Rarity sat down on the ground dumbfounded, blinking at what happened in front of her. She came to her senses when the sloppy mud around her hardened.

“Argh!!” she said with disgust, “Why am I playing in this filth?!”

Dragging herself out of the puddle, Rarity wiped off all the thick mud with her hoof. Cringing at the cold touch of the brown muck, a voice broke the silence.

“Hello, is anypony there?” a voice asked.

“Rarity?” another one spoke.

“You there?” the third one chirped.

“I’m here!!” Rarity shouted, waving her hoof towards the voices. Within moments, Flitter, Thunderlane, and Cheerliee peered out of the bushes.

“Hey, what happened?” Cheerliee asked, looking at Rarity, who was spotted in the thick brown soup.

“I’m clueless as you are,” Rarity replied, shaking off the excess mud. “One moment, I saw a rainbow, and now,” she said, looking at the puddle, “I’m here.”

“Where are we anyway?” Flitter said, “Are we on a camping trip?”

“Ha!” Rarity said with a sting, “Camping? You call this camping?”

Flitter shrugged. “Well, we’re in the forest in the middle of the night. It’s not if this is the-”

“Everfree Forest,” Thunderlane said with a gulp. Silence claimed among the fillies and colt. The chilled night air crept to the little ponies as the malicious glare of the moon shone on top of them. As if it was a light beam directed towards them, they huddled together in a hug circle.

“Why are we in the Everfree Forest?” Thunderlane asked, shaking with fear.

“D-Does it look like I have the answer to every question all of you have?” Rarity replied through gritted teeth.

With all the ponies shaking in complete fear, it looked as if they were nodding. Rarity gave a small disappointed glare, but that all changed with a snap of a twig.

“RUN!!” Cheerliee screamed at the sound. Instinctively, the ponies galloped together in a herd and headed towards a random direction. Screaming their lungs out as they were sprinting, the awful noises of the forest only fueled their perilous run.

“It-It’s getting closer!!” Thunderlane yelled between gasps of air. With the screams from the ponies and their hooves crunching the dirt and grass, the four entered through a rough clearing. Thick trees and shrubs bundled together in one thick cluster. With only getting away from the thing they were running from, the four ponies hurled themselves towards the thick grove.

“Ooh!!

“Eeeeah!!

“Argh!!”

“Ooff!!”

A little hang off branch from above snagged a bit of Flitter’s bow as she passed by. With the little natural hook embedding itself into the fabric, Flitter felt the claws of a monsters grabbing her.

“No!!” she screamed, “Get it off, get it off, get it off!!”

Thunderlane by her side paused for a moment briefly to kick his hind hooves towards the beast. Not knowing that he hit the side of a tree, a loud “thump” made it clear to him he hit the monster chasing them. Unable to say “thanks” at the moment, Flitter sprinted on as Thunderlane caught up. Rarity was shrieking and Cheerliee screaming as the four reached the clearing of the Everfree Forest. The quiet little town of Ponyville was about to rest until it heard the noise from the little ponies.

“R-Rarity!!” a deep voice cried out from the town. A stallion with a moustache galloped towards her and hugged deeply. Wearing a ragged and wrinkled up hawaiian shirt, Rarity found her face in the filthy cloth.

“Father?” Rarity said, cringing a bit at the smell of his clothes. She then raised an eyebrow at the new moustache he grew, “What is it?” she asked.

“Oh, Rarity, you had me worried!” her father said, putting his head over hers. “You’ve been gone for such a long time! What happened?”

“I-I’m not sure,” Rarity replied to her father, “But I do know that I am completely fine.”

“Fine? Fine?!” he said with extra emphasis, “Don’t you know how long you’ve disappeared?”

“We disappeared?” Cheerliee asked.

Rarity’s father looked over to the filly only to see Flitter and Thunderlane. He gasped. “You’re the other ponies that disappeared out of the blue!!”

All the little ponies looked at each other before Thunderlane spoke up.

“Huh?”

“I’ve been sitting in the house, calculating and experimenting on what had happened to all of you,” he said, staring at each pony intently, “But instead, I’ve found that it may be the timber wolves working for the government. Don’t trust them!!”

“What?” Flitter said.

“Father,” Rarity said, tugging at his shirt, “What happened to you? You used to be more formal and didn’t have that moustache on your face.”

He scoffed. “It’s too much work to lay out a suit and properly wear it when I was worrying about you,” he said, “Hey, did you know that you can make a lemon and a potato generate something I call ‘electricite’?”

Cheerliee looked dumbfounded and stared at the unicorn.

“Your speech,” Rarity gasped, “Your formal speech…”

“Eh, what do you mean, Rarity?” he replied.

“Uh,” Flitter said, bringing the attention of Rarity’s father, “Mr.-”

“Please,” he said, holding a hoof out in front of him, “Just call me Magnum.”

“You've changed father, what happened?” Rarity said with deep worry, “You’re not like yourself anymore!!”

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Magnum replied, “But you know, I’ve also found that kettle chips are excellent with mustard!” he said with a wink.

Rarity’s mouth gaped open and was lost for words. The other little ponies were lost too. Rarity’s father, Magnum, was a strict stallion that said very few words. He was neat, stern, and used to be a silent pony. He would always talk formally and expected manners. However, now he was just the opposite.

Magnum’s face lightened up, “And I missed you kiddo,” he said, patting Rarity’s head as a few police ponies approached them. In the blue uniform and a helmet, their faces were in complete surprise to see the lost fillies and colt that they had tried to find for weeks.

“All of you should go see your parents,” Magnum said, looking towards Flitter, Cheerliee, and Thunderlane, “They’re worried sick.”

“Can it be?” one of the police ponies said.

“Why, yes, yes it is!” Magnum replied.

The other police pony was gone, sprinting towards the station to notify their superior officers. “Are you all alright?” the pony in blue asked, looking with concern towards the lost ponies.

“We are,” Thunderlane replied.

“Yes,” Cheerliee said.

“Mmmhmm,” Flitter chimed.

“Please follow me to the police station,” the police pony said, “And please follow me,” he said, looking towards Magnum and Rarity, “We would just like to ask a couple of questions.”

From the Everfree Forest, Slenderman continued to stare at Rarity and tilted his head. Why did she seem so familiar? Staring at her back as she was walking away, he saw a flash of blue diamonds stampede into his mind. Upon this, Slenderman stumbled back and a small crack appeared on his head. Instead of using his hands, one of his many tentacles groped up at it. Within seconds, the crack mended as if nothing happened. The blank white flank from Rarity was empty as if nothing was there. But was it there in the first place?

The thought made another crack come through his head, only to heal itself when it did. The dark evening was slowly going by. The clouds above succumbed the moonlight, drenching the town in dim darkness. Slenderman looked at himself before becoming part of the night. He could just wait. Wait until the end of time.

Time passes…

Down on a little creek, a little small stone hit the water with a small splash. A little ripple in the water was made through the crystal clear liquid. The water was gently passing through, underneath the shadow of the leaves. Slenderman sat alone, throwing the little stone into the river one by one. He sat up against a large tree, full of age and decay. The brown bark held the same feel of the forest. Quiet and dead. Nothing was heard even in the grove of trees that laid beside him. One of his tentacles threw another stone in and made a “ker-plunk” sound. The tentacles that Slenderman that now were under his control were versatile and under his will. However, it was as if they had a mind of their own. Slenderman controlled them, but they also-

*SNAP*

A tentacle grabbed a nearby tree, bringing Slenderman up on his feet. His thin form made him blend with the darkness almost instantly. Waiting for a moment, his took a step forward to see what made the noise. He couldn’t see anything. Even with not having eyes on his cursed face, his human-self remained shattered inside. It was now way more than 2000 years. It had to be. Brushing the noise away, Slenderman sat down, his face still expressionless. The bright white face held no feelings and the suit he wore was squeaky clean. The red tie was redder than ever. Crimson as the blood he had spilled, he knew it would get darker. After all, it was their fault they treaded upon him. It was their fault he was here. The Monster of the Everfree Forest looked around lightly before he held his head down.

He looked at his white skinny hand and broke a pinky finger off. Instantaneously, it healed. With a savage twist, the finger was good as new.

“Where are you taking me, horn?!” a shrilly voice exclaimed from a far distance. Slenderman looked up and noticed the voice. Wasn’t it from the little white filly Rarity? With a turn, he used a tentacle to fling himself forward and grab a tree in quick succession. Normally, anything he would hear would be ignored. But this “Rarity” was of curiosity. In his pool of shattered memories brought forth moments from the past.

In Slenderman’s vision, a bright ray of light blue magic streaked across him. Changing an angle, he followed it to the edge of the forest. Reaching the tree-line, he could see a unicorn filly being dragged by her horn.

“Why is it acting like this?” she said out loud.

A crack appeared on Slenderman’s head, but was gone as soon it was there. Her white hooves were dragged through the ground, leaving him curious to what was going to happen next. Maybe this Rarity was an answer to the curse he held. Maybe this Rarity was the key to unlock his past. But then he noticed her flank was still bare. Strange. Didn’t all ponies have a mark?

He scratched his head before Rarity was being dragged away even farther. To not alert her of his presence, Slenderman distanced himself away from her.

Through the day and into the night, Slenderman watched the unicorn filly have a nonchalant stare. With her horn glowing with her magic, he watched her from the dusk of evening into the morning dawn. With hours upon waiting, Rarity's voice was heard from a distance.

“A rock?! I came all the way out here for a dumb rock?!” she shrieked.

The tentacles plugged Slenderman’s “ears” as the squeaky voice rang obnoxiously. “I came all the way out here for-”

A loud crack in the air above made Slenderman instinctively stand up, watching a circular rainbow expanse all the across the clear blue sky. The beautiful colors of the rainbow shocked Slenderman into place, petrifying him. An image of a human shadow was thrown to the ground with a cloaked figure watching from above. Through his grooved eyes, what seems like his buried past was rebirthing anew. However, before any more images could be flashed, a large stone hurled towards his head.

*CRACK*

The shockwave from the explosion slammed into the rock and sent many pieces outward. One big one right into Slenderman’s head. Upon impact, the sound of glass breaking shattered a good portion of his skull. Cracked like priceless glassware, it regenerated almost immediately like it did before. Slenderman sat back down as Rarity was shrieking with delight.

“Feel the anger arising…” a dark whisper spoke to Slenderman, “Kill her.”