//------------------------------// // Chapter 06 // Story: The Mirror-Stone Wasteland // by Robipony //------------------------------// Chapter 06 “Have you seen true darkness? Of course not. In order to know it you have to be born into it. There are few who have but I have seen them before. As soon as they were ripped from their mother’s womb they were in darkness. To these foals the day was like night. That was when all the monsters came out.” -Shadow-Stalk Rainbow-dash found herself in an abandoned alleyway with a black sky overhead. How did she arrive here? Last Rainbow-dash remembered she was on Applejack’s farm having her brains beaten out by some stupid unicorn. So how had she wound up in an alleyway like this one? Looking up she saw neon signs as well as a bulletin board advertising Rarity’s new line of crystal dresses. All these indicated to Rainbow-dash that she was in Manehatten but she was still puzzled as to how she had come here. Down the alleyway movement caught Rainbow-dash’s attention. The shadow of another pony had shifted around the corner. “Hey!” Rainbow-dash yelled, “Wait a minute!” She ran in attempt to catch up with the source of the shadow. Rainbow-dash turned the corner to find herself out on the main street. There were cracks in the pavement and cabs turned on their sides. Looking around the street appeared to be deserted, until a shadow moved in a building across from her. “Hello?” Rainbow-dash called out as she stepped into the building. It appeared to have once been a dress shop, however all of the dresses were gone now leaving only unclothed mannequins in their place. Rarity would have been by the cash register sat what appeared to be a mirror of sorts, however a strange pale-green fog moved across the surface. A scraya-mirror? The blue Pegasus had heard about the mirrors from Twilight once who said that at some point they might be used for communication and perhaps even home entertainment in the future. At the time Rainbow-dash had scoffed saying that the Pegasi mail companies would probably not let something like this jeopardize their business. The cyan Pegasus gently shifted the mirror with her fore hoof and was surprised to see the image change and come into focus. The image was of a blue pony wearing a brown pony mash, which possessed a purple mane and a broad smile stitched into its features. From behind the mask two pale green eyes looked back at Rainbow-dash. “Hey there Dash!” The pony spoke in a gravely tone, “I have something important to tell you!” “Who are you?” Rainbow-dash yelled, “What do you want from me!” The masked pony shuck her head in response, “There isn’t much time to explain everything in detail. Lets just say you took a big hit to your head and perhaps your ego too." The blue Pegasus rubbed her forehead and sure enough there was a nasty bruise in the center of it. “Now listen! You are not alone. There are ‘things’ here that would love to make your life miserable. Not only that but there are ‘waves’ you should avoid them as much as possible.” As the masked pony finished her message fog started to roll over the surface of the mirror again. “Wait!” Rainbow-dash yelled as she grasped at the mirror, “hold on a sec!” Despite the Pegasus’s protest the masked pony’s image disappeared replaced by rolling fog. A muttering sound alerted Rainbow-dash that something was behind her, turning she saw an earth pony, her pink coat covered in black slime. The pony’s eyes looked back into its skull. It seemed to moan as it stammered towards Rainbow-dash. “Hey are you okay?” Rainbow-dash asked as the slime covered pony neared. As the creature came close its leg came in contact with one of the drawers on the counter. To Rainbow-dash’s horror as soon as its leg hit the drawer its entire body dissolved and splattered to the floor, leaving a black puddle were it once had stood. Rainbow-dash stood there frozen, starring at the black stain on the floor. Finally gathering her will to move on the blue Pegasus side stepping the puddle and ascending the stairs at the back of the store. Rainbow-dash winced when she crushed the corpse of a dead cockroach underneath her hoof. Reaching the top of the steps the blue Pegasus found herself on the rooftop of the store. Looking down she spotted more of those slime-covered ponies in the courtyard below. As she looked on Rainbow-dash noticed something off in the distance to see a green wave of energy surging in her direction. Remembering the advice that the masked pony had given the Pegasus rushed to take cover behind what appeared to be the stores ventilation duct. As the wave pulsed past Rainbow-dash could feel a fraction of its force as the air gushed past. Once the wave had dissipated the blue Pegasus looked back down into the courtyard. The slime-covered ponies were gone now, replaced with puddles of black ooze. The wave should indeed be avoided as much as possible. Something grabbed Rainbow-dash’s attention and she looked down to see the shadow of a pony around the corner of an alleyway. The Pegasus flew over to the top of another building to get a closer look. Her wings ached as she landed on the rooftop. She hated how her wings hurt; it hadn’t always been so painful to fly. Down in the alley a lavender pony slowly galloped. She had folded wings and a horn stretched from her purple mane. An Alicorn. “Hey Twilight!” Rainbow-dash yelled at the Alicorn, “Wait up!” Stretching out her wings Rainbow-dash attempted to glide down to catch up with Twilight Sparkle. However as she was about to land Rainbow-dash’s foot was caught on a garbage can causing her to ram face first into the pavement, and to be showered with trash. Looking up Rainbow-dash saw that Twilight had not stopped but had continued walking up a stairway into another brick building. “Twilight!” Rainbow-dash called out, “wait for me!” Twilight just kept walking and after ascending a few concrete steps, disappeared into the shadows of the brick building. Annoyed Rainbow-dash was about to curse under her breath when she noticed a green aura eclipsing the buildings to her right. Another wave was coming! Running at full speed the blue Pegasus charged at the doorway of the abandoned building. Rainbow-dash stretched out her wings and flung herself through the doorway, a wave of green energy passed by. Rainbow-dash skidded to a stop, her face stopping just meters from a brick wall. Looking around Rainbow-dash could tell that the building had been abandoned for a long period of time. There were holes in the asphalt floor giving way to pools of black slime. A slime covered pony walked around the room in a circular motion, moaning as it went. There was a table with old documents in the center of the invisible circle the creature was pacing. Not wanting to bother the pony Rainbow-dash walked past it toward the door to stairwell. This was the only other door in the room that Twilight could have taken as the other doors lead to empty rooms. Rainbow-dash tried to open the door but it was locked. The Pegasus groaned at the discovery, then she noticed the moaning behind her had stopped. She turned to watch as the slime covered pony turned to look at her, its pale eyes turning into a vicious red. The creature shrieked and charged at the rainbow maned pony. Caught by surprise Rainbow-dash found herself pinned to the floor by the slimy creature as it lashed out at her with its hooves. Retaliating Rainbow-dash raised her hind hooves and attempted to buck the slime-covered pony off of her. The creature disintegrated into a black oozy puddle. After cleaning herself off Rainbow-dash began looking around the room hoping to perhaps find a key to the stairwell. Soon she found herself looking at the desk that the slimy pony had paced around. Under an Equestria Daily newspaper Rainbow-dash found the key. After unlocking the door the Pegasus grabbed an old wooden plank off the ground and held it in her mouth. If there were anymore of those creatures were in here she would be ready for them. The stairs going up were blocked by large amounts of debris including a desk, forcing Rainbow-dash to descend the stairs into the basement. The blue Pegasus had to keep descending the stairs as every door she came across was locked, jammed, stuck, or barricaded. The descent continued on until she found herself at a floor with a large rectangular window next to the door. The sign on the door indicated that it might have been a dentist’s office. The Pegasus looked through the window but all Rainbow-dash could see was the darkness beyond. After testing the door and finding it looked Rainbow-dash was just about to leave and go down the next flight of stairs when she heard a thumping at the window. Turning Rainbow-dash turned to see Twilight on the other side of the glass. She was trying to say something but Rainbow-dash couldn’t hear her. “Twilight!” Rainbow-dash yelled, letting to plank tumble from her mouth, “What is it! What is going on! I can’t hear you!” Just then two slime covered ponies leapt from the darkness toward Twilight pulling her back into that inky blackness. In their attempt to grab the Alicorn the creatures shattered the glass window forcing Rainbow-dash to shield her eyes with her fore hooves. It was dead silent as Rainbow-dash gazed into that room. Swallowing hard the Pegasus picked the wooden board back up with her teeth and crawled in through the broken window. Entering the room Rainbow-dash realized that the room was covered in thick, black ooze, with the exception of one section of the wall where the image of Minty Fresh showed through. Fleshy sacks hung from the ceiling, swaying from the breeze. Rainbow-dash itched her way toward the doorway across the room and as she did one of the sacks tore open. A small Pegasus drenched in black slime fell to the floor. Before it could become a threat Rainbow-dash slammed the plank in her mouth into the slimy creature causing it to disintegrate. Then two more fell to the ground from nearby sacks. They began to moan as they started wobbling toward her with pale eyes. Rainbow-dash started backing up towards the doorway keeping the two slime-covered ponies at forelegs length. Doing so she was oblivious to the fleshy sack that she backed into. Upon contact the sack erupted as another slimy pony landed on the blue Pegasus its red eyes menacing as it attempted to choke her from behind. With one quick movement Rainbow-dash swung the board back at the creature causing it to melt away. Upon the death of their kin the eyes of the other two creatures changed to red as they prepared to attack. Swinging the plank Rainbow-dash caught the first assailant in the chin causing it to splatter to the ground. The second slime covered pony let out a terrible shriek resulting in the other sacks bursting open with a swarm of slimy beasts. Suddenly Rainbow-dash was pulled through the doorway and thrown face first onto a linoleum floor. She lay beside next to a blue dentistry chair with various dental tools lying around on the floor. Rainbow-dash heard the door slam shut as she picked herself off the ground and turned to face her rescuer. However she soon found herself once again being pushed to the ground with something heavy sitting on her chest. The green unicorn from Applejack’s barn was sitting on Rainbow-dash now telekinetically holding a spit-pan ready to strike. “STOP!!!” A low draconic voice roared. Rainbow-dash looked around now finding herself back at Applejack’s farm with Spike starring down the green unicorn. Growling the hooded unicorn let go of the item she was holding, which turned out to be a wooden plank and not a dentist’s spit-pan, and dove off into the woods. As Rainbow-dash attempted to stand back up Spike and Applejack walked over to the blue Pegasus. Her mane was mingled with dirt due to the struggle. “Are ya okay Dash?” Applejack asked, starring at her old friend. “Great,” Rainbow-dash lied, “never been better.” “You don’t look so good,” Spike spoke, “You should go see a doctor.” While her wings wobbled a little Rainbow-dash continued to stand. Her body felt awful but she didn’t need her friends worrying about that. It wouldn’t really be awesome if she showed any sign of weakness. “I am just fine!” Rainbow-dash retorted, “Now if you will excuse me I am going home!”