It was the next day, and a fresh snowfall combined with relatively clear skies sent ponies across town outside for an afternoon spent playing in the snow.

Scootaloo and Zipline had been sent outside by Rain Breeze—after she made sure that they both had their scarves, hats, earmuffs and boots and that they fit snugly. "You deserve to spend some time alone with her, just father and daughter," she had said to her husband. "Besides," she added, slowly drawing her tail across his face, "We'll have some time to ourselves tomorrow when she's at school."

So after an hour of making snowponies and snow angels and romping through the snow, the two lay on their backs, laughing happily.

"So how's your flying coming?" Zipline asked Scootaloo.

"I'm doing better," Scootaloo replied. "I hovered for almost ten seconds last week!"

"That's great!" Zipline said. With a laugh, he grabbed Scootaloo and tossed her into the air. The little filly's wings buzzed, holding her in midair for a few seconds before gently allowing her to float back to her father's embrace, both of them laughing.

As Scootaloo looked up, she saw a distinctive rainbow flying across the sky. "Hey, Rainbow! Down here!"

Hearing the voice, Rainbow zipped down and landed besides the pair. "Heya, squirt. Who's this?"

"My dad!" Scootaloo said proudly.

"So you're Rainbow Dash," Zipline said, getting up and examining the younger pegasus. "You know my daughter has said a lot about you."

"I bet she has," Rainbow Dash said, tousling Scootaloo's hair. "So he's your dad? An awesome filly like you must have an equally awesome dad."

"Awesome enough for you, kiddo," Zipline said with a smirk.

"If that's true, then how about a race?" Rainbow Dash said.

Scootaloo's eyes lit up with delight at the prospect of seeing two of her favorite ponies engaging in a race. Of course Zipline couldn't say no to her when she was that happy.

And so, the next thing he knew, he was peeking over the edge of a cloud high in the air, looking at how far away the ground was from him. He swallowed and felt his knees go weak, the cloud seeming to spin beneath him and his vision blurring into a mess of colors. Me and my big mouth. Of course the dare had to involve his biggest weakness: high places. And of course he had to be unable to refuse a dare.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash said. "I said, are you ready?"

Zipline tried to force himself to focus on the three Rainbow Dashes, who were grinning next to him. He took a shaky breath. "Yes."

"Readysetgo!" Rainbow Dash said, zipping off in a multi-spectrum flash. Zipline chased after her a second late. Rainbow Dash zipped through clouds and around obstacles, making tight turns and agile loops with ease. Zipline was right behind her, able to follow her trail fairly closely, but he wasn't concentrating on the race. He was concentrating on not looking down.

Which of course meant that he looked down, and remembered just how far away the ground was, and started wondering how much it would hurt if he fell...

And started wondering about that strange pony standing hidden underneath the leafless branches of an oak tree. He could only see part of his blurry shape, but...was it his imagination, or was the pony watching him?

He glanced up to find that he was about to run into a cloud that Rainbow had set up as a U-turn. Instantly, he switched directions and started hurtling towards the ground, inches behind Rainbow.

Rainbow hit the ground gracefully right in front of Scootaloo. Zipline more or less flopped onto the ground, panting with relief at being back on solid ground.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo cheered. "That was awesome!"

"I saw that turn you made," Rainbow said. "Not bad for an old guy."

The prick at his ego made him instantly forget his shaky experience. "Old guy?" Zipline said with a grin. "Oh, I'll show you!" He dug around and found two small stones. He gave one to Scootaloo. "After I turn my back, I want you to toss this as high into the air as you can. Shout 'now' when you do it, okay?"

"Okay, dad!" Scootaloo said. Zipline, still holding the other stone, turned his back. Scootaloo waited a moment, then tossed the stone high into the air. "Now!"

In an instant, Zipline whipped around and threw the stone in his hoof. It sailed through the air like a bullet and struck the other stone with a crack. Scootaloo cheered and thrust a hoof into the air in celebration of her father's feat.

"I may not be the fastest flier in Equestria, but I am the fastest shot in Equestria," Zipline said coolly, blowing across his hoof.

Rainbow Dash picked her jaw back up from the ground and put on an air of feigned disinterest. "Eh, it's kinda cool, I guess."

"Oh, yeah? Want to see what I can do with a snowball?" Zipline said, using his wing to pack some snow into a ball. As he did so, he caught Scootaloo's eye and winked at her. Catching on, Scootaloo pointed up and shouted, "Hey, what's that?"

Rainbow Dash fell for the trick: she looked up and, seeing nothing, turned back, saying, "There's nothing up—" Her voice turned into a surprised splutter when she suddenly found herself taking a mouthful of snow.

"Boom! Headshot!" Zipline said, laughing along with Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash spat out snow, grinning devilishly. "Oh, you asked for this!" she said, scooping up several snowballs with her wings and tossing them at her friends. Scootaloo squealed as several struck her, but Zipline dodged every single one and countered with two of his own snowballs, scoring another two hits. Within moments, it turned into a free-for-all snowball fight that ended with all three of them lying on the ground, covered in snow and their sides aching with laughter.

It was then that they noticed that a fog had rolled in. Visibility was cut down by several feet, the world vanishing under a thick gray blanket.

"What the hay?" Rainbow Dash said, turning serious at the strange turn of the weather. "That's not scheduled. It might be coming from the Everfree Forest. You guys should go home; I'll go meet up with the rest of the weather squad."

"Okay. It was nice meeting you, Rainbow!" Zipline said.

"You, too! See you round, squirt!" Rainbow said, flying off.

"C'mon, honey," Zipline said, taking Scootaloo protectively under a wing and leading her back home.

Ponyville had turned into a completely different place underneath the fog. Everything had become gray and blurry, the cold biting into their faces. It was oddly silent; the only sound they heard was the snow crunching underneath their hooves and the cawing of a crow, it's throaty cries strangely muffled. Zipline felt chills down his back, and they weren't from the cold: something felt wrong, like there was something following him, watching him, waiting for the right moment.

Suddenly, something lunged at them out of the fog! With a surprised cry, Zipline pushed Scootaloo behind him as he reached for the holster that was not on his hip.

The creature cried out too. "Somepony turn on the lights! I can't see!"

The creature turned out to be Ditzy Do, who had somehow gotten her head stuck inside a mailbox and was now running blind down the street.

"Ditzy, come back!" Time Turner shouted as he and Dinky chased after her. Time Turner was wearing a multi-colored scarf that was so long that both ends trailed along the ground and flapped behind him. They soon disappeared into the fog.

Zipline sighed and relaxed, releasing his hold on Scootaloo. "Jeez, dad, you're awful jumpy," Scoots said.

"Just nerves. C'mon." Zipline said, hurrying home.

Late that night, Zipline suddenly jolted awake. It took a moment for him to reorient himself in the dark, then he felt the covers over him and the touch of his wife's body next to him. He flopped back onto the bed, sighing. He must still be on his Guard sleep schedule.

Turning to his sleeping wife, he admired her cloud white fur in the dim star and moonlight filtering in through the window, occasionally letting out a little snore that rustled her hair. Smiling, he reached down and stroked her back lovingly with a hoof. She murmured sleepily and curled up closer to him.

Zipline was just about to go back to sleep when he remembered what had woken him up: he'd heard something through the open bedroom door.

Which hadn't been open when he and Rain Breeze went to sleep.

Frowning, he got out of bed to investigate, moving carefully so as not to wake Rain Breeze. He stepped out into the hall and glanced up and down, ears and eyes wide open and alert for any sign of an intruder. From the darkness, a faint sound filtered up to him: a soft tapping of wood. He slowly walked down the hallway. As he passed the closed door of Scootaloo's room, he paused briefly, but was relieved to hear her soft breathing through the door.

Following the sound downstairs, he found that the tapping was coming from the front door. Who's calling at this time of night? he thought, heading for the door. "Hello?" he said, opening the door.

Nopony was there. Staring in bewilderment, he stepped out onto the doorstep, turning his head left and right. But the snow-covered streets were empty, and there were no signs of any footprints.

Must have been a bird, Zipline thought, shaking his head in annoyance, turning to go back inside. But when he saw the door, he stopped and stared in bewilderment.

Carved into the door was a strange symbol: a circle with a large X through it, made of rough scratches in the wood. Beneath it, a piece of paper was tacked to the door. On it was scrawled in childish block-like letters, "CANT RUN CANT HIDE." Beneath it was a crude drawing of a pony wearing a suit and tie, surrounded by trees.

Zipline stared at the picture and symbol in confusion. What was this, some kind of prank?

He heard a rustle behind him, and that's when he felt it. A subtle tingle on the back of his neck that turned into a shiver down his spine and froze his hooves in place, all the hairs in his fur standing up and his feathers stiffening in alarm, every instinct telling him, Don't turn around.

He turned around. Instantly, he wished that he hadn't.

The thing standing before him had the shape of a pony, but it...just couldn't be. It had abnormally long, gangly legs, each almost as long as he was tall. It had no mane or tail and was dressed in a crisp black suit, pants and tie. But it was the thing's head that was horrifying. It was completely blank: the thing had no face--no eyes, no mouth, and only the vague shape of a nose and ears.

It should have been bizarre, almost laughable, like some store mannequin. It was the most terrifying thing Zipline had ever seen in his life.

He stood there, unable to move, staring upwards at the faceless head towering over him, shimmering and flickering like something seen through water. A strange hissing whine filled his ears, gradually growing into a roar as he felt his legs finally fail him. The blank, faceless head filled his gaze and it felt like he was falling into darkness...

Author's Notes:

The Slenderpony cometh...