Enigma
Chapter One: Curiosity
I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge. I've known this for as long as I can remember, which is impressive considering my age rivals that of the Princesses.
I do not like it when I can't learn about something that interests me; this was also a veritable truth known by me.
It was inevitable that these two facts would eventually coincide with each other. One day, I would hear, read, or think about something that happened to be a closely guarded secret, known only to a select few. No matter what the subject matter was, I would always figure out a way to discover every last detail about it: it was only a matter of time before something would be considered out of my reach.
Today just so happened to be the particular day that would set me on a course of destruction.
I was in the process of closing down my bookstore for the night when I heard two ponies walking by, their steps uneven and disorganized. They were talking with the slurs of somepony who had one too many pitchers of alcohol.
"Y-you haven't hear- *hic*heard about the re-*hic*-cent disa--...disappear--...guards goin' missin'?" slurred one of them. I prepared a spell just in case the two lugs were hostile: I'd had my share of drunk idiots stumble into my store after closing time who needed some coaxing to leave.
"Wha--? Really? W-*hic* where?" responded the other, his speech equally as garbled.
"The Everfree For-*hic* Forest. Somethin' is in that forest...and it doesn't take kind-*hic* kindly to strangers."
I'd heard my fair share of myths and legends. From the ancient Order Triune to the legendary Crystal Empire, I've gone out of my way, sometimes almost obsessively so, to gather information about everything I deemed interesting or noteworthy. It was one of the main reasons why I chose a bookstore as my cover: nopony ever looks twice when a bookkeeper orders in old and controversial books.
A mysterious creature that stole away ponies living in the Everfree Forest? That was new to me.
I turned around to look at the two stallions. They both had the cat-like eyes and bat-like wings of the Night Guard, Princess Luna's personal contingent of Pegasi specializing in operations not generally known to the public.
I suppose you're wondering how I came to know this information. Like I said before, I have a way of digging up information, even if the pony or ponies that buried said information wanted to keep it locked away.
"Why hello, fine gentlecolts," I said, putting on my faux Canterlot nobility tone. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and I must say: I'm terribly interested in myths and legends. Would you mind elaborating a bit more about this 'something' that lies within the Everfree Forest?"
The guards looked at me blankly, like I had spoken in another language. In truth, Drunkard and Canterlotian were about as similar to each other as a Griffin and a Minotaur. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have used such big words to get the information that I wanted. Short and to the point worked just as well.
With a sigh, I greatly simplified my question. "You guys doing a bar crawl?"
The one with a dark gold trim on his otherwise purple and black armour, denoting him as a lieutenant, staggered to the side and only barely managed to not fall flat on his snout. "Y-yeah, we *hic* are. Glacial Flag-*hic* Flagon kicked us out, so we're he-headed to Frosty's."
"Mind if I tag along?" I asked. "I'm researching the Everfree Forest and I think you guys might have just the information I need."
The lieutenant looked like he was going to agree wholeheartedly, but before he could utter a single syllable, the other guard cast a suspicious glance towards me and interrupted his superior.
"Who *hic* are you? And wh-*hic* why do you want to kn-know about the Slender Pony?" he questioned, doing his best to look intimidating. It was laughably ineffective, but I held my tongue, as the drunken pegasus had given me a name.
"I'm Enigma," I said. "I research things." Sometimes you had to say things a couple of times to get them through some pony's thick skulls. "Currently, I'm researching the Everfree Forest area, which is why I'm interested in this 'Slender Pony'." I wasn't actually researching the forest, but the Guards had no reason to suspect that I was lying.
"Wh-what do we get if we *hic* tell you?"
I raised an eyebrow. If this worked, perhaps I'd have to re-evaluate the usefulness of alcohol. "I'll buy the drinks," I offered.
"Deal!" said both members of the Night Guard at the same time.
I motioned for them to walk ahead of me so that they didn't see me wearing a sly smile. I swear, drunks are easier to fool than foals.
From the two drunken Guards, I managed to gleam through their stammering slurs that three separate contingents of Royal Guards had gone missing around the Everfree Forest area in the past couple of weeks. They weren't just missing, either: they disappeared without a single trace. No blood. No discarded armour. Nothing. They were simply gone.
I scoured my personal library for any myths and legends around the Everfree Forest area. I found exactly one note, an afterthought at the end of the book 'Complete Compendium of Caustic and Chilling Creatures' that read, "We have excluded the Everfree Forest area specifically because there is no actively safe and effective way to log the creatures that roam free within its bounds." So much for a 'Complete Compendium'.
It was then that I knew what book I required. A disputatious and incredibly rare book. Starswirl the Bearded's last and most controversial compendium, simply titled, 'Secrets'. Over a thousand years ago, the lexicon had been a topic of hot debate and, eventually, hot flames.
Beneath its pitch-black cover, Starswirl had gone out into the furthest corners of Equestria and the lands beyond in search of strange and never-before-seen creatures, artefacts, and places. He went on to describe ancient tales and myths that directly supported his theory.
The majority of ponies were outraged by his views. In both ignorance and fear, the ponies had burned every last copy of Starswirl's Secrets that they could get their hooves on. Nopony was entirely sure who had started systematically destroying the books, nor why.
Apparently, Starswirl the Bearded had disappeared shortly after, both sickened and ashamed of his fellow pony's lack of comprehension. He was never seen or heard from again...
...Or so the story went. I was determined to find out if this 'Slender Pony' was amongst the plethora of other myths and legends that Starswirl had researched. And, if I happened to read one of the rarest books in Equestria while I did so, then it was all the sweeter.
I managed to get my hooves on one of the, if not the, last copy of the famed magician's final writings. How did I manage to obtain a book of such value and rarity? Why, not by asking politely, that's for sure.
I stole it, plain and simple. When you've read through the majority of the Ancient Texts, you end up rediscovering some very simple and effective spells that were lost to time. Let me put it simply: invisibility and amnesic spells work wonders for breaking into the Royal Library.
Back in my home, giddy with anticipation and left over adrenaline from my recent heist, I opened the book as carefully as my excitement would allow. The ancient pages had faded from their once pristine white colour to a sickly yellow, the corners curled from not being moved in hundreds of years.
I took a deep breath and started reading, searching for any mention of a strange creature that lurked within the Everfree Forest. Towards the end of the section entitled 'Legendary Creatures', I found what I was looking for.
THE SLENDER PONY
(Also known as: Der Grosspony, The Tall Pony, Slendermane)
"There are stories that say the Tall Pony was once a great alchemist who tried to unlock the secrets of the universe and was cursed for his arrogance. In truth, nothing is known of the Slender Pony's actual background. There are only myths and legends, most of them apocryphal, passed down throughout the ages."
"I, Starswirl the Bearded, have attempted to learn more about the truth behind Slender Pony with little to no success. The locals that live around the Everfree Forest, which is where the Tall Pony is said to haunt, will not even utter the name out of fear that the creature will find them. Needless to say, information gathering has been practically nonexistent."
"This is perhaps the one and only creature that seems to gives me pause: I am writing this down at the entrance of the Everfree Forest, and I can only feel dread and death emanating from beyond the dark path that lies ahead."
"I've walked for several hours and there has been no sign of 'Slendermane', which is the pseudo-pet name that the local ponies have given this creature. The only thing that I have felt is a strange sense of being watched."
I blinked my eyes, refocusing on the page in front of me. The writing style changed drastically during the most recent paragraph: no longer was the calligraphy neat and organized. Instead, it turned into a frantic scrawl, barely legible. I briefly wondered how this could be: there were no typewriters a thousand years ago, meaning that this book had to be tediously copied by a unicorn, letter by letter, word by word. This meant that there was no way that there should've been nigh-illegible scrawl in the middle of the book while the rest was written carefully and fully controlled.
Unless...
I looked at the book that I held between my hooves with something akin to detest. I telekinetically flipped the book to the last page, hoping that my hypothesis would be proven incorrect. In small letters, at the bottom corner of the last page, read:
"To Celestia, my second and last student. May these notes assist you whenever an ancient and unknown creature is sighted within Equestria. Do with them what you will."
I felt a small twinge of fear sink into the pit of my stomach. I had taken, no, stolen not only possibly the last copy of Secrets, but the original as well. There were probably spells planted on the book to alert them if it was moved without their permission. When the Princesses found out, my origins would be unearthed and my collection of knowledge would be eviscerated. Nopony would ever find my corpse, either.
I may be ancient and more than capable of handling myself should I run into trouble, but two angry princesses that controlled the Sun and Moon were much more than a match for old Enigma.
Unless...
I felt the onset of a plan start to form. A very dangerous and possibly suicidal plan, but a plan nonetheless. Maybe if I took care of the problem that was causing ponies to disappear...
I gulped. It wasn't the greatest plan. It wasn't the smartest plan. But it was the only chance I had.
Taking another deep breath, I continued to read about the thing that would probably end up killing me.