//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Arrival // Story: Slendermane- Missing Sister // by Matthais Unidostres //------------------------------// Chapter 5: The Arrival Rainbow Dash trudged onward through the woods and towards the radio tower, it's blinking red light calling her forward, beckoning to her. The mare kept on walking, her mind working hard as she went over the many possible outcomes that this journey could have. Was Scootaloo waiting for her in that building? Would Rainbow Dash burst into a room and find her sister tied up, after which she would free her and share an long awaited hug? Or would Slendermane and his skull-faced Chaser be waiting for her, and an epic battle for her little sister's life would begin? Once again, Rainbow Dash was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize what was happening in the world around her. It took a burning tree falling to the ground in front of her to snap her out of her thoughts. She stepped backwards and looked around to see that she was standing right in the middle of an enormous forest fire. "What the hay!?" Dash shouted as she looked around at the flaming death surrounding her. But then, the image of the tall thin stallion standing wreathed in flames caught her eye, which led her to turn and make a beeline for the radio tower. She didn't bother to look around or behind her. She just couldn't. She had to get to that building. Embers fell rained down around her, and trees began falling down and collapsing into flames. "Come on, come on, come on!" Dash said to herself as she jumped into the air and twirled through the air, diving through raining embers and under falling trees. She then crashed through a chain link french and rolled across the ground. The pegasus got up to her hooves and looked up at the radio tower standing above her. She looked at the door to the building and opened it, ran in, closed the door behind her, and locked it securely. Dash gave a long sigh of relief, and turned around. He breath caught in her throat as she saw the messages scrawled in white paint on the walls of the hallway. Messages like "Stop running", "You were already dead the moment you left", "The Arrival will be your departure", "He attracts us to him for his pleasure," "He loves his proxies," and "You belong to him now." Dash looked at all of these messages scrawled on the walls as she traveled down the corridor, wondering who made them, and to where this hallway would lead her. Dash soon noticed that there was a fire burning at the end of the hall. But what really got Dash's heart pumping was the figure of a pony lying in a fetal position and illuminated by the burning wood nearby. Dash quickly closed the final distance and slid to a halt when the identity of the pony became clear. "Sweetie Belle?" Rainbow asked in disbelief. The white unicorn filly opened her eyes and turned towards the pegasus mare. She gasped, tears in her eyes, and ran over to hug the older mare. "Oh, Rainbow Dash! It was just horrible! It took me! It was the! Worst! Possible! Thing!" As Sweetie Belle sobbed into Dash's fur, Dash noticed the white paint smeared all over Sweetie Belle's hooves and horn. "Did she write those messages? Why?" Dash thought to herself. This also brought another more pressing thought to mind. "What the hay are you even doing here!?" Dash asked in a slightly angry tone. Sweetie Belle let go of Rainbow Dash and wiped her eyes, "I'm so sorry, Rainbow, but we were so worried about Scootaloo-" "What do you mean, we!?" Rainbow asked angrily. Sweetie Belle shrank back and said, "W-well. . .Appelbloom and Button wanted to-" "Why didn't you tell anypony! Why didn't you get somepony to stop them! Now you're in danger too!" Dash exclaimed, looking quite furious. Sweetie Belle hung her head in shame. Dash was about to say more, but stopped short when she noticed one final message written on the wall before her. What made this message different was that it was written in bright orange paint. YOU HAVE FAILED HER Suddenly, loud banging could be heard from the other end of the hallway. "Eep!" Sweetie Belle squeaked as she jumped next to Rainbow Dash. The mare stood protectively in front of the filly as she stared down the darkened hallway to the door that seemed to have gotten much further away than she recalled. The banging continued, getting louder and louder by the second. Then, the nearby fire blew out, plunging the pair into darkness. "W - w - we're doomed!" Sweetie Belle screamed. As the banging intensified, the door could be heard slowly breaking. "NO WAY!" Rainbow Dash thought, "I'm not gonna let it end like this!" She looked around wildly, in a desperate search for some way out. Then, her eyes fell upon the wooden ceiling above her. "Yes," she thought. She quickly placed Sweetie Belle onto her back. "Listen to me, Sweetie Belle. Hang on as tight as you can!" Dash shouted. The filly silently obeyed, and the pegasus took a few steps back down the hall, the banging still ringing out in her ears. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash charged forward across the floor, apparently heading straight for the wall. Then, at the last possible moment, Rainbow Dash jumped and unfurled her wings. She pulled up quickly and soared up into the air. Just as the door was broken down in a crash, Rainbow burst through the wooden roof in a smash. As pieces of wood flew wild, Dash flew away from the radio tower without looking back. Once they were a good distance from the forest fire, Rainbow Dash landed, and Sweetie Belle jumped of her back excitedly. The little filly hopped up and down joyously and said, "Oh my gosh! You saved my life, Rainbow Dash! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank-" The filly stopped when she noticed that Rainbow Dash was looking down mournfully, her eyes closed. "Rainbow Dash?" Sweetie Belle asked softly. Dash didn't hear Sweetie Belle speak. All she could think of was that cryptic message that was written on the wall. "You have failed her. . ." Sweetie Belle let out a gasp when she saw tears leaking out of the tough pegasus' eyes. "Rainbow. . .we'll. . ." Sweetie Belle gulped down a lump in her throat and said confidently, "We'll find her! We'll find Scootaloo. I know we will!" Dash didn't say anything. She just stood silently with her head down as the feeling of failure overtook her. "SWEETIE BELLE!!!!!!" The filly's head turned to face the shout and saw Button Mash running towards her. "Button! You're okay!" Sweetie Belle cried as she ran up to meet him in a hug. "I was so worried!" Button said through his tears. "Me too," Sweetie Belle replied. "Where's Applebloom?" The young ponies turned to see Rainbow Dash with a serious look as she approached them. "I know she came with you. Where is she?" Dash demanded. Sweetie Belle turned to Button, who simply blinked and shuffled his hooves nervously. "Well. . .there was this really scary skull pony-" Button was interrupted by a loud terrified shriek. Sweetie Belle's jaw dropped as Button stood frozen solid. "Not again!" Dash shouted furiously as she ran off into the forest. "Stay close behind me!" she called back behind her. The two exchanged glances before quickly running after Rainbow Dash. The pegasus paced herself. She ran quickly to get to the source of the scream, but slowed up so she didn't leave Button and Sweetie Belle too far behind. "I'm not failing anypony ever again!" she thought resolutely. Dash burst through a bush, and came face to face with the skull faced pony, who was standing on top of a terrified looking Applebloom. The cloaked pony made a sound similar to laughter, and then placed it's grimy hooves on Applebloom's neck. "OH, HAY NO!" Dash shouted as she threw herself at the Chaser with her hooves out. The two ponies rolled across the ground for a few feet, as the Chaser swing its hooves wildly. To Dash' surprise, one of the dirty hooves caught her goggles, and it pulled it off with a snap. And then, the figure rolled off of her and ran off. Dash got up and looked at the Chaser, who was now leaning up against the side of a big tree, breathing heavily. It held up the goggles mockingly, swinging them around and making guttural sounds. Dash scratched at the ground with her front hoof. But before she charged, the Chaser pointed to the side. Dash would've ignored it if she hadn't heard the terrified weeping. She turned to see Applebloom trembling on the ground, pale and trembling in fear as she stared at something. Dash turned yet again, and saw that Slendermane was only two feet behind her. Without the goggles, all Dash could do was stand dead still, staring blankly at Slendermane's empty face. The creature released its tentacles, and they slowly snaked out towards her. Rainbow Dash was held helpless as her mind seemed to crack, warp, and melt under the eyeless gaze of the faceless creature. The tentacles wrapped around her legs, torso, and neck. The Chaser laughed hoarsely as Slendermane pulled the rainbow maned pegasus close in with his constricting tentacles. Rainbow Dash dived down at top speed just in time to catch the screaming orange pegasus. "I gotcha!" Dash declared as she carried Scootaloo up and back towards dry land. The scared filly opened her eyes and said in relief, "Rainbow Dash! Is that you? Thank you, thank you!" The pair soon landed, and Rainbow Dash placed Scootaloo on the ground in front of her. The older mare's heart was pounding, and the cold ice cube of fear still lay in her stomach. "If I hadn't woken up. . ." Dash thought fearfully as images of Scootaloo plunging to her death began to cloud her mind. Dash quickly attempted to dispel those fears by putting on angry disposition. "What were you doing out here in the middle of the night?!" she demanded frustratedly. At first, Scootaloo turned away in shame. But then, she turned back a stared at Rainbow Dash for a moment. She then took a deep breath and spoke in earnest, "I'm so, so sorry, Rainbow Dash! I just wanted you to hang out with me and see how cool I was so you'd take me under your wing, teach me everything you know, and become like my big sister!" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in shock. "Her big sister? I knew she was my number one fan. . .but. . .wow. . ." she thought. Scootaloo took a breath and continued, "But then you started telling those spooky stories and I got scared! I thought I heard The Headless Horse so I ran out here by myself, and..." Scootaloo began to tear up, "...well, I guess you know the rest." Rainbow Dash stared long and hard at the little filly. "So, she was scared. . .but she tried to hide it. . .just like I did. . ." she thought to herself. And then, at that moment, Rainbow Dash realized something that she felt like kicking herself from not realizing sooner. That fiery fighting spirit. That enthusiasm. That desire to be awesome. That love of action and excitement. The way she wanted to look cool and tough in front of everypony else. "She's. . .just like me. . " Rainbow Dash thought to herself. And right then and there, she made up her mind. She smiled warmly at the filly and said, "Hey, I'm gonna tell you something, but if you ever tell anypony else, I'm gonna deny it. First time I heard those stories..." she looked around to make sure nopony was listening in, "I was scared too." Scootaloo sniffled and blinked. "You were?" she asked. Rainbow nodded. "Sure! I mean, I got over it because I realized pretty quick that if there was such thing as a Headless Horse, I could totally take it on," she said with a smile. A smile that Scootaloo reciprocated. Rainbow Dash got a little closer to Scootaloo and said, "So, you're looking for somepony to take you under their wing, huh?" "Mm-hmm." Dash extended her wing and draped it around Scootaloo, pulling her in close. "Yeah, I might be up for something like that," she said. An enraptured smile appeared on Scootaloo's face. "Really?" she gasped, sure that this was all too good to be true. Rainbow Dash smiled and said jokingly, "As long as you don't go falling into any more rivers in the middle of the night." Scootaloo laughed and said, "It's a deal!" Rainbow Dash soon realized how nice it felt to have a little filly cuddling up next to her. The thought that she had somepony, a little sister, to look out for and support in her time of need gave her a feeling of fulfillment that was even stronger than when she performed her first Sonic Rainboom. And so, Rainbow Dash pulled the filly in closer with her wing, and nuzzled her in a tender loving hug. "Well, Rainbow Dash," she thought to herself, "You just got yourself a little sister. . .your sister. . .your sister. . . your sister. . ." "MY SISTER!!!!" Rainbow Dash suddenly bellowed in a burst of burning passion. Her wings snapped open, and the gave a series of powerful flaps in rapid succession, which launched both her and Slendermane into the air. Slendermanes' tentacles were still wrapped around Rainbow Dash's body, and they attempted to snake around her wings. However, the creatures attempts to halt Rainbow Dash's flight were futile, as the pegasus wings beat strong and fast enough to batter away the vile tentacles. Slendermane tried to whip at Dash's body and face with the tips of the tentacles. He even pulled at her mane. He did whatever he could to distract the pegasus, to make her falter. But Rainbow Dash wasn't there at the moment. All that remained was a furious Element of Loyalty who knew no physical pain or thoughts. Just an unstoppable force determined to pay retribution to the creature that dared to abduct her little sister. Soon the pair reached what had to be the stratosphere. Rainbow Dash stopped flapping her wings, and the pair began to fall. They were very quickly picking up speed, and it only took a few moments for them to reach terminal velocity. At this time, Rainbow Dash began to flap her wings again, sending them down even faster. Slendermane quickly retracted it's tentacles and attempted to fall away, but Rainbow Dash suddenly reached out and held the creature around it's neck with an iron grip. He thrashed around in an attempt to break free, but the Rainbow mare's strength was currently insurmountable. The pair went faster, faster, and faster, until with a final shout of exertion from Rainbow Dash, they finally broke through. BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!! The Sonic Rainboom burst forth, causing a multicolored ring to expand out from the point of the explosion. When Dash landed on the ground, she landed alone. She looked around and saw Applebloom sitting slack jawed at the display. She turned to one side and saw Button Mash and Sweetie Belle run in, also with looks of amazement on their faces. "Rainbow Dash?" Sweetie Belle said in a hushed voice. "Did you. . .?" Button said nervously, "I mean. . .did you. . .is he. . .?" "Over here! They're over here, everypony!!" shouted a familiar voice. Dash turned to see Twilight and Fluttershy flying down towards her. Out of the bushes came Rarity, Applejack, Big Mac, Milano Mash and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie tackled Rainbow Dash in a huge hug and shouted, "She's okay! She's alright!" She then turned angry and placed her forehead on Dash's, "Don't you ever scare us like this again, Rainbow Dash." Twilight swooped down and pulled Pinkie off of Dash. "Pinkie, give Dash a chance to breathe!" Fluttershy gave Rainbow Dash a gentler hug and said, "Oh, I was so worried! I'm so relieved you're okay!" Rarity ran over to Sweetie Belle, Applejack and Big Mac ran to Applebloom, and Milano ran over to Button; each of them both coddling and discipling the young ones at the same time. "We're sorry for running off, we really are," Sweetie Belle said sorrowfully. "We just had to see if we could help find Scootaloo," Button Mash said, and then he put on a pitiful face and said, "Pwease don't ground us!" Milano just sighed as she hugged the brown colt. "Oh Button, what am I going to do with you." "Do you have any idea what kind of danger you put yourself in!?" Applejack said angrily. "We're really sorry, Applejack," Applebloom said, "But you should've seen it! Rainbow Dash beat the monster with a Sonic Rainboom! It was amazing!" Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash and asked, "Really? Did you really destroy it?" Rainbow nodded and said, "Yeah. That's right. I Rainboomed that thing into oblivion. Just like Princess Luna said I would." Twilight smiled a bit, but then it fell as quickly as it came. "And. . .Scootaloo?" she asked tentatively. Rainbow Dash was silent at first. She didn't truly care anymore, so she just let her tears out, although she didn't sob at all as she stood there. "I. . ." she began, but then her voice decided to stop working. She swallowed hard as everypony looked at her. She sniffed as her face became damp with tears. "I . . . I've failed-" Rainbow was suddenly interrupted by a moaning and rustling. Everyone turned to see that the skull faced Chaser was slowly twitching and moving from where it lay after being thrown back by the Sonic Rainboom. Applebloom stepped back behind Big Mac as the Chaser got up to it's hooves. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and started to approach the figure, but then the crowing of a rooster reached her ears. At that very moment, Celestia raised the Sun over the land, casting light over the forest and creating a kaleidoscope of light and show through the leaves and branches of the trees. As the light fell upon the Chaser's grimy cloak and filthy fur, Rainbow Dash suddenly realized for the first time how small this pony really was. The Chaser groaned and shielded its eyes from the sunlight, as if it had grown too used to the dark. However, it's left hoof stopped when it touched it's skeletal face. The pony's hoof hovered over the skull, and gripped the very top of it. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped when the figure threw down a dirty plastic Nightmare Night skull mask to the ground. She stared hard at the harmless mask for a moment, and then slowly raised her head to look at cloaked pony. She then flew forward and held the smaller pony in her forelegs. Then, without hesitation, she lifted off the dirty cloak, revealing that messy purple mane and those beautiful violet eyes. "Rainbow. . .Dash?" the filly remarked hoarsely, a parched throat making it hard to speak clearly. If Rainbow Dash had been crying earlier; then now, her eyes were gushing tears profusely. Dash held the filly as close to her chest as she possibly could. "I - I thought - I thought you were-," Dash sobbed, hardly unable to sort out all the emotions she was feeling at that moment. Scootaloo felt tears of her own leak out as she shook her head and said, "Rainbow Dash, please don't cry. Everything's okay. I'm-." "I love you, Scoots," Dash said in a tone of voice completely alien to her as she fiercely nuzzled the filly she held in her hooves, "I really do. You're the perfect little sister, and you're my sister. You're the one I get to teach to fly, to stand up for, and to take care of when you need help. I can't even describe how awesome that makes me feel." Dash took a moment to take a few deep breaths in between sobs and said, "I - I almost lost you, Scoots. It was so awful. I almost lost you. My little sister! I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I'm so sorry I let this happen to you." Scootaloo was amazed by Rainbow Dash's display of affection as much as she was surprised by her tears. The filly put her hooves on er big sister's shoulder and said, "It wasn't your fault . . sister. . ." When Rainbow opened her eyes to look at her, Scootaloo smiled and said, "You risked your life to save me . . .that was pretty awesome, wasn't it?" Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile back. She let out a relieved laugh as she lifted Scootaloo up with her as she hovered up into the air, allowing the two of them to bask in the sunlight. "I love you, little sis," Rainbow Dash said sincerely as she looked at her sister, seemingly not hearing the "awwws" coming from Fluttershy and the other Crusaders. "I love you too, Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo said as she rested comfortably in Rainbow Dash's embrace. ". . . . .Hey, Scoots." "Yes?" ". . .I think you need a bath." Scootaloo looked down at her once orange fur, which was now blackened with thick dirt. She chuckled a bit and said, "Oh yeah. I do." Rainbow Dash smiled and ruffled Scootaloo's mane playfully, "Yeah. And after that, I think we'll have Pinkie Pie do what she does best. . ." Rarity had insisted that Scootaloo get a full Spa treatment on her, and the filly agreed to it on the condition that they leave out the hooficure. To Scootaloo's delight, she came out of the Spa looking better than ever. Her bright orange coat was once again full of life, and her purple mane showed off its vibrant passion once again. Sugar Cube Corner was the site of great celebration that evening. The recovery of a missing child certainly was a good reason for a party. And Scootaloo was the star of it all. The part had the usual faire. Sweet treats, lively music, games, and more. Goldie Delicious was there, of course. She was so relieved that Scootaloo was safe and sound. When Rainbow Dash told her of how she took care of Slendermane, she just smiled and asked for the goggles and eight pages back. "I'll be needin' 'em," Goldie Delicious said plainly with a half-smile, much to Rainbow Dash's confusion. But what surprised Rainbow Dash was how Scootaloo eagerly asked her to relate the tale of how she tracked down and defeated the creature that had kidnapped her. At first, Rainbow Dash suggested that they just forget about something so scary; but Scootaloo said that she wasn't at all scared now that her big sister was here for her, and she wanted to know all about her big sister's adventure. And so, the party concluded with Rainbow Dash telling the tale of her daring exploits against the Slendermane, complete with embellishments. Even Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Button Mash gave their two cents in as they spoke of their own adventure. "Wait," Sweetie Belle said, interrupting Button Mash's explanation of events, "What I want to know is how you managed to get away from Slendermane." Button Mash just shrugged and said, "I gave him 20 bits." Suddenly, rap music filled the room and Pinkie popped up wearing her rapper's outfit, complete with an alarm clock hanging from a chain around her neck. Vinyl Scratch appeared in the room as well. To the amusement of all, Pinkie Pie started rapping. No crying in the club Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits No crying in the club Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits No crying in the club Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits No crying in the club Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits No crying in the club Monster got ya bent all night I've been watching you get freaked out all night She a Chaser and you been running 'round all night You a Proxy he got you for your rent all night Play ya position in the club or gimme 20 bits No running in the club or gimme 20 bits No hiding in the club or gimme 20 bits You on a mission in the club so gimme 20 bits No crying in the club Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits No crying in the club Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits Gimme twenty bits Diamond Tiara was fuming as she punched her pillow over and over and over again. She had hopped that when Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo's other Blank Friends had gone on that rescue mission, that she could get rid of all of them, leaving her free to do as she pleased without them messing up her schemes. But no, they just had to rescue Scootaloo and foil all her plans yet again. "Curse you, curse you, curse YOU!" Diamond Tiara screamed as she hurled her pillow against the wall in her rage. She took a few deep breaths, and then walked over to retrieve her pillow. "Stupid mystery guy," she muttered, "Saying he'd take care of Scootaloo for me. Ha! There's a laugh. I drew those stupid pages for him, stuffed them in Scootaloo's bag. Well, he sure didn't deliver on his promise, the stupid loser. I'd love to give whoever he was a piece of my mind!" Diamond Tiara put her pillow back on her bed, and then climber into bed herself. She lay awake for a while, unable to fall asleep due to her intense rage. And then Slendermane was in her room. THE END