When Rarity woke, the Boutique had become absolutely frigid. She yawned, shivered and got up from her fainting couch. Even if she hadn't meant to go out, she'd have to put on something warm.
She shivered, and shuffled into the kitchen. That's where Sweetie Belle usually spent her time when she was waiting for her, but she must have chosen somewhere else this time. She took a breath, and called her sister's name.
No response. Sweetie usually did respond, but perhaps she was just in a mood. Rarity sighed, climbed the staircase and stepped into her room. She lifted a pair of purple earmuffs and a matching scarf off the dresser, put them on and stepped out again. She called again, and again got no response.
Perhaps she was in her room. She knocked, but got no response. After the fourth knock, she stepped inside and glanced around. Unless Sweetie Belle was hiding under her bed, she wasn't there. Nothing was out of place as far as she could tell, aside from her skates, although it wasn't as if Rarity made a habit of visiting her sister's room.
She called her name just to make sure, but again got no response. She shook her head and returned to the kitchen to wait. If Sweetie was hiding, she was sure she'd come out eventually; she'd wanted to try ice skating for days now, and they were supposed to meet the other Crusaders at the park.
Something told her that she wasn't hiding, however. She glanced out the window. A blanket of beautiful white snow covered Ponyville, possibly a bit deeper than when she'd gone to sleep. It was darker than she'd expected — she must have overslept.
It took her a moment to notice the tiny hoofprints in the snow leading off toward the park.
She called for Sweetie Belle one last time, hoping she'd answer, but again, she was met with silence. She pushed open the door and trudged off along the tracks, the breeze whipping her scarf around around her.
She must have gotten impatient. It was her fault she'd gone off on her own, and her fault if she got hurt. She flinched, and picked up her pace a bit.
As she neared the park, a few flickering lights winked at her in the distance, but she couldn't see a single sign of her sister. Maybe someone had volunteered to supervise her; she could only hope that was the case. If it wasn't, those lights had a different purpose altogether. She shivered, and trotted toward the scene.
If the other Crusaders had come to skate, they had deserted the pond some time ago. She cantered out along and glanced around, but the park was empty. If anypony had been around, they'd long since left for someplace warmer.
She followed the hoofprint off the path out to a small frozen pond, the lights winking out as she got close. The tracks ended at the pond's edge, and as she looked around, she could see neither her sister, nor anypony else around.
She shivered, and was about to call her sister's name when she caught a glimpse of something beneath the ice, a blur of something pink and purple, and something darker swirling around it.
Her mind froze, and she threw herself at the pond, shattering the ice. The freezing water stung her hide, but she couldn't think about it at the moment. She didn't even want to imagine what was down there, or how she'd gotten through without breaking the ice. She swam down through the murky water toward that hint of color, holding her breath.
It didn't occur to her until the light from above was swallowed by the darkness that the pond should have been, at most, five feet deep.
She kicked at the water and dove deeper, dark shapes swirling around her. It was the sort of thing Twilight would have found fascinating. Rarity didn't. The water stung her eyes, but she pressed deeper into the dark. She couldn't be sure if she was even going in the right direction, but she had to push.
A minute later, or two — she wasn't sure. A sliver of pinkish-purple gleamed up at her from the depths, and she pushed further. She kicked deeper, and Sweetie Belle's body came into view, pale against the murk. She reached out for her, and tried to grab onto her leg, but she barely brushed her.
Sweetie Belle's eyes were shut. She could only pray she was unconscious. She surged a few feet closer, grabbed onto one of her legs and dragged her in the direction she hoped was up.
Something brushed against her leg, and she glanced down. A dark shape slithered up against Sweetie Belle, and opened its jaw to reveal jagged, blackened teeth. She aimed a kick at it, but it shrugged it off, and leaned toward Sweetie's neck.
Sweetie stirred, and tried to kick at the thing, but failed to stop it. The darkness wrapped around her, and it pressed its two largest fangs into her neck. Two tiny specks of blood formed, diffusing away in the water. Something glinted at Rarity from the shape, like an eye.
Rarity blinked at the the thing and gasped, and murky water flooded into her mouth. She sputtered, and cast the first spell that came to mind.
Light spilled from her horn, and the thing she caught a glimpse of cold black eyes glaring up at her. It flinched just slightly, and eased back toward Sweetie's neck. She kicked upward and pushed more energy into the spell, brightening her horn's glow.
The thing hissed and vanished into the darkness. She could still hear it somewhere around them, creeping, waiting. She sputtered, and kicked for the surface as her legs could move. Her lungs burned, screaming for air. The murky water closed in around her.
She broke the water's surface and gasped, fighting to stay above water. She struggled to the edge and heaved Sweetie out of the pond, coughing. She was still unconscious. A few shards of ice from the pond's surface still clung to her, melting on her coat. She whimpered as Rarity pulled her into a hug. Her voice shook as she whispered, "It's going to be all right, Sweetie."
She stared back at the pond, and shivered. The water had become clear, and she could see the bottom of it, just three feet deep. She tightened her grip on Sweetie Belle, and looked away.
When she was ready to leave, she picked up Sweetie Belle and dropped her on her back, snoring slightly. Even now, she couldn't fight a certain feeling of foreboding.
As she left, a pair of black eyes watched her from the depths.
