Chapters What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called from the ground in front of Rainbow Dash's mansion in the clouds just over Ponyville. "Rainbow Dash!"
A tired-looking Rainbow Dash poked her head out the window of her bedroom.
"Whadya want, Twilight?"
"An explanation. Can you please come down here? I don't wanna shout everything I say!"
Rainbow Dash groaned, threw off her pajamas and flew down to the earth, sleep still in her eyes.
"What is it?"
"Apparently you kept Spike up all night with one of your bedtime stories."
"Well, what can I say? I'm just really good at storytelling."
"A little too good," Twilight replied snidely. "I have been trying to get Spike to be less...I don't know, lazy about getting up in the morning and not sleeping in until nine in the morning, and your horror stories about some slender dude is interfering with my efforts."
"Slender dude? Oh, you mean the Slender Mare? Spike really got a kick outta that, didn't he?"
"I won't let Spike join you and the Cutie Mark Crusaders for your occasional sleepovers if this is what I'm gonna get every time."
"Okay, okay: no more Slender Mare - or any other scary stories."
"Thank you."
Twilight turned away for a few steps before she stopped herself and cocked her head to see Rainbow Dash behind her.
"What could you have possibly have told him to scare him so stiffly, anyway?"
"Beats me," Rainbow said earnestly. "Slender Mare's not even that scary."
"Oh, really?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "Totally. I mean, he's a little scary...well, I guess it's not too surprising, with Spike being a baby dragon and all."
Twilight's literary curiosity got the best of her. She turned completely around.
"Mind filling me in on what happened last night?"
A wicked expression grew on Rainbow Dash's face. "So, Twilight wants to hear the legend of the Slender Mare, huh?"
"Well, yeah, I-I guess."
Rainbow lit up. "Great! Just meet me in my cloud house, and- oh, wait, you can't walk on clouds."
"Sure I can!" Twilight exclaimed. "I cast that spell that lets us walk on clouds, remember?"
"Oh, yeah."
Twilight's horn lit up, and a bubble spontaneously erected around her. She carried herself up and landed herself on the surface of Rainbow Dash's front yard, the bubble popping upon contact. It felt soft against the soles of her hooves, like she was walking in a field of especially soft and fluffy pillows. Rainbow Dash met her at the front of her house and led her inside.
"So, tell me about this Slender Mare guy," Twilight said when she and Dash were on a couch in her living room.
Rainbow cleared her throat.
"Every night, at ten past two, the Slender Mare rises from the shadows of the night, in search of his next victim. He stands six feet tall, and is distinguished by his undeniably long and crooked hooves and neck. He bears no face, but simply two ears perked on his head, forever in search of the slightest sound which might lead him to his prey. He wears a fine suit of black to disguise himself as a lone shadow prowling the quiet growns of Ponyville. In his hooves he bears a book with no cover and no title-"
"Wait, why would he be carrying a book with no cover and no title?" Twilight interjected.
"I am getting to that!" Rainbow Dash snapped.
"Oops, sorry. Continue."
She cleared her throat again, to resume her ominous storytelling voice.
"The book he bears contains the names of his countless victims. Every night, he writes down another name. And if it's yours, it means he will be coming for you. He spends his days incognito, as a shadow in a dark alley somewhere in Ponyville, where he can hear the names of everypony who willingly wanders by, learning more faces with each passing day. When everypony's asleep, he steps out from his hiding place, and begins his silent search for his befallen prey.
"The Slender Mare is a phantom: the only object he can carry being his own book of innocent victims who lost their lives to him. But he does not need grasp to aid in his plight. When he finds the next pony he seeks, he extends his two long arms from his back, and plows them into your chest, and sucks your soul clean out of your body, leaving only a small pile of ash in your wake.
"Even if you think staying up will help you avoid the Slender Mare...you're wrong. For if you do, he will get you, anyway. His unoccupied hand will cover your mouth so you don't scream while he sucks out your soul. And don't even think about trying to leave town. He does not need to walk. Don't go forward. Don't turn around. For the Slender Mare could be right behind you, or right in front of you the moment you turn your head. Don't look him in the face, and don't open or close your eyes.
"The Slender Mare cannot be killed, either, since he's just a walking cloud. They say the only weakeness of the Slender Mare is to collect the five missing pages of his book. One fateful night, a strange wind blew and discarded five pages of the Slender Mare's and scattered them around town. If you collect all five pages, the Slender Mare's completed book will send him back into the void of night where he came from. That is - the Slender Mare doesn't get you first. He's everywhere. All at once. And you never know where he will appear next."
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
"Well, Rainbow Dash, you've certainly kept your word when you said that it isn't scary."
"What?"
"Rainbow, that wasn't scary." Twilight sighed. "Clearly Spike's just easy to scare."
"The only thing that makes it scary is that it's true."
"What?"
"It's true, you know."
"Please, Rainbow Dash: like you expect me to believe a story like that is true."
"It totally is!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Do you have any proof?"
"Well...no..."
"Ah-hah!"
"But! Do you have any proof that it's not true?"
"Well...uh...no, no I don't."
Rainbow Dash giggled. "Didn't think so...but what if I dared you?"
"Dared me to do what?"
"To prove that I am just making up stories, rather than admitting that Equestria is haunted by the Slender Mare."
"Rainbow Dash, if Equestria was haunted by the Slender Mare - and I'm not saying it is - he would've been caught by now."
"No he wouldn't. His duties are done in total silence!"
"You know what, Rainbow? I'm not much into arguing with you or anypony, especially when it's about something as lame as the Slender Mare."
"Alright then - I dare you - prove me wrong!"
"You dare me?"
Rainbow Dash nodded enthusiastically. "Ah-huh! I dare you to prove to me that there is no Slender Mare."
"How would I do that?"
"Easy. The Slender Mare doesn't suck the soul of only one victim a night. He can do several. It's a slow process, but flexible, like me. And the presence of anypony stirring is sure to attract him. And since he can be anywhere at anytime, it shouldn't take long for him to find you."
"Sounds like an easy victory for either of us then...Fine, I'm in."
Rainbow Dash brought her hoof to her mouth and spat on it.
Twilight cringed at the sight of Rainbow Dash's spit-covered hoof.
"Aw, c'mon, don't be such a germaphobe."
Twilight spat into her hoof and pressed hers against Rainbow Dash's.
It was one in the morning, about fifty minutes before the Slender Mare would supposedly make an appearance, if what Rainbow Dash claimed was true.
Twilight went to bed really early - immediately after dinner - so she could be up for her late-night expedition around town. It was difficult to remain calm and quiet in such an arousing and intense situation, but the entire rest of the town was nodding off to sleep, so Twilight knew she had to be quiet.
Joining her was of course Rainbow Dash, who invited herself to "tag along" so Twilight could admit defeat or - in Twilight's perspective - claim victory any time. The two mares met on the ground in front of Rainbow Dash's house, where they then trotted back to town.
"Okay, Rainbow Dash," Twilight whispered. "Where's your precious Slender Mare?"
"The story says ten to two," replied the rainbow-maned mare. "We still have an hour before we'll see him."
"What about the pages?"
"What about them?"
"Well, the wind is blowing gently. I can feel it in my mane. Wouldn't the pages be scattering now if the wind is blowing?"
"How would that make any sense if he hasn't made an appearance?"
"You said in your story that he spends his days as a shadow in a dark alley. If that's true, then he's here in town - and could be ten feet away - and so the pages of his book are still susceptible to being blown around in the wind."
"I don't think so."
"AH-HAH!" Twilight put her hooves over her mouth and gasped in panic. She cleared her throat. "I mean, ah-hah."
"Shh!" was all Rainbow replied with.
The two ventured through town casually, as if they were sightseeing in a foreign place. Twilight paid particular attention to places where the Slender Mare supposedly could be: dark alleys, cramped, tight places, and just places where the darkest of shadows would be found. Of course, she had found nothing. After about half an hour of wandering through town and back again, the two planted their plots on the statue near the center of town and rested their aching hooves.
Twilight yawned. "I'm so tired," she said.
"Me too," Rainbow Dash added. "I stayed up all night scaring Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Now I kinda wish I hadn't."
"Because you spent the last half hour walking around in folklore?"
"No, because I was tired this morning and now, even though I napped, I'm still tired now. I've never been up this late. Not even on New Year's."
"Not even on New Year's?" Twilight inquired.
"I'm usually out by half-past-twelve."
"Oh."
"Yeah, sleep and me see eye-to-eye...but not tonight."
There was a moment of silence.
"So...about the Slender Mare...when it becomes ten to two...how will we know when he's stirring?"
"We won't," Rainbow Dash admitted.
"What? Why is that?"
"Well, first of all, the Slender Mare is a phantom being: he's not exactly able to be seen moving. And even if he were, he'd make sure you didn't see him. It's one of the reasons why he always hangs out at night: he blends into the darkness." She peered up at the full moon. "Fortunately for us, there's a big moon out tonight. Makes it a little easier to see." She looked back down at her tired, aching hooves. "Second, the Slender Mare is the Slender Mare. He doesn't stir. He just appears. Scares you out of your skin, and then sucks out your soul. Just like that. Without making a sound about it. Pretty easy for a guy with no face."
"I have a few more questions, Rainbow Dash."
"What?"
"Well, first, how is Slender Mare able to tell where he's going if he doesn't have a face and therefore doesn't have any eyes?"
"Beats me, Twilight. But he's ghostly. How does a ghost see where its going?"
"Ghosts have faces. Well, at least they did back when they were living, but..." she failed to finish that sentence. "Okay, you got me there: nopony really knows how a ghost sees where its going, so they can't explain how the Slender Mare gets around."
"See? He may be hard to explain, but he's real."
"And that brings me to my second question: if he's so deadly and dangerous and stuff, then why'd you A. dare me to prove that he either does or doesn't exist and B. bring yourself along? If he's real and as quiet as you claim, we're both gonna be killed. Don't you realize that? Or are you just insinuating that he's obviously not real because you'd never put yourself in that level of danger like that?"
"That's a good question, Twi," Rainbow answered. "And I do have, as you say, an explanation."
"I'd love to hear it."
"One of the Slender Mare's weaknesses is nosie. He hates noise. Can't stand it. Not even quiet talking. It's one of the reasons why he has to silence his victims before he sucks out their souls. If we keep talking, that might be enough to have him pass us by. He has a lot of weaknesses, actually. Another one is water. A third is daylight. And a fourth is magic."
"Magic?"
Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Yeah. He's vulnerable to magic. That's why he usually tracks down only earth ponies and pegasi. But I have heard stories of him taking unicorns and alicorns alike. It's not like they get a chance to use their magic against them."
"Ah-huh. And, lemme guess: if we hang around this fountain for the rest of the night, the Slender Mare won't catch us because he's afraid of water?"
"It's not so much a fear of water as much as it is a deadly weapon to him. But, yeah. I figure if we hang out here by the fountain all night, he won't dare come near us because we have both your magic and a source of fresh water."
Despite Rainbow's encyclopedic knowledge of the Slender Mare, she did sound convincingly scared of the Slender Mare, as if she did believe in his existence, and was also not very confident in her remarks. It was almost as if she was making half the story up on the spot in order to explain how the termination of their search through town was beneficial to their search for the Slender Mare.
Even somepony as socially impaired as Twilight could tell there was fear in her voice. What was she truly afraid of? Was she afraid of looking like a fool in front of Twilight, or actually losing her soul to the ominous spectre that is the Slender Mare?
The night went on.
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
"What was that?" Rainbow asked, jerking her head in the direction from which she had heard a mysterious noise.
"I don't know," Twilight mumbled. "Probably just the wind blowing."
"It sounded like a tree branch snapped."
"Is it possible we're being followed by anyone other than the Slender Mare?"
"I don't think so...everyone should be asleep by now."
"Wait, if the wind's blowing, and it's time for the Slender Mare to begin his strut through town to his victims...then shouldn't his pages be scattering right about now?"
"Uh, yeah, uh, I guess," Rainbow uttered nervously.
"Not very confident in your folklore, are you, Rainbow?"
"Hush," Rainbow propped herself up from the fountain and took a quiet look around the vacant town. The moon's glow did brighten the area, but it also made shadows all that more visible and eerie. If the Slender Mare were around them, he would be noticed more easily. But, let's not forget that Rainbow Dash said that his movements were inconspicuous.
"So, should we look for his pages now, and send him packing or what?"
"Uhm...m-maybe we s-should s-stay by the f-fountain instead."
"What? I thought the Great Rainbow Dash wasn't afraid of anything."
"Yeah, anything with a face. Which includes dragons, but not the S-Slender Mare."
Twilight grunted. "C'mon, Rainbow," she began to trot from the fountain in the direction Rainbow Dash was facing. "You're literally getting all worked up over nothing."
Even though she had said that, Twilight still played Rainbow's game of finding the missing pages of Slender Mare's book. If they couldn't find any pages, then clearly Rainbow Dash was making this whole thing up just to scare Spike, and Twilight was right all along. All they needed for evidence was a single page. They didn't even need to find all five by the end of the night.
Twilight began to wander aimlessly through town, just like during their hike before they arrived at the fountain. There was no sign of movement or a disturbance. No sound broke the night. All was calm and quiet. The only thing which kept Twilight on her toes (had she had any) was the unsettling cold of the wind which brushed through her mane so gently.
Then - a page.
The sound of rustling paper was heard, and a moment later, Twilight's giant eyes spotted a crumbled sheet of parchment paper attempting to escape from a leafless shrub nearby with the wind's blow. She trotted over to it, Rainbow Dash following right behind her. She picked it up, unfolded it, and held it loosely in her hooves.
"What does it say?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"It's a list of names that have all been crossed out," Twilight replied. "Shining Armor...Princess Cadence...Fancypants...and they're all from Canterlot."
"Canterlot? Well what does that mean?"
"I think it means that the Slender Mare has been to Canterlot...and he's making his rounds in Ponyville next."
Rainbow's eyes shrank to the size of peas.
"Twilight...I'm scared."
"Me too, but, since there's no chance for us to see him for find him until he kills us, and since we're still missing for pages, and since he can pop out anywhere at any given time, we have no choice but to just keep calm and find the rest of the pages."
"Easy for you to say - you don't believe in him. To you, this is just a piece of paper with names on it. To me, this is a death note."
"Well, nopony said you have to believe in him. It's your choice. That is, unless we're able to prove he's real or not."
"Isn't that paper proof?"
"Well...when we were walking around, I thought that if we found some parchment it would be evidence enough, but then I got to thinking: the wind blows all kinds of stuff around. This might not be a page of Slender Mare. This could be a page for an old party RSVP list or something. Who knows."
"From Canterlot?"
"The wind knows not of where she blows."
"Okay...but I'm still pretty sure he's here."
"What makes you say that?"
Rainbow Dash grabbed Twilight and pointed her head up in the direction of a towering shadow erected upon a tall wall of a building they were standing near, bearing disproportionate appendages as it stood gazing over the night like a hawk.
Without thinking, the girls took off screaming.
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
Lights lit up in the windows of almost every building in town as the deafening wails of the frightened girls echoed through the night.
A menacing - but strangely familiar - high-pitched laugh came from an alley near the mysterious shadow. A closer look into the alley revealed a magenta-maned pony with a pink coat and sky-blue eyes, dressed in her all-black spy getout. She pressed a red button and the shadow of the blue wacky, wailing, inflatable-arm flailing tube-man disappeared as the air within its source collapsed quietly to the ground.
Finally, Twilight and Rainbow Dash stopped running, out of breath and scared out of their skin.
"What...what was that?" Twilight panted.
"I...I don't know...but...I think it was the Slender Mare."
"I thought you said...if he moved...we wouldn't be able to...to see it."
The laugh reached their large ears. An annoyed glare appeared on both their faces.
"Pinkie Pie..."
They hurried back in the direction from which they came. Out popped the pink pony from the alleyway.
"Hi there!" she exclaimed instead of a "Boo!"
The pegasus and unicorn stopped in their tracks when they reached her.
"Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash began. "That was you !?"
She unzipped her outfit over her face. "Yup, that was me! Scared you both pretty good, didn't I?"
Rainbow Dash tackled her. "Listen here, you little worm! That was not funny!"
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called. "Get off of her!"
Rainbow Dash cocked her head. "But...but she pranked us."
"I don't care," Twilight shook her head. "Off."
Rainbow Dash got off of Pinkie Pie and helped her to her hooves.
"Pinkie Pie," she continued to the other pony. "What are you doing out here?"
"Playing along with your little Slender Mare game," she replied, a big smile glued to her face from cheek to cheek.
"Game?" Rainbow Dash inquired.
"Game? What game?"
"Your little hunt for the Slender Mare, silly!"
Twilight brought her hoof to her face and grunted. "Pinkie Pie, this is no game. We're not playing any game here - we're trying to find the Slender Mare. Or, in my case, not find him and prove Rainbow Dash wrong."
Twilight paused for a moment. "That was all you, wasn't it?"
"Yup!"
"And...there is no Slender Mare."
"Nope!"
"See?" Twilight turned her head to look the rainbow-maned pony in the eyes. "I told you so." An expression of contentment grew on her face.
"Woah woah woah woah woah," she began. "This isn't proof. We have a page right here..." Rainbow Dash searched herself for the page that was supposedly from the Slender Mare's book, but failed to recover it. "Twilight, where's that page we had?"
Twilight grunted. "We must've lost it when we took off running."
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Great...Anyway, we had this page with names written on it right from the Slender Mare's book - it was wrinkled and everything!"
Pinkie Pie laughed. "That was no haunted page, silly! That was the invitation list for Shining Armor's wedding with Princess Cadence. I hid it in the bushes while you were seated at the fountain talking quietly."
"And the shadow?" Twilight asked.
"My wacky, wailing, inflatable-arm flailing tube-man decoration."
"Great," Rainbow Dash whined. "Not only have we woken up half the town and not found proof of the Slender Mare - we also got pranked by the most gullible pony in Equestria!"
"I'm not gullible," Pinkie retorted.
"Your shoe's untied."
"What?" Pinkie Pie brought her naked hooves up and stared at them.
"Pinkie, your prank was..."
"Outrageous," Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and planted her plot on the ground facing away.
"Impressive, but next time, please don't interrupt us in our efforts to hunt the Slender Mare."
"There's going to be a next time? I thought I told you there was no Slender Mare. Slender Mare could never possibly exist - something tells me he's just a myth for bedtime stories."
"See?" Twilight said with more enthusiasm.
Rainbow Dash did not reply.
"So...everything we saw tonight...that was all you?"
"Yup!"
"Well," Twilight yawned. "I don't know about you girls, but I'm going to bed."
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash followed behind her as they trotted quietly away. They did not happen to notice the presence of a dark and eerie shadow as it lingered through the alleyway in silence.
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
Spike awoke to find Twilight seated across her bed reading a book, turning a page with her nose.
"Good morning, Twilight," he said, yawning, erecting himself in his little bed.
"Hey, Spike," his foster mother replied.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Reading."
"Oh." Spike scratched his backside. "Whatcha reading?"
"Just a book about Starswirl the Bearded."
"Oh." Spike fell backwards onto his pillow and turned over in his bed. "In that case, maybe I'll just-" He pretended to snore.
"You really should get up now, Spike. It's unhealthy to lie in bed all day. You could get bed sores."
"Don't blame me," Spike uttered from under the blanket. "It's not my fault."
"Oh?" Twilight closed her book. "Well who's fault is it, then?"
Spike groaned. "Rainbow Dash's."
"Rainbow Dash? What would she have to do with anything?"
Spike yanked his sky-blue blanket off of himself and eyed Twilight.
"Last night, me, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were hanging out with Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity, you know, just having a good time, when it gets really late. So Rainbow Dash starts telling us this story about this thing called the Slender Mare."
"The Slender Mare?" Twilight mumbled.
"Scared the scales out of me. I was so frightened, I ran straight home, hoping to be able to sleep in my own bed last night, and I couldn't. It took me forever to fall asleep...I didn't think I ever would."
"Is that why you were at the door way past bedtime - and woke me up to let you in?"
"That's exactly why," Spike answered calmly, crossing his arms. "Sorry about that - again."
Twilight grimaced. "That's it - no more sleepovers with Rainbow Dash for you, Spike."
"No problem," Spike slouched over in his bed and tried to go back to sleep.
