//------------------------------// // Silo *Rainbow* // Story: Eight // by ThunderChaserCreate //------------------------------// 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.