Argh! Why didn't I ever listen to them? Better yet, why didn't I listen when it actually mattered? Now she's coming for me, I know she is. She's going to find me; you can never hide from her. She knows where I am and she's coming. I can feel it. I can feel her eyes, they're watching me. The twisting yellow f her eyes, it's always watching, always there. Wait, what was that?
She's here.
Not long now, only a matter of time before she comes for me. She's already here and she can find me. You can't outrun her. You can't hide. I'll tell you my story, maybe you will listen better than I did and this will never happen to you.
I'm a brony. For those of you who don't know, it means I am a fan of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. A few months ago, one of my friends convinced me to watch it and now I'm hooked. That show is the best thing that ever happened to me in my life… or at least, it was.
I enjoyed every episode every chance I got to watch it. I even own plushy versions of the mane six. It's an amazing show. But it has one major problem: a background pony. Derpy Hooves.
My friend who told me about the show told me something else recently. She said that there was supposedly a pony who showed up somewhere in the show in every episode. She said that sometimes you had to look really hard to find that pony, but she's always there at least once; always there, always watching. She can see everything at once; that's why you can't hide. That's why she can always find you. Her eyes, you see, they aren't like normal eyes. They're a bright yellow and they always look in two different directions at once. That's how she sees you, she can watch you but you'll never know that she is. But I know. I know now what she's watching. The other eye swivels to look at something else, but one, one is always searching for those who know the secret.
Alexis had told me about this pony, this Derpy Hooves, because of a few rumors she'd heard. Apparently, this pony is in every episode; that was something she'd found interesting, but what made her bring it up was the second rumor. Something called the Slendermane.
It's about Derpy's secret. She doesn't like anypony to know about her. She can't keep her silent vigil if everypony knows she's there. It's hard to be a silent watcher when your cover is blown, so whenever somebody learns about her and realizes that she IS there, she has to silence them- permanently. According to Alexis, when somebody really notices that she's there, even if they show no sign of knowing, she knows that they've become aware. Then she comes for them. It may take a while; days, weeks, even a few months in some cases, but she will come.
They say that you'll begin to see her, always at a distance. She'll be there, there in the reflection of the mirror, almost too small to recognize. When you look out the window, you'll catch a glimpse of her blonde mane before she disappears again. When you turn, you will see her in the corner of your eye, she's always there, always watching from a distance. Over time though, she gets closer.
When you begin to notice, all hope is lost. Soon the images in the mirror begin to grow. You see her almost as though she's in the room, standing just on the opposite side. In the window, she draws closer; moving from quick flashes at a distance to her standing there, just across the street. She's never gone once she's this close. You can see her; she's outside, in your closet, under your bed. When you close your eyes, you can see her face. You can see her eternally crossed, questioning eyes. Now you don't have to turn to see her on the edge of your vision. She seems to sit there, moving with you, yet she remains still, her vigil unbroken.
Eventually, she can move no closer. She is standing behind you, looking over your shoulder when you look into a mirror. When you look out the window, she is there, separated from you only by the pane of glass. When you turn, she is no longer there. Instead, you can hear her haunting laughter echo through the air. No one else can see here. No one can hear her. You may think that she isn't there; maybe you've finally cracked, gone off the deep end so to speak. Don't worry, you're still sane at this point, though I suppose that's not something you'd want either.
It's then that she takes you. No one knows what happens after that. The only ones who have seen what happens are the ones who are taken, and they have yet to be returned capable of telling anyone. In fact, few have returned at all.
I laughed when I first heard this story. Alexis didn't go into much detail, we only had a few minutes to talk. I thought it was some kind of joke. How could a pony that different appear in every episode and not stand out? Even if she was there, how could a cartoon pony track people down and make them vanish completely? I thought it was absurd. Alexis laughed about it too. We left each other still joking about the whole thing and how stupid people had to be to believe it.
I didn't get a chance to talk to anyone for a few days, my schedule kept me very busy. Between work and school and just keeping up with all things pony, I had very little time to do anything. What little time I had, I spent reading up on this 'Slendermane' story. According to the original story, dozens had gone missing, but of course the comments showed that no one took it seriously. Who would? It just seemed so impossible. A few comments said things like "watch out for her. She's coming" or "omg i thought it wasnt tru but it is!" or even "DON'T READ THIS! IGNORE THE WHOLE THING AND STOP WATCHING THE SHOW!" I figured this was just the work of trolls or people who had gotten bored or something.
It had been a week since I saw Alexis. She had been staying in her room and refused to talk to anyone. I finally managed to coax her out by going to her house and kicking her door open. She was a wreck. Her hair was a rat's nest of tangles and looked like it hadn't been washed since I'd seen her last. She had deep purple bags under her eyes and I could smell that she hadn't been worrying about hygiene. I asked her what had happened. Usually she was a neat freak; she would never allow even a single hair to be out of place on her head. Whenever someone dropped even so much as a crumb, she would begin yelling about people being slobs until they picked it up. Now her room was trashed; flies filled the air and dirty dishes covered with the remains of meals littered the floor.
She told me she had been reading about the Slendermane story. I laughed; I didn't know then what I know now, if I had I would have taken her much more seriously and things would be a lot different now. She glared at me; the look on her face crossed between disbelief, frustration and, though I wasn't sure at the time, fear. She sat there quietly as my laughter quickly died out. "You don't believe that stupid old story do you?" I asked as the silence continued. She nodded.
She told me that she had looked up the story and decided to look into it. She said she'd found the pony in one of the episodes before and wanted to know if she was at least in every episode. Her voice cracked and her eyes widened with every word. I'll never forget what happened next. She leapt off of her bed and grabbed me by my collar. She pulled my head down until it was next to hers. I looked into her eyes; I could see the fear even then. They were bloodshot and the pupils seemed almost ragged. "She's there," Alexis said, her voice barely more than a whisper, "she's always there. The story it's true, it's all true." She fell over on the floor. At first I thought something serious had happened. It was clear she hadn't been taking very good care of herself. I saw the slow rise and fall of her chest and realized she'd just fallen asleep. Even now her face seemed full of emotion, not the usual peaceful visage given by sleep.
Something was seriously wrong with her. Even I could tell that much. I left the room to find her some help. I was fairly certain her mom was home, if not, then I could at least call someone. No one was home and when I tried calling, the phone line was dead, not even a dial tone broke the unnatural stillness that seemed to fill the house. I had a strong feeling that something was very wrong. I went back into her room, but she wasn't there. I caught a glimpse of gray in the corner when I came in. I tried looking for her and I yelled her name all the while. I couldn't find her anywhere in the house. I thought I heard a car and looking out the window I saw her mom pulling into the driveway. I didn't want to try and explain anything, so I left through the back door.
When I got home, I was determined to see if there was anything to this story. I was so sure I knew how things had to work. I thought nothing could go wrong. That's what I get for thinking I suppose.
I went back through every episode, not really watching just moving the trackbar along watching for this strange gray pony. I found her. Every episode involved her in some way. In "Feeling Pinkie-keen" she dropped the anvil and furniture on Twilight; she was on a bridge in "Hearts and Hooves" day. In "Luna Eclipsed" she was dressed as a paper bag and fell into the tub of water that was being used to bob for apples. I had no idea how I could have missed her all this time. She even spoke in one episode.
I had just switched off my computer. "How could I have missed all of that?" I turned away from the monitor as I face-palmed. "It's so obvious now." As I pulled my hand away from my forehead, I realized that I wasn't alone. I could almost feel something watching me. The curtains on my window were open. I remembered closing them, in fact, they're almost never open. I enjoy the natural light, but my room is positioned just right to catch the full blast of the sun's light no matter what time it is. To add to things, I didn't completely trust the old man who lived next door. Sometimes I could see binoculars on the sill of the window across from mine. A few times, there'd even been a camera.
I moved to close the curtains, when a spot of gray and yellow caught my attention. I turned, but the color stayed in the corner of my eye. I rubbed the spot, thinking perhaps something was stuck to my face; the spot remained. I looked out the window again as I pulled the curtains closed. I could almost swear that there was something gray on the sidewalk just across the road.
A sinking feeling shot though my stomach as a crazy thought ran through my head. 'It's HER! The story was true!' I chuckled a little; even I could hear the edge in my voice. "No," I said to myself, "that's just a load of crap. There's no pony trying to kill me because I learned a secret about it." What fully convinced me that I was wrong was when I saw my reflection in the darkened screen of the computer monitor. A gray face filled the space behind me, its eyes staring in two different directions.
I screamed and jumped backwards. I couldn't make myself turn away from the monitor though. I could see the face, staring at me. I picked up the monitor and through it out the window. My gut churned as I saw the gray figure just outside. It was just a glimpse of color as the curtains closed behind the offending screen, but I knew who it was. I know what it means.
The next few hours passed in a rush. I was determined to stay aware of my surroundings. I positioned myself so that nothing could possibly sneak up on me. I had grabbed a baseball bat and a few knives from the kitchen. I wasn't going down without a fight.
Now I can hear her; the bubbly giggling, the repeating, nearly silent calls for muffins. She's everywhere. She's all around. I hear her in the walls, in the floor, the ceiling. I thought I heard her voice coming from the bat, so I threw it away. As I watched it clatter across the floor, I could see her standing in the doorway. I blinked and she had disappeared. Oh not completely of course, every time I closed my eyes, no matter how brief the darkness was, I could see her face increased to insane proportions. Each time I see it time seems to slow down. I can feel her studying me with every glance, each one seeming to last an eternity. Then I open my eyes and time seems to resume.
I grabbed a notebook and a pen and started writing this down. Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes, Celestia knows I never will.
She's coming now; I've taken too long. I'm now convinced that there is no way to stop her, no way to slow her down. Once she knows about you, you are hers until she is ready to dispose of you. So now, for the last time I warn you do not look for the gray pegasus. If you see her, stop watching and avoid anything MLP related. You will live much longer that way. She is here now. In Luna's name vade in pace.
