"All that live must die, passing through nature to eternity." -William Shakespeare The things that go bump in the night are not of the imagination, not of dreams, but real bogeyman that have come upon the realm of reality to terrorize those that are too close-minded to believe. Those that do believe are different sides of the fence: some will be treated as children, others will be treated as prey. Within the realms of Equestria, there is a forest, known only as the Black Forest, where the trees are dark and grey, black leaves blot out any light, and mist swarms through the woods. The legends of monsters are mere folk-lore, except for one tale: The Slenderpony. Told upon tales of cold, moon-lit nights, he is an entity demonic in nature, existing only to spread darkness upon the world. He is told to be incredibly tall and thin, wearing a suit and tie black as ink, with a white shirt, and white fur, without a mane, and a black tendril made of shadow for a tail, but most ominously, he has no face. As for this story... it is of him.
A kindling fire created the smoke that was a beacon from a little cottage in the Black Forest. A big magic circle was etched into the wooden floor before the crackling fire. A unicorn of a black coat and white cloak muttered a few words and set her horn a glow with a dark red. "Slenderpony, princeps tenebrarum, quaeso te, omnibus qui sunt in tenebris, et in nomine tuo, ostende mihi signum tuum!" The pony shouted. All of a sudden a large gust of wind pulled open all the shutters of the house, then pushed through the place. It extinguished the flames and left the unicorn alone in cold and total darkness. "My lord! He is home!"
The darkness of the Black Forest seemed to deepen as a dark mist like a tender smoke seeped to take the house. From a dark corner of the room came a whiteness that peered out from the abyss. A voice, whisper-like and soft like silk, echoed all around, coming from nowhere. "Upon the dark of the unholy ground, this is where I am now found. Soon the time will come, when Equestria will tremble under my thumb; Yet I will remain in shadows unseen, but as a stranger I will tread the green, disguised but known by those who see, that thing are not what they appear to be..." The whiteness was of the head and shirt of the apparition known by many names, but mostly known as the Slenderpony.
A strong gust of wind rustled through the mane of the unicorn as he stepped out of the carriage into the small village on the outskirts of the Black Forest. It had been two months since he began his investigation into the Slenderpony rumors that had begun circulating in Fillydelphia. Through his research, Detective Q had discovered there was a village just outside of the infamous Black Forest, which is where Slenderpony is said to stalk. Question knew that there were many holes in his theories and hoped that some of the villagers could help fill in the gaps. So with one last quick look at the dark trees that covered the horizon, Question began his short walk into the town know by the nickname of Slender Village.
The black unicorn trembled at the power behind the ethereal voice, " Tis I, Shadow, my lord! I shant falter from finding you in all your glory!" Shadow shouted back to the ghostly presence of the Slender. Hearing the intentions of her master, restored any unwavering in her resolve to serve the Slenderpony. She quickly gathered a saddlebag and threw off her cloak. She had to appear like a normal pony, otherwise she would appear as a problematic and sinister pony. At least her saddlebags covered her lack of a cutie mark.
The white faded and the black mist seeped back into the woods, an eerie quietness now falling upon the cabin, one of the few buildings in the Black Forest. Far into the woods, the very heart, was an old house, tall and dark, gated with bars of black iron. Darkness found it and it was home. Inside, the dark floorboards creaked as the shadows of the objects started to move, and they stretched towards a table, which upon it lied a chess set, right in front of the grandfather clock. The shadows stopped upon one of the seats, on the side of the black pieces, and suddenly, from the shadows like a pool of ink, came a figure. Tall and thin, though not quite as much as his true form. And now with a face. Adrian had been formed...
Shadow made her appearance into the somber little village at last. She trotted straight to the market district for food supplies. After visiting the apple and carrot stalls, the black pony decided that it was time to have a chat with her brothers and sisters.of the dark cult. Shadow made her way to the inn and tavern called The Crooked Nook. Once inside, she took a seat in the lonely dim corner. A waiter in awhile shirt presented a drink to her and sat across from her. He softly slammed his own glass down and spoke,"Sister, what troubles you?" "The lord spoke to me. He has come back to us!" Shadow explained. "Has he spoken?" "Of course. He said that he shall be disguised and would walk among us." 'Sister, I shall spread the words of our Dark Father to the others." The stallion went back to the bar and continued serving drinks. Shadow then exited The Crooked Nook as a strange pony entered.
Looking around the small tavern Question decide to get a drink and maybe ask the bartender a few questions before he checked in to his room. As Question approached the bar he felt more than one dark stare on the back of his head, "At least they try to hide the fact that they don't like visitors", he thought to himself. "What can I get you?" the Bartender asked as Question sat down. "Some water and a few answers, if you don't mind." Question answered with a smirk. "Let me get you the water then we can chat, sir," the barkeep responded. he turned around then brought out a glass and filled it with water. "So, what do you want to know?" "I m here for an investigation for matters of rumors regarding Slenderpony. is there any information that you can give me?" Question asked trying to get the bartender to spill what he knew. The barkeep lowered his voice and looked around for suspicious activity, "All that I can say is that there is a cult in this town that will do the worst things if you go messing in their affairs. its true that Slenderpony originated here, but its only an urban legend and the disappearances were ponies running away from home. Please don't start trouble here and don't talk to the parents of the runaways!" "May I have the names of the parents of runaways, so that I can better avoid asking them unnecessary questions." Detective Q asked, trying to con the barkeep into information. The stallion fell for it, "Avoid Moon Moon, mother of Shadow Moon. Both have psychosis. there is also Blitz and Sun Shine, parents of Golden shine. and last is Hodge Podge, father of Raj Podge." Question smirked, "Thank you for the information. I think I'll retire to my room now." Question left the bar and on his way to his room, he thought, "The bartender is an gullible fool."
A chill went down the gray unicorn's spine as he exited the tavern and entered the street "A creature living in the woods absurd I've lived here ever since I was a colt and never did I see such a thing" thought the unicorn as he sped up suddenly and in no time he was in his clinic a place where he could relax and it was also a place of work for him seeing as he was the towns doctor. His clinic was located in a cave near the town that he had modified a bit to make it more homely. "Well I better get back to researching" He was researching the area were he lived to see if he could make an expansion and also dig up something valuable but all he could find were tales about a tall slender pony with tendrils protruding from it's back "Is this why Im getting so little customers all of a sudden" said the unicorn "Well I am going to go out and see if I can find out what that thing is or at least get rid of it somehow" So the unicorn grabbed his doctor's bag which had syringes, bandages, a bonesaw and an assortment of scalpels and went back to the tavern to buy some liquid courage before going into the forest.
The thin pony with green eyes had watched the detective leave the tavern, his dark gaze following. The clouds were out, black and ominous, and the rain was starting to come down upon the dreary little town. Everything seemed dark in that town. Most of the colors there were black and dark blue. The people all looked like they were from a funeral some time in the Victorian era. The whole place seemed like something from a history book. "Adrian", as he would be known as, followed the detective some short ways, watching the man carefully. Some of the people would glance at the tall pony every now and then, but they said nothing.
The whole way to the house of Moon Moon, Question couldn't help but feel that he was being fallowed but every time he looked behind him no one was there. Question finally come upon a small, shabby hut that looked as if it had been abandoned for years. A little hesitant to knock on the door, Question finally decided to at least see if somepony lived there before he turned tail and fled. "Hello, is anyone home?" Question inquired as he knocked on the door. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?! I TOLD YA ARLEADY THAT I AIN'T BUY'N WHAT YOUR SELL'N!" come a shrill voice from the other side of the door. "Mrs. Moon, my name is Detective Q and I would like to ask you a few questions about your daughter Shadow Moon." The door opened to reveal the most raggedy looking pony Question had ever seen in his life. Her mane was knotted and tangled, her fur looked as if it hadn't been washed in weeks. From what he could see from the door way the house was in no better condition then the owner. "WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT FISH STICK?" "I think you mean Shadow Moon." "THATS WHAT I SAID, FISH STICK." "Alright, when did Shadow Moon run away?" "FISH STICK RAN WAY WHEN SHE WAS 15." "Have you seen your daughter at all since then?" "HAVEN'T LEFT THE HOUSE SINCE THEN. SHE WAS THE ONE WHO WAS ALWAYS TAKING CARE OF ME, NOW THE NIEGHBORS DO THAT." "Well thank you for your time, but I must be leaving. Fare the well." "AND THE SAME TO YOU!" Moon Moon shouted as she slammed the door shut. "I'm happy to get away from that mare, I thought my ear drums were going to explode." Question thought to himself as he left, still feeling that sense of being fallowed.
"Detective Q he could help with that Slenderpony...thing" thought the unicorn named Helping Hooves still feeling the effects of the alcoholic cider he drank back at he tavern. Quickly but silently moving from house to house following the stallion known as Q "If this detective keeps detectiving I wont have to go into the forest after all" he thought as he looked through his doctor's bag to make sure he had everything "Well no harm in being prepared" thought the unicorn as he pulled out his bonesaw to check how sharp it was, it was really sharp he smiled as he saw his reflection in the bonesaw "This will work nicely"
Shadow returned to her macabre-like home. She put the things she collected away and put her saddlebags back where they go. Instantly, she tied her cloak on to hide her insecurity. PUDING! Her fireplace light up with green fire, producing a scroll, then going back out. This was probably news from her fellow cultists. Shadow opened the scroll with a simple levitation spell. it read: Sister Shadow Moon, we have an urgent problem. A stallion has been wondering the village asking questions about the lord. Avoid town, he has spoken with your mother. Our Dark Lord be with you Sister. Brother Night Storm
The thin pony blended in perfectly well with the rest of the ponies in the small, Victorian-like village. This helped as he watched the detective do his work, still trying to decide if he would cause any harm to his plans for the rest of Equestria. The rain was pouring hard now, and the clouds had caused a dark grey tone over the whole village. The only flowers were of dark blue-grey colors, creating a dreary color scheme for the entire area.
The unicorn woke up in a with a pounding headache and a fowl taste in his mouth. He was lying face down in the dirt wih no memory of the night before. The only thing he remembered was the fact that there was a tall slender pony that was scaring away his patients. He was now sitting next to somepony's cottage and when he noticed a pony staring at him from the window he got up and walked away quickly trying to think of what he was doing last night
After a long night of disappointment, finding no answer to his questions and getting more in the process, Question finally decided to take his search into the forest itself. After a quick visit to the market to gather provisions, Question thought it a good idea to visit the doctor's clinic in town to get medical supplies just in case he got injured. So Question took off at a slow trot toward the cave that housed the small clinic.
With the threat of the detective on her tail and the promised return of Slenderpony, Shadow rolled plan after plan of getting the detective out of everypony's business through her mind. At long last, her ideas had to be put to a vote. So, summoning up her courage, she levitated a quill and scroll. She wrote: Brothers and sisters of darkness, listen to me. I summon thee in time of need. Our Lord is in danger and we must respond to his crisis. Let us gather and agree on a plan of action. Til then Shadow Moon
Helping Hooves rooted through his drawers for some more things that he might need before he was going to go into the woods after a certain slender pony looking throughout his clinic he found some more useful things a flare gun with a couple of flares, some tonics he had worked, some more medical supplies such as bandages and healing agents and some food. He entered a hollowed out section of the cave that he had furnished into a bedroom of sorts there was a double bed, a bust of Starswirl The Bearded, a cage with a bat inside it known as Gerald that he had found in he cave when he moved in and a book on his bed side table entitled "Sicknesses and illnesses of Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth Ponies" written by Helping Hooves inspiration Saw Bones a renowned doctor in Equestria "Wait did I hear hoofsteps?"
As Question entered the cave clinic he prayed that the doctor was there or he would be going into the forest without medical supplies. So with a small amount of hope Question rang the bell on the service counter and waited.
The gaunt stallion had watched from afar the detective entering the cave of the good doctor. "Adrian" could feel that his followers had underestimated his power. He had to let his acolytes teach the cult more about him. The cult's purpose was not for his protection; rather it's meaning was to act on his behalf, spreading his shadow across Equestria. The thin, pale pony walked away, into the darkness, towards the woods.....
