//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Journey to the Abyss // Story: Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind // by theintrovertowl //------------------------------// Next evening, when it started getting dark, the bus station was cramped with six colourful teenage girls, literally and figuratively. Twilight had looked over the routes before she left and had learned that there was only a bus which stopped by the station near the forest. Everyone was ready to go, but not mentally, it seemed; while waiting for the bus to come, Rainbow Dash was very quiet and thoughtful, and Fluttershy stood near her on the bench. On the other side, Pinkie Pie was tremendously excited about the ‘ghost hunt’ and slowly passed her feeling on to the others. Twilight couldn’t help but notice Rainbow Dash’s internal doubt; even if she didn’t say anything, it was clear that she didn’t agree with her friend’s plan in any way. “What’s the matter?” the studious teenager asked, trying to start the conversation. “This is just…wrong, Twilight…are you sure this is a good idea?” Rainbow Dash replied with deep worry in her tone. Twilight chuckled softly. “How many times do I have to repeat that, Rainbow Dash? As long as we’re together, there’s nothing that can hurt us,” she stated, then patted her athletic friend on her shoulder. “How can you be so sure?” Rainbow Dash inquired, her doubt getting more intense. “I don’t know, I just am…” Twilight didn’t get to finish her statement, because their bus had just arrived. The girls got on the vehicle one by one. As the bus left the town, the tension increased with every mile closer to the dark and mysterious forest… (X) “This is our destination. It’s time to get off,” Twilight stated in a stoic manner, while the bus stopped by the station near the forest. Although the spot had been abandoned by the public transport for a long while, this particular bus line broke the norm and made life easier for the campers around. Still, the old driver didn’t fail to notice the Mane 6, who got off the vehicle in this area (maybe because they didn’t wear camping outfits and it was also 10 PM), and this was made obvious by the way he shot them an odd look. Twilight noticed the old man’s expression and didn’t hesitate to give him a confused glare. Still, before she got off, she thanked him for the ride with the same stoic tone as before. (X) “Here, turn on the flashlights,” Twilight requested as she shared the illuminating objects to her friends. “I did some research on this ‘game’ and if it’s true, you must collect eight pages from different landmarks before Slenderman catches you. In conclusion, we have to be very careful,” she continued. “Woah, this guy is really possessive about his papers, huh?” Rainbow Dash chuckled, trying to cope with the circumstances that they’re in. The others didn’t seem very impressed by her statement, so she sighed in disbelief. “Oh, come on!” “Alright, let’s get going then!” the nerdy teenager said, skipping the previous subject entirely. “The place is a few meters to the left, so this way!” Later on, Mane 6 finally arrived to their final destination; the place was secluded by a high-wired fence, but the gate was wide open. Suddenly, Twilight felt a chill down her spine; it was a like a ghastly presence that completely paralyzed her body and blurred her sight for a few good minutes. A multitude of faint, mumbled whispers crawled inside her mind; most of them were high-pitched cries of help, and she didn’t know who those belonged to, which intensified her current fear. But out of nowhere, there was a familiar voice that screamed: “Twilight? Twilight! TWILIIIIIIGHT!” The third time she heard her name, the voices disappeared by miracle. When she snapped back to reality, she saw Rainbow Dash in front of her with a shocked expression, tightly clenching her frail arms. “Twilight, are you ok? What just happened?” her friend desperately asked again, emphasizing her tone on the last question. “It-It was…I don’t know…Honestly, I…” she babbled, still unable to come to her senses. “Calm down, Rainbow Dash! If you scream, you’ll make it worse. Let me talk to her,” Fluttershy intervened, then pushed her friend aside. “Everything is okay, Twilight…Please tell me what you saw or heard; no need to say it right now,” she continued with a soft and calming voice. Twilight took a few deep breaths and tried to tell them everything that she experienced, still trembling: “I…heard some voices. I don’t know how, or why, but they were crying for help. Something’s definitely odd in this forest…” “Ya worry too much, sugarcube. Maybe ya had a bad dream last night, or ya didn’t sleep at all and now you’re too tired,” Applejack stated, trying to reassure Twilight that it was just in her head. “Yeah, maybe you’re right…Come on, girls! We have no time to lose! The mistery needs to be solved once and forever!” Twilight replied, then came back to her usual confidence when it’s about the unknown. The nerdy girl took the lead and entered the area along with her friends. But something indeed scary happened afterwards: when the last of them got in, which was Rarity, the gate loudly slammed behind her and startled the others in an instant. After the scare they got, Rainbow Dash went straight away to check the gate. Too late, it was already locked… “DAMMIT, WE’RE STUCK! HE GOT US, TWILIGHT, I TOLD YOU!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, her entire body trembling and sweating with fear. “THAT’S IT, WE’RE DEAD!” “I’m pretty sure you won’t solve anything if you yell, you know?” Pinkie Pie reminded her with a worried tone. “He’s gonna find out where we are, genius!” Twilight shadily replied to her terror-stricken classmate. “Yeah, sure thing! Since he locked the gate behind us, he already knows that we’re here, so what’s the point anyway?” Rainbow Dash claimed, completely agitated. “The point is that you don’t want to ‘lose’ right at the beginning of the ‘game’, am I right? Just be wiser, please! It’s the best for you, and for us all…” Rainbow Dash got silenced by her friend’s last remark, which was quite harsh. She didn’t get upset, but she was actually baffled by Twilight’s different behaviour. It was clear that the human world changed all of them right from the first day; everything must be taken more seriously, and the utopian paradise of Equestria has faded from their sight in an instant. Still, she had noticed some changes in behaviour in herself, too. She used to never be afraid of anything, no matter how threatening it seemed; but now, she felt genuine fear right in her bones, even if she hadn’t encountered the real danger yet…But she couldn’t back down either. “Rainbow Dash, come on!” Twilight yelled, breaking her friend’s train of thought in an instant. “Now you’re hearing voices?” “What? No! I was just…thinking about stuff,” Rainbow Dash replied, then ran back to the group. Meanwhile, Twilight focused her flashlight on the surroundings. It was ridiculously dark and confusing to her, but with a bit more concentration, she managed to find the first landmark: something that looked like a huge cylinder. A silo. She approached and inspected all the sides of the enormous object, and there it was: the first page. While taking a closer look, she noticed that the paper was very old and deteriorated, full of dirt stains and creases. But that wasn’t the main issue; the writing on it made Twilight’s heartbeat accelerate. Right in the center of the page, there was a spooky circle doodle with two X’s that resembled a pair of eyes…or non-existent ones. The actual message was ‘ALWAYS WATCHES’ on top and ‘NO EYES’ at the bottom of the scribble. Although both were written in capitals, the shaky handwriting could not be ignored by Twilight, who started wondering if there wasn’t an actual victim who made those pages. (I drew this one btw :D) She took the page with a trembling hand, and right when she did so, a very loud and ominous boom was heard out of nowhere. But it didn’t happen just once; the sound became continuous and pestering from now on, which gave Twilight a headache. The other girls were also terrified, and started looking around for the upcoming threat. “He’s getting close. Let’s split up, it saves more time for us,” Twilight suggested, while turning her head to her friends. “No way! You’ll actually make this harder for us!” Rainbow Dash argued. “This is what he ACTUALLY wants.” “Seriously, do you even listen? What I mean by ‘splitting up’ is that we’ll go in two groups, not separately. Of course I wouldn’t risk that much!” Twilight explained herself, trying to convince her friend that there’s no other way. “Oh, really? And what are the groups, egghead?” “I’ll go with you and Applejack, and Rarity with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.” “Great! We’ll go this way, then!” Rainbow Dash agreed, while heading straight to the left, and with Applejack after her. Twilight remained behind for a few moments to give some indications to the other group. “Remember to just take the page and leave. Whatever you do, don’t waste time. From what I heard, there should be a crossroads, so we’ll meet there, okay?” “Got it, darling! Anything else?” Rarity asked. “Yes. Avoid him as much as possible,” Twilight warned, then left to catch up with her other two companions. Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie looked at each other in disbelief, not saying anything to each other for a few seconds. They were already too afraid, but they didn’t have any other choice and decided to head to the right, going deeper into Slenderman’s ‘playground…