Slender Pony

And that hope was not in vain, for Whitemane soon awoke, now feeling as if he had just been treated with Equestria's best health care while he was out cold. He raised his head up from the ground and saw that he was no longer in the grassy field. "I did it... It actually worked."

He said to himself and quickly got up. For the first time in days, he actually felt great. Both full of life and ready to face what ever new challenges Slendy has to throw at him. After taking a quick look around, he began recalling the place he was now in. It was the same one where he awoke after chasing his brother for days. Although he found it weird how that time he woke up in the bed just next to him, he figured that he had just fallen out of it and made nothing of it. This place was where he got raised by his foster parents. He even remembered the name of the town -- Mareington.

He didn't take long before leaving the appartment. He checked some shelves, wardrobes, even the fridge, but there was nothing in any of those. Aside from the furniture, the apartment was completely empty, and so Whitemane decided to not waste any time and go out to the streets. The sooner he's done with this part of his memory, the smaller the chance that he'll have to face Slendy again.

                                                                                              ***

Whitemane left the building and started walking in the direction his gut told him to go. It was cold outside, but Whitemane was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he barely even noticed the chilly weather.

Strange... he thought to himself. It's like I didn't even need anything else from there. I just remembered it all from one gaze upon that room -- my foster parents... I think I remember just about all the years I spent with them... Yeah, I think I remember the last time I saw them... I... He hung his head in sorrow. I didn't even say goodbye... I don't remember how or why I left, but it must have been either not in my plans at the moment or I simply didn't feel like telling them about it... Yet another mystery of my mind that I must uncover. He set that notion as his prime target. "Well, better get a move on then."

Whitemane quickened his walking speed, but the cold finally decided to remind him of its presence now.

"Brrr." His body shook itself and he began rubbing his hooves against his sides to warm himself up. Damn, it's surprising how the mind can just make the cold go away when you don't think about it... He gave into his thoughts. There's one memory that always seems to slip from my mind, though... "WHY THE HELL AM I WALKING AGAIN!?" he exclaimed and took to the skies. That, however, did not make the weather feel any warmer, although his heart still felt warmer knowing that he will reach his destination sooner this way and ultimately spend less time out in the cold.

How big is this town? he wondered. I hope I find something interesting soon, coz my wings are getting stiff from the cold. I might have to stop soon to try and find shelter for at least a few minutes, otherwise I'm gonna freeze my flank off, but with Slendy on my tail, that might not be the best idea. Like an answer to his prayers, he soon found his way blocked by a large building. Ahh, finally something familiar. he thought to himself. The rest of these building just don't seem to ring a bell... It's like they're just artificially created by Slendy to keep my mind from finding something out.

When he got closer to the building, he recognized it immediately -- It was the school he used to go to. "WOO! There have to be some answers in a place like that. That's probably one of the biggest buildings in the whole town!" he shouted excitedly and flew right towards the door, swiftly closing it behind himself as he went in. The temperature inside was noticeably warmer, but still not a place you could call warm, however. He gazed along the long, stretching corridor. He could not see the end of it. All he could see were countless cabinets along the corridor.

Oh boy... I'll be Slender food in no time if I decide to check each and every one of em. I should probably just follow the corridor and see if I can find a cabinet door that seems familiar... he told himself and started moving forward. My gut hasn't let me down so far... Lets hope it won't start now. After consulting with himself, he went along the corridor while looking at each and every door along the way. So far nothing seemed familiar. His mind was puzzled along the way, just as it was for the longest part of his journey. He kept thinking about the thing he said to himself earlier. The one about Slendy wanting him to be here.

Hmm... Not necessarily. He rubbed his chin. If Slendy wanted me to be here, then why would she be chasing me? This might not actually be a nightmare controlled by her, but a way of my mind trying to break free from her control over it... Either that or she might have just been bored and decided to play a game with my mind and decided to just let it roam here... And maybe it proved stronger than she had expected and she is no longer in control of it, however, she's still doing what she can to stop me from uncovering all my memories.

"BAAH!" Whitemane exclaimed after a prolonged moment of thinking. "If i keep puzzling myself like this, I'll most certainly miss the door i'm looking for!" Whitemane shook his head. Focus, Whitemane. Gotta keep my mind on these doors. You never know when one might be... One of the doors caught his attention. The one i'm looking for...

The door looked no different than the others -- same handle, no number card on it, no markings or anything else to tell it apart from any other door, but somehow Whitemane just felt a very peculiar, yet familiar aura drawing him towards it. Nevertheless, Whitemane had to start somewhere. He pushed the handle down only to discover that the door was locked. "Damn it!" he shouted in frustration. "I wonder if all of these doors are locked."

The door looked too heavy to be knocked down, so Whitemane walked on forward. He was about to try opening the door nearest to this one to see if it was also locked, but right before he could place his hoof on its handle, he heard the sound of a door lock being unlocked behind him. He looked back, but there was no one there. Out of plain curiosity, he took a few steps back and tried opening the previously locked door again... To his utter astonishment, It was now unlocked. "That probably isn't a good sign... but I'm not about to leave it either."

Whitemane went in and started looking around. It was just a typical classroom. Whitemane recognized the classroom. He used to study math here. It looked just like it did the last time he saw it, except there was no teacher in here this time. He started walking around the classroom. He remembered one of his classmates each time he passed one of the tables. Blazer... Manegenna... Grindel... Richor... He paused for a moment upon trying to recall the last name. Can't remember his full name. All I know is that we all just called him Richy... I remember all these ponies. They were once my classmates.

A few tables that he passed, however, did not ring a bell. Hmm... Perhaps there's something more to these few ponies than simple classmates. He had soon walked past each corner of the classroom apart from the teacher's desk, which is where he went now. Ahh, good ol' Silvertongue. No wonder they called him that. This was one of the few teachers that actually made studying a delight. He walked over to the windows and peeked outside and saw the school's playground. As he looked at different parts of it, he remembered a few more classmates.

No wonder I couldn't remember those two from just the tables, me and brae... As he looked through the window, he spotted a pale face on the other side of the glass. "AAHH!" he shouted in terror and collapsed to the ground. He looked back at the window, but couldn't see past the tables that were now blocking his sight. He got up to look at the face again, but it was gone. That wasn't Slendy... he told himself while still breathing heavily. I remember that pony. He died in the tragic accident during father son day... What... Why did I see him?... Slendy must be trying out some new tricks. I got to get a move on!

He rushed towards the classroom door. I coulda sworn I left it open, He tried to open it but couldn't. "No..." he whispered as fear began seeping into his thoughts. He bashed the door as hard as he could. It didn't open, so he kept body-slamming against it. "This isn't happening... She can't be here already!" After realizing that his efforts were futile, he started looking for something in the classroom that could help him bash the door open. All he could think of was just taking one of the smaller tables and using it as a battering ram... which was exactly what he did. He lifted it up with his hooves and cleared a path for him to be able to get a good speed boost while ramming the door with it.

"Here goes nothing..." Whitemane ran towards the door as fast as he could while holding the table, hoping it would bash it open, but right before he made contact with the door, it opened. "BUUUCK!!" he shouted as he realized that he wouldn't be able to stop himself before slamming against the wall in front of him. Right as he rammed it, the table broke, and he himself got knocked off his hooves from the impact. He was alright, just slightly dizzy. "Uugh..." He rubbed his head before getting up. As he looked behind him, he noticed the door closing itself behind him.

"You bucking..." He glared at the door without a speck of mercy in his eyes. "Damn it! I swear to Celestia, if this table wasn't broken, I'd still ram that god-damned door, just for the heck of it!" After calming down a bit and wiping the dust off of himself, Whitemane  started walking down the corridor again while saying his thoughts out loud along the way. "So... Slendy wants to try and scare me using my memories of lost ones... What's wrong, Slendy?" he asked while gazing at the ceiling. "Can't finish the job on your own?" His voice echoed through the corridor. Something tells me I should keep it down...

The voice didn't echo for long. Whitemane figured that this meant that the corridor must be nearing its end. He walked forward faster than before, and he could soon see the stairs leading to the next floor. However, something caught his attention before the stairs. It was the school's cafeteria. He figured he'd check it out before heading upstairs. Without much thinking, he went on in. It was a cafeteria like any other. Nothing unusual about it. Nevertheless, he went on scavenging it for memories, and the very first table in it caught his attention.

"Aw yeah! Now this is a nice memory." He approached the table with a wide grin on his face. Me and my buddies used to spend nearly every break playing card games at this very same table. We never got caught, and so we never switched tables... He placed his hoof on the spot he used to usually sit in. His grin turned into a heartfelt smile as he reminisced about those days. "How I miss those good old times..."

The table seemed to have some kind of lump on it. Either that or it just had something hiding under the tablecloth that made it look like that. Whitemane placed his hoof under the tablecloth and grabbed what seemed to the cause of the lump. He pulled it out and smiled widely as he he gazed at the four cards that looked exactly like his cutie mark.

Whitemane -- Ace up the sleeve... or just Ace... Hehe... Yup, that's how they used to call me back in the day. I sure did love holding these babies... And I even got the cutie mark to prove it.

Whitemane enjoyed every second he spent dwelling in the past, but he knew that he could not stay here for long. Nothing else here caught his attention, so he put the aces back down on the table, keeping one of em as a good luck charm. As he put them down, he noticed something strange... The lump on the table was there again, despite the aces not being there anymore. "What the?" Whitemane placed his hoof under the tablecloth again and checked for what else might be under it. He kept searching, but there was nothing there. "Is my mind playing tricks on me?! This lump can't be made up by just thin ai--" Before he could finish his sentence, something underneath the tablecloth grabbed him and began pulling him towards itself.

"BUCK!" he exclaimed "WHAT IN THE... LET ME GO!" he kept shouting at his anonymous assailant as more of his body started disappearing under the cloth. Simply trying to pull his foreleg out didn't seem to be working, so he decided to push himself away from it by putting his hindlegs against the edge of the table. After a good push, he managed to break free and fell to the ground. He immediately got back up and saw that the lump was now gone. "Phew." He sighed with relief and tried to wipe the sweat off his forehead... but something just quite wasn't right.

"SWEET MOTHER OF GOD! NO! AAAAHHH!" he shouted in sheer terror as he looked over his shoulder and saw a stream of blood coming from where his right foreleg used to be. He then gazed back at the table and saw his foreleg sticking out from under the cloth, and an endless river of blood dripping from it. He fell speechless, but not breathless. He started breathing so loudly and rapidly it seemed like he would faint from shock much sooner than from loss of blood. He then turned around after hearing a noise coming from the direction of the cafeteria's entrance... As if things weren't bad enough already, slender pony herself was just a few steps away from him.

He panicked and tried to run, but just as he took the first step, he immediately slipped on his own blood and hit his head against the floor. He moaned and wanted to rub his head, but he was still subconsciously trying to do it with his missing leg.

As he opened his eyes and gazed upwards, he saw Slendy's pale face closing in on him.

                                                                                                 ***

"NOOOOO!!!!" Whitemane woke up screaming and breathing so loudly you could almost hear the echo of his breathing. He was down on the ground near the table. His first thought was checking if his foreleg was still there. "Phew." He sighed with immeasurable relief as he used the same leg to wipe his forehead clean of sweat.

The mountain of Fillimanjaro wasn't heavy enough to describe the weight that was lifted from his heart just now. His second thought was checking if Slendy was near. He shifted his sights left and right and calmed his heavy breathing after realizing that she was nowhere near Okay... I think I liked you better the way you were back at Coltifornia, Slendy, he admitted. Slender pony was nowhere near, but the two recent events still felt like they were slowly sucking the life out of Whitemane... Memories kept becoming more and more dangerous. "Gotta keep moving!"

Whitemane quickly got up and ran towards the stairs to the second floor. As he reached the second floor, one of the very first doors there instantly caught his attention. The door was ajar. Whitemane rushed over to it and ran right in without even taking a look around, instead he froze up in the center of the room and stared at the end of the room which was opposite to the entry. It was a filly and foal playroom, and there were still lots of toys on the shelves. One particular toy caught his full attention though. A giant clown toy. It was the size of a fully grown stallion.

"Hah! I remember this thing..." He approached the toy with a slight grin on his face. "Creepy-flank clown. We used to scare some of the lower grade students with this thing... Boy, If only I knew that one colt had a strong fear of clowns, things might not have ended up so badly... Poor guy." He hung his head in shame. "Well, at least we never got caught... And we kinda learned our lesson too... At least we didn't go around scaring anypony else after that." He went closer to the toy shelf and picked up the clown. "This thing is kinda creepy. Call me a sissy, but I wouldn't want to sit in the same room with this thing for too long... What kinda sick parent would buy this for their children anyways?"

Whitemane put the clown away and started looking around. He walked around the room, inspecting just about everything in it. "Well, seems like I've got nothing left to--" All of a sudden, he got startled by something and jumped back. After a short pause, he snickered. "Must be just my karma catching up to me," he told himself as he picked up the clown that had just freaked him out. Without much thinking, he simply tossed it somewhere behind his back. "Huh?" He noticed something on one of the shelves. Something that was under the clown and only now became visible. It was an old photo album. He picked it up and opened it.

Well, whaddya know... It's the pictures of all the groups that used to study in this school. He began turning the pages until he found his own group. Ahh, some familiar faces, finally. I think I remember everyone in here... but where's... Whitemane couldn't find himself in the picture. Why am I not in here? he wondered. Something occurred to him then. Wait! I wasn't there when this was taken. I left the school before the graduation ceremony... Darn! If only I could remember why and where I went. That's about everything I still need to find out about this place.

After putting the album back on its rightful shelf, Whitemane turned around and started walking back towards the door. "Lets hope I don't have to stay here for much lon--WOAH!" Whitemane tripped on something and fell to the ground. "Damn it! What the..." He rubbed his head as he looked for whatever made him trip. After realizing what it was, he shouted furiously, "Bucking clown!" Whitemane picked up the clown toy and threw it against the wall outside the playroom. "I knew karma wouldn't let me get away that easily."

Whitemane got up and went out of the playroom, but right before closing the door, he heard a whisper coming from behind him.

"Whitemane..."

"What the?..." He looked behind himself with a raised eyebrow.

"Whitema--"

"Nope!" he interrupted the voice and immediately shut the door. "I ain't got time for this bullcrap, Slendy!"  the exasperated pegasus retorted and began walking away from the door. "Just one more memory... That should be enough to get me out of--" After just a few hoofsteps, another door caught his attention. "That was fast..." Whitemane approached it and tried the handle. He didn't know if the door was locked or not, but the handle wouldn't go down. It would barely budge at all. "Damn it! Come on!" He kept trying to push the handle down. "What the?" For a second there, he felt as though someone else was moving the handle. He let go of it and watched it move by itself.  "That can't be good," he muttered.

Whitemane backed away from the door a bit and kept watching it. "Hello!? Is someone in there?" There was no response. The handle just kept moving. "Are you stuck? Can you find a way to open it?" he asked and received no reply. "HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU!" he shouted, but there was still no response. "Damn it!... Must be just another one of Slendy's tricks. I best mov--" The handle finally went all the way down and the door started opening up very slowly. "Not sure if that's a good sign..."

Whitemane felt uneasy and slightly exhausted as the door started slowly opening itself. He had a good hunch of what that meant... His doubts were wiped clean as he spotted a black sleeve coming from the gap. "BUCK!" he exclaimed and started backing away from the door. He walked backwards along the corridor, in the direction of the staircase. He walked slowly, constantly keeping a steady eye on the door to see if Slendy decides to come out. He kept backing away until the moment he bumped into something... Whatever it was, It felt... alive.

For a moment there, Whitemane thought it was all over -- slender pony has him! The door was just a trick into bringing him into her clutches. His legs got a bit stiff from fear. The intervals between his breaths grew longer and sweat began forming on his head. Fear caused him to freeze solid. He either couldn't move or just didn't see the point in it anymore. He just thought it was all over.

Nevertheless, Whitemane didn't feel like just giving up. He knew he had to at least try. He mustered his strength and just ran as fast as he could. Miraculously, he managed to break free from Slendy's grasp. As he ran along the corridor, he passed the door where he previously saw the black sleeve sticking out from. Obviously, it wasn't there anymore since Slendy was right behind him now. Whitemane kept on running and had already spread his wings to start flying, but then he decided to look behind himself. "..."

Whatever it was that he saw, it caused him to stop running. For a short moment, he simply stood there and stared down the corridor. after which he started walking back the way he came. "BUCKING CLOWN!!!" he shouted furiously and kicked the seemingly ubiquitous clown doll that had an uncanny knack for freaking him out. This time the toy went bouncing down the staircase. Whitemane watched it tumble down all the way to the first floor as he kept breathing heavily, loudly and angrily. "All right, Whitemane. Calm the buck down! Gotta keep it together." After a loud and long sigh, his tone grew quieter. "It was just a stupid toy... A really annoying one, though."

As the clown tumbled out of his sights, something else took its place... something tall, black and with a face as pale as the moon itself. "THAT, however, IS NO TOY!"

                                                                                       ***

Whitemane started running down the corridor again. At first he figured he'd run down the corridor and just see where it leads him, but then he noticed the open door again. He figured that if he'd keep running, he probably wouldn't have a second chance to check this door, but at the same time, going in there might mean burning the bridges. Slendy might not give him a chance to get out if he gets in. Just one more memory... that's all I need... he thought to himself. "Buck it! I'm going in!"

He decided to take his chances, for if he had missed this door that could have had an essential memory in it -- perhaps the last one he needs -- then not being able to get back there would mean being stuck in here... It was an "All or nothing" game for him now... He knew what was at stake. He jumped into the room and swiftly shut the door behind him and backed away from it.

He stared at the door for a moment, hoping nothing would open it. "No time to play watchpony!" he shouted to himself and started looking around the room "Memory, memory... gotta find a mem--" One of the first things he noticed was a broken window. When he looked in a different direction, he remembered just what this room really was -- a nurse's room. "Yes! This is it! I remember now. Damn, was this a lucky draw... Speaking of which..." He pulled out the ace which he had stored in his inventory earlier for good luck.

Authors note: ...What!? All ponies have inventories! Don't you watch the show? ... Seriously, though -- where do they sometimes put their stuff?...Imaginary pockets or something?

Whitemane kissed the ace. "You did your job well, baby! Keep up the good work." He put the ace back in... wherever he took it from. "Yes! Yes! It all ended here! This was where I was diagnosed with that... lack of joy in life disease, thing..." He grinned sheepishly. "Hehe. Couldn't remember its name back then, still can't..." He got a bit carried away from the funny realization. "Anywho... The nurses were going to give me some kind of treatment, but I wasn't gonna sign up for that bulls***! Hells no! I left as soon as she pointed that needle at me."

He looked at the broken window again. And that's how I left... I just left everything behind. After life deprived me of the last of my friends, I simply couldn't enjoy anything in life anymore. I just didn't give a damn about anything, and so I just flew away... To Ponyville... Yeah! The ponies here told me it was a nice place, and that was about all the motivation i needed. Whitemane took a moment to dwell in his memories again. "Heh... So it all comes down to this again? Just... flying and trusting my gut?" Whitemane heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw the door handle moving. "A little motivation... neat!"

Whitemane sprung himself right out of the window in an instant. As he left, the door behind him opened up. Slender pony walked in and gazed out the window just in time to see Whitemane fade from view. She stared in the direction she last saw him before he faded out of view.... She stared for a long time... Nopony knew what thoughts lurked in her sinister mind... If she even had one... What kind of personal mind could there be for one who only feeds off of the minds of others? A mind of her own? A mind of one of her victims? Or perhaps just the empty voice of the slender spirit...

Whitemane was on his way to Ponyville. This shouldn't be as hard as last time... At least I hope so. Last time I had to literally fly until I could fly no more, but this time I just have to fly until I reach Ponyville. Hmm... He rubbed his chin. I remember the flight taking just a few hours, but how do I actually leave one part of my mind and enter another? And how do I even know if it hasn't already happened? I guess I'll just have to find that out over time.

Whitemane flew fast and was soon past the borders of the town of Mareington. Ponyville was still a considerable distance away, but it was still nothing compared to the last trip he had to make to switch parts of his mind. Last time I was unconscious while that happened, but what happens when I'm not unconscious? Will I just fall asleep at one point anyways and wake up in Ponyville? he wondered. "BAAH! Just gotta keep flying. I'm sure I'll find that out eventually."

Slender pony felt Whitemane's mind struggling from far away. She still had a high influence left on his mind, but that was not enough... She decided to execute a curse. She did not say a word or even make any move, but Whitemane still heard the words echoing in his head, ringing as loud and heavy as thunder from a bolt of lightning striking the ground next to him.

"You are your own worst enemy, Whitemane!"