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// follows 
// Story: The legend of Slendermane, the tragic guardian of The Everfree 
// by MidnightFMare 
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(Ponyville, 300 years in the past)


"Hoo... by Celestia's beard, it is cold tonight!" I said, considering not buying those leftover meals from Hot Plate's restaurant. 

Then I remember that if I came home without food, we would've had to eat the winter stores and that was out of the question... considering that Hot Plate liked me and let me pay half price and keep the extra





As I approached the backdoor to the restaurant, I heard a shushed voice coming from within. Thinking nothing of it, I entered

That was my first mistake

The first thing I saw was Hot Plate, on the floor and covered in blood, eyes glazed.
"MR. PLATE!!" I yelled, rushing to his side, not noticing a cold wind blow past me.
He looked up at me, afraid "(KKKKZZZZSSHSHSHSH!!!!!!)? Listen to me... whatever you do, don't turn around... If you do... that (COUGH!) that thing without a face will get you... I am a lost cause..." 
"Don' worry Mistah Plate! Ah'll get'ya help!" I started to turn when he grabbed my hoof
"Don't try to save me... take whatever food you can carry... and leave through the door... don't turn around. Promise me"
"But-" "PROMISE ME!(HACK! COUGH cough...)" I nodded and stuffed my saddle bags with all the food I could, the stallion's glazing eyes making sure I didn't turn around. As I left I was tempted to look back but I stopped myself
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The walk back home was a long one, long because of the food I carried but also because of the sight I left behind. I told the ponies at the guard station what I saw and they said they would get over there; but I will never forget what they said afterwards "Looks like another one" "We really need to get those reinforcements from Canterlot if we're supposed to get this thing"
When I had arrived at my family's farm, my sisters and brothers met me at the door, jumping from the promise of food. I couldn't have eaten even if my life depended on it. I just shrugged my saddle bags off and went to my room. fell onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. 
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I was awoken by the cries of my mother early that morning as she heard the news from her good friend and the local gossip machine, Loose Lips. As I opened the door, my mother was already there "(KKKKKZZZZSSHSHSH!!!!!!!!!) Mister Plate is-" I automatically knew what she was going to say so finished it for her "Dead, ah know..."
"W-how? How did you know?" she gasps 
"Well, ah saw him in his last few moments before ah alerted the guards of what happened. An' before ya' ask, he said ah could have whatever ah could carry, so ah didn't rob a dead pony's store. That bein' said, may ah take the day off? Ah wanna mourn" I was what you would call stoic, I had to be, I was the oldest of 5 children. So I usually vented my rage in the form of my favorite pastime/ job, apple bucking. But not that day, I needed to think about what hot plate said
"Don't turn around, if you do, that thing without a face will get you!"  
"What did he mean? 'Thing with out a face'? What doesn't have a face? An egg? A lake or river? No... those have mouths... a tree? No... none of those make any sense! GAHH! What did he mean?!" I yell, feeling a bit better
"HAY!" a voice calls, I turn around and get a whole face-full of hay
"Owwww... now who in tarnation did that?" I asked, getting my answer in the form of a light green hoof
"Who else but me? I heard about hot plate... you know that sulking won't solve anything" The voice says, my eyes blurry from the dust and pollen the bale had
"T'anks bio, but did y'all really need to buck a hay bale at mah head?" the light green unicorn just smiled his usual thin smile, his black knit wool cap in the middle of the summer only sticking out worse than his usual vest 
"Well, yes. But really, you need to tell somepony what happened, not an adult, but a friend. And I'm the only one present at the moment so... you're stuck with me" He smirks, giving me a conspiratorial glance
The thing I never could figure out about him was his accent. It wasn't local like mine, or like the Canterlot accents I heard from some of the passing merchants. It was smooth and edgy at the same time, almost futuristic... but he also spoke as if he was older than he appeared. And when he spoke, his mouth would turn up on one side while the other would stay in its usual resting frown
"Well, ah walked in and saw Mistah Plate on the floor, bleeding out and eyes goin' white. He said something to me that doesn't make any sense though..."
"What was it? It might help" he asks, his eye widening while the other half looked bored
"'Don't turn around, if you do, that thing without a face will get you' any clue what it means?" I asked, not expecting him to answer
"Hmmmmmmmm... a few..." He puts one hoof under his chin, squinting one eye while the other one opened all the way "But with the influx of guards as of late, that could mean that something or somepony that turned into something is responsible... or a whole group... I'll have to check my spying spells at the guard's station to make sure" Some how he had an answer for everything
"Well? Ya gettin to that checkin'? Or are ya'll gonna lay thar' like a log?"
"Later... too many guards on patrol... no info would be there except guard changing and such. Mind if I take my hat off? It makes relaxing easier" he motioned to his hat and I nodded
Now, this is a very rare occurrence but he was an exception; he was a bicorn.
Two horns that looked like four vines wrapped around each other on his forehead; one on top of the other. And he could move one around his body; one time he moved it next to the other one and they unwound into a "trident" he called it, it scared him witless and he could somehow move the entire thing along his body and move the prongs so he wrapped two around his barrel, hiding them under his vest and the other stuck out of his forehead, coiling into a smaller horn, that was an odd day. Though it was cool to see him use the other two to eat.
"Finally... I'm not sure how this hat hides my other horn; but it does and that is amazing" he rolls over and suns himself, not a care in the world
"Ah wish ah had your attitude. Nothing phases you" I observe, getting up from my spot and looking to the forest, but I stop in my tracks
On the outskirts of the forest is a tall pony wearing a black dandy's suit
But what scared me was his face. Or... lack thereof
"Hey,(KKKKKKZZZZZZZSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!) what's the matter?"
"AH! Don' do that!" I jumped, landing on my back 
"You stopped mid sentence and I thought something was wrong. What is so interesting in the Everfree that spooked you?" bio asked, his eyes searching for the source
"N-nuthin, jus' thought ah saw a manticore" I reply, the figure burned into my eyes
He shrugs and trots off, pausing only to sniff a flower
I pull myself up and walk home, inexplicably tired.
But out of the corner of my eye, I saw that same figure, as if it was following me