Rarity let out a small yawn after waking up
Morning had come faster than Rarity had expected
And still yielded it's unrelentingly aggressive downpour
Shaking her head, Rarity got up from her bed and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains over it in her magic aura
After pulling the curtains, she made her way to her mirror and began styling her mane in its signature curls
Taking the brush in her aura, she began brushing her mane, elegantly rearranging and curling it back into form
While doing so, her eyes began to wander around the room through her mirror, looking around at the various patterns and sheets that were strewn about during her work for the dress
And that's when her eyes made their way to it
The dress
The one dress she had worked on for so long and hard as days turned to nights and then back to days
She had truly worked her blood, sweat, and tears into this dress
And it was beautiful
Slowly she placed her brush down and quickly went to the dress, placing a hoof along its shoulders
This dress was simplistic, but beautiful none the less, but Rarity didn't know what or why it was so special and what drove her to completing this dress
True she had felt the same feeling for other dresses she had made in the past, but she never felt anything like this
A strong connection to it and admiration
A love
"I can't do it" she said with sincerity in her voice, "I can't sell such a perfect creation"
Slowly, she took the dress off of its model and changed into the dress
Why she was doing this was beyond her, but she needed to
After finally getting herself into the dress (with relative ease) she stepped out into her room and looked at the mirror, checking to see if the dress was placed on right
After all it was easier than she anticipated to get in
But when she looked upon the mirror, she was stunned
The dress perfectly matched her in every way, it's colors, it's pattern, it's gems
It's beauty
"I...I...I can't do it. This dress can never be sold, it's just too-"
"Beautiful" said a dark voice that shocked Rarity out of her own sight in the mirror, making her look back to see who or what had finished her sentence
When she turned, she saw exactly what was with her in the room
Nothing
"Who's there?" She said, still shocked at the voices sudden appearance in the room
"Who?" It called out again, but still no sight of the creature it belonged to
Making Rarity even more scared
"Who is but a question following the question of what I am" it said intellectually
"Ok... WHAT are you?" Rarity said, now recovering from her shock
The voice let out a slight chuckle soon after Rarity's question, causing her shock to turn to annoyance
"And what are you doing in my boutique" she said in a commanding voice
The voice, once again, let out a slight chuckle
"Unfortunately the only way to answer both questions is to show you who I am"
"Ok. Well what are you waiting for? Come out!"
Suddenly, a loud slap was heard through out the boutique
It didn't sound like a hood making contact with a muzzle however
It sounded like...
Rarity quickly made her way out of the room and looked down the hall, her eyes making their way to a lump on floor
"What is that?" She said, her voice shaky and unsteady as she started walking towards the lump
The closer she had gotten, the more it began to smell foul and rotted
As she finally got to the lump, she lit her magic aura of light from her horn, fearing for what she may find
"No..." She said as she finally saw what the lump was
It was some type of body, with four arms, and it's body attempting to meow
The sight disgusted her and bile began to rise in her throat
"No no no no NO!!!!!" Rarity shrieked, watching the body of her cat Opal still attempting to move and meow
Only to simply fall limp, and it's heart stop beating
She was turned completely inside out, with her flesh being seen and the only organs she seemed to retain were her heart and lungs
Rarity finally let the bile turn to vomit, falling to her knees and letting it out at the sight of her poor Opal suffering before she met her fate
She soon regained her balance and quickly rain back into her room, letting her tears run from her eyes for the loss of her beloved pet
"Then you will be afraid" the voice said after Rarity had cried for what felt like hours
"W-W-W-W-Why!?" She said shakily as she regained her own voice
"Why?" He let out another chuckle, "because I couldn't allow the little vermin to get between you..."
Suddenly a black ink-like liquid came from every dark inch of the room, all coming together and seemingly combining itself to form a single stallion figure
When it finally did form, Rarity looked up to see it
A large stallion like creature that had an ink black body, two large ink black eyes, no mouth or mane, and three cat like tails, with nor fur
"And me"
With another shriek at the creature before her Rarity backed further up against the wall
The creature before her had spoken with the same calm voice as before, however it didn't have a mouth
And it made no effort move one
The creature watched as Rarity's hurt had quickly turned to fear at his sight
But none the less, he chuckled comfortingly
"There is no need for you to worry Rarity..." He said as he rubbed his hoof along her arm, only intensifying her fear, "...I'm not going to hurt you"
She turned to look up at the creature before her
Whatever it was, it offered her a smile, even though it had no mouth, and continued to comfort her
"How could you s-s-say something like t-that after you hurt m-m-my O-O-OPAl!"
He wrapped his hooves around her in a hug and she began crying again into his shoulder
"Ssssssh...there there..." He said as he stroked her mane, completely unaffected by his actions
In fact, he almost seemed glad
The creature placed a hoof under Rarity's chin, repositioning it to face him, and offered a smile
Though the only way she could've told it was a smile was by the way his face lifted a little around the mouth a little
"I'm not going to hurt you... I promise..." He said as he wiped away the tears from her face with his hoof
"I only did it so I could speak to you... So before you label me a murderer, let me at least explain myself"
Rarity was still terrified of whatever this... Creature... was, and even more angry with what it had done
But if she going to live through this... She really had no other choice
Shakily she nodded her head, electing yet another smile from the unphased creature
"Thank you... I promise nothing bad will-"
"Before you... Begin... Tell me... Why?" Rarity said, sadly and fearfully, as fighting off more tears threatening her eyes
Once again, the creature seemed unaffected by her question as he spoke
"Yes, yes, poor creature took quite the time to put down, but it was necessary" he once again placed a hoof on her cheek, moving her head to look at him
Rarity almost began to cry again at the thought of this... Creature... brutally ending her cat's life, but she only allowed small amounts of tears
"Why?" She said, fighting back more tears
"To protect you" the creature said, place a hoof in her mane and gently stroking it
Immediately after the third stroke, Rarity raised a hoof and made contact with his muzzle, barely affecting him, but just enough to get out of his grasp
The creature turned its head back to look back at Rarity, slowly, and slightly chuckled
"Heh, it's going to take more than a simple punch to get a Dream Crawler to fall to his knees"
She hit him again, this time with as much force as she could, each collision with his face making him turn to the punches location and feeling like punching jello
After the sixth strike, the creature's hoof made contact with Rarity's own, stopping it immediately from making another collision into its face
"Stop" he said calmly yet blankly, and gave her free hold of her hoof again
She backed up, ready to pounce him...
But for some reason, she remembered
Her dress...
Quickly getting out of her stance, she looked over the dress, making sure nothing had happened to it
And save for a few tear stains, it was ok
"Here..." The black creature said, it's three tail somehow clean the tears from her face and dress
"Better?" Its tails returning back to where they were before
"I-I- p-p-please don't...I'm s-s-sorry" she said, her anger returning to fear
"The thought of murder never crossed my mind" it said, making his way over to her, placing his hoof under her chin again, lifting it to look him in his black eyes
"And truly it was necessary, the stubborn thing tried attacking me the same way you had"
Rarity was still stunned
Not by her actions, but by the fact that the creature didn't go down at her strikes
And it called itself something... But her anger had deafened her from any of its words
"A Dream Crawler" it said in the same calm tone as before, intensifying Rarity's fear at the thought of it reading her thoughts
"There is no reason to fear me or my powers. I am simply here to speak to you, not attack or end your life in any way, shape, or form. And I would also prefer it if you didn't refer to me as an 'It'. I do have a name after all"
Rarity, now in full knowledge of this Dream Crawlers powers was still horrified
She could hold no secrets from it, and she wasn't even safe to think her own mind
There was only one thing she could do at this point
Trust it as much as it wanted her to, at least try to stall it from taking her life
"There... Now was that so hard, just a little trust between you and me is all I ask for, no harm will come to you"
"V-Very well. But in order for me to trust you, you need to stop reading my thoughts. After all, they are m-mine" she said slightly shakily
"I suppose I can" the creature said, nodding it's head in acceptance to her terms
"Well... I suppose introductions are nessecary. Ms. Rarity, it is my honor to be in the presence of such a...
Remarkable pony such as yourself, and I do very much wish to know you a little more as time progresses" it said, politely and dignified as it bowed before her
"Before we continue on, I have some questions I need to ask you"
The creature returned to his stance and pondered her request for no more than a second
"I suppose such a request isn't TOO hard to grant... Ask away"
There were far too many questions for Rarity to ask this Dream Crawler as it called itself, but she decided to start off with questions that seemed appropriate for the time
"What is your name?"
The Dream Crawler smiled, another aspect of this creature that Rarity found unnerving about it, how it didn't smile with a mouth and could only be told as a smile by the way it's cheeks slightly lifted up
"There's a step in the right direction! As I stated before I am what some call a Dream Crawler, but that doesn't mean I don't have a name, and that name would be Ex"
It said, bowing again as it mentioned it's name to her
"Ex? Like the letter?"
Ex chuckled, "Not entirely. E-X, not just simply X. An odd name, but it is the name my parents had given me"
Rarity did find the name odd, but still said nothing in regards to it
"And you said you are a Dream-Crawler? What is that?"
Ex's smile fell quickly at the mention of his species, rising from his bow to Rarity and looking her in the eye with his own
"Yes... The Dream Crawlers" he said sadly, "The Dream Crawlers are known by many names, scrounges of the equestria, the ponies of damnation, THE POISONS OF LIFE!" Ex said as he slammed his hoof into the ground, electing a small squeak to escape Rarity's lips
"We were once a larger group of ponies, waiting for the day that we may actually step out into the light and join equestria's citizens in harmony. Until one day we were seen and labeled as unholy... And one by one the ponies of equestria had worked to eliminate our existence!"
"Most of us ran deep into the everfree forest, but they still hunted us down, slaughtering us by the thousands!"
Ex once again slammed his hoof into the ground, except this time, Rarity didn't feel fear towards him
Instead, she felt pity and slight sadness for him
And he looked ready to let his own tears fall
"Most of us relocated farther away from equestria, even going so far as to enter the dream world of
Equestria's denizens. Now Dream Crawlers come few and far, either in dreams or reality, and even if you were to see one they would either kill you or run"
Ex lets a single tear come from his eyes, yet his voice hadn't changed or even sounded as though he were crying
Rarity walked over to Ex and sat beside him, laying her head on his shoulder
She was still afraid of him, but her feeling of pity and sadness for him had been greater than her feeling of fear
"Not all of them would"
He turned his head to look at her, his sadness now slightly hidden with a smile
"Thank you, Rarity" he said as he placed his arm around her
"Can I ask you something?" She said, now slightly blushing at his display of affection
"Heh heh, I never fulfilled my end of our agreement did I? Ask away"
She took a deep breath, "Was that you I saw outside my window?"
"Yes"
"What were you doing out there... Watching me"
"You needed to sleep. I knew I couldn't talk to you unless you had a good nights rest"
"In the rain? How are you not wet?"
"Heh, funny thing about Dream Crawlers... Some adapt to certain conditions. Even as they massacred us back then, the later generations learned to become stronger, thus the reason for our... Form"
"And how exactly does this help you?" She said, poking me him and watching her hood slightly sink into him
"This form has taken us years to make. Our main powers were shape shifting and telepathy, which required a strong and solid body. However, it left us vulnerable. After the attacks, we quickly tried to find a way for our powers to adapt to another form. This..." He said as he pointed to himself, "is what we came up with. It was durable and perfected our ability to shape shift, dream walking, and mind reading"
Rarity pondered all the information he had just given her before finally settling on another question
"Why didn't you just use your powers to hide in equestria as a pony? Wouldn't that have been easier?"
"Some of us did, but they soon found themselves becoming more pony than Crawler as the years went on, even going so far as to start families with the other ponies of equestria"
"Oh" Rarity said, the only sound in the room now being the gentle pitter patter of rain hitting the roof and window of her boutique
They stayed like this for quite some time, Ex with his arms around Rarity and her head resting on his shoulder
The scene was far too peaceful to simple ruin, and soon, all the fear for Ex that Rarity had before, was now gone
Now replaced with a feeling of comfort
A feeling she never did have very often
By why, she didn't know
"Ex?"
"Yes?"
"Why did you want to see me so much?"
He looked over at her again and smiled
"Isn't it obvious?"
"No... At least, not really. You just came here, killed my poor Opal and just started talking to me like you wanted something from-"
She stopped and blushed furiously
She knew exactly what he wanted from her
"Is it too soon?" He asked, calmly
"I..."
"It is" he said sadly, taking his arm off of her and walking over to her window
"I just... I don't know..." Rarity said, not exactly sure as to what to say to him
She had feelings for him, at least she thought she did
But he also killed her Opal
"I know... I just thought if I at least spoke to you, I could get this far" he turned to face her, his black eyes now shining with disappointment
"I have been watching you for quite some time now... It sounds disturbing but I have. Every moment I had spent day after day, not one day or moment went by where I didn't think of you, and seeing other stallions coming and breaking your heart had broken my own as well. We may never be an item, but I at least wanted you to know I am in your life and have feelings for you. But I can leave it too if you wish..."
Ex started walking towards Rarity's door, ready to exit her home and go back out into the cold, rainy day
When his hoof met the door, it had immediately felt a magic blue aura around it, looking back at the mare who's aura belonged to
"Please don't..." She said after a while, eventually making her way up to Ex and sitting right in front of him
And, in one swift motion, planted a single kiss on his cheek
He placed a hoof over the area that the mare had laid her lips on, and chuckled
"Heh... Even after everything I had done you still show affection for me... Why?"
She smiled and laid another kiss, this time on the hoof that cover his cheek
"Because everything has a good side... And I found your's"
*************
Rarity awoke at the sound of her parents stating that they had returned
And a certain little fully jumping up and down on her bed, eager to tell her of their tales on their vacation that Rarity had stayed home from
"Sweetie Bell! That is no way for a lady to behave!"
The filly stopped jumping, and a frown followed by two large puppy dog eyes looked up at her
"Oh fine! Go downstairs and wait for me to join the rest of our family. I do want to hear what you and our mother and father had done"
The filly's expression of sadness quickly turned to excitement as she quickly made her way out of Rarity's room, awaiting her sister's company eagerly
Unfortunately Rarity's mind was elsewhere, thinking about the unbelievably vived dream she had
She was happy for the fact that her precious cat was indeed still alive
But on the other, her heart ached for that unfortunate soul Ex
It was all just a dream
Until she noticed it
She was still wearing her dress
"Well...you see..." A deep voice said right next to her
Slowly she turned her head, to see an ink black stallion with a large, sharp-toothed smile
The sight would scare others, but for Rarity, it was a sight to treasure
"Not all of it was a dream"
