Pinkie woke with a start, blinked, and rubbed her bloodshot eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten a full night's sleep. She tried, she had tried every night for weeks, but it just didn't work. She would wake up in the middle of the night, scared out of her wits, and she wouldn't get back to sleep until nearly dawn. The pink party pony had tried everything she could think of to calm herself down; cuddling Gummy, blowing up balloons, even throwing a One-Pony-Midnight-Forget-the-Scary-Monsters-Party, and not even THAT worked! She knew that it was the nightmares that caused her to wake up, but she just couldn't remember what they were about, no matter how hard she tried. She assumed they involved monsters, since she kept instinctively checking out every window in Sugar Cube Corner, and even locked all the doors one night.
Oh well, she might not get a full night's sleep, but she would still be Ponyville's number one party pony, and no nightmares were going to change that! With this slightly comforting thought in mind, Pinkie bounded down the stairs to greet the Cakes, and perhaps play a quick game with Pound and Pumpkin. But when she arrived, the two foals were nowhere to be seen, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake were running around in a frenzy, checking in cupboards, the oven, the refrigerator, and any number of other places.
"Morning, Mister and Misses Cake! Whatcha lookin' for?"
"Oh Pinkie, thank goodness! Have you seen Pound or Pumpkin anywhere?" Mr. Cake asked, pausing in his frantic scurry.
"Huh? No, I just woke up. Are they missing?"
"Yes! We've looked everywhere! In the kitchen, in their room, inside every appliance we could think of...!" As if on cue, Mrs. Cake shouted with her muzzle inside a toaster, "They're not in here!"
"... And they're just not ANYWHERE!" Mr. Cake finished, looking back towards his wife as she galloped up beside him.
"Have you tried the ceiling?" Pinkie asked, her head turned towards the ceiling in question.
"Of course not! Why would we..." But Mr. Cake was cut off by the high-pitched giggling of the foals on the roof, Pound flapping his wings to keep himself there, and Pumpkin holding herself in her magic.
"Oh, heh, I guess we just panicked, and forgot they could do that." Mr. Cake said sheepishly. Pinkie giggled.
"Glad I could help!" She said, and bounded towards the door, leaving the still-calming Cakes to get their children off the roof.
As Pinkie slowed, and began to trot through town instead of bouncing everywhere, she started to sing a little song.
"What a lovely, lovely day to be me.
What a lovely, lovely day to be me.
What a lovely, lovely day to be Pinkie.
And no faceless pony's after me."
The hyperactive pink pony paused. Where had that come from? It was kind of... scary, and sure didn't belong in a happy song about what a nice day it was. She chalked it up to lack of sleep, and continued trotting through town and singing, on her way to Sweet Apple Acres. She was going to be judge for another of Applejack and Rainbow Dash's "Iron Pony" competitions. It was going to be so much fun!
So enthralled was Pinkie with the thought of judging another competition that she didn't notice an oddly shaped tree suddenly disappear from the edge of the Everfree Forest.
* * *
Celestia hurriedly tried to pack her saddlebags. She had been having the dreams for weeks now, but last night's had been... different. Much more vivid, and frightening. She knew, somehow, that it was now or never. She levitated object after object towards her, discarding what she did not need and cramming what she did into her saddlebags, occasionally needing to cast a spell so that she could fit more into the somewhat small bags. Ironic that she, the Princess of the Sun, neglected to have more sizable saddlebags tailored for her. Of course, she never thought she would have to pack for such an occasion.
The door banged open suddenly, startling Celestia into dropping several objects to the floor.
"Sister! I have had the most terrible..." the Princess of the Moon, Princess Luna, stopped when she saw what her older sister was doing.
"Are you going someplace, Celestia?" Luna questioned, her exclamation forgotten.
"Ummm, yes, I just have to... get out! Go for a good long flight. Maybe you should come, too. It's been quite a long time since we last flew together. Too long, don't you think? Too long..."
"Sister, what is wrong? Surely you must have seen the vision that appeared to me last night?"
"Vision? No, I had no visions last night. Perhaps it was just a dream?" Luna's face turned into a deep frown.
"Sister, my realm includes that of dreams. I should think I would be able to tell the difference better than anypony else, even you."
Celestia looked at her sister for a long moment before turning her head downwards and sighing.
"Luna, I am sorry, but we have to leave. That vision foretells of something that we cannot hope to stand against. It will destroy us, and all of Equestria, without a second thought. It cannot be stopped." the white alicorn said. "Not anymore." she added in a murmer.
"Sister, surely you are not suggesting that we abandon Equestria, and all of the ponies that live here?"
"You have no idea how much it pains me to do this, Luna, but it must be done. If we are to have any chance at surviving, we must flee, and we must do it soon." Celestia concluded, striding towards the door only to be blocked by the slightly smaller princess.
"No." was all she said.
"Luna, please..."
"No! This is not like you, Celestia! You care about those ponies more than anything else in the world, and I know you would gladly give your life up for them, and yet now you run away when there is evidently a new threat looming over them?!" The Princess of the Moon stomped her hoof in frustration. "No. I will not run. At least not until you explain why you are acting this way."
The larger alicorn stared her younger sister down for what seemed like hours, before finally letting out a snort through her nostrils and stepping back from the doorway, taking a seat on the floor before her sister.
"Very well, Luna. I will tell you my story." she began.
* * *
"Aaaaaaand TIME!" Pinkie Pie shouted, getting confused looks from the two mares as they swallowed their individual mouthfuls of pie.
"Waddya mean 'time'? This wasn't a timed contest!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Says the pony who just lost!" Applejack snickered. It was true. Applejack had several more pie tins stacked up next to her than Rainbow Dash, and was even closer to finished with her current pie than the cyan pegasus was with hers.
"Whatever. I say eating pie isn't even a real 'Iron Pony' contest."
"Hey, what's that supposed ta mean? It was yer idea!"
Pinkie Pie giggled at the other two. "Oh you sillies! It's just time for me to go see Twilight! See?" The pink pony reached behind her and withdrew a strange sheet of paper which she held in her teeth. Upon closer inspection, the two athletic mares saw that it was a schedule, with exactly half an hour marked down for each of the Elements of Harmony, and some for other ponies who lived around Ponyville.
"Hang on," Applejack began, "you've been with us for an hour!"
"That's 'cause you're both here! I just combined your two times!"
"So, you follow this schedule every day?" Rainbow Dash asked. Pinkie Pie started to walk, and the other two followed beside her.
"Yep, unless there's extenuating circumstances!"
"Like what?" The rainbow-maned pony asked, trying to regulate her steps to match Pinkie's.
"Oh, like parties, monster attacks, friends having trouble, new ponies coming to town, visits from royalty, festivals, faceless ponynappers..." Ponyville's resident party pony stopped dead in her tracks, staring off into the clouds for a moment, wondering where that thought had come from.
"Uh, Pinkie Pie? You okay?" Applejack asked from her and Rainbow's position slightly ahead of their friend.
"Huh? Oh yeah! Just fine..." Was all the pink pony responded with. The farmer looked quizzical for a moment, but then shrugged and smiled at the more energetic mare.
"So, basically, that schedule's just a one-time thing?"
"Yeperooni!" Pinkie answered, bounding back into step with the two. Applejack chuckled warmly while Rainbow muttered under her breath, "Then why make it?"
Several minutes of cheerful conversation later, the three arrived at Twilight's new castle. Neither Applejack nor Rainbow Dash had meant to come with Pinkie, but it just seemed to happen all on it's own. Pinkie raised a hoof and knocked on the impressive double doors, and all three could hear frantic galloping coming from within. They exchanged worried glances and then began shouting and pounding at the doors themselves. Eventually, Rainbow and Applejack decided to simultaneously buck the doors in order to fling them open. Just before they could, however, the doors opened, and a disheveled-looking Twilight stood in their place.
"Yes?" She said, in a voice that sounded a bit out of practice.
"Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"What's going on?" Rainbow questioned.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Applejack asked.
Twilight stood still for a moment before sighing. "Yeah, maybe there is." She showed them inside and they discovered she was not alone. Both Fluttershy and Rarity were there as well, and Fluttershy was curled up next to Rarity, crying.
"Fluttershy, dear, don't worry. I'm sure they're all fine." Rarity reassured the sobbing pony.
"B-but Rarity, th-they n-n-n-n-never leave all at once! S-s-some of them will w-w-w-wander away sometimes, but they've n-n-n-n-never a-all left before!" the shy pegasus stammered through her tears.
"I know, darling, I know." the white unicorn could only nod as the other three joined them.
"What's the matter?" Pinkie asked, for once completely serious. Twilight sighed.
"All of Fluttershy's animals, every single one, have gone missing."
* * *
"After I banished you to the moon," Celestia continued, "Monsters began to arrive in every corner of Equestria, coming from all over, but most came from the Everfree Forest, as you might expect." Luna nodded, and waited for her sister to continue.
"It seems that they thought they could take Equestria for themselves, since it now only had one alicorn princess to defend it." Celestia almost cracked a smile as she spoke. Almost. "They were wrong, of course. I fought back many horrible creatures during those first few years without you. Eventually, the amount willing to try grew fewer an fewer, and soon, only monsters from the Everfree would try to take Equestria. And then," Celestia shuddered slightly in her position on the floor, "They just stopped coming. Unlike the foreign monsters, the strongest did not emerge after their underlings had failed. They did not launch a last-ditch attempt to seize our land. They just stopped. I was thankful. After at least three years of near-constant battle, in which not a single pony or monster lost it's life, by some miracle, I could have some rest. But I was a fool. I could not see why the monsters had stopped coming." Celestia looked at Luna, staring deep into her younger sister's eyes. "Something worse had arrived."
"It started with a single small filly, gone, without a trace. And then more, only a few, but some had parents. They were desperate to find their children. They searched everywhere they could think of. Finally, they gathered some friends and family and went into the Everfree Forest. None of them ever came back out." Tears were beginning to well up in Celestia's eyes. "I had heard about the foalnappings, of course, but after beating all of the monsters back, I was tired, and so I relied on the royal guard to take care of the parents and other family members. And then I heard where they had gone, and how they had not been seen for a week. I wished they would have told me what they suspected, what they planned."
"I set off for the Everfree as soon as I could, hoping to find the missing ponies. However, I did not take the Elements of Harmony. I assumed this was a basic monster, somewhat intelligent, yes, but not so bad as to warrant the use of the Elements. As soon as I entered the forest, however, I knew something was wrong. Even though I had defeated them, I knew monsters still lived in that forest, yet there was not a sound to be heard anywhere. I walked through the forest, awaiting some sign of the missing ponies, but all I found was a single piece of paper that appeared to be nailed to a tree. I took it, and all it said was "RUN" in hastily scribbled letters. Suddenly, I felt as if something were pounding inside of my head. Like the beat of a drum, and then my vision began to cloud over. I felt the primal need to run but was incapable of doing so. I somehow managed to force my head to turn, and that's when I saw it." Celestia shuddered once again, as if she were back in that very forest, confronting the strange creature once again.
"I tried to grasp it with my magic, but it was unaffected. It simply stared at me, and my vision worsened. I could see practically nothing besides it. I knew then that I had to destroy it, or be destroyed, so I summoned down a bolt of mystical lightning, and I saw the creature stagger, but somehow, it remained. By some power, it was suddenly right in front of me. So very, very close. I felt my grip on reality slipping, and I was left with no other option. I let my magic run free." Luna gaped at her sister. Surely this must be some kind of joke. No creature could withstand magical lightning, and, what's more, Celestia could not have loosed her magic. It was dangerous enough when a unicorn of Twilight Sparkle's caliber did such a thing, but if an immortal alicorn did it, then all of Equestria could very well be destroyed!
"When I could see again, the creature was gone. I was alone. I flew back to Canterlot and discovered everything intact, despite reports of an apparent earthquake. I told everypony that it was safe, that I had defeated the creature. Deep down, even then, I knew it was a lie."
"But why can't you just defeat it again? Send it to the moon? Use the Elements of Harmony? What's stopping you?" The princess of the night questioned.
"Luna, don't you see? If it's willing to let it's presence be known after all this time, it must think, or know, that it is strong enough to face me, perhaps even both of us!"
"Sister." Luna asked, after a moment's pause. "What was the creature that you faced?"
"It is nothing I have ever seen before or since, Luna."
"But what did it look like?"
Celestia looked back up at her sister quizzically. " I thought you said you had the vision?"
"I did, of black tendrils emerging from the Everfree and enveloping Equestria."
The white alicorn bolted upright and approached the Princess of the Moon, putting a hoof to her face. "It didn't show itself to you." She said, as if she dare not believe it. She abruptly seized her sister in a ferocious hug, saying, "Maybe you still have a chance. But only if you come with me." The Sun Princess brought herself away from the hug and looked into Luna's eyes. "Luna, my dear sister, will you come with me?"
After the story she had just been told, and the fact that her older sister had practically told her that seeing this creature meant death, she wanted to say yes. She did, so desperately. But she could not. If her sister would not stay to protect the ponies of Equestria, then she had to.
Slowly, she shook her head. Celestia begged with her, pleading that she would come to safety, but Luna would not be swayed. Eventually, the large white alicorn conceded, lowering her head back down to the floor. Luna looked on for a moment, and then stepped aside from the doorway.
"If you are so desperate to leave, sister, then do it." The Moon Princess said. Her elder sister looked up, tears streaking down her face, and then stood, walking past her sister and out the door. Before the princess left her kingdom forever, she turned around and spoke to her sister for what she feared would be the last time.
"You asked me what it was, Luna." The Princess of the Sun said. "I'll tell you. It was the only creature that ever made me feel true fear." And Princess Celestia walked out, with every intention of abandoning her own little ponies.
* * *
"What?" Applejack and Rainbow Dash asked simultaneously.
"It's true." Rarity said solemnly. "I was on my way to pick up Opalescence from Fluttershy, and when I arrived, I found her crying in the middle of her floor. Not a single animal was around, not a bird, or a bear, not even Opal or Angel was left."
"Hey, ah just realized, I haven't seen Winona all mornin'!" Applejack exclaimed.
"Or Tank!" Rainbow Dash added.
"And Owlowiscious is gone, too." Twilight stated simply. All of the other five looked at Pinkie Pie, waiting for her to announce that her own pet was missing.
"Oh, girls! Gummy'd never run away from me! He's right here, in my mane!" And Pinkie reached a hoof up into her cotton-candy like hair, rummaging around for a moment before a look of absolute horror came on her face.
"HE'S GONE!!" The suddenly distraught pink earth pony screamed. As she became frantic and started tearing through the many halls of the small castle in the faint hope she would find her toothless alligator, the lavender alicorn began talking to the others, despite the amount of coaxing it took to persuade Fluttershy out of her ball.
"Alright girls, all of our animals, possibly all of the animals in Ponyville, have disappeared, and I can think of only one reason why they would all leave at once. There must be some sort of disaster coming." This statement drew some murmurs and light exclamations from the other four who were actually listening, but didn't reach Pinkie's ears, as she was currently in the highest parapet checking every nook and cranny for an alligator she knew would not be there.
"Fluttershy, when did all your animals leave?" Twilight asked the yellow pegasus, who was still desperately trying to calm herself.
"W-well, it was early this morning. I was just getting all of my friends their breakfasts when one of the little birdies flew over to the window. Suddenly she started shrieking and twittering like I've never heard before, and it was a little hard to understand her, but then all of my precious friends just ran out the front door, and away. I still don't know why."
"What window was it? What direction did they run in?" Twilight pressed.
"Ummm, I'm pretty sure it was the window that faces the Everfree Forest, and that they all ran away from the Forest, like it was what they were afraid of."
Twilight nodded once and directed what she said next at everypony in the room, even Pinkie, who was now off to one side, her mane slowly deflating.
"Alright, girls, this could be the most important mission we ever take on. There's obviously something in the Everfree Forest that scared away the animals, and we've got to go get rid of it. Just remember, if we get into too much trouble, the Elements are a part of us, now." Pinkie suddenly shot up from her place on the floor, darting towards Twilight until their muzzles touched.
"NO Twilight! We can't go in there! The Elements won't work! We'll be doomed as soon as we set foot in that forest! We can't! We CAN'T!"
"Pinkie, slow down! Why can't we go in? What do you mean the Elements won't work?" the lavender mare asked, slightly frightened by her friend's display. Without warning, the pink part pony of Ponyville backed off, a thoughtful look coming across her face.
"I... don't know." she said, the moment passing. Twilight rolled her eyes and chalked it up to Pinkie being Pinkie. With a few final words of encouragement, the small band walked out the doors and straight towards the Everfree Forest. As they left the castle, Twilight thought of Spike, and, knowing her faithful dragon assistant would want to follow, she was suddenly thankful that he was at Sugar Cube Corner, helping the Cakes with their baking. Hopefully, he wouldn't even know they had left until they got back and told him. Twilight turned around and was surprised to find Fluttershy standing right behind her.
"Um, Twilight, I wasn't sure if it was, you know, important, and I'm not even sure I heard it right, but, well, I think I might have heard at least a little bit of what the bird said."
"Go ahead, Fluttershy. Every little bit helps."
"Oh, um, okay. I think, uh, she said..." the shy yellow pegasus paused for a moment, as if remembering, and then said with a confirming nod, "It's here."
* * *
It had taken the ponies all of a few minutes to reach the forest, and when they did, they realized something. The Everfree was dangerous at the best of times, but these particular six had gotten rather used to wandering in a slight ways to visit their friend Zecora, and even further in to see the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters on occasion. Yet somehow, this visit seemed to be much darker and more frightening than ever before, even more so than on the day of that first Summer Sun Celebration when they had defeated Nightmare Moon.
It didn't take long for the ponies to realize why it was so frightening. Nothing made a sound. Not a cockatrice hissed, not a distant hydra or Ursa roared, not even a single bird chirped. There was no sound at all besides the six sets of hooves beating into the dirt beneath them. They were currently on the makeshift path to Zecora's hut. If something dangerous was in the Everfree, she would know about it. Plus, it was the safest path into the forest that existed.
After several minutes of near-silent walking through the trees, the group arrived at their destination. But something was wrong. They had left the castle at around one o'clock in the afternoon, yet not so much as a glimmer of light shone. Not even a flicker came from Zecora's hut, and that was certainly perturbing. Twilight quickly yanked open the door to find everything normal. The masks and potions and other odds and ends still sat around the hut, nothing seemed in any way out of place. Except for one thing. Zecora herself was not there. The six ponies looked at each other, all wondering the same thing. Did she run? And what if she didn't?
Without any real instruction, they began searching through the hut for some clue as to where Zecora had gone. They sifted through various potions and ingredients, and finally, Twilight spotted something different on a desk piled high with papers. It was a book, simply a book, with a blank black cover. What caught Twilight's eye was, in fact, the cover, and the fact that it possessed no title. She picked it up in her magic and turned to the first page. On it was writing that seemed hasty in it's form, but the fact that every line rhymed led her to believe it was indeed Zecora who wrote it.
If you are reading this, I do not jest.
I think you'll find it would be best,
If you left now, and never returned.
Please, live your life, gain what you've earned!
Unless, of course, you've seen it's face.
Then, you are doomed, it's the end of your race.
It will come for you, one day.
Who knows when, and who can say?
It is as quiet as a mouse.
It might even be in your house.
Taller than Celestia herself, I say,
It fears nothing, in any way.
The creature comes, and picks you up.
You can't escape, your time is up.
If you have not seen it yet,
Then run, run, run! Don't place a bet!
It is time for me to go.
I see it, at my window.
Just remember this, dear friends,
Although I cannot make amends,
It will be coming, to cause you pain,
And nopony escapes the Slendermane.
The poem ended at that point, and Twilight turned the page to see if there was more. She immediately wished that she hadn't.
On the second page was a sketch of... something. It looked like a pony, but it was far too tall. It looked like it could be taller than Celestia, and it wore a strange suit, like the kind some of the fancier ponies in Canterlot would wear. However, it was the face that was the creature's most frightening feature. There wasn't one. The pony had no face, none at all. It was just blank white paper inside of the border.
Twilight screamed and dropped the book at the sight of the picture, bringing all of her friends to her side. The book had fallen closed when it hit the floor, and Rarity hesitantly levitated it in front of the others, opening it to the first page where they read Zecora's warning poem as well, and then turning the page so that they could all see the sketch that Twilight saw. Several of the others gasped, and Fluttershy even hid behind Twilight. Strangely enough, Pinkie did not seem frightened by the picture. Actually, she seemed more confused than anything else. Suddenly, the pink earth pony gasped, but not in an overly theatrical way, just a normal-sounding small gasp.
"I've seen him before." She said, in a voice that could barely be heard. Everypony else turned to look at her.
"What? You've seen him?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah. In my dreams. Every night since..."
"Since when, sugarcube?" Applejack prompted her friend. Pinkie turned to look at her.
"Since we went to visit Granny Smith's cousin, Goldie Delicious. I saw him then, too, but for real. It wasn't a dream."
"What're ya talkin' about, Pinkie? I never saw anythin' like that on our trip!"
"He wasn't out in the open, AJ, he was in the bushes. Remember when I tackled you, after you all owned up to what went wrong?"
Applejack winced, as if remembering the embarrassing fight her family had got into on that particular trip was physically painful. "Uh, yeah?"
"When we were spinning around, I just barely saw something pale disappear into the bushes. That was him, and he knows I saw him."
"But... but... how do you know it was him? It could have been anything! A rabbit! A cockatrice! Anything! How do you know it was this, what, Slendermane?" Twilight asked emphatically, concerned for her friend. She wasn't acting like her usual perky self, and that, combined with the poem that stated anypony who saw this creature was doomed, was really starting to scare the newest princess of Equestria.
"Well," Pinkie said, looking gloomier than any of the other Elements had ever seen her, and that included the time when she had forgotten her own birthday and thought they didn't want to be friends anymore, "Even if it wasn't him, and it was, it doesn't matter much now."
"Why not?" it was Rainbow Dash who spoke up this time.
"He's standing in the forest, and he's looking right at me."
Several heads started to turn when Pinkamena Diane Pie announced this, but she stopped them with an abrupt shout of, "NO!"
"If you look at it, you're doomed. I think it's best if you just leave me here. Run. Save yourselves."
"But Pinkie, we can't just leave you with that thing! That's not what real friends do!" Twilight objected. Pinkie just shook her head. Violently, as if she were trying to banish some sort of strange presence from her mind.
"Yes you can, and if you want to get out of here alive, you should."
"Wait! What about the Elements?" Rainbow Dash offered. The others latched on to this plan, giving their own words of appreciation to the idea of using the Elements of Harmony. Even Pinkie seemed to perk up a little bit.
"Well, maybe..." she said, and the others seemed to take that as a real confirmation, but before they left, she said, "Can you just promise me you won't look at it?"
The other five looked at each other for a moment, and then nodded. Pinkie's mane suddenly burst back into it's wild, poofy shape.
"Well, then, let's go beat us a baddy!" She shouted, and they all rushed out of Zecora's hut. Pinkie looked around, and spotted the creature about a hundred yards away, just watching them, and she felt a familiar buzz enter her head. She just turned and announced for the others to close their eyes and follow her voice. She sang a little ditty as she walked, so that the others actually knew where she was, and she kept her eyes on the creature for as long as she could before turning away and shaking her head, only to look up and find that, thankfully, it had stayed in place. Perhaps it was curious to find out why the ponies were walking towards it instead of running away. But whatever the reason, soon they were close enough that Pinkie thought she could reach out and touch it, and it did not move.
"Alright girls! Let's do this! Pinkie announced, and closed her own eyes, feeling the Elements awaken within each of them, changing the colors and lengths of their manes and tails so that each of them was a veritable rainbow on their own. She hoped he didn't move while they were doing this. If she had been able to open her eyes, she would have seen that "he" hadn't, and was standing there, head cocked to the side, watching as the ponies levitated into the air. Pure happiness washed over all six of the ponies, and they felt it as each of their Elements, each of the colors of the rainbow, flew out, striking their foe, and then tightening, creating a concentrated beam of the magic of their friendship. Before they knew it, it was over. Each one was slowly lowered to the ground, and they felt the magic dissipate. The raw beam of magic had thrown up a large dust cloud, and it was difficult for any of them to see what had happened. They strained their eyes, and the dust began to clear.
It was then that six screams rang throughout the Everfree Forest.
* * *
The creature shook it's head. It had not anticipated the power of the Elements of Harmony. They were far stronger than it had originally thought. No matter. It was still too powerful to be defeated. Nothing could stop it.
Now, it was time for a hunt.
But which one to catch first? It had felt five new pairs of eyes burn across it's being, before the sensation faded, and it knew that none of the six could be allowed to escape. They had seen it. They were doomed.
That was how it was. That was how it always had been. That was how it always would be.
Let the chase begin.
* * *
Pinkie galloped through the trees, hoping against hope that her friends were still safe. She knew that she was doomed, but if any of her friends had taken the hint, and run before they saw the creature, they might still get out alive. Pinkie had no idea where she was running to, but she kept going. She began to think it was all she could do, now. Run.
Suddenly, something white shot out of the darkness. Pinkie screamed, but she could not stop in time, and crashed headlong into the object.
"Ow! Oh, how undignified." Pinkie heard from the object that was now underneath her. Looking down revealed the object to be Rarity, whose eyes were red and cheeks wet from crying.
"Pinkie!" the white unicorn exclaimed, and the pink mare hurriedly hopped off the now filthy unicorn. Rarity looked somberly at her mane, which was now covered in dirt and had a few stray twigs caught in it, but then turned back to Pinkie, tears making tracks through the dirt on her face.
"Pinkie, I saw it." Rarity said simply. The once-hyperactive earth pony sighed, closed her eyes, and lowered her head. However, the sudden scream from right in front of her got her back to looking up. Rarity was staring open-mouthed at a place somewhere behind Pinkie, and she felt the inside of her head beat with the first drum indicating it's presence.
And in that moment, with her friend in danger and a monster right behind her, Pinkie Pie knew what she had to do. She forcefully turned Rarity around, pushing her off, into the trees. Rarity glanced back once, but an abrupt motion of her hoof got the white unicorn running again. Pinkie turned around to face the creature. It was only three yards away, and not hiding. Just standing there, waiting. The ever-loving party pony of Ponyville walked straight up to the monster, reached behind her, and pulled her party cannon out of Celestia-knows-where. If the creature could have known surprise, it would have felt it. Before it could react, Pinkie had set off her cannon. With a sound like a hundred paper party noisemakers being blown into at once, the Slendermane found itself neatly decorated for a party, with streamers and confetti laying across it's back, and a paper party hat sitting atop it's head.
Pinkie Pie collapsed to the forest floor in a fit of giggles, and the creature just stared down at her with it's empty face, provoking even more laughter from the somewhat unusual pink pony. Pinkie opened her eyes to find the creature almost muzzle-to-muzzle with her, and she laughed even harder. The Slendermane summoned it's power, doing to the pink mare what it did to everypony else who became a victim. It killed her. But Pinkie didn't scream once, just continued giggling until she was gone. For she knew what that meant.
It meant that the creature who thrives on fear, who breaks ponies before killing them, hadn't broken her. She had been laughing right to the end. At the end, she had been Pinkie Pie.
It meant she had beaten the Slendermane.
And they both knew it.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle could only run, praying to Celestia that she and her friends would be safe. She had seen the creature, once the dust cleared, and all she could do now was hope that both Zecora and Pinkie were wrong, and that they still had a chance. She heard what sounded like the distant explosion of Pinkie's party cannon, but nothing else. Twilight couldn't help but let a small smile creep onto her face.
Pinkie will never stop being Pinkie, will she? The lavender alicorn thought to herself. Then she remembered the seriousness of the situation, and the smile was gone like dust in a strong wind. She continued running, trying to think of any means of escape she might have. She was off any sort of path, just in the middle of some trees, so finding her way out would be difficult. She could try walking in one direction, eventually she'd reach the edge, right? Or...
Her wings! Of course! She could fly out, and try to spot her friends to help them from above! It was perfect! Twilight began flapping her wings. She had gotten much better at flying recently, but takeoff was still a little difficult for her. She flapped harder, and felt her hooves leave the ground.
Just a little more... she thought, when, without warning,
SWISSSHHH
*CRACK*
"AHHHHHH!" Twilight cried out in pain and fear as she fell the few feet to the forest floor. She managed to stay on her hooves, though she stumbled a little, and looked to see what had caused her fall, and where all the pain was coming from. It was her right wing, and it was bent back at an odd angle, seeming to be broken. The Princess of Friendship cringed at the sight and looked around for what had caused the injury. She found it soon enough.
It was the creature, the Slendermane, and it had several long, tentacle-like appendages sprouting from it's back, now. Twilight could only look on in horror as the monster just stood there, tendrils waving in the air. She felt a strange buzzing start behind her eyes, and the inside of her head pounded like the beat of some drum. The buzzing almost seemed to be making an audible sound, like hissing. But before she could grasp what was happening, something blue rocketed out of the darkness and plowed her over, breaking her gaze with the creature.
The blue object, which was of course Rainbow Dash, stood up, looking around frantically before helping Twilight up, as well.
"R-Rainbow?" Twilight stammered, still shaken from her close encounter.
"Twilight, I saw it."
Twilight sighed. "I think we all did. But even if we don't have any chance of escaping, we should at least try. Maybe at least one of us can make it out."
"Maybe... Hey! What happened to your wing?"
"I tried to fly." was Twilight's only answer, and it was enough. Rainbow looked back to make sure her wings were securely tucked at her sides, and when she turned back, it was right there, behind Twilight, staring over her head, right at Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus couldn't help an uncharacteristic girlish scream that burst from her muzzle.
"What?" Twilight asked, though she knew what it had to be. Rainbow had looked at her, or more likely, behind her, when she screamed, which meant...
It was right behind her. Twilight stood still for a long time, unsure of what to do. Rainbow Dash was staring at the spot several feet above her head where she could only assume the creature's head was, and Twilight knew she had to get her away as soon as possible, but how best to do it?
The decision was made for her when she felt the lightest of touches on her back, which sent a chill through her whole being. Running like a mad pony it is then. She did just that, darting forward faster than she ever thought she could do, and picked up her friend in her magic as she ran past. She didn't stop running until she spotted something yellow in the trees above her. Only one thing in could be that shade of yellow this deep into the Everfree Forest.
"Fluttershy!" Twilight called out, but the pegasus did not respond. Twilight walked to a place directly underneath the mare and shouted again. Still no answer was heard, but something wet splashed down onto Twilight's face. Fluttershy must be crying. Of course she would be, this was absolutely terrifying. Twilight reached up a hoof and wiped the tear off, but caught a glimpse of the spot she wiped it on as soon as she began lowering it to the ground. It was red. Her fur had been stained red by the supposed "tear", which meant it wasn't a tear. It was blood.
"FLUTTERSHY!" Twilight screamed, louder than ever before. But still, the shy pegasus would not answer. Or could she answer even if she wanted to? Twilight tried to flap her wings and reach her, before painfully remembering that one of her wings was broken. She turned to Rainbow Dash, still suspended in her magic, and set her down on the forest floor.
"Rainbow!" was all she said, before the rainbow-maned mare shook her head, shouted, "I'm on it!", and flew up to where the yellow pegasus was. What she saw, then, perplexed her. Fluttershy appeared to be completely fine. She looked scared, yes, but was simply hanging onto a large branch, and didn't look harmed in any way. Rainbow had seen the drop of blood that hit Twilight, but where had it come from? Then, she noticed the twin streams of blood that were running from the mare's nostrils. That was it? A nosebleed? Rainbow actually chuckled slightly, despite the situation, until Fluttershy's hoof moved. Until Fluttershy's frantically moving eyes caught sight of Rainbow. Until Fluttershy attacked Rainbow Dash, crying, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Rainbow was able to avoid the yellow pegasus easily, even with the element of surprise. Fluttershy began to fall, but Rainbow Dash knew any second now she would spread her wings and hover in place. Any second. It was in those final milliseconds that Rainbow noticed a few things that she hadn't noticed before. Both of Fluttershy's wings were out, and both were bent in very strange angles. As she noticed this, she realized the true height of the branch her friend had been sitting on. It was high enough from the ground that it could easily kill a pony if fallen from, especially head-first, but not high enough that Rainbow could dive from it and not impact the ground. It was the perfect place to put a frightened, flightless pegasus, where they had two choices. Jump off, and end it all, with no hope of rescue, or slowly starve on that one branch.
*CRUNCH*
The sound was horrible. There are no words to describe such a sound that would not make the listener feel ill. Twilight could only gape at the spot where her friend, the kindest of the six, had fallen. To Twilight's credit, she did try to catch Fluttershy with her magic. But sometimes not even an alicorn princess is fast enough.
A rough gargling noise came from the heap Fluttershy had landed in, and Twilight and Rainbow Dash hesitantly moved towards it. The yellow pegasus was in terrible shape, but somehow she spoke.
"Sorry... Rainbow..." and then she stopped. No more sound came. Except for the faint buzzing behind the eyes of the two, and the thrumming in their heads.
Twilight looked up, and to her right, and saw it, standing there, staring at the carnage it had undoubtedly wrought. It didn't care. The fact that it had indirectly murdered the nicest mare ever to live did not faze it in the slightest. Twilight wanted to hit it, she really did, but her constant fear of the creature held her back, not that it would do anything if she didn't hold back anyway. She stood up calmly, walked around the creature, to it's other side, and bolted into the forest, pausing for just a moment to shout at Rainbow Dash. But the cyan pegasus didn't listen.
It turned and watched her go. No matter, she could not escape. Nopony could. But then it turned back to the one who remained. She sat on her knees, weeping over her dead friend and it looked at her. After a moment, Rainbow looked back. She felt the buzz grow stronger as she stared, but she did not care, anymore. They were all doomed, anyway. But Rainbow managed one last act of defiance against the thing. She thought of her friends, of her loyalty to them, of how much she cared about every single one of them. So, as her vision went dark, she felt the power of her Element take hold, growing her mane into a huge rainbow lightning bolt. She managed a small smirk before she fell to the forest floor, lifeless.
The creature was almost getting annoyed by these ponies. They would not give up on their friendship, on each other, no matter what it did. The pink one showcased her laughter, the yellow one whispered two last words of kindness, the blue one had dared to show her loyalty to them in all of it's glory.
It did not physically respond to these minor qualms, of course. It just disappeared, though it did have one small thought.
It had to break at least one of these ponies.
It could not allow all six to escape, in their own little ways.
It had to break them.
* * *
Applejack rushed through the trees. She had seen the creature, and she knew what that meant. She knew that she was doomed. The real reason she was running was not to save her own life, but in the faint hope she could help one of her friends, or get away for just long enough to say goodbye to her family. She would not let this monster take her without having done at least that.
A sudden scream off to her left brought Applejack back to the present, and she spotted something dirty and white burst out of the trees to her right, and begin running towards her. Applejack came to an abrupt halt, and watched Rarity as she dashed closer, before stopping as well. She had tears running down her face, leaving tracks of pure white through the dirty brownish color the rest of her face had become. The two looked at each other for a moment, before embracing. They sat on their haunches for a while, each of their hooves wrapped around the other, and they wept. No words were exchanged between them. No words were needed. They could feel it. The Elements, and their friendship itself, bound them together too tightly for the two to not notice when their friends were killed. One by one. Laughter. Kindness. Loyalty. All of them, gone.
They heard a rustling in the brush behind them. The rustling stopped suddenly, and they heard hooves impact the ground, accompanied with heavy breathing. It was only then the two broke their embrace, and looked up to see Twilight standing not two yards away. The alicorn looked almost as battered as Rarity, and one of her wings appeared broken. The three ponies looked at each other for a moment, and then sat in a triangular shape and sighed. Applejack and Rarity looked at Twilight, and she began to explain,
"I ran off without thinking. Ran into Rainbow Dash, or she ran into me, and we both spotted Fluttershy in a tree. That thing..."
She paused here so she could continue talking without bursting into tears, "It broke her wings. When Rainbow went to see what was wrong, she... she dove out of the tree. It came, then. I tried to get Rainbow to run, but she wouldn't." Twilight got down as low as she could, close to the ground, as if she wanted to melt into it and never be seen again. "If only I'd been fast enough."
"No, Twilight, it ain't yer fault. Don't go blamin' yerself." Applejack consoled, putting a hoof on her friend's back.
"Applejack's right, darling. That creature, this Slendermane, is responsible for this, not you." Rarity agreed.
"But I..."
"No way, Twi, I'm stayin' firm on this one. It ain't yer fault." Applejack said sternly, looking into Twilight's eyes. Twilight looked at her farmpony friend, and stood up, nodding slightly.
"Good, now..." Applejack could feel it. The creature was right behind her and Rarity, since they had both been talking to Twilight. The Princess of Friendship was now staring at a spot several feet above their heads with absolute terror written across her features. The farm mare and the seamstress looked at each other, and nodded.
"Twilight, you've gotta run." Applejack said.
"What?!" The shocking truth of that statement brought the princess' gaze back down to her friends. "NO! I can't! Not after..."
"Consarnit, Twilight, I wasn't askin'!" Applejack stressed, holding up a hoof to make sure her friend could not come any closer.
"Twilight, listen to Applejack. Listen to me. This may be the greatest gift I could ever give you. Please," Rarity's eyes glistened with tears as she spoke, "run. Save yourself. And do not look back, not even for a second."
"But..." the lavender alicorn tried to protest, but the other two interrupted.
"GO!" they shouted, and Twilight went. Slowly, at first, reluctantly, but then more quickly.
"Wait!" Applejack called, remembering something. Twilight stopped, turning her head, but not her body.
"Tell my family I said goodbye, alright?" The Element of Honesty asked. Twilight nodded, the tears that were already streaming down her face now coming thicker and faster. And she ran. Before long, she was gone, and the two turned around simultaneously to face their foe.
It stood there, like something straight out of a nightmare, but neither of them screamed. The buzzing that started as soon as they knew it was there increased tenfold when they looked at it, but they did not flinch. Applejack even smiled a little, and spoke her last.
"I'm not gonna lie, creature, you scare me. I'm terrified, more than I've ever been. But," And the orange earth pony took a firm stance in the dirt beneath their feet. "I ain't runnin'"
It struck. It struck with all it's might, running them through as if they were made of wet toilet paper. But neither of them screamed. It tore at them, hitting again, and again, and again, but they would not scream. It wanted them to scream. WHY WOULD THEY NOT SCREAM?! Soon, there was nothing left to destroy, and it stood there. Five. Five of the six ponies had beaten it. One last gift from the white one. One last truth from the orange being. The creature stood there. None of them had screamed, not even the yellow one screamed as she fell from the tree. None of them screamed in their final moments. It wanted them to scream.
It realized, then, that it felt something. It felt anger. It had never felt before. It did not like to feel. It would have to be careful. The last thing it needed was to develop emotions.
That was the only thing that could make this hunt worse.
Except for one thing...
Escape.
* * *
Twilight found the path. She was almost out, she knew where she was, now.
But she couldn't stop crying.
All of her friends, each and every one of the other Elements of Harmony, was dead. Killed by some psychotic monster who took pleasure in such things.
Yet she ran.
Why did she run? What was the point of existing without her best friends?
Her kingdom, for one thing.
Her other friends, the princesses, Spike, her family, for another.
But mostly, what kept Twilight Sparkle running through the forest, was the last promise she made. She would tell Applejack's family what she said. And bring the bad news to her other friend's families as well. It was the least she could do. They had saved her life. Even Pinkie, who delayed the creature before it came to get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. She knew. They had saved her.
It was the least she could do.
Light.
She could see light ahead. The dim, reddish light of sunset, but light. She was exhausted, but somehow, she actually sped up when she saw that light. She was galloping, galloping faster than she had ever galloped before.
And then, the exit.
A parting in the trees, enough to allow light to slip through, into the forest.
But it was there, too.
A tall figure, towering over the smallest of the princesses, standing in the center of the path, blocking her way to the exit. It would not let her go. She knew that. It seemed agitated. It's tendrils waved quickly and sporadically behind it. But that did not matter. She had a promise to keep.
And she intended to keep it.
Before, she had not used her only method of escape because her friends were still in the forest. She could not leave without them. When she met up with Rarity and Applejack, well, she had never tried it with more than two, and last time, the second had been beat up. It might have killed them to try. And after she left them...
Well, actually, there was no reason not to use it after that. It just hadn't occurred to her since then. Until now.
Twilight summoned what magical energy was left inside of her, despite her exhaustion from running, and disappeared in a flash of purple light.
It tilted it's head to the side. That was new. It felt her again. She was back in Ponyville. She had escaped the Everfree. Earned her final wish. It disappeared, all too eager for the time when she would be finished with the other victim's families.
Then, it could take her.
And surely she would scream.
* * *
Twilight stumbled, finding herself back in the familiar surroundings of her castle. The crystals seemed dimmer, now, as if they knew the terrible tragedy that had just transpired. As if they knew that the Elements of Harmony were no more.
Twilight looked around for a moment, and then fell to the floor, and cried. She cried with relief. She had escaped the creature, at least for the moment. She cried for herself, and the terrible things she had seen in that forest. But most of all, she cried for her friends, and the suffering that they had not deserved, but had to suffer nonetheless. Eventually, she had no tears left, and all at once her sorrow, the exhausting day she had endured, and her general tiredness caught up with her, and she fell asleep, right there on the floor.
When she next awoke, somepony was standing over her. She jumped to her hooves, assuming the worst, when a familiar voice said, "Whoa, whoa, Twilight! It's just me." It was Spike, and he looked very worried. Twilight tried to calm her frantic heart, but found it difficult.
"Twilight, what happened to you? When I got back from Sugar Cube Corner you weren't here, and then this morning, here you are, sleeping in the middle of the floor! What happened?" Twilight looked at her number one assistant and friend, before sighing.
"I can't explain right now, Spike, but I've got to go. There's something important that I have to do."
"Umm, okay? Care to tell me where your going?"
"Sweet Apple Acres, Carousel Boutique, a rock farm, and Cloudsdale."
"Wow, sounds like quite the trip. Might take a day or so. Do you want some food?"
Twilight was about to refuse politely, but her stomach betrayed her by giving a loud growl at that moment.
"Maybe a couple sandwiches." She said, forcing a small smile onto her face. Spike smiled wide, blissfully unaware of the macabre task Twilight was undertaking. He fixed her several daffodil and daisy sandwiches, and sent her on her way. Twilight knew it would be hard enough telling her friend's families what happened, she couldn't tell one of her only living friends just yet.
The task was long and arduous, and involved a lot of waiting for trains, due to Twilight's still-broken wing. She went to Cloudsdale first, since it was the furthest and most out-of the-way. She had to take a tourist's balloon until she was close enough to land herself, and then had to track down Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's parents, and break the bad news to them. It was hard, but not as hard as Twilight anticipated. No, but it quickly became frightening as Twilight descended back towards the earth, once again in a balloon. She could have sworn she saw an unusually tall pony standing off in the distance, but she shook the thought away. It was just the trauma. Maybe.
She then headed to Pinkie's family's rock farm, and it was the only time Twilight had ever seen Maude make an expression beyond wrinkled cheeks. The gray pony openly wept, and Twilight along with her. As Twilight waved goodbye from a train window, she saw a strange silhouette standing alongside the towers of rocks.
Now, she was back in Ponyville. It didn't feel as good to be home as she wished it did, since she was so close to the site of her friends' deaths. She headed straight to Carousel Boutique from the train station, and was forced to explain the situation to Sweetie Belle. She made the filly promise to notify her parents as soon as she could, and then turned to leave. It was there, there was no denying it this time. Out the window that showed just a tiny bit of the Everfree, it was standing at the tree line, waiting for her to complete her final wish.
It was finally time to fulfill the promise she had made to Applejack. Twilight Sparkle walked down the path to Sweet Apple Acres. She told the Apples the difficult truth, and they took it as Twilight expected. Hard. They had not finished crying when Twilight was ready to go back to her castle, and mourn for her friends on her own, possibly tell Spike about what happened. It was in the orchard as Twilight left the Acres, and the alicorn felt a surge of anger take hold of her. She knew what to do, and it would be hard for her and eveypony she had left, but there was no going around it. Either it would come and take her, or...
She would go to it.
So she did. She wrote a brief note and left it for Spike, hoping that he could forgive her for not telling him face-to-face. And she set off, down the path into the forest that she and her friends had taken only two days ago, now. As she passed through, she neither heard, nor saw, anything. She spotted Zecora's hut in the distance and waited for the creature to appear, but it did not. Twilight approached the door slowly, until she was right in front of it, and then turned around.
There it was, several yards away, just staring at her, waiting. She knew what was coming. And she was afraid. But her friends hadn't screamed, they wouldn't let the creature change them. And neither would she.
She blinked, and it was closer. She blinked, and it was only three yards away. She blinked. Three feet.
She blinked. It was there. It took her. She did not scream.
It was angry again. It did not like to be angry. Emotions were unfitting for one such as it. This had been easily the worst hunt it had ever undertaken. It needed to make somepony scream. It needed to hear that sound. Suddenly, it got a strange idea, or something of that sort.
If it had had the mouth or the emotions, it would have grinned.
It was time for a truly glorious hunt.
* * *
The disappearances started the next morning. One small filly, Dinky Doo, by name, was gone. Vanished into thin air. That same day, Spike packed a bag and went into the Everfree, hoping to find any of his pony friends within. He never returned. The next day, the resident bullies at Ponyville Elementary, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, disappeared. And then three. Guess which three? Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, still mourning the deaths of their sisters and heroes, all gone by nine o'clock the third morning. Then four. Then five. And so on, until not a foal was left in Ponyville. Naturally, several parents and groups of parents went into the Everfree, never to be seen nor heard from again. And then, the foals were all gone, and the remaining ponies stopped trying, in the faint hope that whatever it was would leave them alone, now. It did not. First a dream, then a disappearance, this was the pattern the ponies finally noticed.
They dreamt of it. And then it took them. So they fled. They fled by air, train, cart, or whatever was at their disposal. But the dreams kept coming. The disappearances kept mounting. Soon ponies with no ties to Ponyville began disappearing. More and more. The dream became like a plague, if you had it, everypony would stay away, as if it were contagious. And then they disappeared. Whispers turned into rumors, rumors turned into conversation, conversation turned into questions, and questions unearthed facts.
Princess Celestia was gone, but not taken. No, she had fled Equestria, before it even began.
Princess Celestia had abandoned them.
* * *
The former Princess of the Sun flapped on, despite her tired wings' protests. She had been flying for days, and still felt within her an obligation to raise and lower the sun, so she spent more energy than was actually necessary just by doing that. She just had to get away. She didn't know where to, but she had to get away. At long last, her eyes, weary of searching for somewhere, anywhere, to land, spotted a high mountain. Celestia landed there, giving her body a much-needed rest. She shut her eyes, and slept.
There it was, standing before her, but it was far away now, as if even it had a hard time reaching her. But it's tendrils, they were long, it stretched them out to her, and almost touched her, when...
"Sister! Sister, wake up!" Celestia awoke, with the faint hope that she would find herself in her own bed, and shake off all thoughts of the creature as part of the insane dream she had just had. She was wrong. She found herself laying on the rocky outcropping on which she had landed before, with her sister looking down on her.
"Luna! What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed, jumping to her hooves.
"Trying to find you." Her sister replied simply. Celestia embraced her sister.
"Thank you for choosing to come with me." she said, "Now, we must..."
"You misunderstand, Celestia. I have come to bring you back, not to join you."
All the hope and joy that had risen in the white alicorn's chest died with that one statement.
"And what makes you think you can get me to go back?" she asked the younger alicorn scornfully.
"Merely the hope that I can appeal to you, as you were, before this absurd fear seized you."
"ABSURD?!" Celestia screamed, suddenly enraged. "I HAVE FACED THIS THING BEFORE! WE HAVE NO HOPE OF DEFEATING IT! OUR ONLY CHANCE IS TO RUN!!!"
"Tia," her sister spoke calmly, and the use of Celestia's pet name was enough to get her to listen. "Almost everypony in Equestria is gone, taken by this creature that you fear so deeply. And I have heard whispers of disappearances as far out as the griffon lands. We cannot run from this creature. No matter how far we go, it will follow. Our only choice is to face it, and do what we can to destroy it."
Celestia thought, and then stomped her hooves. Her sister was right, and she knew it. That fact annoyed her, so she took out her frustrations on the rock below their hooves. After a moment of venting, Celestia turned back to her sister.
"You realize that if we do this, we will die. We have no hope of defeating this monster." Luna nodded in response. With that done, Celestia sighed. "Very well. Let us go and meet our fate. Together."
"Together." Luna agreed, and they summoned their magic, teleporting straight to where they wanted to go.
* * *
The plains west of the Everfree Forest looked as green and lovely as they ever had before. Plants could not see, plants could not dream, and plants could not scream, so it had no use for killing them. Celestia knew this as they approached the Everfree. She had ordered Luna to shut her eyes. And she was now glad that she did. There it was, standing at the border between the forest and the meadows, watching them.
There she was, the only one who had ever escaped. The only one who had ever defeated it. It wanted her. But it had to break her first. This was one it HAD to break. She had instructed the other to close her eyes. She thought she knew the rules, how best to escape it's power.
She did not know.
The rules had changed.
The tentacle moved with unmatched speed, and Celestia barely had time to close her eyes and brace herself for the inevitable. But the inevitable didn't come. She opened her eyes, and saw the black object had gone past her head to the left. She turned her head...
And saw it buried deep within her sister's chest.
So many emotions rose up in Celestia at once. Anger, fear, confusion, sadness, despair. All she could manage to do was scream.
"LUNA!!"
The tendril withdrew. Her sister crumpled to the ground without it's support. Celestia turned back to face the creature, tears streaming down her face as magic flared in her horn. She let it loose, and the force was enough that, if left without something to absorb the energy, it could have destroyed Equestria. But it was there. And it did not want Equestria destroyed. It wanted to revel in the hunt. So it absorbed. But it was careful, this time. Even it had a limit for how much power it could take. It stopped, and some blades of grass were singed, but nothing more. It was now more powerful than ever.
Celestia could only look on in horror. Her sister was dead. Her last resort failed. It was over. She accepted her fate, and stood tall. But the creature was not done, yet.
It reached out a tendril, and touched her horn. Images began to flash through her mind. Ponies, each of the ponies it had killed. Their corpses. All of the Elements of Harmony. Spike. The other residents of Ponyville. Ponies from Canterlot. Shining Armor. Princess Cadance. Many of the crystal ponies. Ponies from Manehattan. From Fillydelphia. From Appleloosa.
With this came a realization. She had never had any hope of escaping. And she never had a chance to stop this creature. They were doomed from the very beginning. This all combined at once within Celestia's mind. Everything was lost. She was the last alicorn. And she lost.
Celestia broke.
If the creature had been capable, it would have given a triumphant grin, maybe even a laugh. As it was, it simply moved closer every time Celestia looked away. They were nearly muzzle-to-muzzle. Celestia screamed wordlessly. The creature reveled in it. It was beautiful. It took the corpses of it's two greatest threats, and speared them on the trees, as trophies.
Equestria, and the entire world of ponies, would see no mercy, no relief, in the months to come. Eventually, nothing was left but the plants. It had even taken the animals of the world. And soon, with perpetual noon hanging over them, the plants would dry out, and die. The world would become barren, and lifeless. The creature then moved on, with nothing left to hunt.
Who knows where it went?
It could even come here, next.
Just remember...
Nopony escapes the Slendermane.
And nobody escapes the Slenderman.
