Chapters Snow falls slowly to the ground, covering the area in a shade of small, white particles. A snowflake drifts away from the rest of the group, landing on a snow-covered back of a tired, but determined pony. Her color is unclear, for she is covered in snow from head to tail. Her eyes are barely able to see anything passed the white blanket of snow. Her mane and tail are soaked and frozen, coated in the white substance, unable to tell of any colors beneath. She tries to spread her wings and escape this freezing place, but they were attached to her body from the cold. She pants, out of energy to continue the search for shelter, and falls to the ground. The snow begins to cover her quickly, and she finds herself buried in less than a minute. She tries to shove some of the snow away, but more returns. It falls faster and faster, refusing to let her up. She struggles once more before the snow rises above her head, and she has to hold one last breath...
"I'm telling you, Mike, there is nothing up here!" A voice complains to another, Mike, while the voice's owner continues moving up the hill.
"We can't be sure, Kevin, you know blizzards always bury something up here," Mike replies, while moving up the hill. He isn't like any pony, for instead he isn't a pony at all. He stands on his two back hooves, which are inside shoes, it seems. His two fore hooves are at his side, each of them wearing blackness around the small stick-like fingers he has. His brown jacket was slowly becoming covered in snow, for the storm from before had already began to die down.
"Ugh, Mike..." Kevin starts, sliding his fingered fore-hooves into his gray jacket's pocket. His hood was up and a scarf was around his head and mouth, making his voice a bit muffled.
A small noise of pounding can be heard... Mike puts one finger over his lips, signaling for Kevin to become silent. Kevin then moves towards the noise of pounding, before stopping next to a place where snow is moving in-beat with the pounding. Kevin then turned to his friend, "Looks like i just found something good," he says after wiping the top layer of the snow away, before finding a frightened face, covered in the substance, with eyes that looked as if they had just closed...
The traveler's eyes open. She looks around this new place she is at. Darkness welcomes her vision, with an exception of light from a torch on a stone wall behind her. The ceiling is too high to see or notice, but the floor is a ice-tile pattern, shapes and lines appearing on it here and there. The traveler is laying on a soft carpet placed right on the ice floor. She feels a fur blanket laying on her, keeping her warm, but she also feels something cold... a ring of sorts, right around her back hoof. She turns her neck and kicks a small part of the blanket off before noticing a metal chain connected to her hoof. She was captured by the creatures around here... whatever they are.
She flips around, the blanket leaping right off of her, and she lays on her back, reaching her fore hooves to the chain, before tugging on it, trying to get it off. But it remains on, and all that happens is that the chain continuously slams into the ice, and after five attempts to get the link of metal circles off, the ice is clearly cracked.She throws the chain harder than before, and this time it comes flying off, right into the crack. The ice starts splitting into pieces, revealing the freezing ocean underneath. She runs ahead into the dark, the ice splitting as if it were following her hoof steps. Torches appearing on the wall occasionally remind her that this is a narrow corridor. So even if she could open her currently tied-down wings, they'd just slam into the wall and slow her down. The splitting ice passes one of her back hooves, and she takes one big breath of air before dropping into the freezing liquid below.
"Kevin, I'm not so sure that she should be in that place..." Mike says to his companion, "It's right over open ocean, and its hard to survive water that cold."
Kevin sighs, "For the last time, as much as the ice is fragile, I don't think her weight can offset it. Besides, any smart creature would just pry open the chain and walk away."
Mike gasps, "Wait, you made it that simple for them to get away..?"
Kevin nods, smiling, "Yea, but if they throw it against something, it's grip will tighten."
Mike sighs and face-palms, "You know that creature might have thrown it against the ice," Mike begins, "which would have cracked the ice, for I doubt she is a weak creature, and that would have forced it to fall into the ocean."
Kevin pauses for a moment, his eyes clouded over in thought, "Oh..."
Mike smacks Kevin upside his head before grabbing his gray jacket and putting it on, "Come on, you hunk of ice!"
Kevin slips off his chair and grasps his brown jacket and slides his arms into the sleeves, "I'm coming, man, don't worry!"
They both rush outside towards the building where they put the creature, while the door reopens after them, and a strange figure walks into their 'house'. It grabs some items before leaving again, this time slamming the door shut. It runs after the two friends, reaching them faster than expected, and colliding into them. It stands up before galloping along towards the building, a sharp object clearly seen in it's mouth, which is holding it by it's handle, like a blade.
The traveler sinks into the freezing liquid, it surrounding the traveler on all sides. She tries to ignore the cold burning and swims up towards the surface, where she had fallen into the water in the first place. She arrives, then her heart stops at the sight in the corridor. She takes a gasp of air before diving back underwater, swimming in whichever way she was facing, just wanting to escape that nightmare that would now be pursuing her...
Kevin looks up, just in time to see the door of the building to close, "I think the cute thing got out!" He called to his companion, who was just getting his head out of the snow.
"Great," Mike says, "Let's go search the frozen wastes."
Kevin sighs and turns around, sure that the creature did indeed run away... or did it?
"Miiike...!" Kevin shouts out, "Wait!"
Mike looks back at Kevin, and then the building, "What is it now, Kevin?"
"Are you sure that was the creature...?"
"Oh... Perhaps not..."
Inside the building, the second creature stands there, above the ice which has stopped cracking. She stands there for a brief moment before shaking the snow off of her body, tail, and mane. She is a pink color, no wings or horn, and her mane is flat, fully flat, and pink as well. She thinks of what to do for a moment. She turns her head around and notices the door, starting to open. She then faces the water once more, and dives down into it.
"Did you see that?" The creature hears from behind her, just milliseconds before she dives underwater, chasing after the pony that got her here in the first place...
The traveler, swimming as fast as she can, manages to get out from underneath the ice shelf. She pulls herself up onto a snowy beach by the frozen ocean. The drops of water freeze before even touching the ground after falling off of the traveler's rainbow colored hair. She shakes her head back and forth, drying it off quicker than it would normally dry. Her cyan color stands our in the bright white landscape. She turns her neck and notices that the rope holding down her wings is still in place. She then also notices the familiar pink pony coming towards her from the ocean. She bolts off in a random direction, other than the one from the water. She hears the pony behind her, out of the water and hard on her hooves. If her wings weren't tied down, she could have flown away. She could have escaped this nightmare. She could have gone back to where she came from. But her wings were tied down, and the only thing she can do is run, hoping that eventually, the pony chasing her will give up, and she will somehow escape this sealed fate.
The pursuer calls out something, but the traveler ignores it, and continues running. The traveler looks around the frozen wasteland, noticing dark clouds overhead. "You gotta be bucking kidding..." She mutters before sprinting towards what looks like an open stone doorway in the side of a hill.
The pursuer yells out something again, which never made its way to the traveler, who was inside the stone doorway. She turned around and noticed a lever on the wall, covered in cobwebs. She peered back outside, noticing snow beginning to come down, and the pink pony running towards her location. She places one hoof on the lever and flips it up, causing a stone wall to slam shut right inside the entrance.
Ignoring the yelling and pounding outside, the traveler turns around to look at the place she discovered. Moldy stone was everywhere, bugs crawling around on the walls, and a spider approaching the traveler, wanting it's web back. She takes one step forward. Two. A sound is heard from up ahead, then a rumbling noise from behind her. She glances backwards, noticing the stone door is beginning to crack.
"Oh Celestia... this can't be it..." The traveler sighs before bolting ahead into the darkness of the corridor... She takes countless steps, running deeper into this place. Suddenly, she feels that there is no longer a ground beneath her hooves. She goes to open her wings and fly, but they are still tied down. She plummets down the pit, unaware of what dangers or horrors await her down there... or if she'll even manage to survive the landing in the first place.
"Did you see that?" Kevin asks Mike as they went into the building where they kept the creature.. Kevin frowns as Mike shakes his head, "It was a pink thing, just diving in after what we got before..."
Mike sighs, "Kevin, I think you need to tell me where you're hiding this crack."
Kevin laughs quickly, "What crack..?"
Mike rolls his eyes, "You know, the one that has been making you see stuff lately."
Kevin stops laughing and looks at Mike, "What do you mean...?"
"Remember that day you 'saw' that tall, faceless guy in the suit?"
"Yea..."
"and that day you saw two bright white eyes, staring at you?"
"Yea..."
"and that day you saw a wild dog smile at you?"
"Yea..."
"and that day you saw a skeleton with a smile carved into it?"
"Yea..."
"Well good, so you are hallucinating."
"I AM NOT MENTAL!"
"... I didn't say you were..."
"Oh."
Water splashes as a figure falls into a pool of it. She looks around, darkness welcoming the traveler's vision. She stands up and gets out of the unusually warm water, looking around the area as best she could. Nothing really greets her, except for the small glimmer of blue light off in the distance. She slowly moves out of the water, not making that much noise. She stops and looks at the rope still around her wings.
"Oh, for buck's sake, just fall off already..." She grasps part of the rope in her mouth and tugs on it, but to no use. The rope remains tied tightly around her wings, continuing to prevent her from flying. She sighs and resumes heading towards the blue light, shining from around a bend in the cavern. She takes a few more steps, the noise echoing off the walls of the dark and mysterious place...
She releases a small shudder of what one would call fright before continuing on. Every time it feels as if she is about to reach the light's source, right around that turn, it moves away again. After multiple minutes of walking, it feels as if she has gone no where.
"How am I supposed to get out of here...?" She wonders aloud, when an unexpected reply strikes back at her.
"It is simple; you don't."
The traveler whips her head around, looking for the statement's speaker. In the darkness, she sees nothing. She shakes her head and moves quicker than before towards the light. It seems to continue to move away from her as she chases after it, but this time she manages to get around the corner- but the light moves away.
"Oh, for buck's sake, just stop moving!" She mumbles and chases after it, faster than she knew she could run. She hears a splash behind her, and stops to turn around.
Standing right there, with the light seeming to reflect off of her, was the pink pony, her mane and tail pink and flat, and her pupils tiny, an evil grin spreading over her face. The traveler stumbles backwards, tripping over a rock. She falls to the ground on her back, and the pink pony is right next to her by the time she manages to get up. The traveler turns and runs off towards the light, up ahead.
The pink pony looks at the traveler as she runs further away, "Dashie, W-Wait!!!" She shouts out before running after the traveler.
"I never said you were mental."
"BUT YOU THOUGHT IT!"
"... how would you know...?"
"That's the line I was supposed to say."
"What..?"
"You know, on this piece of paper."
"Where did you get that?"
"This pink pony with fluffy hair."
"What?"
"Yea. Bacon."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Check the magic paper."
"For reader's eyes only... hmmm..."
"It says here that there's a spoiler alert..."
"I'll read it!"
"And then, as the traveler turned around, the knife right there, she knew who--"
"SPOILER ALERT. TELL YOU LATER, READERS."
The traveler continues running, jumping over rocks and random tree roots. She turns her head around, aware of the pink pony still chasing after her. "Leave me alone, Pinkie!" She shouts towards the pony.
"But Dashie! Waaait!" The pursuer, Pinkie, calls back to the traveler, Dashie.
Dashie sped further on into the tunnels underground, turning abruptly up a tunnel with a burnt-to-a-crisp sign that reads; Warp C ntral . She looks at the sign for a split second before running into the tunnel. It heads steeply upward, and she finds herself starting to run out of breath on the dark incline. She hears the hoof steps of Pinkie behind her, gaining on her.
No... Not like this... She thinks to herself, I have to get away... There must be someplace out there.
She bursts out of the tunnel into whiteness, snow everywhere. She couldn't see the tree that was right infront of her until-- CRAAACK .................................... "owww" She looks up at the tree-- that is now falling down towards her.
Dashie gasps and starts to run, but all too slowly, the tree falls down with a loud BANG! and a CRACK! of bone. But Dashie feels fine, just as if she was shoved from the back. She turns around to look at the fallen tree, and is horrified by what she sees.
"You know," Kevin starts to tell Mike, "this magic paper is cool."
Mike looks up at Kevin, "Put that thing away, you're only supposed to have it BEHIND the darn scenes."
Kevin sighs, "But it says who got crushed by the tree."
"NO DUH!" Mike shouts, "THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED A SCRIPT!"
Dashie slams her hoof into the tree, "No no no no no, this isn't happening..." she rams into the fallen log, but it does nothing. Her eyes peer at her friend, stuck underneath the log.
Pinkie looks up at Dashie, smiling through all the pain, "Dashie..." she begins, "I'll miss you, Dashie..."
Dashie slams up against the log, "No- damnit, no! Don't die from some stupid tree, Pinkie! No no no no!" She throws herself agains the fallen tree, slamming her hooves against it helplessly.
Pinkie smiles, "Goodbye, Dashie..."
Dashie tries to smile, but her emotions show through, "Just answer one thing, Pinkie," She begins, "Why were you chasing me...?"
Pinkie sighs, "I found-" she coughs up blood, "-the way out."
Dashie gasps, "W-What? Pinkie.. Where..?"
Pinkie goes to speak, but her breath falls short and her head collapses into the snow on the ground around the log.
"No, Pinkie. No, no no. Pinkie..." Dashie slams herself into the log again, tears turning into ice as they fall down into the snow around the log.
Dashie looked at her friend's unmoving body. She thrusts herself into the log right above her friend's body. The log gives up its grip and rolls off, finally. Dashie cries when she sees what happened. Pinkie's back was bent in backwards, her back hooves smashed to a point beyond repair.
"Pinkie... You didn't need to..." Dashie picked up her friend's body and flung it over her back, "I'll get out of here, for you..."
She wonders around for a while, looking for a place to head, when suddenly snow starts falling down. Fast. Tears fall from her eyes, and she can't control it anymore. "What the buck did I ever do? Why the hell was I banished? WHY? For the love of Celestia, JUST TAKE ME BACK HOME. JUST GET ME OUT OF HERE." She cries before she notices a strange shape in the distance... Could it be what she thought it was...?
Yes... Yes it was... The shape was not easily mistaken for anything other than a portal. The only problem, was that she did not know where it led. It just had to be someplace other than here, then she would be happy, or at least as happy as she could be with her last friend alive, who is now her last friend dead.
As Dashie approaches the portal, she notices one thing- It isn't glowing, nor are there any funky swirls in it. She slams her hoof into the snow next to her, as more continues to fall. She looks over her shoulder, noticing Pinkie's body still on her back. She continues on into the snowstorm, looking for any sign of shelter- anything to get her out of here- anything to give her hope that she might get back to Equestria. She sighs and struggles to continue through the snowstorm. Suddenly, the snow beneath her hooves gives way, and she falls towards a dark, creepy crater. She tries to fly, but her wings were still tied down, and Pinkie was still on her back. Dashie sighs and looks down, not seeing a bottom of the crater. She looks around at the walls of the crater, seeing snow slide down them. Her eyes return to their downward gaze, and this time, seeing the floor, she reacts automatically.
"For buck's sake-" THUD!
The ground rumbles. Kevin turns back to Mike, "Did ya hear that?"
Mike uses one hand to raise his earmuffs, "Hear what?"
"The ground rumblin'," Kevin started, "like it did a month ago."
Mike sighs, "I didn't hear that, I felt that."
Dashie turns her head back and forth, searching for a way out- but snow was falling into the crater from all sides. She tenses, feeling a lack of weight on her back. She goes to look, but her neck becomes coated over in pain. She realizes that her entire body is numb. In two seconds, she decides there is only one thing she can do.
"P-Pinkie...?" She calls out into the darkness.
"I'm here, Dashie," the reply arrives in her ears, relief following afterward.
Dashie looks to where the voice came from, but only darkness is there, "I can't feel my body..."
A moment of silence is heard before the voice replies, "It'll be okay..."
"How can you tell?" Dashie's voice was full of worry. She wasn't finding it easy to be in a bright mood, especially while being trapped in a giant pit.
The voice fell silent for minutes, "Trust me."
"HEY!" Another voice rings from overhead, "YOU TWO LOUD MOUTHS OKAY DOWN THERE??"
"Kevin!" A third voice speaks, "Be nice to the newcomers."
"Fine."
Dashie looks up towards the top of the pit, seeing two creatures, of which a name for them sporadically flies into her mind. Humans. "Could ya help us out down here?"
"IF YOU PAY US--"
"Keviiin!"
"Fine, just give us a second."
Dashie looks back to where Pinkie's voice was, and sees Pinkie coming out of the darkness, limping on a broken back hoof. Her mane was flat, coated in snow.
THUD! One of the humans from above falls down right next to them, and face plants into the snow, "Hi."
Dashie looks at the human and his brown jacket, "Now how is that gonna help...?"
". . . .The magic paper told me to do it."
Dashie's mouth opens, but she is at a loss of words. A moment later she responds, "Just, get me out... of here." Her eyes then close, and her body goes into rest-mode.
Pinkie jumps awake from the sound of falling rocks.. She had fallen asleep as well, but she doesn't remember feeling tired. She cranes her neck around, noticing that her back hooves are, at least now, perfectly fine. She then notices her surroundings. A dark, lonely cave. The only thing moving in the cave is a puddle of water, being disturbed by water slowly dripping from the ceiling.
"D-Dashie...? A-Are you there...?" She stutters before getting up and trotting out of the cave towards the light near the end of it. Her cotton-candy like mane bounces up and down as she takes each hoof step.
Stepping out into the bright, cold sunlight of the tundra, she notices one thing- that there is not one pony, human, or anything in-between to be found, "DASHIE?" She calls out, trying to hold in the panic that was quickly rising. She couldn't have been left behind. No, Dashie would never do that... right?
Dashie rams her hoof into the wall of stone again, "For the love of Celestia, why is this all happening to me?" She shouted indignantly, "I did nothing wrong! It is not my fault that some pony blames me for something I didn't do! For buck's sake, JUST GET ME BACK HOME!" She slams her hoof into the stone wall again, tears speeding into the ground. "Please, just get me back home. My real home, not the substitute one here, or anywhere else. I just want to go back home."
Hearing steps behind her, she turns around, her eyes flaming with resentment for ever leaving her house that one morning. The figure she spots there in the darkness scares her more than anything had in the past. Staring at her, was a tall, faceless figure, in a black suit.
Pinkie hears the scream from outside. She knows exactly who screamed, and rushes back inside the cave, heading towards a recently ignored wall of boulders, "DASHIE?" She yells towards the stone. Her eyes drop a few tears as no reply comes for minutes. Her cotton-candy mane droops, sliding into it's original, depressed state.
"You said... you would never... leave me alone...." She cries, curling up next to the wall of rocks, "You promised... But, now, where are you...? Oh Dashie, just where are you...?" She slowly stands up and heads towards the light outside the cave. From right behind her, she hears the stones fall down, and she gasps as she sees something run towards her.
Dashie crashed into Pinkie, the two of them sent tumbling out of the cave, into the snow, and down a small slant. She finds herself on top of Pinkie once they stop rolling. She quickly jumps off, "Sorry," she begins before looking around for any signs of that.... thing...
Pinkie giggles, "It's fine, silly! I was starting to think you left me here...."
Dashie pauses for a moment, "I would never, Pinkie...."
"Really...?" Pinkie looks up at Dashie, a smile showing up over her face.
"Really." Dashie replies. She looks down at Pinkie, who is staring right at her.
Pinkie smiles, and kisses Dashie's cheek. Dashie looks at her, a questioning look on her face, "What was that for...?" Dashie asks in a joking matter. Once she sees Pinkie frown, she knows she said the wrong thing. She leans her head down and kisses Pinkie's cheek, hoping it will make her understand she didn't mean it.
Pinkie blushes slightly, then hops up, "Now we need to find that way out of here... because I don't remember this place before..."
Dashie looks around at the hills of snow, and the random walls of stone.... with multiple holes in them, "Is that...?" She begins, looking at the walls a bit more carefully.
"Yes... It's ruins of a village..." Pinkie finishes, before bouncing towards the village, which lies down a slightly slanted hill.
Dashie follows her, looking around at the ruins, "Check that out..!" She says suddenly, heading towards a wall with a brown box next to it. The box has the words give to good home written on it. Dashie opens the box, but finds it empty.
"It's ruins, Dashie, nothing would be here anymore."
Dashie ignores her, and glances around, for a brief moment, seeing a skyscraper rather than ruins of a building. She then shakes her head.
"Is everything okay, Dashie?" Pinkie asks her friend, concern overcoming her voice.
Dashie nods, "Everything's fine, Pinkie." Dashie then walks towards another building. Inside of it, she sees what looks like a human toy. It's green, with four little stubby legs, and a frown on it's face, "Who would play with this...?"
Pinkie giggles, picking up the cube-made toy, "It must be for fillies."
Dashie moves on to another building, finding a ruined book that sparks her interest. She blows off a small cover of snow before looking at the name of it, "Sherlock Holmes...? What's that supposed to mean?"
Pinkie giggles again, "Maybe its the name of some famous human or something."
Dashie throws the book back to where she found it, now uninterested, "Maybe."
Pinkie suddenly gasps, "Look at this!"
Dashie turns around and peers at what Pinkie found. "A piece of paper...?" She looked closer, for the random drawings on it weren't so random after a moment. There was a drawing of the figure she saw in the caves, with the word "NO" written around it, eight times. Dashie gasps, "Just don't touch that..."
Pinkie looks at her friend, "Why?"
Dashie glances at the paper again, "Just trust me..."
Pinkie stares at her for a moment, "Dashie, I always trusted you..."
Dashie paused, taking in what Pinkie just said. She turns her head back at her, "This place reminds me of something..."
Pinkie took in a breath of air, "What does it remind you of...?"
"I dunno, but it feels like I've been here before..." Dashie states, looking around at the area one more time.... She pictures skyscrapers and houses everywhere. It seems all fresh in her mind, like she was just here... but it isn't enough for her to figure out what it means.
Pinkie releases a sigh of relief, "It might feel like that, because a lot of towns back home are arranged the same way..."
Dashie pauses, "They are...? I never really bothered to check how there were arranged... I always just flew above them..."
Pinkie giggles, "Yeah," she then pauses, placing a hoof on her chin, "Why were you banished...?"
Dashie stops breathing for a moment, "I was hoping you wouldn't ask, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you. It was early morning, maybe two days ago, I was preparing for my morning fly around Equestria, just to warm up for the day, and just as I started flying, Derpy decides to come out of no-where aaaand..."
Pinkie looks at her, "You crashed into her...?"
Dashie nods, a tear dropping to the ground, "Hard."
"Why are you crying, Dashie..?" Pinkie asks, worry for her friend found in her voice.
"It was too hard, Pinkie..." Dashie cries, "It's the reason why I'm here, you should already be able to tell what happened..."
Pinkie looks down, "Yes... I know..."
Dashie sheds one more tear before asking, "Were you banished...?"
Pinkie sighs softly, "Yea..."
Dashie stops crying and looks at her friend, "What did you do...?"
Pinkie frowns, remembering the moment, "I swore at the princess after she banished you. And then I slapped her too, but that was when she refused listening to reason."
Dashie glances at her friend, "You slapped her...?"
Pinkie smiles, "Yea... It felt so good too."
Dashie giggles, "I guess it doesn't matter, she can't get back at us out here..."
Pinkie picks up the green human toy again, "And Sir Creepsalot will protect us if she does!"
Dashie laughs, "Where did you get that name from?"
Pinkie looks at the toy, "Well, it looks a bit creepy, so it would creep a lot, and it also just looks more for a Colt than a mare, so it'd be a Sir.
Dashie continues laughing, "I see now."
Pinkie laughs with her friend, "Yea, it's pretty simple to name things, once you get used to it."
Dashie walks towards a clearing in the buildings. The skyscrapers flash into her mind for a brief moment before she understands exactly where she is, "I know this place... I know where we are..."
Pinkie stops laughing and gulps, "W-Where, Dashie...?"
Dashie looks at Pinkie, a tear in her eye from the memories, "The place I was warped to that one time...."
Pinkie didn't catch onto Dashie's idea right away, "There are more towns and villages than the one you were at, Dashie," she pauses to think, "And if this is where you were from, these ruins would be taller."
Dashie hesitates, "But Pinkie... What are the real chances-"
"That the one you remember was built the same way this one was?" Pinkie interrupts, sighing, "Very high. You don't know how repetitive humans are."
Dashie sighs and shakes her head, "The box was still there, Pinkie," Dashie turns to where the box was, but it is suddenly no longer there. "Pinkie, what did you do with the box...?"
"I didn't do anything, Dashie." Pinkie replies.
Dashie slowly trots to where she last was, a few snowflakes beginning to fall. She looks ahead, noticing the moon beginning to appear over a tall hill. She starts heading off up the hill. Pinkie trots after her, glancing at where the paper used to be, and checking that the other one was still with her.
"Dude, I thought we put them in the spare room."
"Yea, I thought so too."
"What do you think happened...?"
"One of those guys probably came back."
"One of those guys you hallucinated..?"
"I did not hallucinate."
"Sureeee."
Dashie clambers onto the tip of the hill, looking down at all the sides, observing Pinkie climbing up right after her. Pinkie shakes herself, letting some snow fall out of her, what is now, cotton candy-like hair. Pinkie then notices a small piece of paper on the pedestal atop the hill. It has a drawing involving that figure from the other two. She takes the page, and for some reason, thinks that there is only five left to go.
"You got anything on your mind, Dashie?" Pinkie asks her friend. Dashie shakes her head. Pinkie frowns, "Darn... I can't think of anything to think about. But I suppose I was thinking about what to think about, if that counts as thinking."
Dashie laughs, "Probably not..." Dashie's eyes notice Pinkie's hoof place the third page in her bag, "Pinkie.. why did you take the pages...?"
Pinkie looks at Dashie, "I'm sorry, but they looked cool...!"
Dashie's eyes open wide, "Those are not cool, they are scarier than anything I've ever seen."
"What do you mean, Dashie...?" Pinkie pauses, a bit surprised.
Dashie sighs, "The thing on those pages... it's... creepy."
Pinkie takes the pages back out. Dashie does have a point, the figure in the middle of the page looks a bit scary. With a blank face, it could easily cause a nightmare or two. But it doesn't feel right to just leave the page, "I would drop them here... but it feels like they should be with me."
Dashie's puzzled eyes stare at Pinkie, "What do you mean..?"
"It reminds me of something... familiar," Pinkie began, looking at the page more in-depth, "I am not sure what though..."
"Well that's not creepy at all." Dashie mumbles before looking around the hill-top. Noticing a shape she wishes she ignored, she starts to panic, "Uh... Pinkie...?"
Pinkie looks up from the page, "Yea?"
Whatever Dashie had planned to say, it never came out. A long black tentacle had wrapped itself around her mouth, and taken her quicker than you can say 'run.'
"There!"
"What? What?"
"It's him!"
"I don't see anything but a bunch of blackened-out trees."
"Right there!"
"I still don't see anything."
"In the cove!"
"Oh... Y'know, that's just a tree."
"It is not!"
"Only one way to find out."
"Indeed."
Dashie can't see. Darkness shrouds the land around her. She stands up in the void. "Hello?" She calls out. She takes a step forward. Two. The darkness continues to penetrate her vision. Her heart beats faster. She runs in a direction, noticing a small, dull light up ahead. As she runs after the light, she hears words from all around her. They send shivers down her spine, and a feeling of fear in her mind.
"Leave now."
"You're next."
"?tey deracS"
"Don't look behind you."
Her heart beats faster. She gallops faster than before.
"I want to play a game..."
"Don't leave!"
"It won't hurt, promise!"
"Just one bite..."
"Justice will be served..."
Her hooves barely touch the floor, she is running too fast.
"If you were faster, you might escape."
"It's just a game!"
"Please, wait!"
"Let me taste you..."
"You won't last forever."
".nuR"
She sprints towards the light. She then tries to open her wings and fly. The rope is no longer there. Her wings open and she flies towards the light, faster than any of the voices can travel. As she escapes into the light, she takes a deep breath of the frosted air. She is back outside, in the snow. She sighs and is grateful that all of the voices drowned out. But one last statement is clear.
"Return them."
"I swear, I just saw him here!"
"As I thought, you ARE hallucinating."
"Oh yea?"
"Yea."
"Okay, fine. But when we--"
Mike and Kevin both pause upon hearing the words in a hoarse, deep voice.
"Return them."