//------------------------------// // Understanding // Story: The Best Poker Face // by Chemtest //------------------------------// Slender moves to the alley, checking closely for any sign, “Didn’t think you’d speak again. What happened to you?” I’ve been thinking. Slender examines a knocked over trash can, “Thinking? Don’t be offended, but I thought the only thing you thought about was killing and taking control. Considering you are not already shouting at me about either of those two, plus the fact that you didn’t take control when offered, I am curious. What is it, exactly, that you were thinking about?” What you said to me, in her memories. You’ve always just ignored me or just tried to be neutral before. But that time, you actually lashed back, and you shocked me. The one so usually peaceful and tranquil lashing out with rage and insults worse than any other could give. Slender follows the trail into another alley, “Are you going to say I’m wrong?” No... no, you just don’t have the full picture. We’ve been sharing this mind for two conscious years, yet we’ve closed our pasts like the gates of Hell. I only know the last moments of your old life, and I’m sure you don’t know anything about mine. You sat down with Celestia, talked with her, and made our greatest enemy into an ally. Perhaps the same could happen here. Tell me, how did you get to that laboratory? Slender sighs, “You want to know my past? Heh, I could use some knowledge myself.” He leans against a wall, basking in the darkness, “My oldest memories are from when I was one year old. The oldest memories, and they are at the orphanage. Who my parents were, I have no idea. They apparently thought I was useless, and abandoned me before I could even walk. That’s my family, how about yours?” You... you were also an orphan? Slender stands up in shock, “Wait, ‘also’?! You mean to tell me you were an orphan?!” Well, yes, I never had any parents. I’ve never had a biological family. No, I was born out of nothing. You were born from parents who abandoned you, and I never even had anyone to birth me. My oldest memory was as soon I was born, in the same form as now. The first human felt fear for the first time. That fear became me. I found myself in the middle of a forest, the Black Forest in Germany. No idea of where I was, who I was, or what anything was. I roamed the Black Forest until I finally found a settlement. I was so happy to see creatures similar to me, with two legs, arms, and a single head on their shoulders. I walked into the village, mind open, and heart aching for companionship. As soon as they saw me, they feared me. I felt power grow within me as they saw my face, and suddenly had tendrils sprout from my back. They ran, they fled, and screamed for their lives. I tried to explain myself to them, but they didn’t listen. They got their spears, and I was chased out of there. Humanity had rejected me, and all I had learned is that their fear was good for me. Slender moves along the trail some more, “Humanity also rejected me, even if I was one of them. They saw me scurrying around in the alleyways, and were disgusted. They spit at me, they beat me, they never looked me in the eyes. It was a small town, one where everyone knew everyone, and they all knew I was a dirty orphan. The only ones who accepted me were the ones who were on my level. My best and only friends were the five other orphans. We were the perfect group of troublemakers. The charismatic one, the clever one, the fighter, the planner, the smart one, and me, the stealthy one. We needed food, shelter, clothes. I was the one who took the blame if it went wrong. I was the one who stole, I was the one who lied, I was the one that cheated. They could live their life, go to school, get jobs. And I was constantly doing odd jobs, all so that they could live the life I couldn’t. I didn’t have a family, but they were my brothers.” I had brothers as well. Others who were odd, or looked like me, or were rejected by humanity. It was shortly after I left that I met the first. I was moping around outside the village, planning on what to do. I sat up against a tree, choosing between trying to greet them again, or getting their fear instead. He walked up to me, a cane in his hand, a flamboyant suit on, and a hat slightly tilted on his head. His face was yellow, like the sun on a nice day, and he smiled down as he offered a hand. He is the Spirit of Joy, just as I am Fear. Splendorman, my brother. He wasn’t the only one either. Human emotions grew so strong that more spirits appeared, and some looked like us. Offenderman, the Spirit of Lust. Tenderman, the Spirit of Sympathy. Trenderman, Spirit of Belonging. We all were brothers, and we stuck together as such. Slender finds another alley, where more stuff is knocked over, “It sounds like you are a long way off from the laboratory. How did you become the monster?” A creature of extraordinary power was born, a monster. A Drude, who’s power was so great that your body could be harmed from what happens within a dream. When this Drude would kill you in a dream, it would kill you in real life. That is how it began. It wanted to steal the title, to become the Spirit of Fear. So it killed people, and absorbed their fear to bolster it’s own power. It eventually decided that it could defeat not only me, but all of my brothers. They almost all died, every last one of them. If they weren’t so powerful themselves, then they would have died. I barely managed to kill the Drude, and became badly injured myself. It became clear to me, as I saw the bleeding, almost dead bodies of my brothers, and saw my own life flash before my eyes, that I needed more power. If I were to die, and another creature were to take the title, then the world would be doomed. Humans are naturally prone to fear, and with the proper actions, one could gain enough power to kill every creature on Earth at once. I needed to make sure that never happened, and nothing makes people more afraid than death. So, that’s what I had to resort to. Death, destruction, all so that worse could be stopped. Slender stops, and leans against a wall, “So you wanted to protect the world?” He shakes his head, “You did not put any planning into that, you know. There are so many ways you could gather fear without death. At least in the modern level, you upload something even slightly scary to the internet, and you have a basically unlimited supply.” Back then, it was the only option I had. I tried. Believe me... I tried. They just didn’t fear enough, unless I chose death. Yes, in the modern day I could have, but my path was already set. Slender sighs, “But now we’re in a new world. Why did you kill them, Slenderman, why?” I didn’t know that this world was as powerful as it is. I thought that this world also needed protection. Slender looks forward, “I took a job at the laboratory, under the guise that they would send me to a new world. Said they needed a powerful entity to work, so I tricked you into being trapped with me. You know why I chose this world? It’s because I wanted a new life, one where I wasn’t seen as evil.” You never were. Slender begins to walk again, “Yes I was. I stole, I lied, I cheated. Now I have achieved my goal for coming here, I suppose. Now, I have a new one. Slenderman, why exactly did you speak up right now?” I recognize that knife. The most powerful challenger for my title so far, one I have never managed to kill. He always manages to escape or weasel his way out somehow. If he is here, and openly still challenges me, then we are screwed. You do not have enough fear to face him, and you don’t have the same knowledge of this body like I do. I know that I need to help you, or this world will soon be gone. Slender emerges onto a street where only a few ponies walk, “On one condition, Slenderman, only one. You shall not kill anyone, just as I shall not kill anyone.” I... deal. Slender nods, and barely notices as Slenderman takes control of a tendril. He looks over, and sees a knife being held by that tendril, a meter away from a pony walking down the street. The pony also looks over, seeing the knife. She begins to scream, and run down the street. Ponies all around begin to join her, scrambling to get home. He rushes out of an alley, grabbing a pony, and holding a knife to it’s neck. Slender takes a step back upon seeing him, “You! I recognize you!” Jeff’s smile seems to grow even more, “Oh, Slendy, I knew you would!” Slender glares the best he can without eyes, “You were that killer in the paper!” Jeff takes his own step back, “I-in the paper? What are you talking about, Slendy, it’s me! Jeff, your greatest enemy?” Slender takes a step forward, “Okay, look, release the pony and you can walk free of Canterlot. That’s what you want, right?” He doesn’t know that you aren’t me, good. He will figure out eventually though. I need you to act weak. If he thinks you are weak, then he will underestimate us. Our goal is to confuse him as much as possible, and make it seem like we are weak. Guards come running up behind Slender, but stop as soon as they see Jeff’s hostage. Slender looks around him, “Let the stallion go, or these guards here will teach you a lesson.” Jeff sputters, “Guards? Let someone go? Letting me go? Come on, where’s your violence, Slendy!? I am on your hunting grounds, playing with your food, why aren’t you killing me?! You really value this creatures life over mine?” Slender crosses his arms, “Do it, and we will open the gates.” Jeff tries to comprehend what’s happening, his wide eyes easily communicate his inner breakdown. He eventually just throws the pony at Slender, and runs out the gates of Canterlot.