The first to react was the dragon. The massive black head let out a roar before swinging towards Winter Lily, its mouth open, showing sharp and dirty fangs that filled its gums like broken pieces of glass, dried blood and a few bones stuck between them. The mare flinched and just barely held in a scream as the Wailer stumbled in front of her, darting onto its hindlegs with surprising agility, considering the quantity of chains around its body. The dragon tried to close its maw around him, but with a moan of pain, the Wailer stopped the jaws from closing on him, the sharp fangs digging into its opened forelegs. The dragon roared and tried to close his mouth, but the Wailer's strength apparently was enough to stop the huge mouth from closing around him.
"Lily!" screamed Fire Flower in terror, as the dragon's head roared again, starting to vomit acid from its throat, showering the Wailer, who emitted a pained screech as it dripped onto the street, where it mixed with the puddles of rain, freeing streams of greenish fumes. "Get away from there!"
The mare immediately tried to move away, but stopped after only one step as she saw a mare that had her stomach ripped open and three burning foals running towards her. The unicorn emitted a terrified squeak and covered her eyes, terrified. But the creatures totally ignored her, running past her with hisses, heading towards the Wailer. The dragon spat it out, roaring and preparing for another bite as the mare jumped on the wailing pony's back, her entrails wrapping around its neck as the foals started to gnaw at its legs.
"Girls, here!" shouted Metal Hooves, looking terrified as the apparitions ferociously attacked the Wailer, which continued to emit wails of pain but didn't stop, as it shoved the mare off his back with a hard shake, then started to pound on her face with its chained hooves, ignoring the foals and the clown pony that immediately replaced the mare on its back.
Fire Flower immediately darted behind the stallion and into the little alley where he was pointing. She was rather sure that the alley hadn't been there a few seconds before, but for now, that didn't matter. She darted in, following Solaris and the other unknown stallion. She glanced back, and after a couple of seconds, she sighed in relief, as Winter Lily entered the alley as well, followed by Metal Hooves.
"Come on, this way!" screamed the unknown stallion, leading them against the rain and wind, while behind them, bestial screams and roars echoed. "The police station is not far away! That should be safe!"
"I'm starting to think that this place doesn't care about the concept of safety." roared back Solaris, his eyes darting around. Thunder boomed in the sky as they left the alley, entering into what seemed to be another main street. The lamps on either sides were turned off, but strangely, two lights flickered in the gloomy rain.
"There it is! Come on!" shouted the stallion, rapidly running towards it. As they got nearer, they saw the only two lamps still functioning were a pair at the entrance of what seemed to be the police department, judging by the rusty sign above the glass door. The stallion who led them there rapidly pushed it open, and gestured at the others to get in. They ran inside as more thunder echoed through the streets, then tossed themselves away from the door, as Metal Hoof slammed it shut behind Winter Lily's tail, cutting off the noise of the storm.
"Dear Celestia, I don't know if the monsters are going to kill me, or a heart attack." grunted the unknown pony, before waving a hoof. "I'm Trevor."
"Fire F-" started the mare, but she was cut off when Winter Lily tackled her, her sister's eyes streaming tears of joy.
"Flower!"
"Ugh..."
"I thought you were dead! I thought you died, that the clowns killed you!" squeaked the mare, continuing to cry in relief, clutching her sister. Fire Flower slightly raised an eyebrow. She... wasn't sure what her sister was talking about. She didn't recall any clowns or acid before she had ended up at the lake and met Nova and Crow. But her sister's words slightly made her stomach twitch. She shook off the sensation, and finally gave in to the hug, brushing down her sister's mane.
"I'm here Lily, don't worry." she hushed gently, squeezing around her sister's neck as well and comforting her gently. Metal Hooves shot a glance at the two siblings and finally opened in a small smile at the sight of the two sisters being reunited. Solaris slightly glanced looked at them, before grunting and sitting on one of the padded couches in what was probably the main hall of the building.
"I hope this hellhole stops tossing shit at us." he grunted, massaging a big bruise on his flank. "We were lucky they started killing each other."
"True." Huffed Trevor, falling on a couch as well, stretching his limbs. "Apparently that mangled beast is not liked so much by the other freaks."
"Oh!" suddenly gulped Winter Lily, raising her head. "Oh!" she exclaimed again, letting go of Fire Flower and moving her head around, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "We left him behind!"
"Him...?"
"I'm pretty sure it's a he!"
"What are you-" started to ask Solaris, but stopped with a flinch as the mare dashed towards the door and violently opened it, letting freezing wind blow into the hall, making their wet fur even colder. It didn't help that apparently the heat wasn't working. But really, could he actually hope that something might work in this town?
"Close the door you fool!" bellowed Trevor, jumping out of his seat, trying to pull the mare back inside and close the door again, as Lily poked her head out, calling into the storm. Trevor finally grabbed her by the tail and pulled her back to Fire Flower's outstretched forelegs, glaring at her. "Of all the irresponsible..." he started to complain, reaching for the door, but stopped when a loud wail came out of the rain. He took a step back, shaking, as the massive form of the Wailer slowly emerged from the curtin of rain in front of him.
Part of its neck was missing, ripped away, and one of its legs had almost been ripped off, still connected to it by a few strings of muscle. The creature emitted a pained wail, blood dripping from his empty sockets, mixing with the rain and showering down its cheeks as it slowly walked inside, filling the entire doorframe with its mass.
Trevor took a step back, before rapidly grabbing his trusty wrench from his saddlebag, glaring at the apparition. He moved slightly forwards to put himself between the monster and the two mares, preparing to charge, while his ears perked up at the sound of Metal Hooves and Solaris darting to their hooves as well.
"I'm so done with you freaks!" he grunted angrily, his adrenaline still pumping through his veins, making him forget his fear and fatigue. He let out a scream and charged forward, slamming the wrench into one of the creature's hindlegs. The impact was so strong that his teeth shivered in agony as the wrench slipped out his grasp, falling to the ground with a loud clang. followed it as it bounced across the ground away from him, stopping under one of the couches. The apparition moved its head, following the wrench's travel as well, before returning its empty gaze to the stallion, and raising a hoof in the air, the chains jingling slightly.
"Solaris, Metal! Take these two into the back! There should be an emergency exit! Fast!" he roared, as the hoof came down.
The Wailer gently patted the stallion's head a couple of times, emitting a soft bubbling noise, before lowering its hoof and walking past him, leaving the stallion with his mouth hanging open.
"Dear Celestia, you are safe." sighed Winter Lily in relief, walking away from Fire Flower, easily getting free from her grasp, as the mare was in utter shock as well. Behind her, Metal Hooves and Solaris were exchanging glances, apparently unable to grasp the situation. "Never do that again." pouted Winter Lily. The creature emitted a slight wail, a faint trail of ichors and blood leaking from its sewn-shut mouth. Fire Flower barely restrained a retch. Her sister moved her eyes away as well, but managed to keep smiling and walked forward, raising a hoof and passing it over the scarred and wet chest of the creature, with barely a moment of esitation.
"I was starting to get worried..."
"Ok, now I'm really done! Will somepony tell me the fuck's going on?" burst out Metal Hooves, slamming his hammer on the ground.
-oOo-
Solaris poked his head out from the office where they had placed themselves and glanced at the Wailer. It, or rather, he, as Winter Lily had insisted, was seated on a couch right where they left him after they had tried to have Lily explain the situation. The earth pony flinched slightly when the creature turned its head towads him, the void of his eyes locked on his, as the sewed mouth awkwardly turned slightly upwards in what was probably some sort of smile. He flinched and returned inside, where Lily was explaining again the situation to a still sceptic Trevor.
"So you are telling me this... thing not only saved you, but it also took care of you?" he asked, forwhat probably was the third time. Winter Lily groaned and nodded.
"He's a he, not an it. And yes, he did so. He's not evil like the other monsters. You saw him, he fought them off and helped us escape."
"That's true..." muttered Fire Flower. Trevor rolled his eyes, evidently more than annoyed.
"It's a monster! It has no eyes, he's a patchwork of pieces! It's straight out of a horror movie! Maybe it just wants to lull us into a false sense of security before tearing us into pieces!"
"That's nonsense!"
Metal Hooves sighed and walked towards the door, as Winter Lily and Trevor continued to argue angrily. Solaris raised an eyebrow as the other stallion passed in front of him, heading outside the little office.
"Where are you going?"
"Taking a leak. This is all ridiculous." groaned the stallion, walking out. He glanced at the freak sitting in the hall, and flinched when the monster raised a chained leg and waved slightly at him.
"Freak." he muttered under his breath, turning the other way and starting to walk down the corridor, searching for the bathrooms. He sighed, passing a series of empty desks and file cabinets, the only lights coming from the green markers that paved the way for the emergency exits.
"What a crappy situation." he muttered to himself. He was happy Fire Flower and Winter Lily turned out to be ok, but that was just a single drop of joy in the great ocean of dread that the town was. Now what were they going to do? It felt almost like a trap. They came in to search for help, and now they were stuck. And ever since the downpour had started, monsters had started to pop out from every corner. He snorted, as his eyes spotted the doors that led to the bathrooms. He was about to head inside, when he stopped as his eyes caught something else: next to the door for the bathroom was a metallic door, cracked open, with the sticker "boiler room" slapped on front. He frowned. Nice boilers they had, this place was freezing. But the door was open...
He glanced at his hammer, then at the door. Well, it wouldn't hurt if he managed to fix the boilers. They would all probably appreciate a bit of warmth in this cold building. And if something was hiding in there, waiting to jump on him, he had his trusty hammer. Carefully, he pushed the door open, looking around: a set of stairs descended into the darkness, even if a slight white glow came from the area below.
"Few more emergency lights... at least those..." he muttered to himself, starting to descend, the hammer ready in his magic grasp, ready to jump at the slightest sound. But the only noise was made by his own hooves as he slowly walked down the metallic steps to another white door, a couple of white emergency lights glowing at its side. He examined it for a second, slightly wincing at the sight of a little clot of blood near the handle, before pushing it open.
He walked forward, before blinking in surprise, as the door swung closed behind him: He was in a long corridor, the walls made out of dusty bricks covered in ashes and charcoal, several pipes attached to the wall and connecting across the ceiling at a few points, likely spreading through the building above like a black metallic web. And at the end of the corridor, there stood a massive, black furnace.
Oh, there were two boilers, that much was true, but they were rusting and sitting unused. They had probably switched back to a furnace for some reason. But that wasn't what hit the stallion. It was the fact that the gates of the furnace were open, revealing a dancing flame, that trembled lightly in the darkness. Metal Hooves looked around carefully, before taking a step forward.
"Well then, you are still up. Why aren't you heating anything?" he muttered to himself, slightly banging his hammer against one of the pipes, and receiving a pristine echo in response. "The tubes seem to be free..."
"Metal, come play!"
The stallion's hammer fell as he flinched, looking back at the furnace. The flame crackled gently, dancing.
"You liked playing with me."
Metal gulped, and took a slight step forward... then rapidly fell two paces back. That was a trick. He was hearing things! He was going to be jumped if he stayed here much longer, he had to return to the others, he...
"It's me, Metal!"
"I know." sighed the stallion, looking away from the little flame. "And you are dead."
"What are you talking about? That's not funny!"
"Shut up!" retorted the stallion, glancing at the flame, which just flickered.
"You were nice... why did you stop playing with me?"
"You are dead! Leave me alone!" roared the stallion, turning and slamming his hooves into the door. Locked.
"Metal... don't leave me again..."
"I'm sorry..." said the stallion weakly, turning towards the flame. "Wax, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry you died. But I was a foal! What could I do?" he cried out. "Stop tormenting me! It wasn't my fault!"
"You could have helped me. But you were too scared to help me. Chiken!" whined the flame, emitting a crystalline laugh. Metal Hooves relaxed slightly. The voice... Wax didn't seem to be threatening... maybe Winter Lily was right... like the big Wailer, his friend was also not a danger...
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you Wax, It was an accident." he murmured. Another sweet laugh came from the furnace, as the flame danced with a bit more life.
"I know, stupid." it giggled. "But it was so lonely, Metal. Really... it would have been nicer if we could have died together... at least then we could have played together for eternity!"
"Yeah... you are right about that..." muttered the stallion, taking a few cautious steps towards the furnace. "I... I had nightmares for years. I really couldn't get over it... I... actually thought about killing myself, a couple of times."
"Oh, why didn't you? I was waiting for you!"wined the voice. Metal Hooves giggled as well as he reached the furnace, putting his hooves against the edge of it, looking in at the sweet little flame dancing in front of him. "It's not too late, you know?"
"I know..."
"And it's better that way, instead of being ripped apart by one of those nasty monsters."
"I know..." repeated the stallion. Wax was right. He always was. He always tought about him. He only heistated for a moment, his mind running for a moment his friends waiting upstairs. But then again, Wax was a much older friend. He smiled softly, and climbed inside the furnace.
-oOo-
"Hey look at this." Fire Flower suddenly exclaimed, looking with a slight grin at the equipment resting on a table behind the arguing pair. Trevor and Winter Lily followed her voice, glancing at a pile of monitors with a few machines under it. "Is this a tape recorder?" asked the unicorn mare, trying to ease the tension. Winter Lily nodded slightly, imitated by tTrevor. But then the stallion suddenly jumped to his hooves.
"A tape recorder?!"
"Uh... yeah...?" answered Fire Flower hesitantly. The stallion smirked, and rapidly started to rustle in his saddlebag, finally taking out a little tape.
"I found this at the post office!" he quickly explained, running to the tape recorder, shoving it in and pressing the "play" button.
"I don't even know if there is enough power in here for that stuff to work..." muttered Fire Flower, looking behind the monitors. "Look, the plug isn't even in..."
With a buzz, the screens switched on, showing what seemed to be the interior of a well lit room, and a mare with a cream coat and a well combed blond mane,tied back in a ponytail. She smiled gently at them, waving a hoof.
"Who's that?"
"That's my daughter." Trevor explained excitedly, his eyes glued to the screen.
"Hello dad. I hope this tape reaches you soon, even if there was a bit of ruckus in the post office today... apparently one of the mail zebras had an illness of sort..." she started to say, before smiling again. "But anyway, I really do hope to hear from you soon. This town is the best."
"Yeah right..." groaned Fire Flower, making Winter giggle quietly.
"But still, I suppose I didn't tell you why I came here, so I think is time to share a bit of light on the situation."
-oOo-
The furnace's doors slammed behind Metal Hooves, and the metallic clang was finally enough to break the spell. He blinked, finding himself trapped in a little chamber of iron, a little flame dancing in front of him. It surely felt bigger than it had seemed outside.
"Wax?" he asked slowly, before his ears caugh a slight hissing sound coming from around him, as his nose twitched at the metallic smell. He didn't even have the time to swear nor scream, when the flames burst up in an explosion of fire and heat, suddenly lighting up the chamber, as the gas started to burn.
-oOo-
"I passed a really important goal. I know I didn't tell you, but I really didn't want you to worry." continued the mare, smiling. "You are always the same, dad. Overthinking and worrying too much. You were going to have a stroke waiting for the results. But the results are in now... and I did it! They took me on a university teacher!" she squealed exitedly.
"Good job, honey!" exclaimed the stallion, his eyes still glued to the screen, basking in its artificial light.
"You know how much I had been hoping for this since like, ever. And now it's done! I had to move away, though, and still not tell you. I wanted to be all settled in before I let you know. I live in a very nice house, by the lake. It's so pretty you wouldn't believe your eyes."
-oOo-
Metal Hooves let out a scream of agony, slamming his hooves against the furnace grate, yelling at the top of his lungs , big blisters rapidly growing and popping all over his body. His tail and mane was rapidly burning, scorching his skin, as the fur rapidly burned as well, leaving his skin exposed, covering him with burns and blisters.
"HELP! SOLARIS! GIRLS! WAX HELP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, but the roar of the fire was the only answer he received. He yelled in agony as the flames increased, closing in around around him. He could feel the fiery fingers crawling over his body, leaving burns and scorches.
He bellowed in pain when his hooves could no longer withstand the heat, and he fell to the metallic ground, yelling again in agony as the blazing surface scorched his flank and back. And the flames didn't stop there. He let out a final screech when the flames reached his eyes, burning them out of his sockets, the humors rapidly evaporating. He let out a final whelp, as the flames started to devour his now dried up body, crawling into him, burning his tongue, lungs and guts, and rapidly eradicating any trace of Metal Hooves' existence without any trace of pity nor remorse.
-oOo-
"So, if you want to find me, come to one of my lessons! At the Silent Hill University, Wing D, psychology class." concluded the mare. "I really hope to see you soon." she added with a wink, waving her hoof, before the tape finished with a slight noise.
"That's it, of course! The university!" exclaimed Trevor excitedly, looking at the mares. "I never went there!"
"Ok...?"
"If my daughter is there, we can find her, maybe she knows what's going on here!" he exclaimed he continued hurriedly. Solaris rolled his eyes, and walked out.
"I'm going to get Metal, he must have fallen in the toilet."
"Do you think is a good idea?" Winter Lily, raising an eyebrow. Trevor shrugged, collecting the tape and putting it back.
"What other choice do we have?"
-oOo-
Solaris raised an eyebrow. He had followed Metal Hooves' smell, and and past the bathroom door to the boiler room. But after he had opened this strange white door, the scent had completely disappeared. He sneezed, blowing away a few ashes that had been dancing in the air. This was a furnace room, as far as he could tell. And it was gloomy, dark, cold and as deserted as the rest of the bulidng.
"Where the fuck are you?" muttered the stallion, looking around. His eyes lowered on the ground, as he noted the metal hammer of the smith. He carefully grasped its handle with his teeth, looking around. Still, he couldn't smell his friend, nor see him anywhere.
"My nose is getting worse." he muttered to himself, barely glancing at the furnace where the last few embers were daying down. "He's not here, that's for sure, but he left his hammer. I hope he's ok..." he mumbled, turning and heading out of the room, still smelling the air. A few last ashes danced in the air before silently landing in the empty corridor.