//------------------------------// // Rainbow Dash // Story: Slendermane // by Darkswirl //------------------------------// Music Rainbow Dash "Come on out and fight like a real mare!" Rainbow Dash challenged, not daring to take flight again. She had learned her lesson over and over each time she tried and was thrown to the ground. When she first awoke, her immediate thought was to take to the skies to get a better view. Ground. When she tried again, thinking her wings were just messed up... Ground. She hadn't moved far from the spot she woke up in. "I said show yourself!" Every time she tried to gallop towards where she had seen the tentacles come from nothing was there. No animal, no pony, nothing. Nothing except trees. Tree after tree after tree. Whatever it was out there, it was taunting her; playing with her like a cat does a mouse. She was part of its cruel game where it set her down in a small clearing under the night sky, but punished her every time she spread her wings. To Rainbow Dash, it was time to start bucking trees. If only AJ were here... she thought with a grin before darting off towards the nearest tree, slamming her back hooves against it. Bark. Wood. Tree. Bark. Kick after kick with her hind hooves had done nothing to reveal whatever was toying with her. "Alright, this is your last chance! Come out her so I can beat the hay out of you or I'll come in there and do it!" The only answer was the gentle flutter of a single sheet of paper making its way down from the sky and in front of Rainbow Dash. It was insulting her! It was taunting her! Enough was enough. Crumpling up the piece of paper and tossing it to the side, Rainbow Dash let out a war cry and charged to the second treeline, only to trip over some roots as she reached it. "So that's how you wanna play?! Alright, let's play then!" Silence. Rainbow Dash panted and flared her nostrils in anger as her eyes carefully scanned the area. Nothing moved for a good few minutes until Rainbow Dash shook her head to clear the slight blur in her vision. She knew whatever it was that had done all of this was still out there. And she wasn't going to stop looking for it. --- --- --- The hours seemed to tick by slowly and the moon held its place in the sky and the need for a fight left Rainbow Dash's body. She could still feel its presence, still feel it following her. But she couldn't see it, and she needed to see something before she could hit it. So her plan was to walk. Make it think she had given up. Slow her pace until it was right on top of her, poised to strike. And then... Rainbow Dash let out a cry of victory as she threw her hind hooves out from behind her, catching the creature's jaw and causing an audible crack as her hoof connected. But it did not fall. As Rainbow Dash's vision blurred and she felt very hot, she stared in horror as the thing slowly and violently forced its neck back into place. It simply stared before lashing out with its tentacles. The same tentacles that had thrown her on the ground, over and over again. But she couldn't fight this time. She couldn't even scream.