Chapters Arrival
A breeze blew softly through the ally in the back roads of Ponyville. A silence was hushed over the town, like the whole place was holding it's breath before the great plunge it was about to take. A leaf tumbled along on the breeze, making sounds that were normally so quiet you could barely hear them over your own heartbeat. But today, it was magnified a thousand times, so that everypony in the vicinity could hear it loud and clear.
As the town stood still, one stallion moved through it. The air was suddenly filled with a low metallic siren, screeching like the wheels of a rusty cart, but deeper, and slower.
If you were standing in just the right spot, you could see a small blue corner that faded into existence. In fact, the stallion had chosen his landing point so well, that this was all you could see without him knowing.
A deep blue door creaked open, and the head of the stallion lurched out, coming to such a sudden stop that it bounced a few times. His coat was a light chestnut, with a spray of dark brown hair exploding from his head. His eyes were a delicate blue, and shifted quickly back and forth as he checked the street for onlookers.
Satisfied, he took an upright, bipedal step out of the box. He tumbled forward, rolling four or five times head over heels, finally landing on his back. His legs were up in the air, rather like a dead bug, when his eyes drifted lazily open.
He got one good look at his hooves. And that's when the trouble started.
~~~~~
"I don't know, Lily," I muttered.
"Come on, Rose! It'll be funny!" the green mare before me jumped up and down in anticipation.
"No, it'll be mean! And... no, I won't do it. That's final."
"Aw," Lily's ears drooped, "But Lyra never gets scared! She wouldn't care!"
"I don't think it's that she doesn't get scared," I explained, "She just wants us to believe she doesn't get scared."
"Ugh," Lily gave up, "You're no fun."
"Maybe not, but I have a lot of friends." I snatched the key to the front door of the shop, 'Roses are Red,' off the marble desk.
Lily followed behind me as I locked the door, "Oh, come on, please? At least help me set up the prank. Lyra won't ever need to know you were involved."
I turned my head to face her, continuing towards my apartment, mumbling around the key I was holding in my mouth, "No! Find somepony else to help you!"
"Rose, watch it!"
I turned just in time to see the face of a distracted stallion; He'd been running, looking over his shoulder. A key flew from his mouth, too, and landed near mine.
"Sorry, miss, I was just leaving. Goodbye!" He grabbed a key and continued down the street, galloping at a ridiculous pace whilst tripping over his own hooves.
Lily chuckled, "is it just me, or did he look like he'd had a bit too much fun at a party?"
"It's not just you," I said, bending down to pick up my key, "Oh, that idiot ! He took my key!"
"What are you waiting for? Go get him!"
I took off down the street, trying to keep the tan earth pony in my sight. He stumbled down the street like something was after him, skittering around a corner into a nearly invisible alley.
I picked up the pace, kicking up dust, trying to make sure he didn't wander off with the only key to the store. I sped around the building, stopping myself before I smacked into the rear of the stallion. He was standing before a sort of booth, kind of like an outhouse, but with windows. It was a stark blue color, proclaiming 'Police Public Call Box' in large, bold, white letters. The stallion was, ineffectively, attempting to open the door with the other key.
"Oi!"
The stallion turned, his jaw dropping, the key clattering to the ground, "Uhhh..."
"That's my key, I'll 'ave you know," I dropped his key before him, grabbing mine and preparing to just walk away and forget everything. But--
"Wait: Where are you from?"
His accent matched mine, so I tucked the key away and said, "Great Bitton. Well, Hoofdon to be precise. Why do you ask?"
"And, Great Bitton, that's overseas, is it?" He continued, ignoring my question.
"Um... yes?" I was rather confused by his stupidity, to say the least.
"Would you mind coming in here for a moment?" He gestured to the box, and I started backing away.
"Into your snog booth? No, thanks!"
"It's not a snog booth!" He yelled. Then, under his breath, "Why do they always think I want to snog them?"
"I'm leaving, thank you," I turned to go, but he grabbed my shoulder.
"Please. You don't really have to go in, just let me open the door," He flashed a pitiful smile.
"Ugh, fine. But I'm going to stay over here," I sighed, backing to a position right at the edge of the alleyway.
As the stallion struggled with the key, I pondered slipping off, leaving him be, but he said something that changed my mind, "I need your help. Our lives, as well as the lives of countless others, are in danger. you're the one from a place with an unfamiliar name. I need to find five others, and I think you're meant to help me."
"And why should I believe you?" I asked.
"Because-- I'm telling the truth." He pushed open the door, revealing a yellow, glowing, enormous interior.
My eyes widened, my jaw practically hit the sidewalk. I gasped, the stallion just grinning away, and walked up to the box. I took a few tentative steps up to the box, then inside, my hooves clanking on the catwalk.
"But-- the inside's too big for the outside! Is this a trick? I bet it's attached to the building behind it, right?" I poked my head back out, looking at the earth pony. He closed his eyes, chuckling, and gestured for me to check.
I ran around the box, checking for a tunnel or a connection of some kind. There wasn't any.
"It's bigger on the inside!"
"I've noticed. People-- er, ponies-- always seem to think I don't know that, and feel inclined to tell me," he chuckled.
"What is it?" I asked, completely in awe.
"Now that is the right question. It's called the TARDIS," he said, as though that would mean something to me.
"Care to explain that gibberish to me?" I asked, rather rudely.
"It's an acronym."
I coughed in expectation.
"For 'Time and Relative Dimensions in Space!'" He explained, exasperated.
I laughed, "So this..." I walked up to the device, running my hoof along the side, "Is a spaceship? And it's made of wood?"
"And a time machine, yes," he confirmed.
I closed my eyes and shook my head vigorously, "No, no. This is happening too fast!"
"Too fast for what?"
"You know," I told him, "In stories and things it takes days, weeks even for this sort of thing to happen. How can I trust you? And how can you trust me? I feel like I have whiplash from plot development or something," i sat down, figuring the metaphor would make things clear to the stallion.
"I don't understand," he said, confirming that my tactic had failed.
"Well ,for starters, I don't even know your name," I told him.
"That's easy. It's 'The Doctor.' And you?"
"Roseluck--" I said distractedly "The Doctor? Doctor who?" I was baffled by his perplexing behavior, and was starting to tire of his ridiculousness.
Of course, it was an even greater surprise when he laughed out loud at the question, not in mocking, but pure joy, "That is how I know," he took hold of my hoof and pulled me inside the box, flipping switches like mad.
I heard an odd noise, something like grinding, but almost like music at the same time. A huge pillar in the middle started to slide up and down, and I sensed movement.
"WHAT THE HOOF ARE YOU DOING?!" I shreiked.
"I'm taking you on a trip you won't soon forget!" He ran up to me, stumbling over cables and wires, "Roseluck, my dear, are you ready to change history?"
The Runaway Bridle *Lyra*
The Runaway Bridle
Okay, just let me start by saying that this was not my choice. I didn't ask for this to happen, nor am I happy in any way at how it turned out, but it's an interesting story, and I am being forced to tell it. As you can tell, I suck pretty bad at putting words into sentences that are actually understandable, so it might be hard to read at times. Just grin and bear it, please.
My name is Lyra Heartstrings. I am nopony. Seriously, I have no friends besides Bon Bon, and she is a total loser. I was childhood friends with Princess Twilight, but she doesn't seem to remember I exist. I mean, why would she?
My cutie mark, a lyre, makes no sense. Sure, I look pretty good holding it, but magic is no use on the strings. Hence my once-secret-but-now-widely-known wish to be human.
Shut up. They're real.
Of course, nopony knew that for sure until I proved it. And this is the story of how:
~~~~~
The events of the day began with a pink snout pressed against the glass of my front door. I used my magic to yank on the cord which released the blinds. They fell unevenly, covering the glass haphazardly and leaving a gaping space where the pony could still gaze inside.
"Lyra..." muffled call came through the door, the pony pronouncing it as though it had a thousand letters.
"Lily..." I mimicked, putting down my 'Stallion Beat' magazine and going to the door. I yanked on the cord again, holding the blinds up and staring into the yellow eyes of Lily Valley. She grinned sheepishly, her already pink cheeks growing pinker.
After an exaggerated groan, I opened the door. Lily is one of the 'flower mares,' infamous tormentors of mine. Just because I bottle up most of my feelings, they think it's okay to try their pranks out on me.
The biggest problem is, I always fall for it.
Every.
Bucking.
Time.
Recently, though, this new mare came over from Great Bitton, and she's been keeping them under control. Her name was Roseluck, and we bonded over the ridiculousness of Lily and Daisy.
"What do you want, Lily?" taking my position on the couch and lifting my magazine to cover my eyes.
Lily suppressed a chuckle at the way I sat: like a human, with my plot on the cushion and my back hooves on the floor.
"Well?" I prompted.
Lily inhaled deeply, "So there's this pony out in the Everfree, and there are all these rumors about the magic she can work, and I heard something about transformation and I thought you might want to go," she babbled in one breath.
"Lily?"
"Yeah?" the excitement in her voice told me she thought I would fall for it.
"You really, and I mean really , suck at lying."
"I'm not lying!" she whined, her voice wavering more than a roller coaster.
I held my magazine down so I could peek at her, "Yes, you are," I moved it back up, then waved my hoof at her, "Leave me alone."
She groaned, pushing her way out of the door. Not thirty seconds after, there was an enormous crash in the backyard, the kind that shakes you in your seat, followed by a slew of curses I shouldn't write down.
I put aside all hopes of reading my magazine, tossing it across the room, "Lily!" I screamed, storming towards the back door, "I swear to Celestia, if something is broken out there... if anything is broken out there..."
I kicked open the screen door and-- well, let's just say that i wasn't happy with the state of my backyard.
First of all, it wasn't Lily's fault. There were two ponies out there: a mare and a stallion. he stallion was saying something about how he 'couldn't properly operate the machine with hooves.' His mane, while it must have originally been a dark brown and rather, well, 'inviting,' we'll say, was a bit of a disaster. It was stuck up in the air, and black the ends. His face also looked like it was covered in soot; I think something had blown up in his face.
The mare, however, was someone I recognized immediately: Roseluck.
"Rose?" I asked, wandering over to the wreckage of what looked like a phone booth, or an outhouse.
"Hey, Lyra," Rose murmured, not looking at me, "Are you going to be able to fix this?" she asked the stallion.
"I really don't know," he said, with a distinctly English accent, "WHy don't you catch up with.. erm... 'Lyra' here, and I'll get on it."
Rose smiled at me, a fake smile that tried to apologize for the fiasco in the yard, "oh, Celestia. This is going to take some explaining."
~~~~~
"But why does he need us?" I asked.
Rose took a shaky breath, "Um... well... you know what white noise is, right?"
"You mean like the sound a radio makes when it isn't tuned right?"
"Yeah. Well, it turns out if you slow it down, you can pick out specific tones that are--"
"English, please," I interrupted.
"It's possible to hide a message in white noise. And that stallion," She nodded toward the back door, "found this:"
She passed me the piece of paper she had been holding. It was battered and torn, but I could read the message:
One from a city with an unfamiliar name,
One with a prismatic mane,
One who's curiosity
Will this day be the master key.
The next one stands out from the rest,
With masculinity he is blessed.
Next we have the audacious mare,
who insists that she will never be scared.
The last companion, who will give way,
Will be found cooking a souffle.
With these six ponies you must flee,
If you want to restore your history.
I sighed, falling back against the couch, "That is-- that is interesting. And I'm guessing you're one of the ponies on this list?"
"And so are you," she confirmed.
I looked back over the list, "Well, I'm guessing you're the foreign chick, but which one am I?"
She chuckled a bit, "You're the audacious mare. I knew it had to be you as soon as I saw the description. Sorry about the damage, by the way, but I knew we had to come here."
I put my front hooves on my temples, pressing hard. I sighed, trying to process the information-overload of the last few minutes.
"You alright?" Rose asked, putting her foreleg around my shoulders.
"Yeah, yeah. It's just... this is weird."
She scoffed, "Well, that's the understatement of the year."
I laughed. Then I laughed harder. Suddenly, I was doubled over, laughing so hard it hurt, tears streaming down my face. Rose was looking at me like I was spawning extra eyes, and I was trying to say, "He's an alien! From space!" but all that came out was babbling gibberish.
Then, of course, the object of ridicule walked in the door, proclaiming, "The TARDIS is ready for flight!"
Needless to say, we both lost it. The stallion just looked confused, as we both pointed and laughed at him.
"What? What is it, what?!" he kept asking.
Rose calmed herself down enough to say, "I think we're ready to go."
The stallion stared at us for a while longer, then said hesitantly, "Alright, but I don't want any breakdowns like this happening on the TARDIS, got it?"
I nodded, wiping away some tears left on my cheeks, and followed him, "By the way, what should I call you?"
"The Doctor. Just 'The Doctor,' thank you," he replied curtly.
"'The Doctor,' eh? What kind of name is that ? Doctor what?"
He stopped, and I almost smacked into him. He looked at me, grinning crazily with joy, "Oh, you'll soon find out."
Whatcha baking, Pinkie? *Twilight*
Whatcha baking, Pinkie?
A crash, a splat, and a shriek. That was how my day started. I rolled out of bed, hauling myself down the stairs and toward the kitchen, where I thought the sounds had come from. I used my magic to open the door, and found the familiar face of Pinkie Pie.
"Oh, hey Twilight!" she exclaimed, cheerful as ever. Something dripped off of her face, and it dripped sloppily onto the floor.
"Hi... what just made that sound?" I asked sleepily, my eyes still trying to adjust.
"Which one? The sound I made? The--" she yelled again, and I winced at the shrillness of her voice.
"No, the other one."
"The shlorp? That was my batter flying up to the ceiling!" She bounced a bit.
I looked up, seeing the large tan spot on my ceiling. Another huge drip collected as I watched, and fell onto my hair.
Pinkie giggled, "Sorry about that. Oh! Were you talking about that big smash? Or the noise before it? That--" she breathed wheezily, trying to duplicate a sound that I still wasn't clear on.
I groaned, thinking of the mess I now had to clean up, "You know what? Never mind. Just-- why are you in my kitchen? Why don't you use the one at Sugarcube Corner?"
"'Cause! I'm baking a souffle for Mrs. Cake's birthday! It's gotta be a surprise, silly!"
I sighed. I'm not a morning pony. "Fine. Just-- fine. Please be quiet about it. The sun's barely up."
"I know! Crack of dawn's my favorite time of day. How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess."
Outside, there was a creaking sound, and the slap of wood on wood. I heard a strangely familiar voice shout, "YOU ARE THE WORST BUCKING ALIEN EVER !", and the sound of four hooves hitting the ground.
"Who's out there? I swear to Celestia, if you hit the balcony--" I stepped outside, Pinkie following at a closer proximity than was comfortable. I pushed open the door, prepared to see anything; anything, that is, except what I saw.
The best way I can explain it is a blue... box had landed in my yard. Lyra Heartstrings, a mare I had known practically since birth, was standing beside it, helping to pull out a cream-colored earth pony and a brown stallion. The whole box was sort of... glowing, shimmering in the way only a living thing could. Black smoke puffed out of the doors, creating what would be a very obvious display from across Ponyville.
"Wh- what are you DOING?!" I shrieked upon seeing the mechanical carnage.
Lyra turned to look at me, her face telling me that she was bored with me already, "Oh. Hi, Twilight. You don't remember me, do you? Didn't think so." She said this so quickly that I couldn't respond to the question before she reacted to my silence.
Pinkie, in typical Pinkie fashion, said, "I know you, Lyra! I've seen you playing your lyre in the orchestra! Well, trying to... not really..."
"Thanks..." she sighed, hauling the stallion to his hooves.
"Pinkie!" I yelled.
"What?"
There was an awkward silence, until the cream-colored mare sniffed the air, "Something smells good. What is that?"
"It's a souffle! I'm baking it for Mrs. Cake's birthday. If you come to the party, I'll be sure to save you a piece, Rose." She grinned.
"Um--" the pony, 'Rose,' looked confused, "How did you know my name?"
"I know everypony, duh!" she beamed, pointing at Lyra, "you're Lyra Heartstrings!" she pointed at Rose, "And you're Roseluck!" she pointed at the stallion, "And you're --"
"I'm the Doctor," the stallion proclaimed.
I sniggered, "Um, does a surname come with that title, 'Doctor?'"
"No. It's just 'The Doctor.'"
"First name?"
"Docor."
"Last name?"
"Doctor."
"Rank?"
"Doctor."
"Nickname?"
"Doctor. Or 'Doc,' I suppose. But I've never actually been called that."
I groaned, "Fine. So you're 'The Doctor.' And-- may I ask about the alien remark?"
"Sure. I'm from another planet. It's called 'Gallifrey.'"
"Did you say 'Gallopfrey?'" I asked
He looked a bit confused, then burst out laughing, "Of course ! World of equines, figured they'd name things after themselves. Yes! I am the Doctor, a timelord from Gallopfrey! And I need her help," he pointed his hoof, not at me, but at the one pony who couldn't handle the simplest task. The one pony who couldn't be trusted to do anything on her own, at least not without having to do twice the work when she was done.
He pointed at Pinkie Pie.
The Mare Who Waited *Rainbow*
The Mare Who Waited
I sighed, letting myself sink into the gentle cloud. It was just big enough to fit two, and the second was supposed to arrive any minute.
Yes, the one-and-only Rainbow Dash, the mare who was never allowed to show any feminine feelings, was dating. A colt.
Soarin, Co-captain of the Wonderbolts, was due to arrive any moment. It was our first date together, and I could feel the coil of excitement in my chest. It tightened when I spotted the little blue dot on the horizon.
I sat up a little straighter, watching as the dot grew closer, with... alarming speed.
Suddenly, the dot split into two, each a slightly different shade. The lighter one flew expertly, the darker one tumbled through the sky like a dying animal or something.
Soarin put on a burst of speed, and I shouted his name when he was within range.
He yelled something back breathlessly, and I stood, preparing to take off.
The other dot was gaining on him, though I could tell now that it was more of a box than a dot. It was a little bigger than Soarin, probably just big enough to fit one pony inside.
"GET DOWN FROM THERE!" Soarin screamed at me, diving toward the ground. I jumped off the cloud, taking the same route and landing beside Soarin. He sat down hard, panting, as he watched the box hurtle past us.
"What in the hoof was that ?" I asked him.
"I have no idea..." he told me, "But I think we should go somewhere else."
I helped him to his hooves, brushing the dirt off his chest. "Sounds good to me."
"Rainbow?" called a familiar, yet confused, voice, "You're dating Soarin?"
I whirled about. Twilight and Pinkie Pie were trotting toward me, followed by a host of other ponies I didn't recognize.
I slapped my forehead with my hoof. "Can't I get even a little private time?"
The small crowd parted, and there stood another stallion. He was chestnut brown, with a dark, scraggly mane. He did a double take when he saw me, though I didn't recognize him in the least.
"You!" He shouted, "But-- it can't be you!" He had an accent, something like Trottingham.
"W-what?" I was backing up slowly. The stallion was a complete stranger, and yet he acted like I was an old friend. Well, to be technical, more like an old enemy. I was kind of scared of him.
He cleared his throat, "I-I mean... I know you... from, er..."
"The Best Young Fliers Competition?" I prompted.
"Yes! That's it." He backed up a bit, looking the tiniest bit ashamed. Now that I thought about it, he did seem familiar, but he couldn't have seen it live. He was an earth pony.
"Alright..." I dismissed his odd behavior. "Twi, what the hoof is going on?"
"Uh..." She looked over at a cream-colored earth pony mare, who shrugged in response. "We don't really know. But you're the 'one with the prismatic mane,' and Soarin is probably the 'masculinity' guy--"
"English, Twi! You're not making any sense!" Now I was just frustrated. Couldn't anypony just be nice and dumb it down or something?
"I'll field this," muttered the stallion, pushing his way forward again.
"Oh, great. It's ultimate crazy. Go on, give it to me."
"You were mentioned in a prophecy. The prophecy was buried in layers of code in a clip of white noise. You, as well as your-erm-coltfriend, are destined to come with me," he explained.
"And... what exactly made you decide to decode white noise?" I asked him.
"It's what I do." He sighed, preparing to explain a lot, it seemed. "I'm an alien. I'm from a planet called Gallifrey. Not only that, but something... happened to me. I don't normally look like this. I'm usually... a human."
"I KNEW IT!" Shouted the mint unicorn, grinning widely.
The stallion shushed her, continuing, "I received a message, embedded in layers of code, that claimed to be able to turn me back. I'm not usually one to believe these sorts of things, but it was my only hope of getting back. You see, I was in the middle of looking for someone. Her name was... well, that isn't important, but I need to find her. You six are going to help me get back, but we have something we need to do first." He turned, heading for a point we couldn't see. "You coming?"
I sighed. "I guess."
"Why not?" Soarin agreed.
"Because it's going to be incredibly dangerous, and possibly fatal." The pony said.
Silence.
"I don't even know your name!" I realized.
"It's the Doctor. Just the Doctor."
Taking Flight
I held onto the console again, trying to hold down my lunch as it spun through the air erratically. The stallion apparently 'wasn't used to hooves,' and therefore had trouble operating the finer points of his machine. Twilight and Lyra helped as much as they could, but who could blame them if they didn't know what a conceptual geometer was, or where to find the linear calculator.
There was lots of shouting and distress involved in piloting a TARDIS, although the Doctor insisted we had more than enough 'hands' to use it properly. Lyra swiftly reminded him that we had hooves, and he told us all to step back and 'just let him do it.'
Finally, after what felt like hours of being jostled around and yelled at, the TARDIS landed with a bump, and a sick-sounding noise. Most of us were on the floor by this time, groaning and checking for bruises. The Doctor sauntered to the door, opening it and scanning the landscape.
"Hmm... this'd probably be easier in the daylight..." he muttered, closing the door.
"Wait a minute!" Rainbow yelled, running to the door. "I wanna see! I haven't seen it work, so far!" She threw open the door, dashing outside. She was quickly followed by the Doctor, then Soarin, Twilight, and Pinkie. Lyra looked over at me and shrugged, and we followed as well.
It was dark, but we were definitely in the Everfree. The trees twisted unnaturally, scraping the very sky, and a surreal, thick fog blanketed the landscape. I could barely make out the colors of Rainbow Dash as she ran back and forth across the area, yelling excitedly.
"Alright, yes, great. Now, can we please go?" The Doctor tried to usher Rainbow back towards the TARDIS.
"Oh, Celestia, THIS IS SO COOL!" Rainbow shouted, "Do you realize how cool this is? We can travel in TIME!"
"Yes, yes, well, back to the TARDIS, then?" The Doctor suggested with no enthusiasm.
Rainbow continued to marvel in hushed tones.
"Rainbow Dash..." The Doctor said, more firm.
Suddenly, there was a slam. We all whirled around to see the doors on the TARDIS shut tight, and watched helplessly as some form of engines started up.
"No, no, NO!" The Doctor screamed, running up to the form and passing right through it. The TARDIS went through its last phases of takeoff, and disappeared into the night sky.
"Whoops." Rainbow grinned sheepishly.
The Doctor turned to her, his face contorted into grimace."Fantastic. Now, I don't have a TARDIS. I have... nothing." He sat on the ground, staring at Rainbow.
"Ummm... but, we're here, right?" Rainbow reminded him, perking up a bit.
"Yeah, sure we're here. But I would've preferred to do this in the daylight... also, I live in my TARDIS, and it was our only way out." He stood. "Okay.... o-okay, oh...kay." He stuttered.
"Well, don't you have some sort of... emergency recall on you?" Twilight suggested.
"No!" He whined, as though this was obvious.
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Alright... this wasn't meant to happen, but look! Here we are. So, I suggest just... starting." Lyra announced. A look of confusion crossed her face, however. "What is it we're doing, anyway?"
The Doctor sighed dramatically. "Well, I was hoping to put this off a bit longer, but... we are hunting a monster."
"A monster? Do you wanna be more specific?" I prompted.
"It's called... Slendermane. It used to be just a legend, until about a week ago when local DJ Vinyl Scratch disappeared. Several residents reported seeing her enter the Everfree forest on a dare. That was the last anyone saw of her."
"So... what makes you think it was this... Skendermanne?" I asked, still confused with the details.
"The notes. They're in her handwriting. Hoofwriting? Anyway, I've seen photos of them, but I need to see them in person. I've got to hold them. There's something... off about them. And, whatever it is, it must be bad, because I can even sense it in the photograph." The Doctor rubbed his forehead with his hoof, them massaged his temples. I could tell he was stressed, for I had seen that face on Daisy many times before. His was accompanied by a deep scowl, as he contemplated what exactly should be done with Rainbow Dash.
To my surprise, he put his hooves together in a determined gesture. "Alright! We shouldn't let that get us down, eh? Time to get down to business!" His mouth contorted, like he was tasting something bad. "Ooh. I hate it when people say-- er, ponies say that. It sounds so... serious. But! This is serious. Okay. We have..." He squinted at the sky, muttering to himself. "Ooph, eight hours, maximum."
"Eight hou--?!" Twilight choked.
"Well, then, allons-y! Oh, haven't said that in ages ..." He looked moderately excited.
"So-- wait. You're telling us that we're looking for notes (which, by the way, you still haven't fully explained) that may or may not still be here. They could be anywhere in the Everfree, which spans for several thousand acres, and we have eight hours to scour the entire forest for them?" I summed up, in utter disbelief.
"Eight hours, eight notes, eight ponies in the scary dark forest," the Doctor agreed.
"Eight ponies? There's seven here," Lyra reminded him after a quick head count.
"Not if you count the Slendermane."
The First Note
"Can't the pegasi just... fly away?" I realized, flipping my white hair back behind my ear.
"No. No, there's a time lock. Leave the bubble and you're erased from history." The Doctor seemed to reach for an unknown pocket, then growled angrily.
"What?" Twilight asked, confused.
"I don't have my sonic, either. It's in my coat." He sighed, trying to keep his frustration in check." Okay. You know what? It's fine. Because I've got--" He threw a hoof over my shoulder, followed by Roseluck's as he pulled us into a hug. "My trusty companions. Eh? We'll be fine. We just have to stick together, and figure this out."
I watched as he trotted off, heading through the fog into some deeper part of the woods. Something about his pace was rather... jaunty. He seemed almost pleased with the whole 'impending doom, evil creature in the woods' thing. I rolled my eyes, but was the first to follow him into the dark.
We hadn't gone too far when we came to almost a wall of trees. It looked too dense to want to worm through comfortably, so the Doctor turned around. "Okay. Left or right, then?"
And the inevitable happened.
Soarin and Rainbow said right.
The rest of us said left.
"Well, then, you four go left, and we'll go right!" The Doctor suggested.
"Didn't you just tell us to stick together?!" Twilight yelled, exasperated.
"Well... yes, but I think as long as we're in small-ish large groups we'll be fine. Safety in numbers, eh?" He said nonsensically, patting Soarin on the cheek.
"I'm still not sure what exactly it is we're looking for," Twilight said, after a moment of confused silence.
The Doctor sighed dramatically. "Listen, please! They're little pieces of notebook paper with... disturbing messages. I want to find them all, and bring them together."
"Why?" Twilight asked.
The Doctor stuttered a bit, trying to form words, but only letting out odd sounds. Finally, he said, "Because it makes sense!" He pointed an accusing hoof. "Don't question my logic! I've done stuff like this lots of times!" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, judging by the position of the moon, daylight is coming in... ooh, three hours. Meet back here at sunrise. Got it?"
We nodded.
"Good. Good, good. Okay, good luck all of you!" He trotted off to the right. "Allons-y, Rainbow! You too, Soarin!"
We watched silently as the mist swallowed up the Doctor and his two friends. Needless to say, it got scary pretty quick. Not that I would ever admit that.
"Um... looks like we need a leader," Rose murmured.
"I nominate Twilight." I said, pointing at the purple pony.
"I-I--" Twilight stuttered.
"Yeah, that sounds good!" Pinkie agreed.
Rose shrugged. "Why not?"
"Okay..." Twilight muttered. "Yeah, I guess."
"Cool." I said. "Lead on, leader"
Twilight gulped audibly, then took a shaky step toward the left path. The soft pine needles dulled the sound of her hoofsteps as she plunged into the darkness. We followed her, only seeing the swaying navy blue tail through the fog.
It felt like the mist went on forever, and I was starting to worry that we were wandering in circles.
I was feeling a sort of ache in the pit of my stomach, and a sort of tingle in the back of my neck. The feelings were keeping me alert, and I was jumpier than I had ever been. I, Lyra Heartstrings, was afraid. Deeply afraid.
And it all went downhill from there.
Twilight shrieked suddenly, ducking to the ground and covering her ears. We ran to her, shaking her and trying to help her to her hooves.
Then Pinkie screamed. She stuck her hooves in her ears, too, and laid down, shaking violently.
Next, Rose howled in pain. She cowered on the ground, too.
Then I heard it. It was a low-frequency whine coming from the center of my head. It got louder and higher in pitch until it was painful, and I think I screamed. Then there was a pop, and the world went quiet. All I could hear was this low, static-like hum that buzzed around my head. I rubbed my ears with my hooves, trying to get feeling and use back into them. I wasn't sure if I could see, and there was no chance I was opening my eyes. The sound in my head was becoming more and more like the sound of a radio between stations. Just static that droned on and on.
I felt a gentle hoof on my shoulder. It shook me, trying to get me to open my eyes. I relented, my right eye opening a tiny crack. Twilight stood over me. She mimed taking my hooves out of my ears. I trusted her, so I slowly removed my hooves. There was still no sound, but Twilight charged up her horn and cast a spell around my ears. For a moment, the whole world was in shades of pink and purple. There was a pop, and my hearing returned.
"Wh-what the hell was that?" I panicked.
"It was a numbing spell. An incredibly powerful one, cast with a very small zone of affectation. That means it was cast by an extremely adept user."
"Translation?" Rose asked.
Twilight sighed. "Somepony in these woods has magical skills of my level." She looked worried, then added, "And that's saying something."
Pinkie gulped.
"Well... l-let's just keep going," I stuttered with shaking breath.
Rose nodded. "Good plan."
Twilight took a deep breath and continued. She brought her pace up to a trot, trying to get through to some sort of landmark. Luckily, within a few minutes, one presented itself to us.
At first, it was just a single branch. It had no leaves or needles to speak of, and it seemed to spiral out of the fog as we approached it. The branch was thin, giving the impression of illness, and it grew in an unnatural twirling form. Twilight slowed, following the branch with her eyes to a trunk that was thick and grounded. It's roots were knotted and gruesome, and it almost appeared to be reaching up through the earth to grab at your ankles. The entire tree seemed to be twisted, contorted, and wrong.
The four of us walked slowly towards it, ducking the claw-like branches to reach the base of the trunk.
A single piece of paper flapped in the breeze. It was thin, definitely notebook paper, and was attached to the tree with an out-of-place piece of cellophane tape.
Twilight grabbed it with her magic. The corner was missing, but it was still perfectly readable.
In large, hasty letters, were three chilling words:
LEAVE ME ALONE
Each word had been underlined, and there was a crude drawing of one of the pine trees near the right side.
We stared at the page, trying to analyze it and derive it's meaning.
But the rattling breaths above our heads made it hard to concentrate.
Twilight's once steady magic shook, and the page dropped to the ground. She looked up, as did the rest of us, straight into the featureless face of what had to be the Slendermane.
The worst part was, we couldn't even try to run.
Silo
The Doctor made his carefree way through the haze as I floated behind him. Soarin stuck by my side, acting just a tiny bit over protective.
"Don't forget to be checking the trees! Look for those papers!" the Doctor reminded us. As if we would forget.
"You okay, Rainbow?" Soarin mumbled.
"I'm... fine. As fine as I can be." It may have seemed a bit rude, but I could handle myself. To an extent.
Okay, I'll be honest. I was pretty on edge. This place was terrifying. It almost wasn't... real. It seemed manufactured; the trees were too perfect, the fog too thick, and the area too peaceful.
If there was some kind of sound, at least, I'd have something to be afraid of. Twilight would say a 'rationalization.' But it was so completely silent it was horrifying.
"Ah! Brilliant!" The Doctor stopped suddenly, looking up toward some sort of red structure. "That looks important!"
"Yeah... great..." I muttered, flying ahead of the Doctor toward the building. Up close, I could tell it was a silo, red-orange with rust. It was constructed of what seemed like scraps of metal, bolted together with large, industrial screws. There was a tiny door near the bottom, which must have been used for depositing grain. It was much to small for anypony to actually fit through.
There was, however, a rickety ladder leading up to the top. I couldn't see what was up there because of the low visibilty, but it was probably our best bet for a note.
"Oh..." the Doctor whined worriedly.
"What?"
"Well... I'm not huge on ... heights..." he practically whispered.
I scoffed. "What? A pony like you, afraid of heights?"
"Well, I mean, usually I can muscle past it, but..." He looked at his hooves. "I'm not very good at maneuvering yet... I'm not sure I'll be able to climb all that well."
"I-I'll help." Soarin offered. "I could fly you up. I'm pretty strong."
The Doctor sighed. "I suppose... there goes my dignity." He sat down reluctantly, holding his front legs up so that Soarin could get a good grip, all the while staring at the ground.
Soarin rolled his eyes, recognizing his ridiculousness, but grabbed him and pumped his wings powerfully. I couldn't help but stare as the muscles rippled under his skin, and he rose into the air. Of course, the image was ruined by the frantically peddling legs of the Doctor.
As I saw his face start to go red, I took position under his plot, adding a mighty heave as we lifted the pony up and on a small catwalk. he rolled, his flank smacking the metal wall with a loud, reverberating clang. He groaned, but we weren't really paying attention. We were looking at an odd symbol on the side of the silo.
It was simple really: just a circle with an 'X' through it. It had been etched into the rust, something requiring a lot of effort. Each single line was instead represented by an echo of lines, as though it was shaking. But I knew that the pony who had left it there had scribbled over this many times, trying to draw attention to it. But... why? It didn't make any sense.
the Doctor stood up, studying the symbol, too. "Hm... a cry for help? A warning? Another language?" He listed his ideas. "Or maybe... this is the face of the Slendermane."
"What, a big 'X?'"
"No, no. The circle is the head. maybe it means the Slendermane doesn't have a face..." The Doctor said mysteriously.
A shiver ran up my spine.
"Oh, look!" Soarin pointed to a second symbol, this one very familiar. It was an arrow, pointing around to the other side of the silo's roof.
We followed it hurriedly, finding a hatch that was much larger. There was a handle near the bottom, but it was no use. The door was rusted shut.
"I'll get it," Soarin offered. He laid down on the metal grate, sticking his elbow under the handle. He then stood, using all the leverage he could muster to get it open
There was an ear-splitting screech, followed by a shower of red dust. It was open enough to crawl under, so I tucked my wings close to my body and slid under the door.
It was dark inside. Really dark. I could barely see my hoof in front of my face. I squinted down into the darkness, feeling for a rail or something to keep me from falling.
Soarin whistled in awe, and the sound bounced off the metal walls. "Wow. It's dark."
"Thanks, stupid, we got that," I commented, just a bit flirtatiously. What can I say? I'm not good with that type of stuff.
I rubbed my eyes with my hooves, trying to become accustomed to the sudden dimness. I blinked hard, trying to get anything at all to come into focus. I spotted a blurry shape at the bottom of the silo, and I stared straight at it as I willed my vision to return.
I could now make out an elongated head-like shape, though I knew it couldn't possibly be. It had no hair, and no eyes. Unless, of course, they were closed--
"Oh my god! It's Vinyl!" I realized. "She's down there at the bottom! But-- I don't think she's--"
I was cut off by a rattling sound that echoed through the structure. It almost sounded like breathing, but... it couldn't be. Could it?
When the rattle stopped, there was a second sound. This one screeched, and I whirled about in time to see the hatch grind shut.
"Oh, Celestia..." Soarin whispered as he peered over the edge of the small platform.
I turned back, looking down by his side. I could see the full form now, definitely pony-shaped, but its dimensions seemed a bit... off. The head was much too long, more of a very thin oval than a sphere. Its chest was deep, and its waist overly small. So small, it seemed, that you could fit a necklace over it. Its neck was unnaturally thin, and its muscles and bones were highly defined, as though the skin was simply draped over a starving animal.
The Doctor, panting, squeezed between to look down at the beast. "Oh... look at you..." he murmured, almost in adoration.
We heard the rattling sound again, followed by cracking and snapping. It sounded like twigs being broken under hasty hooves. We watched as the form bent over, its back arching and the knobs of its spine becoming sharper against the rusted metal background. Large appendages folded out of its back, the joints cracking and stretching. They looked like wings without feathers, ugly and grey and bizarre. One by one, four of these tentacle-like things emerged from its back, then stretched out to the edge of the silo, pounding into the wall and making a dent. In this method, the creature began to climb towards us.
"Move! MOVE!" The Doctor screamed. He took a running start at the hatch, slamming into it with all the force he could muster. "Come on! I need your help!"
The pounding of the Slendermane's tentacles held me in place, however. It was rhythmic, almost hypnotizing. Like the chimes of a clock.
"Tick, tock... tick, tock..." I found myself whispering. I wasn't thinking. It wasn't me saying that, it was something else. I felt my wings unfurl slowly, and I crouched in preparation for takeoff.
"Rainbow!" A body slammed into me from the right. The clanging of the metal against my ear broke me from the trance.
"Thank you, Doctor." I looked up at the stallion who had saved me.
"Heh..." He grinned sheepishly.
"Wait... Soarin?"
"Come on, you love birds! The door's nearly open!" The Doctor cut off the small awkward moment.
The three of us teamed up, the approaching thumps urging us forward. After our combined efforts, the door flew off its hinges. The room was flooded with light, and I turned to look at our attacker.
What I saw is something I'll never forget.
The creature stopped moving, knowing we were going to escape. The air around its tentacles started to grow blurry, then became flecked with grey and black, as did the area around its head. It was a floating cloud of static, consuming the tentacles and head, then inching through the rest of its body. A few moments, and it was gone.
"Rainbow Dash! Get a move on!" The Doctor yelled.
I turned back, preparing to follow him, when I spotted a small sheet of notebook paper stuck to the wall near the door. I took it down, studying the message etched on it in frantic letters:
DON'T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU
The 'O' in you had an 'X' through it, much like the symbol on the base of the silo.
I tucked the page away, not wanting to deal with this freaky stuff.
Of course, I knew I was involved in this until the end, especially since I'd gotten us stuck here in the first place...
I sighed, following the Doctor and Soarin back down to the ground. I couldn't dwell on this stuff. Honestly, this was all the Doctor's fault. Him with his cryptic message from the Slendermane, gathering us all together and lining us up for slaughter.
But he was nice. He was funny. He sort of just... clicked. Like, he made sense. So I was pretty okay with it.
For now, at least.
Up Close and Personal *Twilight*
Up Close and Personal
My purple chest rose and fell raggedly, my heart thumping against my ribs hard enough that I could feel my entire body pulse. I clenched my teeth shut, trying to make sure I didn't breathe too loudly.
The creature had an elongated face that was pasty white, with no more than the hint of facial features or expressions. It's skin hung loosely, like there was nothing between the skin and the bone. It had something resembling a horn curving out of its forehead, but it looked less like a tool or appendage and more like a lethal weapon.
Its neck had defined muscles, and the smooth curves of it had become sharp angles. Its head swiveled, the movement fluid instead of sharp as its qualities suggested.
It made a sound deep in its chest, guttural and rumbling.
Rose drew in a sharp breath.
Quicker than I thought was possible, the head snapped toward us. It wasn't even breathing. It wasn't moving at all. It was so completely still it might have been a dream.
Keeping its head motionless, the monster climbed down from its position in the tree, four spider-like limbs holding it off the ground.
I bit down on my lower lip until I tasted blood. I couldn't scream. I couldn't even dare to breath. The monster couldn't see us, but its ears pricked at the slightest sound.
It creeped closer and closer, and my vision was fading from lack of oxygen.
I felt a drip of liquid on my hoof, and I squinted down at it. It was white, pure white, and hot. It may as well have been burning wax, but I wasn't moving. I moved my gaze back up to the face of the monster. His face was blurry and dark now, and I could feel myself slipping away. But wait-- its face was different. It was longer. It may have just been my mind playing tricks on me, but I saw three drips of white liquid fall from around its mouth. A rattling snarl came from it, and I thought I saw a row of jagged teeth.
Suddenly, I was running on adrenaline. Somepony screamed and all four of us ran as fast as we could, dodging the monster and heading for the woods. I wasn't sure which way we were running, but I knew we had to move as quickly as possible and leave that horror in the dust.
We didn't make it far before collapsing against something made of metal. At the moment, I wasn't concerned with it, so I let it go.
"Where..." I panted, swallowing hard down a dry throat. "The note..." I murmured.
Pinkie, who was known for her boundless energy, translated. "She wants to know if somepony grabbed the note before we ran."
"Oh!" Lyra perked up, pulling out the crumpled sheet of paper. "I got it right here." She passed it to me.
It was in a terrible state, damp from sweat and crushed into a ball, but salvageable. I turned, using the rusty metal to smooth the paper out. "Hey, wait..." I took a better look at it, noticing some faint lines that criss-crossed the whole paper. I flipped it over. "There's a back. What is this?"
"It looks like it may be a piece of something bigger." Rose suggested, reaching over to adjust the angle of the page.
"That's it!" Pinkie shouted, making us all jump. "Heh... sorry. Look! You can see the back lines from the front! The Doctor must have seen the designs in the photographs!"
Lyra leaned over to give her a friendly punch in the shoulder. "Not bad, Pinkie."
Pinkie grinned.
Rose sighed, leaning back into the grass. She then sat up, looking around. "Wait-- where are we?"
"No idea." I stated, standing up. "Let's take a look around, shall we?" I folded the paper up, tucking it away for later.
"Okay..." Lyra took the lead. "Looks like we've got two big, metal boxes: One that's got four wheels and one that's got two plus a hitch... a trailer, I guess." She stepped on the small running board, resting a gentle hoof on the door. She had only just touched the rusted and dented hunk of metal when it fell in with the loud sound of metal on metal. She turned to us. "Door's open."
~~~~~
The inside looked no better than the outside. It was ransacked, with all the furniture and fixtures overturned or pulverized. Pinkie found her way to the fridge, opening the door and releasing the noxious fumes of week-old groceries. The light flickered on, however, illuminating the inside of the trailer.
"Oh, thank Celestia," Rose murmured, blinking in the dim light of the refrigerator bulb. "Light!"
Now that the interior was exposed, we saw everything in new clarity. It was covered with a collage of papers, all sketches of the Slenderpony or maps of the area. Even the slightest breeze through the open door caused the papers to move, and the walls rippled like the surface of a pond.
"Well... whoever lived here was interested in the Slenderpony." Lyra reached up to grab a paper off the wall. "This one's a map. Could be useful."
"You can't just take that!" I said, swiping at the page. Lyra kept it just out of reach.
"Twi, let's be serious. Whoever lived here is obviously dead."
"How do you know that? They-they could be in hiding."
Lyra gave me a condescending look. "All the food's gone bad, the trailer is a wreck, not to mention the homicidal pony mutant that was apparently stalking them." Lyra tucked the paper away. "Don't be dumb. It doesn't suit you."
"Hey!" Pinkie looked excited. "There's a cupcake over here!"
The three of us groaned as Pinkie held up a half-eaten, moldy piece of food with some kind of grey, fuzzy icing.
"Ew... it's squishy..."
I smacked it out of her hoof and it landed with an unappetizing plop on the carpet.
Rose leaned over, looking closer at the disgusting thing. "Pinkie, where'd you get that?"
"Over there!" she pointed to a trunk, while trying to discreetly wipe her hoof in Lyra's mane.
I walked over, cautiously, and opened the trunk a tiny crack. Barely any light shone on the contents, but a second wave of the horrible smell wafted up at us. I slammed it shut, knowing what I was going to find.
"Okay... nopony opens the trunk. There's a dead pony in there."
Soarin's Shining Moment *Soarin*
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Ire of Rainbow Dash *Rainbow*
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Why this will never be finished
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. 