SlenderMane Chronicles
Chronicle I
Nightmares
Rainbow awoke to a knocking on her door, and quickly flew down, and poked her head outside. Standing before her, was her butter coloured friend Fluttershy, who look and her and smiled.
"Oh! Um…H-Hello Rainbow…Um…I was wondering, maybe, if you would let me stay here for the night….Angel Bunny locked me out of my cabin…"
Rainbow smiled, and nodded.
"Sure thing, Flutters! I would do anything for a good friend. Come on in, I wasn't sleeping much anyway, I was kinda busy reading the new Daring Doo book." Rainbow stepped out of the way, and Fluttershy walked in, nodding.
"Oh, Thank you, Rainbow. I'm so sorry I had to bother you so late at night…"
"Don't sweat it Flutters! I don't mind much, anyway." Fluttershy only nodded, and walked to the couch, laying down on it.
"If you don't mind, I guess I will just sleep here…"
"Cool with me, Flutters, Need anything before I head back upstairs?" She shook her head, and then laid it down on the soft cloud pillow.
"No…Thanks again Rainbow..."
"Not a problem, have a nice dream, Fluttershy." With that, Rainbow flew upstairs, and flopped herself onto her bed again, reading a little bit before falling asleep. About a half hour later, she awoke once again, this time, it was to Fluttershys screams. Rainbow bolted out of her bed, flew downstairs, and flicked the lights on. Fluttershy was sitting straight up, crying, her tears absorbing into the soft cloud.
"Fluttershy! Whats wrong, what happened?!"
"N-Nightmare…Oh Celestia…A horrible nightmare! I-I-I…." She put her hoofs to her eyes, and Rainbow put her hoof around her shoulders, bringing her into a hug.
"Its okay Flutter, its okay…It didn't happen…Your fine…" Fluttershy sniffled, and hugged back, speaking in-between sobs.
"I-I don't even know why I would dream something like that! I-It was so horrible…"
"What happened, Fluttershy? If anything, I'm here to listen…"
"I-It was with you…A-And Pinkie…" Fluttershy buried her muzzle into Rainbows shoulder, crying hard.
"P-Pinkie killed you…A-And then turned you into a Cupcake and ate you! I-It was horrible! O-Oh Celestia, Why…" Rainbow said nothing for a few minutes, then sighed.
"That's nothing good, Flutter…C'mon, if anypony had a answer…Maybe Twilight has one." Futtershy, rubbing her eyes and nodding, got up from the couch, and together they started to fly towards the library.
"I-I just can't believe Celestia would even allow those kinds of Nightmares…Or any at all!"
"I think its more Luna then anything else. After all, she's in control of the night, I think she would be in control of the dreams of Ponies as well."
"B-But why would P-Princess Luna give me nightmares about my friends? I-It was so real, the pain, the knife…I-It…It scared me…"
" I don't know, Flutters…Maybe somepony else…C'mon…Were here, Twilight will have a answer, I'm sure of it…" With that, Rainbow knocked at the door. In a few minutes, Spike opened it, rubbing his eyes.
"Urg…What? Why are you two here?" Rainbow stepped forward, and spoke.
"Well, Fluttershy has been having nightmares that seem to be really…Real. We came to see Twilight to see what it means." Spike put his claw to his chin as he walked upstairs.
"That's weird…Twilight has been having really bad nightmares as well…" Twilight had come a few minutes later, brushing her hair with her magic.
"Heya Rainbow, Hey Flutter, What are you two doing here at three in the morning?"
"Fluttershy has been getting really bad nightmare…Really bad one. We thought that you had some sort of anwer…" Twilight put her hoof to her chin.
"You have been having nightmares too, Flutter?" Fluttershy shivered.
"Y-Yea…T-They were always about Pinkie hurting Rainbow though…E-Every one of them…" Twilight nodded, and turned to Rainbow Dash.
"What about you, Rainbow? Did you have any nightmares?"
"Me? Nah, only dream I had was me escaping a hidden temple with a lost treasure! But…What about Applejack and the others? What if they had nightmares too?"
"Exactly! We need to make sure if this was just a coincidence or if it is universal. I need you two to go check on them to make sure that they are alright, I'm going to stay here and see if I cant find a way to find a cause for all of this." Rainbow gave a salute, and headed towards the door.
"Right! C'mon, Fluttershy! Head to Raritys house, I'll check on Applejack." With that, she bolted out the door, and flew towards Sweet Apple Acres…
"Okay! Spike, where is that book on Dream Time Abnormalities?"
Sweet Apple Acres
Applejack tossed and turned in her sleep, her nightmare tormenting her greatly.
"N-No…No…Please..No more…No..No..NO!" Applejack bolted straight up, her fur drenched in a cold sweat. She checked her body, and smiled as she lay back on her pillow.
"Phew-ee! That sure was one bad dream…" Rainbow flew beside the window, and flew into the room.
"Applejack! Your alright!"
"W-Waah!" Applejack let out a small yelp, and fell out of her bed.
"Rainbow Dash! What in the hay do you think your doin'!"
"Oops…Sorry, AJ, But Twilight wanted us to meet her at the Library if I found you were having a nightmare…And it seems you are, so…C'mon!"
Applejack nodded, grabbing her hat and getting to her feet.
"Right! Times a wastin'! Lets go!" They both left, heading towards the tree library in Ponyville…
Meanwhile…At Carousal Boutique
Rarity screamed as she bolted straight up from her nightmare.
"Oooh…What a HORRIBLE nightmare! Why would I even dream of something that HORRID!" Fluttershy flew by the open window, poking her head in.
"R-Rarity? Are you alright?" Rarity turned looked at Fluttershy confused, but smiled and nodded.
"I am alright, Fluttershy…But what are you doing here at this ungodly hour?" Fluttershy landed in the room, looking away from Raritys eyes.
"Oh, um…Twilight wanted me to go and see if you were having really bad nightmares, like her….And me…" Rarity sighed, and nodded.
"Yes…I admit, I have had a really…Bad nightmare…"
"Oh! Then we got to see Twilight right away!"
"No! I cant go out looking like this, What if somepony saw me? I need to keep up my reputation, you know!" Rarity took a hairbrush from her dresser, and started to restyle her mane to its original state.
"There, much better. Now, lets go see Twilight, I'm sure she would have a answer." They both left, walking towards the library, not noticing the tall white stallion hiding in the shadows as they left…
Ponyville Library
"Aha! I knew I read something like this before…" Twilight said triumphantly, as her friends entered the library.
"Oh! Good, you're here…I think I found out what has been causing all the nightmares! But first, I need to know what the nightmares are, just to make sure." The group nodded, and Applejack stepped forward.
"A-Ah don't want y'all to hate me for dreamin' this kinda stuff up…But mah nightmare was you killing me, Twi…You were sawin' off mah leg…" Applejack looked away, and Twilight nodded.
"Its okay, Applejack, I don't hate you…But its on the list…Fluttershy?"
"It was awful, simply awful! P-Pinkie was killing Rainbow, and then she turned her into a cupcake and ate her!" Her eyes started to water again, and Twilight put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.
"Im very sorry to hear that, Fluttershy…But don't worry, It isn't going to happen…Rarity? What about you?"
"I…As much as I would not like to speak about it, I was…Killing Fluttershy, and using her fur as fabric for a dres…Im sorry, girls…"
"Don't worry, its not real...Anyway, that's on the list as well, and with my nightmare, I think I know what it is!" Rainbow spoke, a hint of desperation to get this over with in her voice.
"Great! What is it, so we can finally go to sleep!" Twilight floated a book out, and opened it.
"Its actually the reason why Luna became Nightmare Moon…" Rainbow shouted out:
"I knew that she had something to do with this! What happened."
"Rainbow! Listen, and you'll know, but don't just go blaming the Princess like that!"
"Sorry…" Twilight cleared her throat, and began to read the dust old cover.
"The Legend of SlenderMane…
Long ago, after the Twin Sisters had defeated Discord, a new evil arose from his downfall…He was a being so evil, so monstrous…They didn't have a name for it, until, of course, Luna made a name. It began at night, well after all the ponies went to sleep, invading their dreams, and replacing them with nightmares, often about them killing, or being killed by their closest friends. Soon, Ponies began to go crazy, and acting out the dreams as if they were still in it. The Princesses found out about the dreams, and wielded the elements of harmony to defeat SlenderMane!" Twilight paused, and sighed.
"Sadly…The Elements failed, and the beast took control of the youngest, turning her into Nightmare Moon! SlenderMane wanted nothing more than to have eternal night, so he could wreak havoc on the dreams of ponies…But The eldest sister turned on her sister, banishing her to the moon, and SlenderMane was never seen again…But now, thanks to Luna, we know what were looking for! Everypony is present…Wait, where's Pinkie?"
Rainbow looked around, and facehoofed.
"Oh, buck! I completely forgot about her!" Twilight rushed to the door, opening it with her magic.
"Come on! Before it gets to her!" The five mares rushed out the door, and Rainbow Dash took to the skies.
"Pinkies house is way to far away…We'll never reach her in time…Wait!" Rainbow was about to head up to go and dive, but her friends call stopped her.
"Rainbow! Look out for a tall white pony wearing a black suit! He's SlenderMane!" She saluted, and flew, scanning the clouds.
"Heh, They stuck me with the easiest job ever!" There was one final call, from Twilight.
"Also! Watch out for the black tentacles! He has those too!" Rainbow stopped mid-flight.
"Wait, what? Tentacles? What kind of freak has those?" She scanned the allyways, houses, and clouds all around town, but to no avail. Slendermane was not seen. Rainbow was about to head back to the rest of the group, but a singing voice that sounded a lot like Pinkies started to fill the silent air.
"SlenderMane, SlenderMane…All the children try to run…" Rainbow landed nonchalantly onto the ground as he saw a pink pony sitting in the middle of the streets.
"Pinkie? Is that you?" Rainbow stepped closer, trying to see through the straight haired mare as she continued to sing.
"Slendermane, Slendermane, to him its apart of the fun…Slendermane, Slendermane…Dressed in black his suit and tie…"
"Pinkie, if this is a joke, please, just stop it! It's not funny, why are you singing that creepy song?" Pinkie only sang one more verse before lifting her head to reveal a large X with a circle around it carved into her forhead, her eyes were dull, and dead of life.
"Slendermane, Slendermane, You most certainly will DIE!" She shouted out the last word, a large grin appearing on Pinkies face as Rainbow jumped from fright, and took to the skies.
"Y-You're not Pinkie! Stay away from me!" The singing continued, and Rainbow started to see the tall white pony wearing the suit all around, following her, his face blank of anything, there was just nothing there where the face should have been. Fearing other friends lives, she set her course to Suger Cube Corner, but was shocked to see a red puddle leading into it.
"No…Oh no! I..I got to get to Celestia! She'll know what to do!" Rainbow started to speed off to the Canterlot Castle, but her legs were soon grabbed, and pulled. She could feel her legs getting dislocated as she got pulled towards the blank faced pony.
"No! That's it! I'm done!" Rainbow felt her body being wrapped as she struggled to get free, voices of her friends filling her ears.
"Join us…." She struggled even more, trying to break free without opening her eyes.
"And wake up….Wake up…Rainbow! Wake up!" The voice that stood out the most was Fluttershys voice.
"Please Rainbow, wake up! You're having a nightmare!"
"H-Huh?" Rainbow opened her eyes to see her blanket had been wrapped tightly around her, and that she was in her room.
"W-What? Fluttershy! Your okay! Did you and the others stop Slendermane?" Rainbow asked, getting out of her bind, getting out of bed. Fluttershy cocked her head sideways, looking confused.
"Slendermane? Who's that?" Rainbow held her head, looking at the ground.
"What happened…How did I survive? It was all a DREAM?"
"I just came up here when I heard you screaming, Rainbow…So I think it was. Oh! And Derpy came by, she had a letter for you, here you go…" Fluttershy pulled out a envelop from her back, and then trotted downstairs.
"O-Oh…Thanks, Fluttershy…Whats this?" She started to open it, and pulling out several pieces of paper, all of them decorated with foals drawings and roughly etched words, such as "HELP ME" and "ALWAYS WATCHES, NO EYES" There was nine pages in total, the final page unlike the others…It had a red X with a circle on the front, and a sentence in the back.
"Watch Out. Even though you've won, He is still alive." Rainbows breathing quickened, and she couldn't help herself as she fainted…
END OF CHRONICAL I