Chitt Chitt
Sweetie Belle was excited. The small unicorn, not known for her mischievous nature, giggled as she carefully hid the camera between the stuffed dolls on her bedroom counter. Situated strategically, the camera was covered beneath a purple veil upon which sat Mr. Panda, a plush teddy bear who wore a pink bowtie. She made sure there was nothing obstructing the lens as it pointed to her bed.
“There,” she said, satisfied with her work. She reached a hoof under the veil to turn on the camera’s recording attribute and took a step back. Sweetie Belle composed herself as if she were addressing an audience. “Hello, there. My name is Sweetie Belle. But already know that.” She dipped her head slightly.
Sweetie Belle was dressed in a small nightgown of lavender silk and yellow stars. Her mane was wrapped up above her head with a silk lace and she had a pair of pink bunny slippers on her fore hooves.
“Welcome to tonight’s episode of ‘Caught on Camera’.” She giggled, giddy with herself. Exposing her mouth in a smile, it was easy to make out the small gap between the incisors on her right side. “As you may or may not know,” Sweetie Belle went on. “I’ve just lost a tooth.” She pointed to her teeth to the invisible audience. “According to my big sister Rarity, the Tooth Pony will come tonight for this.” She raised her other hoof, showing a tiny object that resembled a pearl-white pebble. “After which she’ll leave a bit underneath my pillow before going home to her tooth palace in the sky.”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes at this. “Like I’m that dumb, right? I know Rarity’s been leaving the bits under my pillow for some time. But like a big sister she keeps telling me the same story over and over again. I told her I know it’s her, but she refuses to admit the truth. Now, I’m going to catch her in the act.”
Sweetie Belle approached her bed. She gently tucked the tooth underneath her pillow before returning to address the camera. “Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, I know we’re going to have a good laugh about this tomorrow. I love Rarity to bits—no pun intended—but she’s got to realize I’m not a foal anymore. It’s time to face the truth.”
She heard something outside. “Ooh! Here she comes.” She ran to the bed and carefully, less Rarity force her to make the sheets again, slid herself underneath the covers. She had just enough time to tuck her hooves over her stomach before the door to her room opened. Illustrious as ever, Rarity glided over to Sweetie Belle wearing a stunning nightgown the color of alabaster. Her hair was wrapped into a bun, her steps graceful, and her smile lit up the whole room.
“Sweetie Belle, dearie. I’m here to tuck you in.”
Sweetie Belle avoided rollin her eyes at this. The sisterly routine was second nature to them both so she just played her part. Truth be told, tucking her in every night was kind of childish as well, but Sweetie Belle so enjoyed spending time with her sister that she accepted her role.
Rarity pulled the sheet up to Sweetie Belle’s neck, flattening out the sides of the bedsheet and making sure there were no wrinkles on the mattress. “There. All snug as bug.” She nuzzled Sweetie Belle’s head with her snout.
“Thanks, Rarity.” Sweetie Belle let out an exaggerated yawn. “I’m really tired.” Actually she was wide awake. She fought the urge to smile as she allowed her eyelids to slowly close.
“Did you remember to leave your tooth underneath your pillow?” Rarity asked.
“Uh-huh.” Her voice barely a whisper, Sweetie Belle bit her teeth. She couldn’t wait to see Rarity’s face when she showed her the footage in the morning. Rarity beamed as she watched her sister drift off to “sleep.”
“Good night, my little pony.” Turning off the lamp next to bed, Rarity left as gracefully as she’d entered, shutting the door quietly being her. Luna’s Moon poked through the drapes on the window. The only noise was the sound of Rarity’s steps as she walked own the hall to her room. The door closed soon after.
Gently opening her eyelid, Sweetie Belle spotted the tiny red light peering at her in the darkness. She winked at it before closing her eye again, a smile widening across her face. “See you in the morning.”
~
The morning didn’t come soon enough. Sweetie Belle could not recall drifting off to sleep but she welcomed the sight of Celestia’s Sun seeping through her window with a yawn. She stretched out her little muscles and her face perked up she remembered. “Ooh!”
Reaching under her pillow, the filly drew out a nice shiny bit. Her green eyes sparkled at its perfection. “Why thank you,” she smirked devilishly, “Rarity.” Giggling, Sweetie Belle threw off her covers and approached the counter across the room. The red light was still on, Mr. Panda maintaining his guard like an obedient sentry. “You are relieved, Sergeant Panda.” Sweetie Belle saluted her childhood companion before gently removed him from his post. She then threw off the veil and picked up the camera beneath.
She immediately turned off the recorder and flipped it around to open up the tiny flap to look at the screen. The camera recorded eight hours of footage from the time Sweetie Belle had turned it on. She began to play it back. “Here we go.”
She fast forwarded past the part where she gave her introductory speech to the camera, getting into bed, and Rarity’s entrance. Once the lights were off and the moon was the only source of illumination, she watched herself fidget in anticipation. “Hello me,” she giggled. Hitting the fast forward button again, Sweetie Belle watched as the screen seemed to buzz. The scene changed very little. For hours there was only the darkened room, the moonlight, and the sight of herself sleeping in bed, her little tummy going up and down.
“Come on, Rarity. Where are you?”
Hours went by on the timer and Sweetie Belle was getting impatient. Suddenly she thought she saw movement and pressed the PLAY button. “Ooh, here she comes!” Reaching up, she grabbed Mr. Panda off the counter and sat him next to her. “We’ve got her, Mr. Panda. Loo…” Sweetie Belle paused. “What?”
The door had opened as she’d expected. A figure entered the room. But there was something off about how it moved. Rarity carried herself like a dancer gliding across a room with her lovely legs. The figure, her face and body draped in a long white cloth, seemed to literally float towards the bed. “R-Rarity?”
Sweetie Belle asked.
Chitt-Chitt.
The sound was subtle…almost like an afterthought.. At first Sweetie Belle wasn’t sure she’d heard anything at all. Raising the volume just slightly, she listened in as her “sister” approached the bed.
Chitt-Chitt. Chitt-Chitt.
There it goes again. It sounded, to Sweetie Belle, like teeth chattering together in repetition. It seemed to coincide with the figure’s movements. It floated to Sweetie Belle’s bed. Try as she might, Sweetie Belle couldn’t make out any hooves below the sheet. Come to think of it, other than its pony-like shape and size, there didn’t seem to be any solid substance underneath it at all.
The cloaked figure had reached the bed, its hooded head scanning the sleeping Sweetie Belle, her tiny snores barley audible over the incessant chattering of teeth. In one smooth motion that appeared like looking at a blurry water color painting, the figure removed a bit from underneath its cloth and placed it under her pillow. In the same motion it removed the tooth and held it up.
Chitt-Chitt.
Sweetie Belle watched in awed silence as the figure observed the tooth in a matter that seemed reverent. The tooth appeared to glow as if a shiny pearl had been the objective of the figure’s search all along. Then, with growing anxiety, Sweetie Belle watched as the figure gradually pulled the tooth toward its head. Beneath the hood she heard a loud crunching sound as if it were eating the tooth. It ceased as quickly as it began and when the figure removed its hoof the tooth was gone…devoured.
Sweetie Belle gasped.
Chitt-Chitt!
The chattering stopped.
In slow motion, the head began to turn in the direction of the camera. There was no sound coming from the figure at all. With the change in perspective, the hood pulled back slightly and all Sweetie Belle could make out was darkness. Once fluttering about the figure, the cloth ceased to move at all. In that brief moment, the figure was looking directly at the camera itself.
Right at Sweetie Belle.
Did it…did it hear me? Sweetie Belle asked herself.
Chitt-Chitt.
Sweetie Belle’s mouth opened. She managed to mutter “Uh…uhhh…” before the figure blurred into motion, jumping at the camera. Sweetie Belle cried out as two rows of sharp teeth clenched down on the screen before going to black.
Screaming, the filly kicked at the camera. She fell onto her back and backpedaled all the way to the wall. Mr. Panda lay sprawled next to the camera, his large black eyes staring right at Sweetie Belle. With fear overtaking her brain, she could almost swear that the bear was smiling at her, its wide-toothed grin sputtering the same sound that the figure, that the creature had made.
Her heart beat so loudly that she didn’t even hear Rarity’s frantic voice coming from out the door. Rarity charged in, horn ablaze with sapphire fire. “Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle!” She found her sister trembling against the wall, eyes fixated on Mr. Panda.
Rarity ran to her sister and pulled her into a hug. “Sweetie Belle! What is it, darling? Why did you scream?” Rarity began stroking her mane in an attempt to comfort the trembling filly. “What is it?” She asked as Sweetie Belle began to cry. Rarity looked to where Sweetie Belle’s gaze remained. She spotted Mr. Panda and what looked like a camera on the floor. “What happened?”
“There’s…something there…” Sweetie Belle could barely talk through her sobs. “It…it came after…me.” She was crying freely into Rarity’s chest, tears and mucus staining the expensive fabric.
Rarity didn’t seem to notice. Nor did she care. Something had terrified her baby sister and she was going to find out what. “What came after you? Did you see something? Sweetie Belle?”
Sweetie Belle just cried and pointed at the camera.
Rarity gently placed her sister down and approached the camera, Sweetie Belle no more than a few inches behind her. She was scared and being close to Rarity was the only way to feel safe. She practically clung to Rarity’s hind leg when she picked up the camera, turning it so as to observe the screen flap. “What were you doing with this?” She asked Sweetie Belle.
But all Sweetie did was cry.
Rarity studied her sister for a moment. She then activated the screen.
“No!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
But Rarity was already watching. She rewound the footage and played it again. Her blue eyes narrowed all of a sudden. “Sweetie Belle. Do you wish to explain what’s going on?”
Still trembling, the filly managed to pry herself somewhat from Rarity’s leg. She noticed her sister’s questioning look fixated solely on her. “T-The thing,” she stuttered.
“What thing?” Rarity asked. “There’s nothing here.” She showed the camera to reveal a black screen.
“N-No. It was there. I saw it!” Sweetie Belle stepped away. “It…it knew I was watching. It tried to…to eat me.”
Rarity wasn’t convinced. “Sweetie Belle. I think you just had a nightmare.”
“But I saw it, Rarity!” She exclaimed. “Please believe me. It ate my tooth and then it tried to eat me.”
“What ate your tooth?” The mare’s eyes narrowed.
Her next words were almost intelligible. “It…I…the Mare in White.”
~
“Then what did she say?” Scootaloo asked as she and Apple Bloom listened to Sweetie Belle’s tale.
Situated on the opposite end of the table at Sugar Cube Corner, Sweetie Belle replied, “She didn’t say much of anything. Rarity just rolled her eyes. She was convinced I had a bad dream.” Situated between them was the camera with the screen flap open. She’d shown her friends the footage from last night only to find that the camera had recorded nothing more than eight hours of darkness.
Scootaloo had suggested that perhaps she’d left the lens cap on. Apple Bloom said that maybe she’d left the curtains closed as there was no light. But Sweetie Belle insisted that the curtains were open, that she’d taken the cap off, that there actually had been a wraith-like figure in her bedroom last night.
Too bad her only evidence was a black screen.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked to one another. Sweetie Belle could see the disbelief in their faces. They thought she was making it all up. They didn’t believe a word of it. “It wasn’t a nightmare,” she told them both sternly. “I got up, I turned on the camera, and I saw her”
“And she saw you?” Apple Bloom asked.
“And tried to eat you?” Scootaloo added.
“Yes and yes.” Seeing the cynical look in their eyes, Sweetie Belle blew out a sigh of frustration. “Forget it. You don’t believe me.” She slumped her head on her hoof.
“It’s not that we don’t believe ya, Sweetie Belle.” Apple Bloom looked to Scootaloo in support. “It’s just…well…”
“We stopped believing ghost stories when we were little,” the orange pegasus finished.
“So did I!” Snapped Sweetie Belle. Her friends visibly jumped at her exclamation. “That’s why I tried to catch Rarity in the act. I stopped believing in the Tooth Pony a long time ago but Rarity keeps insisting that it’s real. I wanted to record her so that I could prove once and for all that it was her leaving bits underneath my pillow at night.”
“But ya did get the bit,” Apple Bloom said.
“And the tooth was gone,” said Scootaloo.
“So?” Sweetie Belle put both hooves on the table, leaning towards her friends.
“So,” Apple Bloom began, “Maybe it really was Rarity.”
“And maybe I just imagined that thing chopping its teeth right my my face. Is that what you’re saying?” The unicorn glowered darkly. How irritating it was that even her best friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, refused to believe a word of her tale. Sweetie Belle wasn’t one to make up stories just for the Tartarus of it. She wasn’t a liar or prone to hallucinations.
Scootaloo shook her head. “Look, you could tell me you saw a dragon outside your window and I’d believe you. I’ve seen a dragon. They exist. We’d help you hunt it down if that were the case.”
“But a ghost?” Apple Bloom questioned. “I ain’t seen one of those before. Hope I never do.”
“The absence of evidence isn’t necessarily the evidence of absence,” Sweetie Belle said. “I’m telling you it was there.”
Scootaloo held up her hoof. “Okay, fine. You saw a ghost. So what now?”
Sweetie Belle looked questioningly at her.
“She only came for the tooth and nothing but the tooth. That means she won’t come back until you lose another one.”
“Scoot’s right.” Apple Bloom chimed in. “Ya don’t hafta worry none about that ghost till next time.”
“Well that’s reassuring.” Sweetie Belle shivered in her seat. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep knowing that she comes to my room in the middle of the night.”
But Scootaloo laughed. “Don’t worry. Apple Bloom and I will be there when that happens.” When both ponies looked to her she said. “Duh! Cutie Mark Crusaders sleepover!”
That brightened up the mood immediately. Knowing her friends would be there to help her confront the wraith instilled Sweetie Belle with confidence. “That’s a great idea, Scootaloo. What do you say, Apple Bloom?”
“Of course I’m gonna be there ya goof. We are best friends after all.”
Both she and Scootaloo smiled at her. Sweetie was smiling too…until she noticed their teeth. The image of snapping fangs sent shivers down her spine.
~
It took some time before Sweetie Belle lost another tooth. More time than she would have liked. Scootaloo offered to remove one herself, possibly gaining her dentist cutie mark, but Sweetie Belle (politely) turned her down. She was amazed that neither Scoots nor Apple Bloom had lost a tooth in the time she had. Perhaps it was all the sweets that Sweetie Belle liked to snack on at night that accelerated the process. Whatever the case, Sweetie Belle immediately contacted her friends when it happened.
Prior to the event, Sweetie Belle had done some research on the Tooth Pony, or the Mare in White, as she’d come to call it. It turns out there wasn’t much to find out. She’d spoken to Twilight who provided her a book on pony myths and fairytales but all she found was a single mention of the Tooth Pony in fillies literature.
The myth was as Rarity had told her. The Tooth Pony—an illustration pictured her as a tiny white mare with butterfly wings—going from one house to another to get the missing teeth from little colts and fillies. In exchange she’d leave a single bit under the pillow before returning to her home, a land of candied treats as far as they could see.
The silly story said nothing of a strange mare covered in white cloth, eating the teeth or…she shivered, the strange sound it made while moving. She’d asked Twilight for information about ghost ponies, to which the alicorn princess became perplexed due to the change in subject. All that research managed to do was give Sweetie Belle nightmares for the next week. She never wanted to read a ghost story again.
Sweetie Belle was tempted to tell her what happened, but Twilight was the most logical pony in Ponyville, maybe in all Equestria. If Rarity and the Cutie Mark Crusaders thought her story was a lot of hooey, then the princess would surely have scoffed at the idea. If only the camera had captured the image of the Mare in White. Sweetie Belle knew what she saw and this time every pony else would as well.
Given that the Mare in White could physically interact with the tooth and open the door, Sweetie Belle surmised that she wasn’t a ghost at all but some kind of fairy. Not like those fairies she’d read about in those Filly Hollow picture books but the bad ones, the ones that used to scare her at night. Granted this particular fairy may not have harmed her, but she knew that Sweetie Belle had seen her, which meant she had made herself a target. Fairies don’t like their secrets being let out.
This time she’d be ready. After the Cutie Mark Crusaders arrived for the night, they’d spent most of the evening preparing when Rarity came knocking on the door. “Girls, it’s time for bed.”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had their sleeping mats placed on the floor of the room. Sweetie Belle was already in bed and awaiting her sister to complete the nightly ritual. Rarity walked over to her. “Are you okay, Sweetie Belle? You look tense.”
She was tense. She and her friends were about to go face to face with a dark fairy. Even for the CMC, that would prove a challenge. Having her friends there gave her courage, but she still recalled the image of the teeth snapping toward her, the sound of the Mare in White as it made its way to her bed, devouring the tooth.
She suppressed a shudder.
“I’m fine. Just tired I guess.” Sweetie Belle yawned, loudly. Taking her cue, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom yawned as well.
“My but you girls had a busy day,” Rarity said. “Well then. It’s off to bed. Scootaloo. Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle.” She spoke to them in kind after pulling up Sweetie Belle’s sheet to her neck. “Don’t forget to leave your tooth underneath your pillow.”
Sweetie Belle put on her best fake smile. “Already done.” She rubbed the back of her head against her pillow, feeling the tiny bump that was her tooth lodged beneath her.
“Well then. Good night. Sleep tight. Princess Luna has you in her sight.” Rarity turned off the lamp and closed the door, her steps receding down the hall.
In the darkness, Luna’s Moon cast an eerie light across the floor. The window was slightly open so that a small breeze ruffled the curtains, casting shadows that danced wickedly in the light. In the darkness, Sweetie Belle could only hear the breathing of her two best friends. “Are you guys awake?” She asked.
“It’s only bee like ten seconds since your sister left,” Scootaloo said, her voice a whisper. “Of course we’re still up.”
“Pipe down, Scoots. Ya know Sweetie’s just spooked is all,” Apple Bloom said.
“I’m not spooked,” the unicorn lied. “Well, not really.”
Apple Bloom tried to encourage her. “Don’t worry none. When this bad fairy thing comes a knockin’ we’ll bag it and tag it. Right Scootaloo?”
“You know it! We’ll teach this Mare in White a thing or two. Or my name isn’t Scootaloo Dash.”
“It is?” Apple Bloom asked in genuine shock.
“Naw. But it would be cool if it was right?”
Hearing her friends talk and joke made Sweetie Belle feel much better about all this. There was no doubt in her mind that the Mare in White’s days of spooking fillies were over. This time, she would not be alone.
~
Sweetie Belle knew something was wrong the moment she opened her eyes. It was the middle of the night. There wasn’t a sound to be heard except…wait, there was no sound. No snoring. No slow, rhythmic breathing. Nothing save the beating of her own heart.
“Scootaloo?” She whispered into the dark. “Apple Bloom?”
There was no response. Slowly she lifted her head up. Luna’s Moon had waned. The heavenly body was still up in the night sky…only its light was dimmer somehow. Pale blue moonlight crossed the room, revealing to Sweetie Belle something that made her blood run cold.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were gone, their sleeping mats empty. The room felt so much larger without them, as if their presence had filled the darkness with their warmth and laughter. Now it was gone. Sweetie Belle was alone.
“G-Girls?” She muttered, her teeth chattering in the cold.
Chitt-Chitt.
No. It wasn’t her teeth. It came from outside the room. Slowly the knob began to turn. The door opened. Sweetie Belle felt her throat tighten. She couldn’t scream or call for help. She couldn’t even whimper as the Mare in White entered the room. Doing the only thing a filly her age could think of, she hid underneath the bed. From her vantage point she could see the door to her room creak open, admitting the creature inside. Again there were no hooves, no legs of any kind. All she saw was the rustling of white cloth as it approached her bed.
Chitt-Chitt.
The chattering of teeth. Sharp teeth.
Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but whimper. She covered her mouth with her hooves and fought the wave of tears that blurred her eyesight. She couldn’t turn away, couldn’t lose sight of the thing that had come for her. To look away or blink would be death.
The white cloth appeared right at her bed, just inches from where Sweetie Belle was hiding. She smelled something dank, a putrid scent. In her readings about ghosts and dark fairies, she recalled that many such descriptions of the creatures. One of the most common was that they reeked of tombs and open graves. They reeked of death.
Such was the putrid aroma that it overpowered the scent of Sweetie Belle’s urine as it trickled out her body. She’d lost control of her bladder after seeing the Mare in White. It was difficult to form any rational thought. This creature was the manifestation of all her fears, and it had come for her.
Go away, Sweetie Belle heard her mind saying. Please go away.
The Mare in White hovered in place. There was a rustling as the pillow was moved aside. Then came the sound Sweetie Belle dreaded. The Mare in White began eating her tooth. Loud crunches accompanied every bite.
Sweetie Belle could not stop shaking. The crunches were louder than she would have thought possible, almost as if the Mare in White were eating something bigger than a tooth. The crushing of solid bone, the endless chattering…it became too much for the filly to bear. She began to cry.
At once the crunching stopped. Sweetie Belle’s heart seemed to freeze. It had heard her. Now it would come for her. It would eat her!
The white cloth elevated until it was out of sight. At once there was a loud creaking as the Mare in White got onto her bed. The added weight caused the mattress to bend atop of Sweetie Belle. She lowered her head until her chin touched the floor. The mattress groaned and complained for a moment before everything stopped.
Sweetie Belle fought to control her sobbing. Each time she tried to take a breath only made her gasp for air.
Go. Go. Just go!
Sweetie Belle’s heart felt like it would burst from her chest. She couldn’t imagine what the dark fairy was up to. Where had her friends gone? Had the Mare eaten them? Did they just run away?
Chitt-Chitt.
The chattering started up again. Sweetie Belle glanced all around. The door was still open. Perhaps she should make a run for it. Rarity’s room wasn’t far. She was a fast runner. It was possible.
Chitt-Chitt
Stop it!
She wanted to scream. She wanted Rarity. She wanted her friends. She wanted that damn chattering to stop.
I have to make a run for it. I have to.
But her legs would not obey. They seem to have atrophied to the point where no manner of will could lift them off the ground again. The chattering intensified. There was the tear of fabric. Something was being torn apart.
The Mare in White was eating something. The bed vibrated as the chattering grew louder. It sounded like it was champion into the bed itself. Feathers and fabric began to shower down around the edges of the bed. The Mare in White was chewing its way through the mattress now.
Chitt-Chitt-Chitt-Chitt-CRUNCH!
A sickeningly loud pop filled the air. The Mare in White began chewing thoroughly. It was slurping now. Hungrily. Sweetie Belle was completely paralyzed. Fear had taken such a hold on her that it took effort to breathe.
She felt a warm sensation on her back, neck, and head. Her wide eyes looked up at the bottom of the mattress which was showing wet spots all across the subsurface. A metallic scent filled Sweetie Belle’s nostrils as the slurping sounds grew louder. The underbelly of the bed began to pool with a dark stain. Bits began to drip all over the floor and onto Sweetie Belle. She was soon covered in it.
B-Blood? Her terrified mind salvaged that much before…
Bladed teeth tore through the mattress.
~
A scream woke Sweetie Belle out of bed. Her scream.
She scrambled off the bed, kicking and yelling. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, jumped out of their sleeping mats at the same time. They rushed to Sweetie Belle, unable to console their terrified friend. Sweetie Belle kicked at them.
“Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom pleaded with her to stop. She almost got kicked square in the face for her trouble. “What’s wrong? Sweetie Belle!”
The unicorn’s thrashing ended all of a sudden. Sweetie Belle opened her wide, horrified eyes to see her friends looking at her. They remained a respectable distance away, afraid to get any closer less she attempt to hit them again. Even in the dark she could their faces, wide-eyed and fearful.
Her gaze fell on her bed which, to her surprise, remained intact aside from ruffled sheets and a stain which she quickly surmised was her own urine. The Mare in White was gone, but the chattering remained her head, like an irate insect that refused to go away.
“Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked nervously. “What is it?”
“I…” She tried to speak, tried to tell her friends what had happened. Every syllable took effort on her part. “It…was here…the M-Mare…it ate me…”
“What?” Apple Bloom asked. “Sweetie Belle,” the unicorn looked up at her friend. “There was no pony here but Scoots and myself. We took turns on watch like ya said. Scootaloo was awake and she’d have told us if there was a monster in here.”
The pegasus nodded. “That’s right. I’d have beaten that stupid Mare to death if she laid a hoof on you.”
But Sweetie Belle remained unconvinced. She stood up and moved away from the bed, from her friends. “She was here. She came into the room. You two were gone.”
Apple Bloom began saying, “But we’d never leave ya,” but Sweetie Belle went on as if she hadn’t spoken at all.
“I hid under the bid. She ate my tooth like it did the last one. She got onto my bed and then she…she started to…to eat it. There was blood all over the place. I got blood all over me. She was about to eat me too.”
Chitt-Chitt.
Sweetie Belle ducked her head and covered her eyes. “I c-can still hear it! The noise!”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exchanged worried glances before the former went to the bed. She removed the pillow and exclaimed, “Hey, the tooth is gone!” Looking back she said, “But that’s impossible. If there were anything in the room I would have seen it.”
“Unless ya fell asleep,” Apple Bloom mumbled. She walked over to Sweetie Belle and put a hoof around her friend. She stroked her mane soothingly. “It’s alright. You’re okay. We’re here for ya.”
Scootaloo snorted. “Whew! She wet the bed.”
Apple Bloom shot her a menacing glance. “Pipe down, would ya?” To Sweetie Belle she said, “It was just a dream. Ya had a nightmare.”
Scootaloo looked under the bed, under the sheets. Scratching her head the pegasus said aloud, “But where’s the tooth?”
Glaring again at Scootaloo, Apple Bloom almost didn’t hear Sweetie Belle say, “She ate it. She eats teeth.”
Chitt-Chitt.
“And bones.”
Those last words had Apple Bloom startling back. “W-What?”
“She eats bones,” Sweetie Belle repeated. “That’s why she’s called the Tooth Pony. She comes for the bones and nothing else.” She recalled something she read about in her studies of the dark fairy. “It’s just like the story of Nightmare Night. You give her your tooth so that she’ll eat it instead of you.”
“But what about the bits?” Scootaloo asked. “Why does she leave a bit behind after eating the tooth?”
Sweetie Belle didn’t have the answer, nor did she have time, as the door to her room opened up. “Girls? What are you still doing up?” Rarity asked as she strode in. Looking around the room the mare balked at the sight of the bed. “What happened here?”
The filly blushed. “I…I had a nightmare, Rarity. It was the Tooth Pony.”
Rarity rolled her eyes at this. “Honestly, Sweetie Belle. Do you still believe in that Old Pony’s Tale?” She strode imperiously over to the fillies. “I used to tell you that story as a lesson in economics.” When Sweetie Belle and her friends, respectively, looked confused Rarity elaborated. “Quad pro Quo. It means to give and to get. You provide a product or a service and in return you receive monetary compensation. It’s the basis of our economy and something every unicorn is taught from the moment they can speak. The Tooth Pony is just some silly story some pony made up a long time ago. It’s not real. I thought you understood that.”
Sweetie Belle shook hear head. “But why did you keep pretending with me?”
“It’s tradition.” Rarity glanced back at the bed. “Just like Nightmare Night and Hearth’s Warming Eve and Hearts and Hooves Day. Ponies celebrate these traditions not because they believe them, but because it’s fun.” She covered her hoof. “My word, did you wet the bed?”
Ashamed, Sweetie Belle began to cry. Rarity’s gaze softened. “Oh my dear. Come.” She pulled her into a hug. “Tell you what, you can sleep with me tonight.” She kissed her sister on the forehead.
Rarity changed the bed and bid the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who would sleep in the room, a good night before escorting Sweetie Belle to her own. Once they were in bed, the two unicorns snuggled up together. Rarity buried her snout into the back of Sweetie Belle’s head, snuggling her. “Don’t worry, my little pony. Everything is okay.”
Sweetie Belle trembled slightly. “It was so real, Rarity. I could hear her. She tried to eat me.”
“The Tooth Pony?” Rarity asked, gently stroking her hoof down Sweetie Belle’s calf.
“The Mare in White.”
“The Mare in White?” Rarity asked. “That’s what you call her?”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “That’s what she is to me. A scary mare draped in a white cloth who eats the bones of other ponies.” She started to drift off as Rarity’s began to stroke the right side of her head. Her eyes closed. Luna’s Moon shone through the window.
“The Mare in White,” Rarity repeated. “That is a lovely name.”
“She’s not lovely,” Sweetie Belle thought she saw something glint in front of her. She raised her head, causing Rarity to stop petting. “What’s that?”
Behind her, Rarity said, “I believe that’s yours, Sweetie Belle.”
The little filly reached out her hoof and pulled back a shiny new bit. “Rarity?” She asked, suddenly cold despite the proximity of Rarity’s body to hers. “What’s this?”
“Why it’s your reward for a job well done.” Her voice sounded strange. “You keep your teeth in such perfect shape. You’ll need those bits to make sure they stay that way.” There was a ruffling sound. Soft white sheets grazed Sweetie Belle’s now shaking form. “I’m so proud of you, my sister. And I’m sorry if I overdid it a little. But I can’t have you revealing my identity to the world now, can I?”
Sweetie Belle dropped the bit. The whole room seemed to darken, as if Luna’s Moon had suddenly disappeared. The white cloth was the only light in the room, shimmering, ethereal.
Sweetie Belle couldn’t stop trembling. she was beyond the point of coherent thought. Rarity’s voice, no, Her voice spoke right into her ear. What She said next would haunt her nights forever more.
Chitt-Chitt. Chitt-Chitt.
End
Author's Note
It used to scare me thinking that there were things coming into my room in the middle of the night when I was asleep. I used to pull the covers over my head, thinking they couldn't find me. What was most frightening were the sounds...scratches, clicking, chattering...those things that cling to the back of your dreams, just waiting of you to go to bed.
