//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Into the Abyss // Story: Slendermane- Missing Sister // by Matthais Unidostres //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Into the Abyss "See, Scoots! What did I tell ya? If carrying Ponyville's flag in the Equestria Games doesn't proof your awesomeness, then nothing will!" "Thanks Rainbow Dash. But I'd even be here if it weren't for you." "Well, that's what big sisters do. They look out for ya." "Heh-heh, well. . ." "Umm. . . . .Oh, to hay with it, come here Squirt." Rainbow Dash pulled Scootaloo into a hug, much to the filly's surprise and joy. "I love ya, little sis . . ." "Scootaloo!?" Rainbow Dash shouted as she sprung awake suddenly. Celestia's Sun was shining down upon the gorge Rainbow Dash lay in. The sky was blue, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Dash looked around, only to see nothing but rocks. She looked down, and saw that the book with the eight pages was laying on her chest, perhaps after protecting her all night. "So. . .he didn't get me. . ." Dash observed, but then she frowned, "But where's Scoots!? I won that thing's stupid game! Where's Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash got up quickly and shouted at the top of her lungs, "SCOOTALOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The only reply was the echoing of her own voice. Rainbow Dash growled and bucked at the dirt beneath her hooves, angered that she apparently went through that nightmare last night for nothing. She picked up the book and flashlight and stowed them away in her saddlebags. Then, without really thinking, she began walking in a random direction, lost in her own thoughts. "I have to be making some progress, here. I mean, I collected that thing's pages, that has to mean something. If only I had waited to here more from Goldie Delicious. She sounded like she knew more about Slendermane. Why did I take off so quickly?! Why didn't I wait!? Why-?" BONK! Rainbow Dash walked right into something wooden, causing her to see stars. She shook off the dizziness and took a look at what she had bumped into. It was a wooden sign that read in faded lettering: The Slate Family Rock Farm FORECLOSED The "FORECLOSED" part was a sheet of paper glued to the sign. Rainbow looked past the sign and saw that the gorge widened up into what seemed to be a huge crater, as if it were once a huge lake with a river valley flowing into it in the past. Within the huge crater was a decrepit farmhouse and silo. Filled with a new hope, Rainbow flew at top speed to the structures, imagining herself finding Scootaloo tied up and gagged in the basement, untying the poor filly, and the two of them hugging joyfully as the orange pegasus praised her hero for rescuing her. Rainbow Dash walked away from the building feeling more angry than ever. She searched through both the farmhouse, the basement, the attic, and even the silo for hours, and all she found were crude drawings of that accursed stallion on the walks, ceiling and floors that weren't already collapsed. It was clear to her why this rock farm was no longer operational. Just as Dash as about to take to the sky and search from the air, she spotted a large black spot on the wall of the crater. "Hey," Dash said, and she quickly made her way to it. As she suspected, it turned out to be a cave. "It's probably a mine," Dash commented. She pulled out her flashlight, clicked it on, and entered the cave. Dash seemed to be having some luck in the deduction department, because the cave was indeed a mine-shaft. The walls of the cave were picked and chiseled smooth, and every so often there'd be a wooden post holding the ceiling up. After waling for a few minutes, Dash came across a vast wide cavern with a high ceiling. In the center of it was a tall structure that went up into the roof. Dash quickly approached the structure, and quickly discovered that it was a freight elevator. Dash shined her flashlight on the control panel. Dash never was one to read instructions, but skimming it easily told her that she needed to make sure six generators were up and running. Luckily, she knew what a generator looked like, thanks to the ones Twilight had in her basement. Rainbow Dash turned to see the many passages strewn about the walls of the large chamber. "Alright," she said, "Here I go." A few minutes of walking down a random passage led her by a few carts full of coal. Dash looked around carefully, a tiny hint of paranoia in the back of her head, until she finally arrived at one of the generators. Dash hit a button on the large yellow machine and it hummed to life. "There's one," she said. Dash exited the first tunnel and looked into another cave. This one was shorter, and it wasn't long before generator number two was powered up. "That's two," Dash sighed, beginning to feel bored. She hated tedious things, and that's what this was. She considered just flying up the elevator shaft, but the shaft itself was actually closed up and designed to be un-accessible unless it was turned on. Dash turned away from the generator and walked back through the tunnel, not learning from her earlier mistake and becoming lost in her thoughts again. "Sweet Celestia, this is boring. At least when I was picking up papers in the forest it felt like I was winning against Slendermane. He isn't even here. He's not involved here. I may not even be going the right way. I'm not any closer to Scootaloo. I can only hope she's up wherever that elevator leads. But all I really want is to get a fair shot at that creep. Why doesn't he fight fair. I could buck his face so hard he'll have a face. I swear, I'm gonna rip his tentacles-" Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped when a constant sound came to her ears. It had started the moment Dash had turned on the second generator, and it had gotten louder and louder with each passing second. It was the sound of running hoof steps. Dash slowly turned her head in the direction of a tunnel across from him. She looked into the deep darkness, her eyes wide as saucers as the hoof steps got louder and louder. And then, a pony wearing a dirty white cloak ran out. Dash shouted out in fear, fumbling the flashlight in her hooves. She pointed the light at the cloaked pony, fully illuminating it. The pony's fur was very dirty, almost charcoal black, as if it had been rolling around in the coal. When the light fell upon it, it quickly lifted a hoof to cover its face, as if the light was burning it's eyes. "Who are you. . . ?" Rainbow Dash breathed out nervously. She gulped down the lump in her throat, and she said louder, "Who are you?!" The figure slowly lowered its hoof and revealed its face. It was a skull. Just when Rainbow thought it couldn't get any worse, the skull faced figure let out a blood curdling shriek, and ran straight at her. It took a second or two for Rainbow's mind to process what was happening, and when it did, Rainbow turned around fast and ran like a vampire fruit bat out of Tartarus. Her heart pounded as she ran down a random tunnel, her hooves thundering against the floor. She chanced a glance behind her, and saw to her horror that the Chaser was right behind her, and gaining fast. Rainbow looked ahead of her and saw a pile of crates forming a wall. However, there was a gap on between the top of the stack and ceiling. Rainbow leapt up into the air and flew through the gap, and floated down gently on the other side. Rainbow took a deep breath in relief, thankful that frightening chase was over. "What was that thing?" Dash asked to herself, amazed at how frightened she had become. Dash turned, and spotted a third generator. She turned it on, and then quickly walked deeper through the tunnel. "Must be one of Slendermane's minions," Dash said to herself, "Coward. Sending someone else to do his dirty work." Rainbow was reminded of the special goggles she was wearing when Slendermane popped into existence right in front of her. Rainbow screamed as her vision went nuts and she turned onto a branching pathway, running away from the faceless phantom. Dash soon found herself in a cavern filled with metal barrels. She didn't know nor care what the barrels contained. She was just focused on finding the last three generators before she got killed. "Slendermane, and skull-face," Dash thought to herself, "This just isn't fair." Dash walked behind a stack of barrels and spotted the fourth generator. After turning it on, the sound of running hooves came to her ears again. This time, however, Dash squashed the fear in her chest. "That thing ain't Slendermane. I can take this thing down. I'll make skull face talk." Dash grit her teeth as she walked around from behind the barrels. "I'm not afraid." Dash jumped and slid behind a line of barrels and listened to the sound of the approaching Chaser. "For Scootaloo!" Dash leapt out form behind the barrels. . .only to receive two blunt hooves to her chest. Dash was knocked down flat on her back, and her wings were pinned down to the ground. The roars and shrieks of the Chaser echoed throughout the cavern as Rainbow Dash stared up in horror at the skull faced creature. Her whole body felt cold and her heart was screaming as the horrifying phantom held her down helplessly. The Chaser's eyes were black and empty, and foul smelling, rasping breaths puffed out of the mouth. It roared as it began slamming its hooves against Dash's face. The punches seemed to snap Rainbow Dash out of her terror, and something awakened within her. "I can't die! I gotta save my sister from these monsters!" Dash gave a shout as she used all her strength, and pushed herself up, beating her wings with maximum strength and knocking the Chaser off of her. The Chaser arced a considerable distance through the air and landed painfully on its back a few meters away. The Chaser didn't appear to be dazed by the landing, but it quickly got up and ran off. Dash panted as she tried to get her heart back down to it's normal rate. "I'm close," Dash said, "I gotta be getting close to her. They're trying to stop me." Dash cracked a smile and turned to walk away, "Well, that's not gonna happen. I'm gonna get to Scootaloo. And then they're all gonna pay." Dash walked through another tunnel, this one filled with a bunch of gems sticking out of the walls. "Spike would like it here. . .actually, no, he wouldn't think gems are worth being chased by psychotic monsters." At the end of the tunnel, Dash found generator number five. "One more left," Dash said as she switched it on. She ran through another tunnel and found herself in the main elevator chamber. She ran across the room towards a tunnel, but then Slendermane suddenly barred the way. Dash sidestepped and threw herself into an adjacent tunnel, and ran down it thinking, "That last generator's gotta be in that other tunnel. Oh please, let this tunnel connect to it. . ." Dash scanned the right wall for any possible doors or openings, and just when she almost lost all hope, a shaft clogged with fallen wooden beams and stone appeared. "Heyaaaaaahhhh!" Dash shouted as she threw herself at the debris, kicking and punching at it, smashing wood and kicking out stone. In a few brief moments, Dash had smashed through the blockade, and plowed through the short shaft. Then she saw the final generator. "YES!" Dash exclaimed as she switched the generator on. She turned to go back the way she came, but stopped. "He wouldn't appear in the same place twice. . ." she thought, and then she ran down the passage way that Slendermane had blocked. She jumped off the ground and flew down the tunnel until she arrived in the elevator chamber. She skidded to a halt at the controls and turned them on, and the old slightly rusted gears groaned as the entire elevator shaft shuddered. Dash jumped onto the platform, and heard the fierce growling of the Chaser. Dash looked across to see the dirty cloaked pony charge towards her at top speed. "Come on, come on!" Dash said to the elevator as it shuddered and moved a few inches upwards. She looked back at the approaching skull faced phantom quickly closed the distance between them. Dash suddenly remembered how the Chaser had reacted when she shined her flashlight at it. She whipped out the flashlight and clicked it on and off, flashing it at the figure. The Chaser stopped dead in its tracks, shielding it's skeletal face with its dirty black hooves, stumbling backwards as the light appeared to burn it. But then, after a few tense moments, the batteries of the flashlight gave out. Dash's cry of fear died in her throat as the elevator jerked free with a loud clank and carried her up rather quickly. "Thank, Celestia," she breathed as the elevator carried her up and up and out of the mine. Rainbow Dash exited the small wooden building that contained the top of the elevator. Dash looked around at the surrounding woods, wondering where to go next. She looked up at the setting Sun, and that's when she noticed the radio tower in the distance.