Black and White and Pink All Over

Chapters

New Friends
A Life Worth Saving
Accepted
Struggles
Waking Up

New Friends

Pinkie trotted along happily, flitting about and sniffing the wild flowers as she went. She usually stayed in town, blissfully busy with planning parties for her friends and funding her party habits by baking at Sugarcube Corner. Today, though, she felt a strange urge to get out of town and go adventuring in the Everfree Forest. She wanted to have some time to herself, to relax and enjoy nature at its naturiest, as she said, and there was no better place to do so than Everfree. Besides, she always loved visiting Zecora. Her nursery rhymes, although in the native tongue of Hoofrica from which she hailed, always gave Pinkie great ideas for melodies to her songs. Pinkie trotted along and pondered how happy she was to have Zecora as a friend. She also reflected, less fondly, on how she had almost lost the opportunity to become friends by judging Zecora prematurely. She shook this thought off. “Oh well! No need to dwell on things past. We learned our lesson, and THAT’S what’s important!"

She silently vowed to never let her judgments get in the way of her quest to befriend everypony she met. As she walked deeper, the spun sugar pony noticed the forest close in over her head, and the air becoming foggy. This change in climate made her mane prickle in the back of her neck, but she shook the feeling off. She was no longer afraid of the dark. That would be silly, and while pinkie relished in silly, this kind of silly was the illogical, scared of nothing kind of silly, which pinkie avoided. Still, she hummed a tune, just to lift her spirits,

“Hmm hmm hmm pinkie pie, Hello! Hmm hmm hmm here to say…hmm hmm make you—EEP!”

She stopped abruptly, to avoid crashing into the strange, intangible wall of blackness that had formed in front of her. Curious, she tentatively poked her snout into it. It felt velvety, soft, and cool to the touch.

“Heehehee! What IS this stuff? Is it a plant or something? Kinda looks like vines! Ooh, I wonder what they taste like! These could be the missing ingredients to my black forest cupcakes: actual black stuff…FROM A FOREST! Perfect!”

But before she could sink her teeth in for a taste test, the owner of the tentacles made of night swooped down upon her.

Before pinkie stood a pony, whose gender was difficult to determine. It lacked a mane, and its tail made up the tentacles that now surrounded her. Its face lacked the masculine jawline of a colt. In fact, Pinkie realized a moment later, its face lacked ANY definition. A coat of grayish white rose up from the collar of its suit, engulfing its entire face. The aforementioned suit, Pinkie marveled, was a fine, hand-stitched piece, with a white breast, red tie and a jacket as black as the tentacles being formed by its tail. It gazed at Pinkie and let out a feral snarl that would have shaken any pony loose from their sanity. Any pony, of course, except Pinkie. Pinkie looked up at the eternally impassive face, and giggled a little.

The noise did not shock Slender Mane half as much as the sentiment behind it. This small, powerless creature, who he had moments before been planning to devour, just laughed in his face. He knew that he could easily finish his meal then, but victims only satisfied his hunger if they were eaten in the throes of absolute abject terror. He had mulled the predicament over in his head for a few moments, when he was interrupted by something even more surprising than the laughter.

“Hi there! You must be new to the area! Wanna know how I know? Do ya? Cuz I’m Pinkie Pie and I know EVERYPONY from around here. But I don’t know you yet. So you must be new!”

Seemingly from out of nowhere, the small pink ball of energy produced a festively decorated wagon, and proceeded seamlessly into her welcome song. Slendermane could only sit back on his haunches in complete bewilderment. Luckily, Pinkie had learned from the previous incident with her welcome wagon, and this time, confetti and cake were in their respective places. The cake landed at Slendermane’s feet, and he stared down at the yellow and blue frosted confection with the words “Welcome New Best Friend” scrawled in big puffy letters.

This. Was. Too. Much. Slendermane looked up at Pinkie, now grinning sheepishly, as if begging for approval. When he spoke, he tried to keep his voice in an aural spectrum that regular ponies could comprehend.

“What is the meaning of this?” The ancient creature inquired.

Pinkie noted that the voice was distinctly male.

Well that clears up that mystery, she thought.

“It means Welcome to Ponyville, and that I, Pinkie Pie, am super-duper happy to meet you! What’s your name?”

“I go by many names: Tall Pony, The Pale Horse, Slendermane--”

“Wow! I've never met anypony with more than one name! But there’s a first time for everything, right?”

Slender had no idea how to handle this pony who seemed to have no fear whatsoever of him. He considered running, momentarily, but realized how foolish and cowardly it would seem. Was he not, after all, the spirit of terror itself? How would it look for him to run away? Besides, he was more than a little curious about this small cerise pony who held no terror in her eyes.

“Child of the day, creature of the light, from where do you hail?”

"I’m from Ponyville! It’s about 2000 strollometers that way,” said Pinkie, gesturing back to town, “and you can call me Pinkie! All my friends do!”

“I see…Pinkie…Pie…” The name seemed to resound in a way the Faceless Pony had never felt before.

“Well, Mr. Mane, I've got to get going. But before I go, do you happen to know anywhere I can find some frizzbane? I usually have Zecora make it into a special conditioner. You wouldn't want to see what my hair looks like without it.”

Slendermane hesitated. Usually the closest thing he encountered to communication was begging and pleading for mercy. This was the longest conversation he had ever had with anypony. Suddenly he was not sure he wanted it to end.

“I…I can show you where to find your herb. Come with me.”

A Life Worth Saving

Slendermane had worried that conversing with Pinkie Pie would be challenging. He had never interacted with anypony in this way, and the concept of normal conversation was entirely foreign. It was lucky for him that he had run into the most loquacious pony in all of Equestria. A constant stream of questions, comments, and jokes ran out of the bubbly pony’s mouth like a verbal river, providing Slendermane just enough space to answer questions.

“So, Mr. Mane, how’d you end up in the Everfree forest?”

“I have traveled to many lands, and have found this forest to be most hospitable to my needs.”

“Oh, well, that makes sense! I feel that way about Ponyville! You should come visit some time! I bet my friends would love to meet you!”

At this statement, Slendermane felt confused. Friends? He knew the meaning of the word, but had never truly considered the concept. It seemed logical that some ponies would find the safety and warmth of company enjoyable. He was beginning to relish it himself! But the thought of prolonged exposure to other ponies was not something he had ever thought about. He briefly wondered. The cake that had jettisoned out of the wagon had said “new friend”, had it not?

“Pinkie?”

“Yeah?”

“What does this ‘friendship’ entail?”

The pink pony stifled a guffaw at Slendermane’s choice of words.

“Sorry, Mr. Mane. Can I call you Slender? Ooh, or better yet, can I call you SLENDY???”

“I…yes…I suppose.”

“Like I was saying, Slendy, sorry, you just sound so much like my friend Twilight. She always tries so hard to understand things. I guess friendship ‘entails’ making compromises, showing care and compassion, standing by somepony and sticking up for them when they can’t do it for themselves, um…there’s more…being forthcoming and real…giving what you have to those in need...um…aaaaand OH! How could I forget! Sharing a good laugh!”

Slendermane would have grimaced if he had a mouth. She had said the word he resented more than anything in the world of Equestria: Laugh.

It wasn’t that he hated laughter. It was simply that the deathly stallion had NEVER LAUGHED. He had just never had anything to find humorous. An eternity of feeding on the minds and bodies of whoever strayed into his grasp had not left much time or fodder for laughter. After a few centuries, he had found that he had lost the ability entirely. This had never been so acutely painful as in this very moment.

At this point, they reached the clearing that held the plant she sought. He halted, and she kept walking, her side briefly touching his as she passed him. He felt his face grow hot, and his ears start to grow warm. These sensations were new, different…terrifying.

“I…I see. Pinkie, you are a very unique mare. Here is the herb for which you have been searching…goodbye, Pinkie Pie.”

“Where ya--” Pinkie turned, but Slendermane had already disappeared, “goin…”

Slendermane ran, rather than simply sliding into the shadows. Though he was not a unicorn, centuries of experience had taught him the art of teleportation. However, those centuries had seemed to melt away in a few seconds, and Slendermane galloped through the woods, ducking and weaving through the branches and trunks like an expert buckboxer.

Where he was going, when he was going to get there, all these questions had dissipated when he had turned tail on the frizzy haired mare. They were replaced by new, much more pressing questions, with far fewer answers. Why was she unafraid? Why did he feel his cheeks burning as she brushed by him? What would she think of him for leaving her in the woods…leaving her in the woods...he had left her, alone, unprotected, vulnerable, in the middle of a forest where he was only barely the most dangerous beast she could run into.

Pinkie felt an emptiness in her stomach. Where her new friend had stood, there were only the dark silhouettes of the trees around the clearing. She felt her eyes well with tears. Was it something she said? Was it something she sang?!

Flashes of Cranky Doodle Donkey flooded into her head as she tried to refrain from crying. For reasons unclear to her, she had actually LOST a friend. As she gathered the herbs in her saddlebag, Pinkie was lost deep in thought. So deep that she didn't hear the low growl behind her. She turned around just in time to see the charging manticore leap, claws drawn. The world went black.

Pinkie felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins, and noted happily that that implied she still had veins. She also felt a pressure all around her, as if she was wrapped up in something tightly, but with enough room to breathe. Then, suddenly, she was returned to the world of light. She whipped her head around, struggling to comprehend her whereabouts.

She was still in the clearing, but had been set down in a different area than she had been. It was then that she noticed the din going on in the middle of the meadow. Slendermane leaned back on his haunches, tentacles whipping in every direction, each one honed to destroy the oncoming manticore.

She wanted to shut her eyes, but shock, awe, and something much less clear, between admiration and horror, kept them glued on the scene unfolding in front of her. She watched the two predators square off, one feline, one infernal, and she watched as the latter overtook the former with as little effort as a it might take her to frost a cupcake.

As the struggle drew to a close, Slendermane turned to Pinkie Pie and took a few steps in her direction.

"What...what are you...?" There was fear in her voice for the first time since he had met her, but it was overshadowed by curiosity, and, in greater measure, ardor.

"I...I am the most dangerous creature you are liable to encounter in this forest," said Slendermane, experiencing the first tinge of shame and regret at taking a creature's life that he had felt in decades.

"No KIDDING!" Pinkie grasped Slendermane in his first ever hug, tight enough to unnerve even the most stoic of creatures, and warm enough to send this one's mind into a blur of bubble gum, watermelon, strawberry, sweet, pink, confusion.

"You just saved my life! It woulda been lights out for Pinkie Pie if you hadn't stepped in!"

Then pinkie remembered her dilemma prior to the attack.

"Where'd you go anyhoo? I turned around and you just disappeared."

Slendermane looked away. Regardless of his lack of eyes, he couldn't meet the gaze of those turquoise pools with the knowledge that he had abandoned her. Still. She held no malice, no anger, and most shockingly, no disgust for the heinous act he had just performed.

"I...felt confused."

This may have been an understatement. More accurately, this may have been a VAST understatement.

"Oh! that's alright! everypony feels that way sometimes! Especially Derpy...ahhh, that Derpy," Pinkie seemed lost in thought for a rare moment.

"Well, either way, the important thing is that you came back!"

Yes, yes he had. Slendermane had come back, for reasons still somewhat unclear. He was not sure this had been the best idea, and he was not sure what would happen next. The only thing he was sure of was that whatever had happened to him today, it was new, and it was powerful. And after several lonely, monotonous centuries, new was not something to be thrown away thoughtlessly.

"Pinkie..."

"Yeah Slendy?"

"I think I...would like to meet your friends."

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Accepted

It was possible that the smile on Pinkie's face had never been so huge as it was in this moment. Truly, her grin seemed to pierce the limits of what was physically feasible. Her face shone out like a brilliant rose diamond as she tried not to smother Slendermane with a bone-crushing hug.

"Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness! You really want to meet them?! I can't believe it, they're going to love you, and you'll love them, and we'll all be best friends for ever!"

The already energetic pony had reached new heights in this moment. Sure, she had plenty of friends, but none more dear than her five best friends in the world, and with Slendermane, there would be SIX best of best friends, which, Pinkie reasoned, was more than five, and that idea sent her over the top with excitement.

She was so absolutely excited that she had no more words to express her joy, so instead, she acted as she always acted, that is impulsively, and pressed her muzzle up against Slendermane's for a brief kiss.

Slendermane saw pink. Then blue. The yellow and green and white and red and purple and several colors that the world has yet to name. Drums clashed in his ears, fire and ice and lightning shot through each of his nerve endings. He had never been so close to fainting as he was then. It was the most overwhelming sensation he had ever felt.

"What in the name of all things hellish and infernal was that?!" he begged of no one in particular.

"It was a kiss, silly Slendy!"

"I know that. I meant what happened afterwards."

Pinkie sat with a quaint smile, completely unawares of the inner turmoil that was surging through Slendermane's entire being.

"Well, I dunno, what was it like?"

"It was like....it was like the entire world exploding." Slendermane had never really had any need for self expression up to this point, and subsequently had very little experience in the field. This...feeling...was harder to describe than sad, or happy, or upset, although he would have had trouble expressing those as well, if the situation presented itself. Pinkie of course, had no difficulty expressing emotion, and instantly giggled and blushed. Then, without hesitation, she burst into a cutesy rhyme.

"Slendy and Pinkie sittin' in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
First comes loooove, then comes marriage,
then comes a filly in a baby carriage!"

Slendermane felt the burn on his cheeks that was quickly becoming all too familiar around this pony. He realized that what he was feeling was something he had heard of, but had precious little understanding of. After all, the only desire that he had ever had was to feed; a completely different, albeit equally carnal desire. And this one threatened to overtake the other, make it obsolete. This desire made every vestige of emotion that the lonesome pony had ever felt seem like wisps of smoke on a windy day.
He needed a distraction. He needed out of this situation immediately.

"Are we going to meet your...friends...now?"

Pinkie stopped leaping about in mid air, and smiled another, slightly smaller, but equally radiant smile.

"Of course! I almost forgot! let's go!"

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Author's Note

This chapter is a bit on the short side, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in fan service :P

Struggles

As Pinkie turned to lead the way, she was stopped in her tracks by a rather flustered Twilight bursting through the thicket and into the clearing. She seemed different than usual, a bit more Devil-may-care, and she seemed to have a small rodent on her shoulder. Surprised but enthused all the same, Pinkie did a 180 and introduced the two

"Wow! Speak of the devil, here's one of my closest friends now! Twilight, I would like you to meet Slendy. Slendy, this is Twilight!"

Twilight simply stared, then put a hoof up to Slendermane's muzzle and poked him a few times where his facial features should have been.

"You know he hasn't got a face right? I'm not the only one seein' this?" Twilight had had a strange enough day that day, but this was threatening to be the strangest occurrence of all.

Pinkie then recalled the events of earlier this morning, and explained Twilight's behavior to Slendermane as best she could.

"Sorry Slendy, Twilight's just a little 'WoOoOo' today. Somepony did something pretty silly this morning, if you catch my drift, Wink wink, nudge, nudge."

Slendermane didn't catch her drift. At all.

"........"

"WELL, this has been...weird! Nice to meet you Slendy, but I got stuff to do! Ta TA!"

And with that, Twilight was gone.

"Sorry Slendy, Twilight's not usually so weird," Pinkie apologized, "you gotta read the other fanfic."

"What?"

"Nothing. C'mon, Let's go."

As Slendermane and Pinkie trotted through the forest towards Ponyville, Pinkie tried her best to prepare her new...well, what would she introduce him as? Coltfriend? That seemed a bit presuming, even for her. Friend, she supposed. She would just have to share the juicy parts with her friends later in private. Either way, she tried to prepare him to meet her friends.

"There's Rainbow Dash. I think you two will get along great. She's super athletic and heroic, just like you. as long as you don't show her up by saving too many ponies, you should be fine. Then there's Applejack. She's the most dependable friend a pony could ask for. She and I don't hang out much, but I still care alot about her. Rarity is the beautiful mare with the violet mane. I just know she's gonna love your suit. Fluttershy...well, Fluttershy is a little timid, but I'm sure as soon as she gets to know you, everything will be fine. And Twilight is usually way more normal than that. She's just been cleaning out her attic, and...well, I'll tell you later WE'RE HERE!"

Slendermane looked up from the ground to see a small town in front of him. Quaint, colorful, and friendly, it was exactly what he had been dreading. He froze in his tracks. Well, he tried to freeze, but Pinkie simply walked around behind him and shoved him forward with her snout.

"C'mon, silly Slendy, keep on trottin'! We got folks to meet!"

Slendermane obliged, but was sure that this was a huge mistake.

Before the two could go any farther, Pinkie gasped a rather large gasp, and halted Slendermane where he stood.

"WAIT! Just wait right here. DON'T MOVE!" and with that, Pinkie was off, in a blur of pink and pinker.

Slendermane had waited for all of 2 minutes when he saw the blush comet trail speeding back towards him.

"Okaysoeverythingisreadynowc'mon!!!"

As the two walked towards the large tree that served as Ponyville's library, Pinkie kept looking back and giggling, and Slendermane contemplated turning tail and running away right then. He recalled the last time he had run from Pinkie, things had quickly turned for the worse, and he had almost gotten the one creature who had willingly set aside her fears to befriend him killed. In light of that, he decided that perhaps he would give whatever Pinkie Pie was planning a chance.

As Slendermane trotted in, his senses tingled in the dark, although his night vision was only slightly better than that of an average pony, he had other, less tangible senses that alerted him to the fact that there were 4 other ponies than Pinkie and himself in the room. His instincts went off like sirens in his head.
RUN! This is a trap! run!

But something kept him glued in place. Something he was unfamiliar with. Hope? Perhaps. At this point,things were so confusing, that all Slendermane could do was sit and wait, and hope.

"SURPRISE!!!!"

The room lit up, and Slendermane stumbled backwards at the rush of color and luminance. Around him stood 5 ponies.

"Surprise, Slendy Welcome to your 'Welcome to my circle of bestest friends' party!"

She planted another kiss on his muzzle, much to the same effect as the first.

"Uh oh, pinks," laughed the blue pony with a prismatic mane, "I think you broke him."

Rainbow Dash was the first to introduce herself.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, but you can just call me Dashie if you want."

"I..."

"And Ah'm Applejack. pleased as punch to meet Pinkie Pie's new beaux," an earth pony with warm, welcoming eyes stepped forward and vigorously shook Slendermane's hoof.

"It's..."

"Oh, it is positively SPLENDID to meet you Slendermane, why I adore your ensemble. absolutely timeless if I do say so myself. I...AM RARITY!" This pony was beautiful, with striking colors and large bluish grey eyes.

"Thank you...all..."

It was at that moment that the stallion noticed the unassuming vermillion pegasus hanging back from her friends. Her expression was one he had seen thousands of times, but this time, it was more ominous than ever before. Terror.

Fluttershy's eyes were wide and her pupils pinned in panic. She knew this...she refused to call it a pony. It was a MONSTER! She had heard the panicked tales of a faceless pony with dark powers who fed on innocent creatures, and even ponies, from a few of her rehabilitated animal friends from Everfree, but she had always tried to believe she would never encounter this creature face to face. And here it was, in Twilight's house...near her firends.

"GET BACK! EVERYPONY GET AWAY FROM IT!"

All five other heads in the room whipped around to face this uncaracteristically loud outburst from their friend.

"That thing isn't a pony, it's an abomination! It feeds on the emotions of other ponies! Well," Fluttershy's eyes took on a steely hardness as she stalked towards Slendermane, "NOT THESE PONIES!"

Slendermane saw the back hooves flying towards his face, but the entire situation was so overwhelming already, that he was unable to act quickly enough to dodge them, and the kick caught him square in the muzzle, sending him flying. He was on his hooves in a nano second, and instinct had rekindled itself, tentacles flying out and belting the pegasus across the room. The blow knocked her unconscious, and she fell limp to the floor.

The others stood, in shock. Dash was the first to react.

"Get. Out. NOW."

"I...I didn't mean to..."

The other two backed up with Rainbow dash, forming a tight circle around their unconscious friend, and there was not a sympathetic gaze to be found among the three. Slendermane looked back and forth, pleading with them silently to understand, to not loathe and fear him.

And then he met Pinkie's eyes.

Her two large, perfectly round blue orbs were welling with tears, darting back and forth between her friends and Slendermane, her mouth turned down in a confused grimace.

"Slendy...you should leave. Now."

This was all Slendermane needed to hear. As he ran out the door, his head pounded, felt like it would explode. He had ruined everything. His one chance at happiness, at friendship, gone. He WAS a monster.

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Author's Note

This chapter took a dark turn, but it'll pick up, I promise. Also, the bit at the beginning with Twilight was a reference to my other fic, which in turn references this one. Check it out if you want.

Waking Up

When Fluttershy opened her eyes, she saw the colors she knew and loved so well, lavender and deep blue, white and royal purple, vermillion and yellow, and cyan, surrounded by an array of color. These colors, and the faces she knew she would see when her vision cleared, were all she needed to see to know that everything would be alright. She blinked a few times, and sure enough, there were her friends, standing around her, expressions ranging from relieved smiles to concerned pouts.

"Is everypony alright?" Her friends chuckled and smiled at her complete lack of concern for herself.

"I dunno, sugarcube, you're the one in the hospital bed. You tell us!" Applejack's tone was joking, but there was a serious undertone of concern.

"I...I'm fine. I'm just glad you all are alright! when I saw the monster that Pinkie Pie had brought into Twilight's library..."

Fluttershy looked around, and it dawned on her that one dichotomy of colors was missing from the group: pink and cerise.

"Where's...where's Pinkie pie?" Fluttershy looked around at the her friends.

One by one each smile faded

"Fluttershy, darling," Rarity was the first to answer, choosing her pained words carefully, "Pinkie Pie hasn't been stepping out much out lately. She has holed herself up in the attic of Sugarcube Corner, and nothing anypony says can convince her to come down."

Fluttershy looked to the others, pleading an explanation. Why was Pinkie, the most sociable pony anypony knew, sequestering herself up in a musty attic? It was Rainbow Dash who spoke up next.

"Fluttershy, you know how seriously Pinkie took the business of making friends. When you and the stallion she brought home got in such a--heated argument," using the words "Fluttershy" and "fight" in the same sentence seemed strange and foreign, "he left for good. Pinkie has never lost a friend before, we think the grief of it was just too much for her."

Fluttershy remembered the fight that had led up to her waking in this bed.

"But...but I don't understand...that thing couldn't have possibly been Pinkie's friend. It's not even a stallion! That was Slendermane!" Fluttershy felt panic rising in her throat at the very idea of this monster that only legends whispered of.

Twilight spoke up next.

"We know what Slendermane is. I did some research after the whole ordeal. According to my findings, Slendermane is a legendary monster, who is said to feed off the fear and terror in ponies' souls."

Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief.

"So you DO understand. You girls understand why I had to do what I did."

The others looked around at one another, trying to figure out what to say next. It was Applejack who finally spoke up.

"Well, iffin' we're bein' honest, I didn't rightly see a problem with him."

Fluttershy could do nothing but gape, jaw hanging slack.

"If there's anypony who's got a darn good gut instinct when it comes to character, it's Pinkie Pie. Sure, he was different, but if he really wanted to hurt any of us, I reckon he could have done it without needin' to set foot in the door."

The others nodded their assent.

"But--but you saw it take me out with it's...things!" Fluttershy countered, still not fully willing to use the word "he".

More concerned glances. This time it was a good thirty seconds before anypony answered her. when the response came, it was a surprise to everypony from Rarity's refined lips.

"What we saw, Fluttershy, was Slendermane defending himself against you. In retrospect, he may have used too much force, but that does not nullify the fact that you threw the first blow!"

The others slowly nodded, Rarity had said what they'd all been thinking since the conversation started. The onus for this ordeal rested not on Pinkie's rouge withers, not even on Slendermane's tentacled back, but squarely on Fluttershy's butter shade shoulders.

Fluttershy scanned the faces of her friends. Rarity had set her jaw hard, determined not to take back what she had said. Applejack looked apologetic, but resolute. Twilight, who had trouble with conflict, had set her eyes firmly to the ground. Finally, Rainbow Dash simply looked a bit nonplussed at the fact that rarity had spoken so bruskly, but seemed in agreement with the sentiment.

"All of you feel this way?

"Yeah, pretty Much," shrugged Rainbow Dash.

"And Pinkie is hiding at home, in pain, because of something I caused?"

Rarity nodded. "Pinkie is a sweet, innocent pony, and she is reeling in what I believe to be the throes of first love. PAIN," Rarity's face morphed from hard to bittersweet, "is not nearly a word strong enough."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, but not even she would dare to question Rarity on this matter. The realm of love, lust, angst, and melancholy, where the other five were babes in the woods, was Rarity's domain.

"This is all my fault."

"It's not all your--" Twilight started, but she was silenced by a reproachful glance from Rarity.

"Then I suppose it's up to me to fix this, isn't it?"

"Looks to be the size of it, Buttercup," answered Applejack.

Fluttershy steeled herself for the commitment she was about to make.

"Well, then it's settled. Tomorrow, I start off into the woods, to find Slendermane!"

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Author's Note

I am already about half way through the second half of this chapter. Just wanted to put something out so you'd know this story wasn't dead! Also, I'm in the process of formatting. bear with me...