Prologue
It was Nightmare Night, and as Twilight Sparkle sat around a campfire with her friends and a small group of fillies, she felt slightly uneasy. It felt like someone was watching her… Brushing it off, she reasoned that because it was Nightmare Night, and like anyone would be, she was just a little nervous.
“All right, now who wants to hear scary stories?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, interrupting Twilight’s train of thought. “Oh! I love scary stories! Can I tell one? Please! I have a good one picked out!” Pinkie Pie was practically beside herself with excitement. Apple Jack calmly said, “Now calm yerself Pinkie, ain’t good getting so excited, ya’ might get hurt. Besides, I have a right good story too.” “Oh but I have a simply amazing story that I want to tell!” Rarity whined. “Um girls, maybe we should just let Rainbow Dash tell the first story. Then we can all take turns” Twilight reasoned. “Ok, but I want to go next!” Rarity exclaimed.
“Ok little fillies! Are you ready to hear the story about… the Slender Mane?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “What’s the Slender Mane?” a small filly, named Gentle Sweets questioned. “Why, It’s only the most terrify pony in all of Equestria!” “Even more terrifying then Nightmare Moon?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Yes, and more dangerous!” The small crowd of fillies and colts gasped. “How can it be more scary? I thought Nightmare Moon was supposed to be the scariest pony?” Scootalo asked. “Well here is the thing, at least you can offer candy to Nightmare Moon, right? Well the Slender Mane is different. He won’t stop for anything! He won’t stop until he has eaten you! All you can do is wait for the sun to rise. He likes to hide in tall trees, and he is so thin, you might not even see him! Until it’s to late!” Several of the ponies gasped in fear, and one small little filly began to cry. “Alright Rainbow Dash, that’s enough! You’re scaring them!” Apple Jack interrupted. “Yeah, maybe we should just talk about peaceful things, like trees.” Fluttershy said quietly.
“Alright, just let me finish!” Rainbow Dash said, before turning back to the fillies. “As long as you keep your lights on, the Slender Mane can’t get in, because the light is his weakness.” Rainbow Dash added, and some of the fillies calmed down. “But Rainbow Dash, what does he look like?” a colt named Honey Comb asked. “Well, like I said, tall, thin, and did I mention he has no face?” she asked. “Alright fillies, story time is over! We need to head home!” Twilight interrupted. “Aww, no fair! I wanted to tell a story!” Pinkie Pie cried out. “Look Pinkie, the little ponies are terrified.” Twilight pointed out. “You’re right Twilight, besides, it is getting pretty late.” Rarity stated. “Ok, everyone, follow us to the middle of Ponyville where your mothers are!” Rainbow Dash said as they started walking.
“Twilight?” The small filly, Gentle Sweets asked, “Is there such a thing as the Slender Mane?” Twilight smiled lightly. “Of course not. And even if there was, Princess Celestia would surely help us.” Gentle Sweets calmed down, and gave a small smile.
---The next day---
Twilight was awoken by a crowd of ponies trying to comfort a crying mother. Fluttershy was standing next to the her and asked, “What’s wrong, Mrs. Sugar Candy?” “M-my baby! Gentle Sweets disappeared!” was all she could choke out before sinking down and fainting. The ponies gasped, and suddenly, everyone was talking at once. “Quick! Get Sugar Candy to Nurse Redheart!” “Get they Mayor!” “What is our fillies disappear as well?“ Rainbow Dash flew down from a cloud she was resting from, asking, “What is all the fuss about?” “Gentle Sweets in missing, and Sugar Candy just fainted.” Twilight explained. They suddenly heard galloping, “Oh my golly, is she alright?!” said Apple Jack, who had just walked from Sweet Apple Acres to sell her products, but now she rushed over to Sugar Candy. “She just fainted, her child Gentle Sweets is missing.” Fluttershy informed her. Oh my gosh, quick, Rainbow Dash, can you fly over Ponyville and look for her?” “Sure can, Apple Jack.” As Rainbow Dash took off, Apple Jack said to Twilight and Fluttershy, “You go calm the crowd, I’ll take Sugar Candy to Nurse Redheart.” “Ok, I’ll calm the crowd, Fluttershy, go find Rarity.” Twilight said, as she walked over to the crowd.
---With Rainbow Dash---
Rainbow Dash flew over the trees when she noticed something on the ground. Swooping in closer, she noticed it was a filly. Gentle Sweets, to be precise. Gasping, Rainbow Dash landed on the ground, and noticed small injures on her legs and back. The little pony’s eyes were closed, but she was still breathing. Thanking Celestia, Rainbow Dash swooped down and picked up Gentle Sweets, but not before an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. She took of flying, and began to hurry back to Ponyville.
---Back with Twilight---
“Everypony, please calm down!” Twilight shouted, and managed to capture their attention. “Everypony needs to head home, and get their family back here. I’ll go get the Mayor.” Everyone agreed, and about ten minutes later, everyone had come back with their families. “Citizens of Ponyville! We must not panic! We will find Gentle Sweets!” The Mayor shouted. “But what about our fillies?” “Yeah! What if ours go missing too?!” Shouts from the crowd erupted.
“Please calm down! I assure you, no more fillies will disappear!” About then Rainbow Dash flew down, supporting Gentle Sweets on her back. When she landed, she immediately shouted “Quick! Take this filly to Nurse Redheart!” A wave of panic swept through the crowd once more, as everyone saw the injuries on Gentle Sweets. Twilight watched as the crowd panicked, when she thought of an idea. ’I know! I’ll write to Princess Celestia!’
She hurried home and shouted “Spike! I need you to take a letter for me!” Spike, who had been sleeping comfortably jumped up. “Alright, alright, did you have to shout?” “Spike, this is an emergency!” “Alright!” Spike grabbed the paper and quill and waited for Twilight to begin. “I need your help! The town is panicking because a filly disappeared, and when she was found she was hurt! The wounds are strange, I don’t think a regular pony could have done it! What should we do?” She ended the letter. “Should I send it now?” Spike asked. “Yes!” Twilight said, exasperated. Once the letter was sent, Twilight waited anxiously for a reply. Spike hiccupped, and out flew the letter, which Twilight rushed over. It simply read, “I‘ll be right over.” “What?!” Twilight shouted in shock. “Sure this is big issue for Ponyville, but it’s not big enough for her to have to come here!” Soon she heard knocking on her door, and when she opened the door, she was surprised to see Pinkie Pie standing there. “Pinkie? What are you doing here?” Twilight questioned. “Princess Celestia flew to Sugarcube Corner! She asked me to come get you!” Pinkie Pie said, looking mildly worried. “Ok. Come on Spike!” Twilight said, and they headed off the Sugarcube Corner.
~~~~~
Once there, they noticed Rarity was no where to be seen… “Citizens of Ponyville! I have received notice that a small filly has been wounded. Is this true?” Princess Celestia said gently. Cries of yes flew from the crowd. “Very well. May I see her?” “Ma’am, she is with Nurse Redheart.” a pony from the crowd declared. Princess Celestia paused, before once more beginning to speak “If this is the work of who I think it is, then I must see the young filly immediately. Do you know where Nurse Redhearts clinic is?” she questioned her guards. “Yes Ma’am. She lives a little to the east.” “Very well. Everypony, I request that you come with me.” Princess Celestia said as she walked out of the door. Everypony nodded and headed out in a neat line, so as not to cause panic.
~~~~~
“Oh my! You Majesty! How may I serve you?” Nurse Redheart exclaimed as Princess Celestia walked over to her. “I need to see one of your patients. Gentle Sweets, to be precise.” “Oh yes your Majesty! But first, I need to look after a patient I found. She was lying in the field where I pick some fruits for my medicine.” “Which pony?” came a shout from the crowd. “Oh you know her, she is the one that makes those beautiful dresses. I think her name was Rarity…” “OH MY GOSH!” A high pitched scream erupted from Fluttershy’s mouth as ran past Nurse Redheart to her best friend. “Rarity…” Fluttershy looked as though she were about to cry. Rarity’s hair was messy and cut up, along with two huge bruises on her cheeks. There was a long gash from the end of Rarity’s neck to the edge of her Cutie Mark. “Rarity… W-who did this to you?!” Fluttershy said between sobs. “I think I know who the culprit is, Fluttershy.” Princess Celestia said, walking over to where Rarity lay. She took a look at Rarity, and turned around to face the group of ponies. “Citizens of Ponyville! I am afraid that we are dealing with an evil being known as the Slender Mane.” Princess Celestia shouted.
“Now hold on a second Princess Celestia! That’s the exact same story Rainbow Dash was telling those fillies last night!” Applejack shouted, confused and tired out from all the commotion. “Yeah, I do recall Rainbow Dash telling a story about something called the Slender Mane.” Twilight said, frowning. All eyes turned to Rainbow Dash as she spoke out defensively “What?! It was just a scary story my dad used to tell me! I didn‘t know!”
Fluttershy, who had been quiet since Princess Celestia had first spoken, said quietly “It’s alright Rainbow, we know.” The crowd nodded, and the room was silent for a minute, when suddenly, a small golden colt with a black mane walked up to Princess Celestia. “M-miss Celestia? W-what’s gonna happen t-to use? A-are we all gonna die?” The thought sunk in, but as dread filled the room, Princess Celestia spoke.
“No, my faithful subject, nothing is going to happen. We will all be safe. Remain calm.”
“How can you be certain?” Everyone turned to see Fluttershy beginning to sob. “Look at what it did to Rarity, how would you know he isn’t going to strike again?!” An awkward silence settled over the room as Fluttershy continued to sob. Princess Celestia quietly walked over to Fluttershy and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I know this is hard, especially for you, but you mustn’t give up hope. Rarity will get better, and I promise you, we will do everything to help her while she is recovering.”
“T-thank you…” Fluttershy lost it, and fell to the ground crying. The crowd looked at her with pity, and one of the nurses calmly walked over to her and helped her onto a couch. “I apologize, but I must be heading back to Canterlot. Twilight Sparkle, I will need a report every day about anything that happens. If anything really bad arises, then send a letter immediately.” Princess Celestia ordered.
“Y-yes Princess Celestia!” Twilight stuttered out as Princess Celestia began to walk out of the door. “Good. Now I must be going.” Princess Celestia said, walking out with her guards following behind.
~~~Later that night~~~
Fluttershy woke up with a start from her not so peaceful slumber. She lifted her head and realized she didn’t know where she was. Panicking, her eyes adjusted as she realized she was on the couch in the hospital. She then noticed that her friends were taking up the floor, and other couches and chairs. Honored that her friends stayed there with her, she turned and saw something in the corner. Her breath caught in her throat, and as she tried to scream, the thing advanced on her silently. None of her friends even stirred as it walked past them.
“W-what do you want, y-you monster?” Fluttershy whispered, her voice cracking. It didn’t say anything, but then again, how could it? Instead, long, thin tendrils slithered from his back, and pointed at the sleeping Rarity. “P-please don’t! I-I’ll do anything! Just please don’t kill her!” Fluttershy begged running over to him. It seemed as though it had expected that, as the tendrils slithered back and grabbed a bag off of its back, before handing it to Fluttershy. “What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked, but the Slender Mane had already climbed out of the window. Fluttershy headed to the couch she had been asleep on, and was about to open the bag when the sun came out. Gasping, she hid the bag under one of the small tables.
“H-hey Fluttershy, are you already up?” Twilight said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Y-yeah.” For some reason, she didn’t want Twilight to see the bag. “Where is Spike? You didn’t just leave him by himself, did you?” Twilight stretched and said sleepily, “Of course not. He is over there.” Twilight pointed to towards the corner were Spike was laying sound asleep. “Hey, Fluttershy, can you help me with waking up the girls?” Twilight said, walking towards Applejack to shake her awake. “S-sure.” She said, nudging the bag behind the sofa before going to shake Pinkie Pie.
~~~10 minutes later~~~
“Ok, we better get going. We will leave you alone with Rarity for a while.” Twilight said as they left the hospital. Fluttershy stuck a shaking hoof behind the sofa, taking out the bag. She had never felt so scared her whole life, and her whole body bean to shake. She opened the bag to reveal and mask with black around the eyes, as well as a brown hoodie to cover her hair, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of black shoes. “Am I supposed to wear this?” Fluttershy wondered aloud, before noticing a note in the bottom of the bag. It read, “Come to the Everfree Forest tonight, were you will meet your partner.” ‘My partner? What does that mean?’ She thought, as she walked out of the door. ‘I guess I will find out…’
Twilight was worried. Fluttershy had seemed so out of it… ‘Be logical Twilight, it was because Rarity was hurt.’ Twilight thought as she rearranged her books. She looked out of her window to see that everyone looked nervous when they were walking around. They all had their families with them, and no one stopped to talk to one another. It was so surreal, and she hoped it would be over soon.
~~~In the Evening~~~
Fluttershy’s heart was pounding as she headed towards the Everfree forest. She was dressed up completely, from the mask all the way down to those black shoes. Not an inch of her could be seen. Once she actually got there, she realized the letter didn’t say where she was supposed to meet them. ‘I guess I could just walk around abit until I find them.’ She reasoned. She began to walk in a random direction. Just when she thought it was hopeless, she heard a noise in the forest. When she turned around, another pony, this time with a yellow hoodie, along with a mask with a sad, red frowning face, complete with black jeans and shoes.
It pointed it’s hoof to the right and motioned to Fluttershy to follow it. Fluttershy nodded, and followed the pony to a clearing. The Slender Mane was standing there in the clearing, completely silent. The sad masked pony got there first, and awaited to hear it’s masters orders. Fluttershy made it up there soon afterwards, shaking from fright. They both stood there, waiting for the Slender Mane’s instructions. It scratched something in the dirt. On closer inspection, it was an order that read “Take off your masks.” Fluttershy reached up to take off her mask, as did the pony beside her. The other pony took off it’s Mask to reveal…
(And that is where I am ending it for now. EPIC CLIFFHANGER)
