//------------------------------// // 6. Haunts and Histories // Story: Shadow in Equestria // by ClankHoof //------------------------------// I looked around desperately for something to help me, as the blur was gone now, but all I could see was an open field bordering the forest. If I could straighten out a little, I could slide across the grass to a stop, instead of face planting into the earth at a dangerous angle. I struggled furiously with my own wings, managing to slowly peel them away from my sides. I wasn't going to make it. I was going to die. Luna's nipple, I knew flying always ended up badly, and to try racing as well; I must be a real idiot. As I zoomed toward the ground, I remembered my mission. I am the only one who understands the danger Ponyville is in. I am the one who needs to save what I couldn't all those years ago. I need to rediscover my past, and figure out what I'm good at in the world. I need to find my cutie mark. This gave me a boost in energy, allowing me to not only reopen my wings, but to straighten out and land, though not as gracefully as I would've liked, kicking up a cloud of dust as I came to a complete stop. Then I collapsed in a heap, shaking violently at how close I had come to losing it all. A sound nearby startled me, making me look up. The other ponies were all still to far away to have gotten to me yet, but what heard came from the darkness of the forest. I squinted into the gloom. At first I couldn't see anything, but then a cloud went in front of the sun, and it helped even out the shadows. What I saw nearly stopped my heart. A tall, lanky figure, barely visible through the brush, standing there; watching me. It was exactly as Sweetie Belle had described it: black, with a blank white face. I couldn't believe it. I was right all along. It was HIM. Instead of me finding him after such a long time, he had found me first. Perhaps he had even been following me the whole time. It doesn't matter. My family, my past, my Life... all of my answers were staring me in the face, without eyes. And it seemed almost cruel, as i couldn't make him tell them to me either. He had no mouth. I was terrified and angry at the same time. I heard the other ponies coming up behind me. "Are you alright, Shadow?" "I'd never seen anypony who's ever done that maneuver before, and what a landing!" "Anyone see his streak of grey and black across the sky? I thought only Rainbow could do something like that!" "I can't believe I LOST!" I turned briefly to acknowledge them, and when I looked back, he was gone. The cloud had moved further across the sky, letting the sun shine brightly again. "What are you looking at, Shadow?" Twilight came up to me, squinting in the direction I'd been staring. "What? Oh, nothing. Thought I just saw something." I lied, shaking my head softly. "Guess I'm still a little dizzy from my flight." "Well, other than scaring us in the end there, you won! You beat Rainbow Dash!" Exclaimed a purple colored pony, who was surrounded by a couple of fillies. I spotted RD sulking near the back if the crowd. Clearly she didn't like losing, and it didn't happen to her often. Pinkie pushed her way to the front of the group. "This deserves another party!" She exclaimed, throwing confetti into the air. "No, I think one party is enough for me." I laughed a little, lightening my mood a little. I got up and shook some of the dust off my grey fur and wings, then headed towards Rainbow Dash. "I gotta say, you are quite the flyer, RD. you almost had me at the schoolhouse. Good race?" I put out my hoof to shake hers. She looked grumpily at me, then sighed, taking my hoof. "Alright, good race. But I should tell you now that I let you win. I thought you weren't that great a flyer, so I went easy on ya. If we did a rematch, you'd see what I can REALLY do." She smirked again. "Although, it would be great if you could show me that move you did around the schoolhouse again, so I can, uh, know what to expect next time." We headed back to Sugarcube Corner to continue the party, this time with a little more reason to celebrate. -S- The party lasted a few hours, in which time I met many more ponies like Cheerilee, the purple pony I had seen back on the field. Nothing else really interesting happened at the party, unless you count Pinkie diving into the punchbowl, and coming out with more balloons, which left me quite puzzled. After it was over, everyone went home except the six Elements, Mr. And Mrs. Cake, who were the bakers who ran the Sugarcube, and me. Twilight now had a serious face, and I wondered what she was about to tell me. "Shadow, another pony went missing yesterday. We're not really sure, but we think it could have a connection to your encounter in the Everfree." I was surprised, then i just sighed, looking at each of the six mares, I understood what I must do. It was time to give them answers. It was time to tell them what I had seen in the forest, what was now hunting the ponies of Ponyville. I have to tell them about Slendermane. "Do we have anywhere more, private to talk?" I asked Twilight. She seemed to understand, so we left the Sugarcube and headed back to the tree house library. Inside, the other ponies sat in a half-circle around me, and Twilight pulled out her notepad again. Spike was there, but Twilight reassured me that he was trustworthy. "Alright, now that we're alone, I wish to tell you my tale, why I don't have a cutie mark after all this time, and why there have been attacks and disappearances the last few days." I said, pausing for a minute to collect my thoughts. -S- Then I began my story: I was born in the small village of Haystown. I was an only child, and my parents were a blue Unicorn and a brown earth pony, and so were a little surprised at how their son was a grey and black colored Pegasus. We were quite the mix-and-match family, but we loved each other, and didn't seem to have a care in the world. There were also plenty of other young fillies such as myself who I could play with. Around the time I turned 2, my parents started acting strange. They seemed to be tense all the time, and kept me indoors more often. I had also noticed some of my friends hadn't been showing up to our little play dates. Little was I to realize that something was taking ponies rom the village, under cover of night. Scouts had been sent out to the surrounding forest and plains to seek out the creature, and to find help, but to no avail. Many of these ponies went missing as well. Some decided to escape the village before it was too late. we weren't sure if they were successful, because after they left, we never heard from them again. The few who remained tried to erect defenses around the town, and everypony stayed within the village. The adults sent all of us fillies to the basement of one of the houses, bringing down food and water whenever they could. A few nights later, we awoke to the sounds of screams outside the low basement window, and many scattered hoofbeats. Some of the others peeked out, but couldn't see anything except panicked ponies running around. Then the fires started. I'm not sure who set them, but as straw-roofed houses go, the fires spread fast, lighting up the outside world. As the other fillies were led out the door to escape the house before it too caught fire, I decided to have a peek through the window; what I saw would haunt me for weeks afterwards. A tall, shadowy pony, with a plain white head without a face, was walking up the center of the street past the building we'd been hiding in. There were no other ponies in site, and all was quiet, other than the crackling of he fires and the occasional crash of a building collapsing. The smoke started pouring into the basement, and I knew it was time for me to escape, but I was pinned with fear to the window, watching this mysterious figure. Its shadowy form seemed to waver with the shifting of he fire's light, as if it wasn't wholly there, just an apparition. Then, it turned its head toward me. Then I heard a large cracking sound, and the roof collapsed on top of me. The was the last thing I remember. Somepony must have found me, as i awoke a few days later, in a bed in an orphanage within a town many miles away. No one would tell me what had happened, and there wasn't anypony else there from my village. Either they'd escaped to a different village, or I was the only survivor. As I grew older, the latter seemed to be the most logical, as I would manage to obtain bits of information from eavesdropping around town. My matron at the orphanage taught me how to fly -including teaching me the move you girls saw earlier- and as soon as I was old enough, they let me leave to find the answers I sought. I've been heading from town to town, trying to put together my puzzle, but I never seemed to have enough pieces. I even headed to he sight of my old village, but only burnt stones and bits of rotted broken planks were the remaining evidence of a once thriving, happy little villages' great demise. I've been hunting the creature ever since, but there has been little written about it, and what I could scrounge up is mostly based off of old mare's tales. The only thing that was consistent between them was the description, missing ponies shortly before or after the sightings, and its name: Slendermane. Through all of these supposed sightings, however, none have documented an entire village being wiped out through its actions. I was going to head to Canterlot, to see if I could pull better results in research from the palaces' expansive library, but it appears that I've unintentionally stumbled into the right place at the right time, finding Sweetie Belle in the forest. -S- I looked Twilight in the eyes. "He's here, hiding in the Everfree. And he's hunting your friends here in Ponyville. I saw him for the first time in five years, after my crash-landing in the field." I shuddered, "and I think...he remembers me." The other ponies were silent. I could see the trace of fear in their eyes. It was almost a reflection of my parents' expressions the last few days I'd seen them. A tear came to my eye. Then Twilight stood up. "We need to discuss this between ourselves for a minute, of you don't mind." she told me. I nodded, heading downstairs to the main library.