All was quiet in the Carousel Boutique, shadows hung gloomily over the main room as candles burned dimly, their polished holders reflecting light in sparkling glimmers that seemed to shiver with the flicker of the nearby flames. The light they cast was that of an ambient nature, filling the room with an odd sense of loneliness. The dancing shadows contradicted that however as they seemed almost alive with their random but flowing movements. The sound of rain pattering against the windows was seemingly the only indication of life outside the building. As the inky blackness lurking outside looked to almost suck the light away from the oil-lit lanterns hanging outside.
Indeed, the boutique felt very lonely that night.
The only source of real life was a figure of pearly white colour, her lean figure shifting her weight heavily on her hoof which held up her head, resting on her chin. Her purple mane, once expertly styled and perfectly shaped fell disheveled on her face after hours upon hours of neglect and roughing. She sat in silence, letting the background noise seep into her eardrums. She had been there for all those hours, minutes and seconds just pondering...
Pondering why she couldn't get it right. The poniquin stood oddly proudly for it's lifeless form, being inanimate and all. Most of it's body was covered in the most fashionable winter wear out there, there was no doubt about it. The coat, the boots, the scarf, nearly everything was perfect. Except for one item. Atop the poniquin's head was a hat. It was not perfect. The time and effort she had put into making it and it's predecessors felt infinite, she had tried and tried, over and over, but for some odd reason she just couldn't get it right.
The evidence of this was clear for all to see, that is, if anyone was around to see it at the time. A long line of similar but different hats decorated the desk she rested on. Some woolen, some furred, some were both. They were all crafted in the same style, with the same colours she had chosen well in advance as they fit best with the rest of her prototype wears. They were all good in their own ways, but none had that one thing she needed, none of them had worthiness of the accolade: Perfection.
And so there she sat, staring at the brilliant garments covering the poniquin combined with the slightly off-looking hat adorning it's head. Sitting in the pale light the few candles she had could provide. After-all, it wasn't often she stayed up this late pondering over attire. But the window of opportunity was closing fast, before long the ponies of Ponyville would stop caring about their clothing for the cold icy scenery of winter-time Equestria. It would be pointless buying something for a purpose which is drawing to a close.
"This is just so..." She paused. "... Perplexing. What am I doing wrong, how hard can it be to make a hat fit with an outfit?" She lamented, her deep blue eyes tilting up into the sky as if pleading for assistance from above. Her face turned to that of confusion, matching her thoughts.
A quiet rattling rang from behind her like metal fittings were being undone. Her head turned slowly on it's axis and she focused her gaze on the expansion of the room behind her. Not a single change caught her eye yet the sound persisted. To her it sounded remarkably like a door-handle turning, but a quick glance at the door proved that no-one was trying to get in. The sound continued for a second before stopping. Once again she was left in utter silence, apart from the obvious pitter-patter of rain drops skimming the ground outside.
Harrumphing, she slid from her chair to stand on all fours. Her weary legs wobbled a little at the sudden pressure of her body resting on them, but quickly regained composure for a suitable walking strength. The distance from her desk to the other side of the room was but a couple second's stumble for her. She found herself at the opposite end of the large open-plan ground floor in no time at all.
A quick inspection of her room's installations proved her cautious nature right, as a window had been pulled minutely ajar, letting in a thin breeze of chilly air from outside. Lighting up her magic she shut the window before locking it shut once more. Once the window was fully closed and locked up, thoughts ran through her mind as to how it could have happened. There was no wind outside, a low pressure couldn't have pulled the window open. Besides, she had locked it hours beforehand, hadn't she?
Looking suspiciously about the room, she backed into the middle of it while performing a brief three-sixty to check her paintings and drawers. To no surprise, not a single feature in the room was out of place. It was like her window had grown a mind of it's own, become sentient and opened itself of it's own accord... But that was silly, windows couldn't do that.
Dismissing the happening, she turned to head back to her desk, making it barely a few feet before she was stopped. A whisp of sparkling blue dust breezed past her hooves and spiraled up her body with great majesty. Slipping around her legs in a tight helix as she juttered to a halt to peer down at the spectacle before her. Or rather, underneath her. The dust shimmered with a silver tone behind it's metallic blue sheen. She recoiled as the trails of dust pooled together and streamed up her chest and in-front of her face to begin rising above her. She took a step back to better adjust herself and follow the spectacle.
The dust traveled up the near wall where a candle stick sat on it's intricately made mount and flooded through the gaps in it's metalwork. Finally coming to rest beside the dancing flames, the dust came together and before her very eyes, transformed. She wasn't sure how such a feat could occur, but what she watch struck her deeply, her mind descending into the turmoil of shock. As in-front of her floated a stage face and half a body, ending in a further but smaller cloud of the shining blue material.
"Hello." The strangely calm and melodic voice of the being dragged on, it's talk incredibly slow and backed by an ominous purring. The pony was frozen, partly in fear and partly in confusion. How could a creature just appear in a cloud of dust? She took in what parts of it's form were visible, a rather large cat, but certainly not the biggest feline she'd ever seen, floated beside the candle-flame. It's fur was a standard grey with dark stripes, but parts of it's fur seemed to glow with a dim but noticeable blue, the same brightness as it's large round eyes. The oddest thing was it's face. Hosting an un-naturally large smile, the cat achieved an almost predatory visage, and a row of small white teeth helped to further the being's disturbing nature. A moment of silence was held between them, before the creature gasped as he realised the shock the pony was under.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Where are my manners?" His voice resonated through the air as he dissipated into thin air once again, taking on his dust cloud form. The cloud descended to a set of drawers where it gathered and transformed back into the cat, this time in it's full shape and form. It certainly wasn't a skinny cat, but it wasn't fat either, in fact it seemed to possess an all in all healthy looking size. "Sometimes I forget that few are accustomed to my presence these days."
"Wh- who are you?" She asked, both shocked and intrigued at the same time. The cat's smile grew bigger as it's soft purring continued.
"My name is Cheshire. I'm sorry for interrupting you so late at night, but I find myself lost in this land and I saw your light. I was wondering if you could help me out, hmm?" He said through his toothy grin, front paws coming together as if begging. The mare took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she replied to the odd being.
"You are in Equestria right now." She started. The cat's grin shrunk a little, it's face twisted into one of confusion even through the smile. Could it even stop smiling so widely? "Ponyville to be exact. R-ring any bells?" She said. Cheshire put a claw to his chin and looked up into his head like he was searching his memory for an answer.
"No... it does not. Though the names do sound fitting, do they not? Ponies living in the land of 'Equestria', in the town of 'Ponyville'?" They cat toyed with his conversation like it was his puppet, a means of manipulating the situation at hand. He evaporated in his cloud of blue mist and whisped through the air to reform before her face, forming in-front of her, his big grin suddenly up close. He floated in the air and rested his head gently on his right front paw. "And since I'm here in your domain, I should remain as polite as possible." He floated around to the other side of her head. "May I know the name of my host?" He asked, head tilted in anticipation.
"Rarity belle, but you can just call me Rarity." The alabaster unicorn stated with a small amount of pride, as she began to feel a little more comfortable around the odd feline.
"Ahh!" He exclaimed. "What a lovely name! Shall we sit? I'm sure you don't want to stay stood here for long, do you?" He gestured to her desk, the only feature of the room with a chair. With a nod, Rarity made her way back to her desk, the poniquin with the winter-wear and the un-matching hat still sitting at the other side of it. She shuffled onto the seat and looked back to where Cheshire was, but found he was no longer there. She looked back in-front of her to see a space just above the desk become suddenly enveloped in a blue blur, before the cat took it's place with an odd low-pitched noise accompanying the maneuver. It was truly a creepy sight to see a wide upward curve of teeth just appear out of no-where.
"-He certainly is a very strange creature.-" She thought to herself. "-I wonder what he's doing in Equestria? He seems friendly enough behind that disturbing smile.-"
Cheshire Cat turned to see the poniquin, and immediately his grin grew much wider. He dissipated into dust and swirled around it's neck and onto it's back, materialising into a floating head as he inspected it.
"Fashioning your own wears, are we?" He asked, looking at the pieces from different angles. "It looks like a very nice selection you have here." Rarity felt almost embarrassed to be freely showcasing her unfinished designs, she shouldn't let outsiders see her work and leak it to the public.
"It's going to be my next set to roll into the market... if only I could get the hat right, though." She explained to the floating feline. Cheshire floated to Rarity's angle as his whole body appeared from the mist.
"Ahh, so you're a fashionista!" He exclaimed with his realisation. "Up late working on the latest model? I can respect that." He rested himself down on the desk and tapped the wood a few times before continuing. "Look, I'm in a bit of a bind, Ms Rarity. And since the rain outside is so heavy, I'd like to ask you if I can please spend the night here? I would hate to get clotts in my coat out in all that." He said respectfully, looking up at her with his glowing green eyes. Rarity being the generous mare she was, was inclined to accept.
"Of course you can stay here. I would never let anyone have to stay out in that atrocious weather." She paused as she pieced together the rest of her sentence. "You don't require anything for your stay do you?" She asked. "Like a bed? I have one spare, I was going to get a cat pretty soon anyway so I bought one in advance." She offered. Cheshire chuckled quietly to himself.
"Excellent Ms Rarity, I'll take the bed. Thank you." He smiled as Rarity smiled back. Holding out his paw, it was met by Rarity's hoof as he shook it out of thanks. He turned to the poniquin and looked up at the hat. A few seconds of silence went by, and Rarity wondered what strange thoughts ran through the cat's mind. How could a brain even work when turned to dust?
"You know what hat I think would go well with your assortment?" He asked rhetorically. Rarity looked down at Chessire, raising an eyebrow, intrigued to hear his suggestion. He disappeared in a haze of blue and re-appeared beside the poniquin's head as he gestured to it. "I had a friend back home, marvelous fellow, great at the Futawhack. Wore this hat I grew rather fond of." He wafted his paw across his side and a hat appeared within his grasp. Rarity gasped in amazement at the display.
"-How did he do that? Just magic a hat out of nothing?-" She was too interested, she had to know. "Excuse me?" She said, as Cheshire looked her way. "How did you do that?" The cat looked confused.
"Do what, my dear? I'm afraid you'll have to explain."
"Make the hat appear from nowhere?" She detailed, causing the feline to widen his grin.
"You make it sound like it's some sort of impossible magicians trick. However there is a knack to it very few have mastered, being an expert in evaporation helps." He explained. "It didn't come from nowhere, Ms Rarity. It came from my imagination."
"But that's... that's crazy! You can't just imagine something into existence!" She argued. She was a unicorn and she knew magic rather well. She'd like to say she was the best in Ponyville at magic, as being a fashionista required some in-depth knowledge of magic for all the different enchanting techniques. She had never heard of anything like summoning an entire object into being from just a thought. The cat chuckled once more as he removed the already existing hat from the poniquin's head and replaced it with his own. it was a top hat, rather rustic looking with a leaf pattern on it's material and it appeared to have gathered some age. Above the brim it had a wrapping of pink silk, and several tags were attached to the slightly widened top edges.
"Where I come from, we're all mad." Cheshire Cat rested the original hat down on the desk as Rarity stared at the new hat sitting on her poniquin's head. The style... the colours... the aged effect... it was...
Perfect!
She whirled to Cheshire who reeled back in surprise as she threw her fore-legs out to hug him. He was unwillingly caught-up in her hug as she clutched him in her much stronger legs, almost crushing him into her chest. He would have just turned to dust and floated away to safety on any normal occasion, but the unicorn had moved so fast he barely had the time to react. Cheshire purred into her hug, which lasted for a good five seconds before Rarity released him from her furry confines. Cheshire laughed as he floated away.
"You amazing creature!" She almost shouted, but she stopped as she remembered Sweetie Belle was still asleep upstairs. She raised her hooves to her mouth and cringed, listening for movement upstairs. Cheshire looked at her, slightly confused at her actions. When she was sure her little sister had not awoken, she continued with a more hushed tone. "That's brilliant. I cannot thank you enough, Cheshire. You have my gratitude."
"No worries, Ms Rarity. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be getting my sleep now. I'm beginning to feel rather tired after a long day. Could you show me which way to the bed?" He asked. Rarity snapped into action immediately.
"Oh, it's just in the corner over there, I was planning on getting that cat in the next few days, I was thinking of calling it something exotic like... Opal, maybe. And I also guessed it would want sleep rather quickly. I've been told cats sleep a lot." Cheshire laughed at her comment.
"Yes, I suppose we do. Goodnight, Ms Rarity."
"Goodnight." With that he evaporated away, his signature grin staying for a brief second before it was whisked away on an invisible breeze toward the soft furry bed where the shimmering blue cloud coalesced into his full form and curling up into a big fluffy glowing ball. She smiled before turning back to her poniquin. The top hat just went so well, every feature combined with the rest of the attire just looked so...
so...
Perfect...
Her grin grew wider for a moment, as she contemplated the design before her. Such a work of beauty, she would have to credit Cheshire somehow. The grinning cat who fixed a possible disaster. But how could she simply credit an animal? Her peers would likely laugh at her for saying a cat gave her a matching hat to finish it. She sat there for a few more moments before an idea sprung to mind which made her smile twist almost as big as the mad cats itself. She would have to write that one down and rub out something else from the list.
Maybe she wouldn't have to buy that cat after all.
Author's Note
There you all go, a few hours of my imagination and some creepy ambient music for some inspiration of my own crossed with some Alice In Wonderland with Tim Burton's version of Cheshire Cat. Hope you all liked reading it. I liked writing it. Peace out.