Addams' Apple

You walk through a simple street in a simple town on your two legs.

The sky is heavily overcast and rain pours down in oppressive sheets, the perfect weather for a stroll. A large umbrella is the only equipment you need.

You tug at the sleeves of the suite you are wearing. It's not long enough and you will need a new suit again. Therefore your destination was the local tailors.

She was a beautiful little horse of brilliant white coat and a flowing royal purple mane with volume and gentle curls. Other than you, every inhabitant of the town was a little horse. This particular little horse's business was run from a peculiar house in the shape of a carnival carousel.

You knock before entering, having to stoop down in order to get through the door. A bell rings to alert the shopkeeper.

A refined and feminine voice calls out to you.

Her name is Rarity and she's the picture of prim, propper, and fabulous.

"Hello Rarity it is good to see you too. I would say it is a great day, the weather team has truly outdone themselves, but I found that I am in need of a refitting." You say.

She quickly takes your new measurements.

"Come again? I don't think I'm turning into a horse Rarity." You say.

Rarity seems humoured by what you said.

She takes a look at your face closely now.

“The hospital ponies have said to me that the changes will stop when my magical energies match the surroundings but between then and now is a large grey area. It’s not so bad, grey is my favorite colour. Ash grey to be exact.” You say.

Rarity seemed moderately humored again with your opinion on the situation.

 

-----

 

Your body continues to get longer as the days go by. Your height is now 6’5” and your horse index (also known as ape index) is 1.1. The growth spurt has made it slightly difficult to continue your usual activities as your fingers get longer as well.

You are lounging in your apartment. You live in the basement suite of a duplex, with your landlady occupying the rest of the house. You peruse your growing collection of needles and thread. Many pillows of many materials lay about with wounds of all types marring their surface. You are practicing your suture technique by building pillows and closing wounds on said pillows with stitches. A cadaver shaped pillow rests on your coffee table, vivisected down the middle with pillow organs spilling out. Next to it is a pony pillow cadaver ready to be operated on when it’s turn comes.

A knock sounds through the door. Opening it reveals your landlady.

“Ah hello Ms Derpy Hooves how are you on this lovely day. Please come inside.”

“I’m afraid even back home when I had my medical license, I was not authorized to perform abortions at 80 months.” You say.

Dookey hides behind her mother although you doubt she knows what the word meant.

“Besides, who would want to abort such a thing? So full of potential.” You say.

Derpy just gives a snorting laugh.

So her name is Dinky.

“Say no more Derpy, I can look after Dinky.” You say.

Derpy thanks you profusely and gives you a long list of things Dinky is allowed or not allowed to do. Her eyes flick to your living room and its many pillows making her pause.

“I’m practicing my stitching and surgery. Back home I was the best you know. Unfortunately they haven’t recognized my training here with a license, no matter how many forged degrees I send them.” You say.

Derpy laughs.

Derpy zips off to places unknown leaving Dinky in the hallway. You flash a big happy smile to her to let her know that you’re friendly. You step out if the way and hold the door open for her.

“Come in, make yourself at home.” You say.

 

You are a ditzy grey pegasus named Derpy Hooves. You trott back home. It was late and you just finished a meeting with the weather team. All you want to do is finish dinner and get to bed. You can hear shrill yelling from Anon’s apartment but it doesn't sound concerning. You open the door to Anon’s apartment to see what the commotion was about.

Anon was elbows deep in a cadaver and covered in blood. Dinky fared no better, with blood even on her face and muzzle. Kitchen implements were sticking out of the body and on the floor.

“Fight through the pain Dinky, the patient’s life is depending in your hooves!” Anon says.

Anon brought a water bottle to Dinky’s face. The lid was perforated with holes and he sprayed her with it before wiping with a towel.

Dinky hefted a scalpel with a hoof.

“What the Buck is going on here, is that a body! Anon explain yourself right now.” You yell.

Anon looked up to you and stood up.

You don’t know what to make of the situation. It looks and smells so real. If nothing wrong is happening then you suppose it's fine but your beating heart begs disagrees.

“Okay, thats fine then. Just don’t track it onto the carpet and take a good bath before bed.” You say.

Anon leans in and whispers in Dinky's ear. Dinky laughs and nods before scurrying away to clean up.

 

You are a tiny light pink pony covered in blood. You are Dinky Hooves. Mommy just came back and surgery time with Anon is over. Anon leans down and whispers in your ear.

You giggle now with a little secret to keep.

 

-----

 

You are the tall bipedal being known as Anonymous. Your height is almost 7 feet and your ape index is 1.3. Your face is very gaunt and deathly pale. Previously you were slightly creepy to ponies but now you seemed downright off putting and that put you in a sour mood. It wasn’t the good kind of off putting or the good kind of sour mood either. It was affecting your finances rather harshly, you had just been ousted from your menial labour job waiting tables because you were unused to your longer limbs and you were scaring away customers. You did not treasure that position but you needed more bits for living expenses and suit refittings. You were not without hope however. You had lined up some good prospects today to earn money that plied your abilities new and old. You set off to make your fortune anew.

 

Applejack is a strong and southern tongued orange earth pony with simple straight and hay coloured hair.

“How is that possible? Your fields are massive and fertile. Surely you require seasonal workers come harvest or planting time?” You say.

You were following Applejack as she strode through her farm’s orchard. You rounded a tree coming between you two. You silently strode to Applejack’s other side.

“Right here Ms Apple.” You say from her other side.

Applejack jumps and spins around to face you.

“I’m not sure but I think it’s another side effect of my magical mutations. My footsteps are very quiet and I seem to blend in easily.” You say.

Applejack looks thoughtful for a moment before looking off to a tree she left unbucked.

“Deal.” You say.

You and Applejack walk to the unbucked tree where in sleeps among its boughs a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. You look to Applejack for confirmation and she nods. You climb the tree getting closer to your prey. You begin cursing under your breath with the strain as you were never athletic, but the sounds that come out are more like the whispers on the wind. The boughs you grab groan lowly. You watch the pony shiver and you see her breath in the air which wasn’t that cold previously. You finally get above her and loom over her. You reach out and lightly brush her wing with the tips of your fingers which were cold like ice. You whisper under your breath again. You grab her suddenly by the shoulders and yell out, your mouth splitting open much larger than you previously remembered possible. The sounds you screeched were splitting and coarse. The pony awakens with rigid fear and shrieks a very high pitch. Her hoof darts out and catches your jaw, knocking you off your balance. You quickly fall from the tree, hitting a branch on the way down before landing on your head in an undignified manner.

You don’t catch the rest of their conversations as you’re busy extracating yourself from the ground. You can feel something is broken. Your neck and shin is snapped, both bending the wrong way.

You wave her off.

“I’m fine, Applejack. This isn’t the worst I’ve had believe you me. Just you wait, come this time tomorrow I’ll be right as blight.” You say.

She didn’t look convinced at all from your perspective on the ground. Rainbowdash was looking at you too with a guilty expression.

“Here let me show you.” You say.

You pick up your head with both arms and push it back into place, twisting it slightly before grabbing your neck and adjusting your vertebrae, letting out gruesome clicking and cracking of bone and cartilage as you do. You do the same with your leg and stand up. Applejack winces at the noises but Rainbowdash is transfixed.

“See? Good as new. My body breaks easily but it's also easy to put back together. It’s one of the reasons I became a surgeon and also why I’m so good at it, because I’m always practicing on myself.” You say.

You let your head fall back to the side with a sickening crackle and slump to the floor motionless. Both ponies scream.

 

You are a nervous wreck with a rainbow mane named Rainbow Dash. You were at the hospital with Applejack and Anon.

A doctor presses a stethoscope to Anon’s chest

The doctor nods and leaves you two alone. Applejack speaks in a hushed tone. “Get it together Rainbow. What happened was terrible but it was an accident. No need to ruin your life over it, now just...” Applejack says.

Applejack didn’t finish but you got the meaning. It wasn't a lie exactly. Anon had climbed that tree of his own volition and everypony knows scared ponies can react.

You look back to Anon on the medical bed. You grab the sheet and begin pulling it over Anon’s body.

”I’m so... so sorry Anon. I didn’t mean to, I just reacted y’know?” You say.

You sniffle a big wet sniffle, fighting back tears.

It’s arms dart out and grab you by the shoulders again, deathly cold.

The sheet falling off to reveal the body's face splitting smile showing off too much teeth.

“MOMMYYYY” You yell at the top of your lungs.

Anon’s zombie corpse belly laughs as you fight out of his grip. Applejack is on her haunches scooting backwards. The doctor runs back into the room and sees Anon. >“By Celestia, you’re supposed to be dead! How?” The doctor says.

 

Anon got ten bits while being grilled by Applejack for scaring them so bad and he got grilled by the Doctor on how he faked his death. Anon seemed to be having a fun time. After answering the doctor's questions, the doctor quickly left for more important matters. Applejack apologised for saying that they would cover up Anon’s death but Anon just said he fully understood and in fact he’s been in the same situation before. You couldn’t believe he scared you twice AND made you scream like a little filly for your mommy. Absolutely awesome. Applejack excused herself to go back to work which just left you and Anon outside the hospital.

“Hey, that was a great scare back there. My name's Rainbowdash by the way.” You say extending your hoof.

“What were you doing at Sweet Apple Acres? Can’t imagine Applejack dragged you out there just to scare me out of her tree.” You say.

“You know, Nightmare Night is coming up, I bet you could make a killing scaring ponies with a haunted house or scary walks.” You say.

“Hey, I could be your partner. Nopony does scary better than me, I’m a spook master. What do you say?” You propose.

You both shake on it.

 

-----

 

You dunk a stack of dishes into a large vat of hot soapy water. The scent of food and lemon soap is thick in the air. You whittle away the time scraping and scrubbing away food from the never ending conveyor of dishes in your new job at a fancy restaurant as a dish cleaner. The night was long and boring, it brought a measure of peace to your mind that you appreciate. Today had been hectic as you did some contract work for Rarity, helping sew up a large clothing order using your quick hands and sewing skills. Sewing up skin and layers of muscle was a transferable skill as flesh and fabric both had a material grain and elaborate three dimensional construction. It helped bring the money in but didn't make you happy. You fantasize about parting muscle and bone.

You are obscenely tall because you are Anon. You have grown to the height of 8 ft and your ape index is 1.4. At times your proportions make it awkward to work and move but a side effect is allowing you to reach over the heads of the other workers in the busy kitchen. Your face is pale enough to upset onlookers but your eyes are what drives them off. The iris is almost white and the pupil reflects a silver white from most angles. They make a piercing gaze that most cannot hold for long. Your hearing is becoming stronger but your ears are becoming smaller. You are sequestered to the back of the restaurant due to your appearance.

Through the noise and commotion you slowly descend into a trance during your work. You almost miss an event occurring outside. There is a crash and shattering sound. The din of conversation dies. Some employees gather at the door looking on the scene. Some pony shouts for help and all hell breaks loose. Employees are running back into and out of the kitchen and a few dinner guests are shouting. One shrill voice rises above and pieces the veil of your sedated mind.

Your mind sharpens immediately and fatigue disappears. You hurry to the commotion, around, over, and through ponies in the way. You would throw elbows too but your elbows are far too high to do that.

"Move! I am a doctor. " you bellow with enthusiasm.

You leap over four ponies to your patient. He is an older male earth pony, average height and weight. Slick black hair and brown coat. Cutie mark is a bag of money. You vaguely remember him as Filthy Rich, he comes to the restaurant regularly and is a good tipper.

He is sitting on the ground, propped up by his wife, Spoiled Rich, who is holding a glass of water to his lips. She is a pink mare with a high styled rich purple mane. You grab a nearby coworker and tell them to get the medical kit.

Spoiled rich looks at you with distrust. Her grip on her husband gets tighter.

"Mrs. Rich, I'm going to find out. Allow me to do what I can. Lay him down." You say.

You don't wait for her response and begin your examination. He's sweating, breathing is difficult, eyes shut. You command in a strong tone.

"Filthy Rich. Open your eyes and look at me." You say.

He looks at you, brow creased and tensed. You grab his hoof and put a hand in his neck to find a pulse.

"Speak. What do you feel?" You say.

You feel something is wrong with his heartbeat. you realize that you can hear it too without having to put your head on his chest.

"Continue speaking. Hot, cold, light, heavy, weakness, other pains, mind, body, spirit, emotions." You say.

The coworkers return with the medical kit. Filthy continues speaking. His voice is weak.

You take a stethoscope from the kit and press it to his chest. Your hearing is so good now that it sounds like drums in your ears. It's just as you suspected, heart arrhythmia and possible heart attack. It's getting weaker and more erratic as you listen. You yell out to the crowd.

"This stallion needs to get to a hospital immediately." You say.

You address some of the biggest patrons you can see.

"Gentlestallions please bring a cart out front." You say.

"What's happening to my husband." Spoiled pleads.

Filthy is on the floor but you can tell he's listening.

"The patient has a heart arrhythmia. This could indicate a heart attack and imminent sudden cardiac arrest. His condition could easily deteriorate so we must hurry and be careful. Personally I wouldn't get my hopes up, I don't think he'll make it. Hospital is too far and if he did make it then he could suffer brain damage." You say.

A stallion yells from the doorway.

"Carts' ready!" The stallion says.

You begin to pick up Filthy who looks like death already and not just because he's dying. He's tearing up but doesn't have the energy to do anything else.

"Cheer up Filthy. I've heard good things about Death. He's not as grim as everyone would have you think." You say.

Spoiled yells at you.

"How can you joke at a time like this! Don't you have a heart? There must be something you can do." Spoiled says.

"Madame, I am a doctor and an Addams. I am distinctly aware death is a part of life. My medical training isn't recognized here, I cannot do something" You say.

You lower your voice.

"at least not with so many witnesses." You say.

Spoiled clutches her head and sobs.

"F-Filthy baby please just hang on." Spoiled says.

Filthy doesn't respond. He's totally limp now.

"I think his heart has stopped." You say.

You're at the cart now about to slap the would be cadaver down. You sigh, disappointed that you must settle for this paltry amount of medical work. Spoiled grabs you by the cuffs with iron hooves. The strength is frightening and bruising. She bellows in your face.

"DO SOMETHING AND BUCK THE CONSEQUENCES. I'LL TAKE CARE OF IT." Spoiled says.

You have a choice now. You can place Filthy on the cart and leave the situation or you could attempt a dangerous and illegal surgery in the restaurant. There are no consequences if you leave things be but you can prove your medical skills if you perform the surgery successfully. If you fail then Spoiled Rich herself may seek your imprisonment. Your mouth salivates at the thought of opening up a steaming hot body.

"Very well madame but I will need an assistant..." You say.

 

You re enter the restaurant. Spoiled rich charges ahead of you and up ends then down ends a table, throwing food, dinnerware, and glasses to the ground. The ponies who were seated there numbly acquiesced to the fuming mare with a dieing husband. Spoiled runs off, barking orders and demands for the supplies you need. You gently placed Filthy onto the table before furiously undressing him. Buttons fly when you rip his shirt open. You begin chest compressions as you wait. Spoiled rich comes back with a small entourage holding the supplies.

"Anon, I couldn't find a defibrillator or an AED but they just use lightning right? Would a storm cloud work?" Spoiled says.

"It could work but it's not the correct type of discharge. Thankfully I have a few tricks from my uncle. It will do." You say.

Spoiled runs off to recruit some pegasi while you gather your tools. Strong liquor, ice buckets, knives, string, ice picks, clean fabric napkins, and wine glasses. You add your personal pouch of suture needles and thread to the pile. You disinfect your hands and tools with the liquor and bucket. You tie a napkin to your face. Spoiled returns and you instruct her to do the same.

Spoiled jams the ice picks deep into the table. You quickly vivisect Filthy. You both tie the flailing skin to the immobile picks. Your knife flashes across the body, peeling back the muscle and silver skin. The body is exceedingly warm and wet. Organs and bones glisten in the light. Spoiled is holding her expression well but she is in danger of vomiting.

"Spoiled, I want you to hum a tune. It will keep you from getting nauseous." You say.

Spoiled begins humming something. You strike Filthy's sternum with a cleaver with the power one would use to drive a nail with one blow. The sternum is split cleanly. You dig your digits between the halves of the ribcage and push them to either side. The heart is now exposed before you. You grasp it in your palms and search for the problem, feeling and looking. You identify the vessel with the clot. You cut the vessel right above the clot and pull the heart out of the chest cavity as much as you can without damaging any arteries. You lower your mouth to the cut and seal your lips around it. You suck blood from the heart, a slurping sound emanating from your mouth. Spoiled looks at you with great concern as your cheeks balloon with the blood. The heart shrivels up like a raisin. You swish and swirl the blood in your mouth, working on it. You spit the blood into a wine glass except for a thimble worth. You bring a second wine glass to your lips and spit out the thimble of blood. You pass the second glass to Spoiled.

“Here’s the clot Spoiled. We’re halfway through this.” You say.

Spoiled looks at you with wide eyes. You take the glass with the majority of the blood and shake it with your hand on the top of it and it shifts to a brighter tone. You tip it into your mouth and kiss the heart again, this time pushing the blood back into the organ. The heart inflates from its raisin state back to normal. You stitch closed the incision in the heart then quickly replace, secure, and stitch back the heart, ribs, layers of muscle, and skin on Filthy.

“Yes. Now lets get the lightning.” You say.

 

Outside the restaurant a black pony with a pale blue mohawk is waiting for you with a stormcloud. You recognize him as Thunderlane. His cutie mark is a thunder cloud with a lightning bolt coming out of it signifying his talents. Spoiled yells up to him.

"Thunderlane get ready with the lightning." She says.

You wheel a cart with Filthy on it in front of the restaurant then heft your large umbrella.

"Thunderlane, I need you to strike this umbrella when I say. Spoiled, I need you to help channel the charge. Stand on the ground and put your hoof here." You say

You direct Spoiled to sit beside the cart and hold her hoof to the side of Filthy's chest. You kneel on the cart with Filthy in between you and Spoiled. Your hand rests on the side of Filthy's barrel, almost opposite to Spoiled's hoof but moved upwards closer to Filthy's armpit. You unfurle the umbrella and point it skywards with your free hand. Thunderlane looks concerned.

"Yes and strike now Thunderlane!" You say.

Thunderlane stomps his front hooves into the cloud and an explosion of electric light connects to your umbrella. Everything tenses as hundreds of thousands of volts pass through you. You try to flex and tense your body to control the flow but you're unfamiliar with dealing with a surge. You barely modify the flow as it flows through your legs and into Filthy. Both your and his edges are fried and smoking.

"I couldn't control it, I need to try again and we need more power Thunderlane." You say.

"Gotcha boss." Thunderlane says.

Wait a second, you frown. Some electricity flowed through your legs. You look to Spoiled who looks untouched with her hoof unconnected to Filthy.

"Ma-DAMN" You swear.

Spoiled's eyes are wide and they shiver as they look at you. She stutters.

"Madam, your husband is dining with Death now. You must be strong" You say.

Spoiled nods and presses both hooves to Filthy's side. You lift your smoking umbrella again, keeping an eye on Spoiled.

"Now Thunderlane." You say.

Thunderlane bucks the cloud with his hind legs, producing another explosion of electric light. The energy flows through you and you try to arrest it and force it into a quick series of jolts. You are getting better but still feel the energy slipping by. Spoiled screams through clenched teeth. The stream lasts for a full second before spoiled collapses and it cuts out. You are feeling crispy all over now and Spoiled looks singed. Your umbrella is a bare steel wireframe.

"Agreed. Grip his flesh this time and don't let go. I'm close to perfecting the flow of lighting but we need more power." You say.

"Go for it, Thunderlane." You say.

Thunderlane pushes the cloud tens of meters upwards before moving far above it. You can barely see him as he dive bombs towards the cloud right above your head. You can see him flapping furiously, gaining ridiculous speed. He slams into the cloud his forehooves and continues pushing downwards, pummeling it as he falls. The lighting is not so much blown out but squeezed out at a tremendous rate to create a huge unbroken bolt as he punches more from the cloud and keeps pace with the falling bolt. You watch this spear of light descend upon you through the wires of your umbrella. It hits you like a landslide and you buckle under it. You feel like you're on fire but you don't let it stop you. You clench down on the organs you use to manipulate electricity like a steel trap and arrest the bolt. You force it into a low frequency alternating waveform and blast it right into Filthy. Spoiled screams again and is white hoof knuckle gripping Filthy with both hooves. The lightning stream subsides after a full three seconds.

 

You are the normally pampered and prim Spoiled rich. Right now you are burnt inside and out, your ears are ringing, and you want to keel over. You open your eyes and look towards your beautiful husband, Filthy. He's burnt and butchered before you and you don't want to let him go. You let go of his side with difficulty and touch his face.

"Filthy, honey please. I need you." You say.

Tears fill your eyes. You stroke his head. He jerks slightly before gasping and coughing. He attempts to double over but doesn't have the strength. He continues hacking and coughing. You cheer and laugh and hold him up as best you can.

Thunderlane is beside you and looking at the two of you. Wait no there's three. You look over at Anonymous and see a dusty black silhouette. He slowly falls over, creaking and looking like a dead tree. He releases a plume of smoke from his lungs in a coughing fit and croaks weakly.

 

You wander through the hospital looking for Anon. Thunderlane had pulled you, Filthy, and Anon to the hospital after your husband was resuscitated. You were still too shocked to sleep or rest. They had taken Filthy and immediately went into surgery. You don't know what they will think about what they find but you were reassured that professionals were double checking Anon’s work. Then again, Anon mentioned that he was a professional in his home.

They had done a quick check up on you before sending you off with burn cream and an order to rest up. This left you to your own devices and hence why you were looking for Anon. You didn't know what questions you had but you felt like you had some. You found Anon in a nearby wing. He rested in two beds, pushed end to end, because he was so tall. He was covered in bandages and burn cream but the doctors said he would make a full recovery.

"Hello..." You say.

He turns his head to you and you see his extremely pale eyes.

“Filthy’s in surgery. I think they don’t trust your work.” You say.

Anon blinks.

“I trusted it enough to save my husband's life, didn’t I?” You say.

You stay silent for a moment.

“If I had just met you, there’s no chance I would trust you. You’re an unlicensed scary freak!... sorry. But after seeing what I saw. I think I would trust you. Your bedside manner could use some work though.” You say.

Both you and Anon laugh.

“Thank you for saving my husband's life.” You say.

You’re both silent for a moment and you decide to take a seat. You groan as you lower your sore body into the chair. You’re struck by a thought you had earlier.

“What were you doing with the lightning?” You say.

You look at him in wonder.

“How?” You say.

 

-----

 

You are a very tall bipedal being known as Anon. You are resting in your abode, Dinky is there too. You stand at 10 ft tall with an ape index of 1.5. Your width has decreased, further emphasizing your unusual proportions. Your eyes, mouth, and ears have almost faded away completely to leave your face featureless. Your hearing and sight have been unaffected or improved by the fading of your features, contradictory to common sense. You are dressed in a tough charcoal black suit with a muted white shirt and black tie.

After you saved Filthy Rich at the restaurant, the local newspaper wrote about it. Ponies stopped you on the street to talk about it which had brought on a wonderful mood. The doctors asked how you removed the clot and you were happy to share. They had heard the same story from Spoiled but refused to believe it. You collected their contacts for future references and resources to help you with getting a new medical license.

Someone knocked heavily on the door. A raspish female voice imitating a gruff male voice called out from the other side.

"Hey tall, dark, and spooky, this is the guard. We're here to arrest you for medical malpractice. Open up!" The guard says.

Dinky stared wide eyed at the door and then at you.

"Don't worry Dinky, I think I can handle this. This isn't my first witch hunt." You say.

You open the door to reveal Rainbow Dash in shiny night guard armour.

"Not in the slightest Rainbow. My ears are far too keen now." You say.

Rainbow giggles and Dinky joins her.

“Positively. Here are the drawings you asked for.” You say.

You pull out a stack of crayon drawings on beat up school lined paper. They were simple drawings that depicted either you or messages about the persona you will be taking, the monster in the woods, Slenderman. Dinky spoke up about them.

 

You are the shiny and awesome Rainbowdash. You and Anon set up a booth outside White tail Woods to accept bits from ponies and organize the haunted trail tour. You will operate the booth and take groups on tours and Anon will wait in the wings to scare them. Flyers have been set out the weeks before, drawn in crayon style advertising the tour and telling ponies to beware of the slenderman in the woods. Anon put on makeup to increase his face’s shadows and hide his eyes and wore a dominating charcoal suit to run around in. You are dressed in guard armour. After setting up the booth, Anon stepped into the forest and you opened it for business.

A group of ponies come forward. You recognized Bonbon, Lyra, Carrot Top, Pokey Pierce, Bigmac, and Caramel.

”13 bits.” you say.

The group chatters among themselves for a minute before hoofing over the money. You hoof out flashlights to the group. You hold a bright lantern yourself.

“Alright. Now to set some ground rules. Stick close, don’t get lost, and if I tell you to do something, do it. Otherwise it could cost you your life. let's go!” You say.

 

You are a yellow cream earthpony with a curly stylish two tone mane, half pink and half blue. You are Bonbon. Lyra had dragged you out for this after seeing the posters that looked like they were drawn by a two year old. She loves scary movies and haunted houses. Your group follows RainbowDash as she leads you into Whitetail woods, the most explored and safest woods known to pony kind. You shake your head.

“I've got to stop thinking so cynically, they’re just trying to get me out to have some fun." you say to yourself.

Rainbow stops the group.

Rainbow motions to a crayon drawing nailed to a tree depicting a slender Anonymous with the words ‘TALL DEMON’.

“Comon Rainbow, we all know what Anon looks like. It’s not hard to miss a walking lamppost.” You quip.

Rainbow shoots you with an amused look for a second.

Rainbow pulls the drawing off the nail and a loud ghostly wail comes from deeper in the forest.

“Alright. Give it here.” You say.

 

You are a sea green unicorn with a lighter sea green mane with mixed white. You are Lyra. Rainbow led you deeper into the forest to a big crooked tree bent almost sideways. There is another picture partway up the tree.

“Uhh sure.” you say.

You casually walk up the crooked tree and pick off the picture. On it was a drawing depicting Slenderman and a pony with a flashlight and the words 'DON'T STARE’. The second the picture leaves the nail, a loud wail comes from the forest but much closer than last time. Close enough that you should be able to see him.

You strain your eyes and point your flashlight in that direction. The indistinct tall black shapes of trees blend together until you see one move and lower its limbs, then you see his white face shining in the dim light. He begins stepping towards you. A loud snap of a branch announces his location.

“He’s there. Look there he is.” You hiss.

The others look in that direction too and Anon starts making a piercing noise like scratching glass and crashing waves mixed together. He continues walking towards the group slowly.

“It says not to look.” You say.

Everypony turns off their flashlights and Dash snuffs the lantern. You didn’t realize how much light the lantern was providing until it was snuffed and you were plunged in complete darkness. The crunching of twigs and branches from Slenderman continued getting louder and closer for a few seconds then stopped. The steps started again except this time going away from your group, down the way you came. The strange sound he was making didn’t stop though. After the sounds faded in the distance, Rainbow lit her lantern again, illuminating your group.

Caramel was revealed to be pressed against Big Mac, both of which had wide eyes. Bonbon and Pokey had backed up too but not to the same extent as Big Mac and Caramel. Carrot Top was cowering behind Pokey.

 

You are a royal blue unicorn with a wavy light blue and white mane and an unusually sharp horn. You are Pokey Pierce. Your group proceeds deeper into the woods from the crooked tree, coming to an old cabin. You spot the next drawing first.

"Hey look. Here's the next one." You say.

Without thinking you pluck it from the nail. The Slenderman bellows. The sound is long and echoes through the forest. Furious crashing steps begin coming towards your seconds before you spot movement in the forest.

Your group bump into each other trying to get inside like a jam of school children at the recess bell. Big mac is second to last and bowls you all in with his weight. Rainbow is soon after him and slams the door.

"Ouch Big Mac you gotta watch it." Caramel says getting up from the floor.

Something slams into the door and then it slams again and again. The wood groans at every hit.

Everypony backs away and extinguishes their lights, putting you in complete darkness.

You are pressed against the far wall. The Slenderman eventually gives up bashing the door and you hear his heavy footsteps on the gravel walking away. The steps don't fade, they continue to circle the cabin like a shark. They keep plodding along threatening your group. The window behind you explodes inward and an ice cold claw grabs your shoulder through it. You scream bloody murder. Everypony else starts screaming. Every window in the cabin opens and in the moonlight you make out the silhouettes of slimy tentacles reaching in.

You move a step but are slammed back by the claw. You thrash and struggle against it but it's grip is unbreakable. You accidentally swipe it with your horn and fluid splashes you in the face. The claw releases you and your scurry away. The claw retreats after you get beyond its reach. The tentacles are just long enough to tongue your group in the center and retract after a few moments more.

Lights are reignited and you see smiling faces. There were flecks of green slime on the surfaces and ponies in the cabin.

You feel a moisture on your head and wipe it instinctively. Your hoof comes back with a black smear.

"Timeout. I think I accidentally hurt Anon." You say.

Rainbow looks you over and examines the black fluid. You try to wipe it off.

You remember the drawing you picked up and take a look at it. The others crowd around to see too. It depicts two Slendermen, one holding the other's body in one hand and dismembered head in the other. The dismembered head had X's for eyes. 'FAKE' was written above the drawing.

 

You are a caramel earthpony stallion with a slightly darker caramel mane. You are Caramel. You were trotting along the forest path, Carrot Top walking quite close and shivering.

“Yeah, yeah it’s great isn’t it. I’m actually glad we're doing this.” You chuckle.

“Hey there's the next drawing.” You say.

There's a small clearing with an overturned and busted wagon by the edge. Pinned on a nearby tree is the drawing. You trot up to it but don’t pull it right away, remembering what Pokey did. You take a look at the drawing. It shows a pony in the centre of a large spiral with the words ‘NO ESCAPE’.

“Ok everyone. Get ready. I’m going to pull it.” You say.

She looks around for a moment before lifting up one side of the wagon.

Everypony else couches down and crawls in. After the last one, Rainbow herself gets inside leaving you outside alone.

You pull the drawing and the wail is heard through the forest. You didn’t think this through, where are you going to hide? There are already sounds of something moving towards you. You run to the wagon.

”Let me in, let me in!” You say.

There’s grunting and straining from inside the wagon before the corner lifts up and Lyra’s face looks at you from inside.

“What the heck am I supposed to do then, run into the woods?” You hiss.

Pokey pipes up.

You jump behind the cart and a moment later the Slenderman bursts through the brush on the other end of the clearing. You don’t look to confirm it’s him but you just know. The plodding steps move towards the site where the drawing was, you can hear them crunching soil underhoof. You look to the side at the tree the drawing was on and spy the arm of the slenderman touching the tree with a bloody, white hand. Your view of the rest of him was obscured by the wagon. You inch closer to get a better look. There's a small knock from inside the wagon and he suddenly turns towards the wagon you're hiding behind. He begins walking towards you, his gait transforming into predatory stalking. He walks around the other side of the wagon, dragging a fingernail on the aged wood making a scraping noise. He steps onto the wagon with a wooden thump and you hear it creak behind you. You keep your eyes locked to the black forest abyss in front of you, hoping that the Slenderman is looking for something in the abyss too and not at his feet. He clambers down the wagon and begins plodding away again. You don’t dare breathe until moments after he leaves the clearing.

“Sweet Celestia.” You gasp.

“Yeah, yeah it’s clear.” You say.

 

You are a cream yellow earthpony mare with a carrot orange mane. You are Carrot Top. You have stopped shivering but you are still shaken. Your group continues through the forest, following the path. You wave the flashlight around looking for drawings or signs of the Slenderman. You spot a bit of bright red on the ground.

“Hey what’s that? I think there’s some blood.” You say.

You trot over to look closer. The blood is splashed on the ground here and forms a trail on the path.

“What's the matter, Rainbow?” You say.

“Um, alright? It sounds like you're saying Slenderman isn’t Anon.” You say.

Your group follows the blood trail. You hear whispering behind you.

You ignore it and continue looking down the path. There's more splashes of blood up ahead, much larger this time. Did something happen here? You look for more clues around the edge and you spot an arm on the trail making you scream out. It’s pale, has 5 digits, has a suit sleeve, and was ripped messily from the body.

“Arm. There’s an arm. I think it’s Anons.” You say.

Bonbon is beside you in an instant.

Bonbon picks up the arm and feels it up, getting blood all over her hooves.

“Bonbon stop. This is serious.” You say.

Bonbon sighs.

Rainbow shot her a glare.

Bonbon just smirks back at her.

She licks some blood from her hoof. Her face screws up for a moment and she takes a second taste.

Bonbon drops the arm on the ground a little shaken. She spits out the blood. Rainbow picks up the arm and puts it in her saddle bag.

“Let's just find Anon a-and get the heck out of here.” You say.

You’re shivering again. You continue following the blood trail which has gotten thicker after the arm was severed. The forest is quiet and black all around you, the only sound is your group's steps and breathing. After short minutes of walking you find a large bloody patch in the middle of the path. The blood trail ends at the patch.

In the center of the patch a drawing rests face down. You slowly walk into the blood, feeling it was still wet and soaking into the earth beneath your hooves, to pick up the stained drawing. It depicts a forest and seven ponies that share your group's colours. A wet drop of blood hits the page with a heavy splat. You look up just as another drop hits your nose making you step back. You see the long thin body of Anon hanging limply in the air impaled through the chest with a branch. You yell out in panic.

“It’s Anon. Anon’s dead. He’s dead.” You scream.

Bigmac grabs you from behind, covering your mouth with a large hoof.

He releases you and you take a shuddering breath.

Rainbow flies up and begins pushing Anon’s body off of the thick branch. It slides off with a wet sucking noise and hits the ground without grace. Caramel didn’t stand far back enough and blood splashes onto him. He makes a whimpering noise in response. You see the stump where one arm was severed from Anon’s body. The other arm was intact and some paper was in his hand. You gently push his hand open and tug it out of his claw like grip, not wanting to touch the dead body. The papers are more drawings from the Slenderman. One drawing is of a campsite with triangles for tents and an upside-down pentagram in the center and the words 'HOME' . The other drawing is blank except for the words 'NO HOPE' and scrawled under it in blood is 'Run Rainbowdash'.

Bonbon looks like she is going to verbally thrash Rainbow. You decide to cut her off.

"Why not? Is there something you need to tell us? " You ask.

Rainbow sniffles wetly and wipes her nose. Her voice cracks as she speaks.

"So we just have to find one more right?" You say.

 

You are a big red earth pony with an orange mane. You are Big Macintosh or Bigmac for short. Rainbow knows the last drawing is probably going to be at whatever altar she and Anon used to summon this nightmare. You and everypony else was just following and trusting her. It didn't feel right leaving Anon’s body in the trail like that but you couldn't waste time. You will just bury him afterwards.

"I am." you say.

"Such as? " You say.

"Maybe." You say.

"This game seems like it's about avoiding him. Wouldn't make sense if you could jump him easy like that." You say.

You see the campsite ahead. It is a simple clearing with spaces for tents, logs for sitting, and fire pits. Inside one of the largest pits sat a bloody, twisted mess of rebar with a pony's skull artfully nestled on top. You guess that must be the altar.

Rainbow begins drawing circles around the altar. You look around to find the last drawing. You spot something on the other end of the campsite and cautiously begin walking over, keeping a lookout for the Slenderman.

“I think I see it Rainbow.” You say.

The picture is prominently displayed on a tree. There’s a smear of blood on it you can see from some distance away. Chills run up your spine. You feel like this is too easy, it’s the last drawing and the Slenderman wouldn't just let you have it. Either way somepony has to get it. You proceed forward to the picture, walking around and over logs. You keep looking at the forest surrounding the drawing to spot any movement or its pale face. You look into the canopy to see if it’s hiding amongst the branches as well. You don’t see him and that makes you worried. You decide to pony up and get the drawing. You walk up and pluck the drawing.

You whip around and see the Slenderman sitting up from the ground. It was hiding, lying behind a log this whole time. It begins wailing and stalking towards you, tentacles extending from his back like scorpion tails.

Rainbow slams into the Slenderman from the side, almost toppling him. It skids on the gravel for a few feet, Rainbow pushing him along. The Slenderman growls and slams Rainbow into the ground by the throat before picking her up and throwing her back. You run while Rainbow is fighting it. Your blood is pumping and you feel light like a feather as you sprint to the Altar. The monster screeches and starts chasing you. Rainbow slams into the Slenderman again from behind, pushing it to the ground.

 

Rainbow chucks something shiny at you. You catch it a moment before it hits your face and see its a zippo lighter.

The Slenderman twists around and grabs at Rainbow. She takes flight again to avoid the grapple. You run to the altar and Caramel hands you the rest of the pages. You stab the pages on an errant spike of the altar and start lighting them up. You look to Rainbow again and see she’s flying around the Slenderman at an incredible speed, creating a rainbow tornado around it. The Slenderman grabs her with both hands and gets dragged along but quickly bleeds her speed to nothing. Rainbow struggles, wings flapping furiously to get away but the Slenderman seems to have unnatural strength. The Slenderman lifts Rainbow high above its head before slamming her back down on its knee, making a sickening snapping sound.

The Slenderman lets go and Rainbow limply falls to the side, then it gets up and begins stalking towards you and the rest of the ponies. You keep burning the pages, lighting up under them to make them burn faster but it doesn’t seem to affect the Slenderman. The Slenderman starts making a sound like a rock tumbler filled with broken glass as he bears down on you.

“Everypony square up. We got to fight.” You bellow.

You take a stance on shaky legs. Pokey jumps to your side and brandishes his horn but is obviously scared. Lyra and Bonbon are shaking and hugging each other. Caramel and Carrot top are standing warily to the side, Carrot carrying a big stick.

Rainbow crawls using her forhooves from where she was left on the ground, pain evident on her face. Her lower body isn’t moving. A ring of fire starts in the circles around the altar, surrounding your group. The Slenderman stops before the outer ring and growls again, glaring at you with his eyeless, mouthless face. Rainbow continues her speech.

The Slenderman whips around and begins running towards Rainbow with its arms outstretched.

The Slenderman stops and convulses, as if fighting some unknown force.

The Slenderman and the area around it bursts into bright flames and it screeches. It twists and writhes in pain. It slowly seems to evaporate into nothing and the flames die off, leaving behind a pitch black suit. The flame rings die too. After the flames go out, you run to Rainbow with the rest of the group.

”Are you okay Rainbow, Is your back broken.?” You ask.

Rainbow shakily gets to her legs with a confused expression.

Everypony agrees with Caramel and begins moving to the trail path.

You strain your ears, listening for anything. After a moment you hear a muffled yelling and thumping. It sounds like it’s coming from the altar. You walk over and the sound becomes clearer.

“Is that Anon?” You ask.

You shove over the altar and begin digging through gravel. A few centimeters below the surface, you find a wooden trap door.

You open the trap door and see Anon is in a pit under the altar. He looks up to you with his white and almost featureless face but it has gratitude etched on it.

You help Anon out of the pit.

Anon feels a coat pocket for an object he seems to not recall putting there. He pulls out a small collection of coins that look like bits with skulls stamped on them. Rainbow gasps.

Anon hands out a coin to each of the group. On closer inspection you see it's a normal chocolate coin with a skull stamped on it. Bonbon laughs and sighs.

Bonbon puts a hoof around Lyra and nuzzles her.

”Well I wouldn’t mind next year but right now I need some good eating.” You say.

Rainbow produces a tripod camera and everypony gets into frame, with Anon looming behind everyone.

Bonbon gags.

FLASH.

 

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