to make a small smile. "Anyways we should keep going, we must get out the forest as fast as possible." That said, Twilight looked at the sky searching for the sun. But to her surprise, it was night. "What the heck?" In her eyes you could see a mix of confusion, fear and disbelief. "This is not..." "Possible." Finished Fluttershy, just as shocked as her. "Twilight..." "I know Fluttershy, I know. Let's... just go before anything else changes..." Fluttershy just nodded and they were on their way. Twilight searched for star constellations that she knew, and was finding paths this way. They traveled slowly, and silently they were still afraid of the monster in the suit. They did not know if it was following them. And who knew, maybe it did. "Twilight..." Fluttershy's voice broke the silence. "Yes?" "You seem... like you know what's going on... do you Twilight?" Twilight stopped. She turned around. She felt guilty for all this. Fluttershy deserved to know the truth. "I will tell you the truth Fluttershy... I don't know about everything but... I think it haunts you because of me." Fluttershy was a little startled by this statement. But she knew that Twilight couldn't do anything wrong, she was a good pony. Wasn't she? "Why do you think so Twilight, I'm sure you did nothing wrong..." Twilight sighted and began walking again. Fluttershy followed her. "They... I don't know who they are and what are their true goals. But they, sent me a briefcase. Briefcase with letter that told me that I have to find... something. I don't even know what it exactly is. They left me something... horrible in my closet." Twilight remembered the "proof" that the mysterious oppressors gave her. What truly terrified her, was that she already accustomed to that thought. First time she saw it, she spent an entire hour in the toilet. Just throwing up. Now she didn't even shake a little. "They told me that that was the proof. The proof that they can harm me, and rest of my friends..." Fluttershy began to worry about her friend. She knew that she was acting strange lately. But if sompony was threatening her... She didn't even want to think about what did she find in that closet. "I had to hide it... but then... you've got too close. If someone found it, you could make a connection..." "So... it was when I found you all dirty..." She asked carefully. "Yes... I'm sorry... I could be more careful." The unicorn was almost crying. "Don't blame yourself Twilight!" Said Fluttershy in her more serious tone that she used on dragon. Twilight thought that she will use stare on her. "It's not your fault that some wicked, pony meanie tried to threaten you. Next time you should tell me and the rest of your friends. We would happily help you." "I.. know Fluttershy... but I really don't want anything to happen to you, or anypony that I know." "That doesn't mean that you can't ask us for help. Twilight, please promise me. When we get out the forest, we'll ask others for help. Even if it's a little dangerous. We will keep ourselves safe, together. " Twilight looked at Fluttershy surprised. She then smiled widely, ran up to her and hugged her. "How could I forget about that?! Thank you Fluttershy! I was so stupid. Thank you. You opened my eyes." She cried with happiness. Fluttershy smiled and hugged her friend back telling her just three words. "No problem Twilight." They traveled a little faster right now. Twilight felt a lot better and Fluttershy's words were enlightening her heart with new hope. She was a lot calmer right now. But as soon she made another step, her feeling changed a whole lot. Eyes of both ponies widened as they looked at terrifying picture. Eight ponies were impaled to a tree. Six pony body-parts were hanging the branches. The whole ground was covered in blood. On the trees a thousand or more times words "WHERE IS THE ARK? FIND THE ARK. WHERE IS THE ARK? THE ARK? WHERE IS IT?" were inscribed. One pony without, an eye, a hoof, a nose yet alive, screaming in agony on the ground before he left Equestria forever. "How could anypony... no, how could anything, any being do something like this?!" Fluttershy's hooves were shaking, she has almost fallen to the ground. She was crying. Mourning all the dead ponies who died from the heartless monster, or pony. Twilight did not know what to say. At first she didn't feel anything. Then the fear of complete emptiness. And then rage. She shouldn't respond to this scene like that. She knew she should be sad and terrified. But she was angry, angrier than ever before. Angry at those who did this. She was so angry, she would be ready to kill somepony. That scared her even more. She never even thought of killing. She didn't want to kill. Why did she feel that sudden urge? It didn't matter now, she wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. But then she saw him. How could she not see him at first. He was standing here near the pony on the ground, his head widened and took an unnatural shape. Like the faceless monster was smiling. The same monster from before. Only now she noticed how tall he was. He was far taller than any pony she met. A name popped in Twilight's head, all of the sudden. A name for this horrible creature. "Slenderman" she thought. She did not know what was a man, but that name seemed adequate. He looked at them, even that he had no eyes, Twilight could feel his look on them. The static that was covering her eyes before, it came back. She quickly turned her sight to Fluttershy, who only now did notice him. She looked at Slenderman again. He was not moving, only "smiling" with his hand behind his back. "It's fun for him." Twilight thought with disgust. "He waits for our next move, he is giving us the chance. Just to play with us some more." She thought for a second. "I will distract him. When I will teleport, run." Fluttershy looked at the unicorn terrified. "What?! Twilight, it will kill you!" She cried. "If he will kill me, then at least you will have chance to run away. But trust me, he won't." She smiled to her. "Please trust me on this one." Fluttershy stared at the unicorn for a bit, and then said. "I-I will be ready. But please, Twilight. Don't die." "I won't" she said and charged straight on the Slenderman. The faceless monster seemed surprised, but also amused by that decision. As Twilight came closer, he was getting ready to hit her. Static filled Twilight eyes. "Work, please. Work." She thought. She came very close to the monster. He tried to hit her, but instead he slashed trough thin air, as the unicorn teleported behind his back. Before Slenderman understood what happened. The yellow pegasii ran right next to him. But he didn't feel angered. He felt just amusement. Those two ponies were smarter than he first thought. It will be going to be fun. Twilight looked behind her. Slenderman was standing here, but now something like tentacles was coming from his back. Then she saw something that startled her greatly. Slenderman started sinking into the ground, very quickly, and then he just disappeared. Before she could think about it a shapeless shadow was creeping on the ground. Swinging from one dark place, to another with outstanding speed. The monster didn't give up. He just followed them in different form. Fluttershy's eyes were closed. She just ran straight, too scared to open her eyes. Then Twilight saw a beautiful light, behind an strange seal. "Of course!" She thought. "They set up a magical trap for us. That's why even that it should be day, we were wandering at night!" She smiled, if she saw the seal, that meant they are really close to exiting the forest. "Fluttershy! We're almost here!" She screamed. The yellow pony slowly opened her eyes. She saw the light. It seemed to be so close. She smiled. "Finally that nightmare will end" She thought. She ran faster than ever, almost catching up with Twilight. They were almost at exit, but then. Fluttershy tripped. It was a normal rock like any else in the forest. Sticking from the ground. The pegasii felt at her belly. She tried to get up, but she discovered that something was holding her hoof. She looked behind. It was one of Slenderman's tentacles. Coming from the shadow. She screamed. Twilight stopped hearing Fluttershy scream. She turned around. "No! Please no! We are so close!" She cried. She ran towards her. Slenderman was slowly changing form to his old one. The unicorn and pegasi were desperately trying to grab their hooves. Only one milimeter more and they would be saved. And then, a cracking sound was heard all over the Everfree forest. The seal has been broken. The forest seemed to return to normal. And Twilight was getting pulled to the exit by powerful magical force. "FLUTTERSHY!" Twilight screamed in panic, unable to save her friend." "TWILIGHT!" Cried Fluttershy, desperately trying to free herself from the tentacle. But it was too late. Slenderman "smiled" again. And Twilight was pulled out of the forest. Next thing she remembered was standing outside the forest. With Slenderman and Fluttershy nowhere to be found. She screamed Fluttershy's name.
The journal9th of June I'm keeping this journal as a way to keep my sanity, if it's still possible. If somepony finds me hanging from the floor without any sing of life, this small notebook will be key to finding the reason of my death. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm Princess Celestia's personal student. I live in Ponyville library with my dragon assistant Spike. In the last days I was blackmailed, I found body parts in my closet, and one of my best friends died on my eyes. I'm shaking while I write this. *writing becomes more shaky* Yesterday I was running away from a terrible pale monstrosity that captured, and probably murdered my dear friend Fluttershy. I was able to escape, probably only because the creature needed me. After my escape I ran to the Fluttershy's cottage as I foolishly hoped that I imagined the whole thing. I felt like I died, painfully when I saw that the house was empty. I ran to the library, locked myself in my room and cried. I think I stayed there for two hours. *Writing becomes even more shaky* It is a horrible feeling, knowing that you will never hear her voice again, never see her again, never hug her again. Even more that she won't even get a proper funeral. She will be just missing forever. All of my friends will probably have hope that she can be found. But not me, I know the truth. I couldn't sleep last night., I didn't even really want to. I saw him again, he was looking trough my window. He was smiling. I was sure of that. He doesn't have a mouth, but I feel like he was smiling. Laughing at my sorrow. I want to die. I just want to end it all, I have enough. But I know, that if I commit suicide, they will kill my friends. Not even to punish me, just because they feel it's fun. 10th of June I feel nothing. Just yesterday I was crying, I was feeling sorrow, sadness. Today I feel nothing. My body still shakes, tears still run from my eyes. But I'm like empty shell. Like a puppet that only imitate life. It's even worse actually. Only thing I can feel now is irritation. I feel irritated that I can't feel anything. I cry, I scream, I shake, but that's only an illusion of real sadness. Today I tried to research The Ark. The object that I'm blackmailed to find. I have been able to translate some of the texts. From what I gathered, the books are writings on ancient mythology, telling the tales about the world before Celestia and Luna came to power. The stories are different, but all of them tell about a flood caused by Gods to kill an ancient race. Most of them tell that it was because of sins that this race committed, others tell that it was because of simple mistake. I'm still having those weird nightmares, strangely corresponding to what I read in the texts, this can't be a coincidence. 10th of June (night) I hear tapping when I go to bed. Like a giant frog slowly walking trough my room. I remember the fish monsters from my dreams. They are real, I know they are real. Spike can hear it too. He asked me about this. I told him that it's one of my devices, I need to fix. He does no longer believe me." 11th Of June *The writing is shaky and hard to read* They've told me that I can bring her back, only if I find it. This is probably a lie. I shouldn't believe in it, but I want, I really want to. Besides if they can control such monsters as... those I saw in the forest, then who knows? Maybe they can bring back the dead. 10th of June (afternoon) I saw the newspaper, Rainbow Dash found out that Fluttershy is gone. Rarity tried to visit me today, I did my best to act naturally but I saw in her eyes that she was not convinced about my state. I've done some more research and managed to translate some words, but no real progress was made. Twilight was lying in her bed, turning from side to side. Trying to not look behind her. There was something in the dark, lurking in the darkness. Observing her. Tap, tap, tap, tap tap. The sound repeated itself over, and over, and over. Driving her insane. She was close to crying, but she was too scared that the thing in the dark may hear it. Then it just stopped, as did her heart. She was laying like that for entire two minutes, listening to her surroundings. She decided to turn slowly to the side. As she was carefully tilting her head, she screamed, seeing white and blank face next to her. She could have sworn that it was smiling. She ran off the bed and out of the room, closing the doors behind her. She breathed slowly trying to calm herself down. She peeked trough the door, there was nothing inside. She heard knocking. She ran to the door, opening it. "Twilight is everything okay?" She heard Rainbow Dash's voice.
