Cutie Mark Crusaders Slender Man Hunters!
*A/N: For added comedy, watch this.*
It had been two days since Dinky Doo’s disappearance, and everypony in Ponyville was in an uproar. The last time Dinky had been seen was going into the Everfree Forest with her sister Ditzy Doo. The following morning, Ditzy stumbled out of the forest and collapsed in the Ponyville town center. Unable to remember the events of the prior evening, the only clue Ditzy had for anypony to go on was the note glued to her back.
It was written in illegible scribbling, so nopony could figure out what it said.
While everypony pondered what the message could’ve been and what could’ve happened to Dinky, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were gathering up their courage and supplies to prepare for a trek into the heart of the forest to search for the missing filly. They saw this whole ordeal as just another way to try and finally find their special talent. They could be Cutie Mark Crusaders Missing Person Trackers.
That had a nice ring to it.
On the night of the second day, the Cutie Mark Crusaders decided to have a sleepover as a means of being together when they set out into the forest. Thinking there was safety in numbers, the fillies’ siblings allowed them to have their sleepover at Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack and Big Macintosh to watch over them. In the dead of night, after the older ponies had drifted off to dreamland, the three adventurous ponies set off with all their supplies into Everfree Forest.
They were going to solve this mystery and get to the bottom of Dinky’s disappearance no matter how much they had to work. Once they were well out of earshot of anypony within the town, the three decided it was safe to start their imaginative chatter.
Applebloom held her muzzle up high as she cheered, “Ain’t this excitin’? We’re gonna be heroes!” She bounced gleefully around her two friends as they continued into the thick trees of the Everfree.
Scootaloo grinned from ear to ear and chuckled, “This could be it, girls! Tonight may be the night we finally get our cutie marks!” She adjusted the cooking pot on her head—a makeshift helmet of sorts—to allow her better vision in the dark woods.
“Yeah…or we could end up like Dinky…” Sweetie Belle lowered her gaze and shuddered at the thought of never seeing her sister again.
The fuchsia-mane filly scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous!” She gave her frightened companion a gentle shove and continued, “We’re out here to find her, remember? As long as we stick together, nothing bad is gonna happen!” She flicked her flashlight on and started a determined trot deeper into the forest.
The two companion fillies followed close behind. The peach-coat country filly asked, “How we s’posed to know when we’re gettin’ close?”
The leading pony stopped dead in her tracks and looked around the surrounding area. Her eyes widened as she realized she had no clue where to start looking. Or which direction they had come from. Just as she was about to express this uneasy fact to her comrades, the cowardly member of the trio pointed an excited hoof at a nearby tree.
Sweetie Belle gasped, “What’s that thing supposed to be?!” Turning their attention in the intended direction, the other two young ponies saw a shimmering yellow object resting at the base of the tree.
Scootaloo and Applebloom shared uncertain looks before the former stomped bravely toward the object. Her companions watched in anticipation of her reaction as she approached the mysterious tree. To her relief, it was just a piece of parchment catching the light from her flashlight.
“You guys, it’s just some paper! C’mon over here!” She waved a hoof welcoming the other two fillies, who trotted over in relief.
Applebloom snatched the paper from the tree with her hoof and tried to read what was written on it. The three gathered close as they tried to decipher the black scribble that covered the yellow parchment.
After a minute of turning the paper every which way, they eventually gave up with the deciphering and placed the paper in a pouch at Sweetie Belle’s side. Suddenly, the three of them stood bolt upright as a faint sound echoed around them.
After a few seconds of listening intently, Scootaloo turned to her friends and asked, “Do you hear that clapping sound?”
The other two fillies strained their ears to listen into the distance. Sure enough, there was the sound of hooves clapping together mixed in with the usual sounds of the forest. The three of them shared concerned looks before turning away from the tree.
The orange-coat filly stomped a hoof and cheered, “Okay Crusaders, we gotta get moving! We have to find Dinky and whatever’s got her!” She grinned and started a slow trot deeper into the woods. Her companions followed close behind, sick feelings growing in their stomachs.
As they continued their trot through the forest in search of the missing filly, the clapping sound steadily grew louder. The three of them cast it off, assuming it was just their overactive imaginations at work in the late night. It didn’t take long for them to stumble across a large rock in the middle of the path they had taken.
The three of them stopped by the rock to rest and relax before continuing their search. Scootaloo launched herself to the top of the rock to have a seat and scout the area, but immediately slipped off, crashing onto Applebloom and stirring dirt up everywhere. Underneath the now-dizzy fillies sat another piece of paper.
Sweetie Belle giggled as she pulled the paper out from under the two dazed ponies. She flicked on her own flashlight to read the scribble on the new paper, but found only the number two hastily scratched down.
Once Scootaloo recovered from her fall, she snatched the object at fault from her friend and attempted to decipher the meaning of the number. “Hmm… Well, this is the second page we’ve found.”
A thought sprung up in Applebloom’s brain, which she immediately exclaimed, “Maybe if we find all the papers they’ll tell us somethin’ about Dinky!” She bounced happily as she thought she figured out the meaning of the random messages lying around.
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow in uncertainty and asked, “Are you sure it’s that simple Applebloom? I mean, why would she go leaving all these messages all over the place?”
Before the red-mane filly could respond, a loud thumping sound caught the ponies’ attentions. It sounded like loud footsteps off in the distance, which sent the trio into a burst of fright. The three of them took off running away from the rock as the thumping and clapping grew louder.
After running a little ways away, the sounds faded and the trio stopped in exhaustion. They shot looks of fear and confusion to one another before sitting on the ground and resting again. Scootaloo handed the second message back to Sweetie Belle, who promptly placed it in her pouch.
The leader of the trio sighed, “I dunno what all that was about, but we really need to find Dinky and get out of this place!” She placed a hoof on her forehead and rubbed it gently. She was beginning to develop a slight headache.
Applebloom moaned, “You’re dang right we do! This place is givin’ me the creeps. I think my stomach’s startin’ to act funny…” She placed a gentle hoof to her belly, which grumbled loudly at the filly’s words.
The quiet of the three mumbled, “You two aren’t having second thoughts, are you?”
Scootaloo scoffed, “No way! We’re here; might as well keep looking!” She indignantly hopped to her hooves and scanned the area with her flashlight. Off in the distance she could see a pile of bricks and some lumber just sitting out in the open air.
The white-coat filly giggled, “Maybe we should check over there. It’s better than these creepy trees…” She looked back at the nearest tree with a sense of foreboding.
The three of them shared nods of agreement and set off for the pile of building supplies in the distance. As they approached it, they noticed another glowing yellow object tied to a particularly large piece of wood. With high hopes, they rushed toward the message as fast as they could. Upon tearing it from its resting place, they were completely stumped by the writing on it.
“Is that s’posed to be a zero?” Applebloom cocked her head to the side and let her tongue hang out as she focused on the scribbles covering the page.
Sweetie Belle scratched her mane and said, “It looks more like a campfire to me.”
Scootaloo gently nudged the filly in her side and scoffed, “Don’t be stupid, it’s obviously a monster!” She grinned slyly, noticing the change in her companions’ expressions.
“A m-m-monster?” The two fillies stuttered in harmony.
Scootaloo pointed the flashlight in her direction and chuckled, “Of course, a monster! After all, what else could have taken Dinky Doo? Did you think it was just some other animal?” Her grin stretched wickedly across her face.
She was just about to continue her scary charade when the clapping and thumping sounds burst into barely audible range. For a brief second, the flashlights flickered out, and the ponies were left virtually blind in the dim forest. When the lights came back on, both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom let out terrified screams before crashing into the lumber behind them.
Scootaloo sent her friends a confused look and giggled, “I was just joking gals, calm down!” She started to laugh when a deep moaning sound called from behind her.
She jolted around with her flashlight, only to find an extraordinarily tall stallion in a black suit and tie merely inches away from her. His face was flat and smooth, with no eyes or nose. He seemed to call, “Give me twenty dollars…”
She launched back a few steps, tripping over a fallen piece of wood and landing on top of her friends. They were all screaming in complete fear when a gentle voice shouted from the darkness.
“Okay Slendy, that’s enough!” The familiar voice of Dinky Doo filled the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ ears and caused the stallion to back up a few steps. The little gray filly skipped into the light of the flashlight and greeted the three with a warm smile.
Slendy moaned, “But Dinky...I was having fun.” He placed a gentle hoof on the filly’s head.
Scootaloo slowly crawled from the pile of lumber. Her voice trembled as she asked, “Y-you know this…thing?” She covered her face with a hoof as the stallion reacted to being called a ‘thing’.
Dinky Doo giggled, “I sure do! Me and sis got separated the other day, and Slendy’s been taking care of me!” She turned to face the tall faceless stallion with a huge grin.
He chuckled slowly, “I’ve been trying to help her get back to Ponyville. Wherever that is…” He pointed his hoof toward a glowing light in the distance.
Dinky cheered, “Thanks to you girls, we finally made it!”
The three fillies exchanged uncertain looks. Applebloom asked, “Whatcha mean thanks to us? We’re lost in here just like y’all!” She looked at the glowing light.
Slendy shook his head and moaned, “No, you’ve led us back to Ponyville. Can’t you hear the ponies calling for you?” He placed a hoof to where his ears would be.
Scootaloo groaned, “Are you saying we’ve been going in one huge circle this whole time?!” She stomped her hooves and turned toward the sounds of ponies calling their names.
“But what about all these papers we keep finding?” Sweetie Belle pulled the two messages from her pouch and showed them to Slendy.
He chuckled, “I get bored sometimes, so I leave stuff for ponies to find and entertain themselves with…”
“But…but…” The orange-coat filly plopped down to the ground and placed a hoof to her forehead.
Applebloom cheered, “Aw, cheer up Scootaloo! At least we had a little fun tonight!” She slapped a hoof on her annoyed friend’s shoulder.
Slendy groaned, “I guess you all should go home now. You wouldn’t want to worry everypony, would you?” He turned to walk back into the forest.
Dinky Doo laughed, “Thanks Slendy! Maybe you can visit Ponyville sometime!” She bounced towards the exit of the forest.
The other three fillies started to follow her out of the forest. Slendy turned and called, “You don’t have twenty dollars, do you?”
While an angry Scootaloo and tired Sweetie Belle continued walking, Applebloom turned toward the stallion and asked, “What’s a dollar?”
*This is my first time trying a one-shot. I’m sure it’s not the best, considering I usually deal with larger stories. However, after playing all four modes of Slender, I couldn’t get this idea out of my head. So here we are. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. If you didn’t, there’s always next time.*