“Ugh, darn this blasted thing..” Rarity groaned.
It was deep into the night, more specifically, approaching midnight. Rarity had been working on her newest batch of orders for the boutique and her sewing machine has been eating through her needles all night. She was well past being fed up with it. She put a new needle in the machine and resumed following along her pattern, before the needle promptly snapped again. She growled in frustration and pushed herself away from the table with more force than she probably meant to.
“That. is. it! I allowing myself a break..” Rarity said to herself. She dropped off her chair and sauntered to the kitchen. On her way there Rarity grazed by one of her mannequins, making it wobble slightly.
“Oh! Sorry about that darling.” Rarity giggled, before blushing in embarrassment. “Oh dear, there I go talking to the mannequins now. This is why I don’t do late nights.” she groaned. Rarity entered the kitchen and quickly made herself a glass of water before sitting at the kitchen table to give herself a minute to recover from her ongoing all nighter. As Rarity sat there she mindlessly let her eyes wander over the boutique, when something suddenly moved out the corner of her eye. Her head snapped to what she saw and found nothing but the mannequin she bumped into standing in the same spot as before.
’Maybe it was just Opal..’ Rarity thought.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and returned to her work station. Glancing at the clock it read 12:22 AM.
’Ok, I’ll work until.. 2:30. That should be good.’
Rarity levitated a needle and delicately put it into the sewing machine before gently pressing down the peddle and following along the stitching line. She found herself in a state of concentration, quietly humming to herself as she completed the patterns. Before she could reach the end of the stitching line she was working on, the sound of light shuffling and clattering behind her broke her pinpoint concentration.
“Opal dear, please no distracting mama while she’s working.” Rarity called, keeping her attention on her sewing.
The noise continued unbothered.
“Opalescence! Don’t make me go over there!” Rarity scolded, pulling away from her machine to see where her cat was assumably causing a mess. It was difficult to make out any possible movement in the darkness of the boutique, the small lamp Rarity was using to light her work barely lighting anything more than her work desk. Rarity casted a dim light from her horn and ventured into the home in search of Opal.
“Pspspsps, come here Opal..” Rarity called softly. There was no audible response to Rarity’s call. Clearly further investigation was needed. Ugh. As Rarity walked past a dim hallway a light bumping took her attention.
’Aha, thought you could hide from me forever?’ Rarity thought to herself smugly. Making her way to the storage closet the noise originated from, Rarity twisted the handle in her magic and peered the door open a peep.
“Opalescence darling, are you in here?” Rarity asked. There was a moment of silence as she waited for some form of response, which eventually came in the form of a small white object dashing past through her hooves.
“EEP! Don’t ever scare me like that! How’d you even lock yourself in here in the first place!?” Rarity squeaked in shock as the door swung open. Rarity turned to shut the closet when her horn illuminated the pale face of a mannequin positioned in the closet.
“AAHHH!” Rarity fell back onto her flank. “Goodness! How many of these blasted things do I have?!” Rarity gasped as she sat on the floor, trying to catch her breath. She shakily got to her hooves to properly close the door this time, but was distracted by the strange details adorning the mannequin’s face. There was a light shade of red around its mouth, or at least where a mouth would be, and scratches along its cheeks.
’Oh Opal, what have you done now? Good thing I’ve already put this one in storage, though I can’t for the life of me remember doing so..’ Rarity thought to herself. She closed the door with a sigh and returned to her work station. On her way back she spotted Opalescence laying meekly on the floor.
“Well, do you have anything to say for yourself young lady?” Rarity scolded the cat. Opal responded with a pained mew as she barely moved from her spot. Rarity immediately dropped the disappointed parent act, taking notice of her cat’s weak condition. “Opal? Is something the matter?” Rarity leaned down with her illuminated horn and turned Opal onto her back, where she found a large, bloody wound on the cat’s stomach.
“OPAL! WH- H- JUST STAY HERE DEARIE!” Rarity nearly screeched as she got to her hooves and ran to find the first aid she keeps in the kitchen. She scrambled through drawers and cabinets before she found it under the sink, running back as fast as possible to aid Opal. On her way back, Rarity spotted that the storage closet door was now wide open. ’No time for that right now!’ she shook her head to remind her of the task at hoof. Rarity stopped on a dime when she reached Opal and got to healing her cat.
“Oh Opal darling how did this happen?! I’ll get you to Fluttershy’s as soon as possible dear, don’t you worry.” Rarity comforted the kitty as she wrapped a thick bandage around its midsection and hoisted her onto her back. Before Rarity could reach her front door and bring Opal to be properly aided by Fluttershy, the rhythmic stepping of heavy hooves echoed from upstairs. Rarity shuddered in place as an over imaginative wave of possibilities ran through her brain. She was ready to hoof it out of the house when she remembered Sweetie Belle was still, presumably, sound asleep in her room upstairs. Rarity swallowed her hesitations and went to the kitchen to brandish herself with a knife, only incase of self defense. She’d usually find this choice a bit extreme, but the night was becoming increasingly eerie for her liking.
“Okay Opal, I’m going to leave you down here, we don’t need you getting hurt any more than you already are.” Rarity informed the cat. She knew Opal could barely understand what she said, but talking to her still eased her nerves ever so slightly. Rarity delicately levitated the kitty off her back and placed her onto the couch before nervously marching up the stairs, keeping her blade at the ready. Rounding the corner at the top of the steps, she couldn’t immediately spot any intruding ponies. Rarity took calculated steps down the hallway in search for any noise or movement. She passed by one of the guest bedrooms where the familiar noise of hoofsteps suddenly returned, sending fear down her back. Rarity pressed against the wall, prepping herself to face the pony on the other side. She took quick breaths in and out before charging in with your knife pointing out in front of her.
“AAAAHHH!” Rarity shouted, burying her knife into whoever stood before her. Rarity kept her eyes sealed for a bit, breathing heavily from the overwhelming anxiety of the situation. “I.. I’m sorry..” she shakily whispered to whoever she’d just slain, small tears beginning to form. She slowly opened her eyes and was taken aback by the distinct lack of any red stains upon her blade or fur. Rarity tilted her head up and found she had dug her knife into nothing more than a mannequin, standing motionless in the middle of the room.
“W-what?!” She gasped. “How did- but I could’ve sworn- I-“ Rarity stopped and started, completely unable to process the events. She found it needless to speak and simply removed the knife, leaving a small gap spilling stuffing.
’I must be losing it! I’ve completely cracked! My poor Opal is suffering and I’m up here playing with these stupid models! This is why I never work late..’ Rarity thought as she went to return downstairs. As she was exiting the doorway, a subtle shuffling noise behind her caught her ears. She instinctively turned her head back and felt her heart drop at the sight of.. nothing. Where there once stood the tall featureless stallion now stood absolutely nothing. Rarity took this as deeply disconcerting. Had she imagined the whole thing? Was there ever any hoofsteps upstairs? Is she still at her desk working on those damned dress orders? The answer to her questions came in the form of slow knocks coming from above.
Rarity nervously leaned her head back and was met with the sight of the mannequin crawling along the ceiling, slowly approaching her with sharp, elongated steps as it made its way from the ceiling to along the wall. Rarity took jittered steps backwards as she quietly muttered incoherent noises of fear under her breath. Before she could make her escape, Rarity’s two back hooves tripped over one another, sending her tumbling back onto her back. The mannequin took this opportunity to lunge off the wall and pounce for the unicorn. Rarity fortunately reacted in time, positioning her back hooves on the mannequin’s throat to hold it back. She put all her energy into her legs and pushed her attacker away as hard as possible before getting to her hooves and making a break for the stairs.
Rarity had never dashed quicker in her life as she desperately attempted to get downstairs. As she reached the steps her front hood slipped forward, sending her crashing into the wall and tumbling down the stairs. She hit the bottom with a violent crash that left her front right hood barely able to move. It had clearly broken at some point during her fall. Rarity didn’t let this deter her, she used what hooves she could and weakly crawled her way to the kitchen. The simple kitchen knife she had brandished before wasn’t gonna be enough, she was gonna need something bigger. She wasn’t even half way to her destination when the lumbering stomps of the mannequin rang out, hitting each step on the staircase with a threatening creak.
“No.. no, no, no, NO! PLEASE!” Rarity cried out. There were tears down her cheeks. She was hoisting her body with all the power she had left in her. The stomping had now turned into full on galloping. Rarity looked behind her and panicked at the sight of the fabric pony charging at her. She desperately searched around her and took notice of the coffee table. She activated her horn and wrapped one of the legs in magic, harshly pulling on it until it snapped off with a jagged end. She flew it through the air, jabbing it straight through the mannequin’s neck. The white stallion was stuck as it pushed forward while Rarity kept the splintered leg in its throat floating in place. Rarity crawled into the kitchen while she could and searched for the sharpest weapon in the room, eventually settling on a sharp cleaver. She grit her teeth and took rapid deep breaths as she prepared her attack. Rarity slowly and shakily rose to her unharmed hoofs and, in a surprisingly swift motion, removed the wood from the mannequin’s throat, rounded the entrance of the kitchen, and began swinging her cleaver into the faceless pony. The blade smoothly ran through it in almost flawless motions, leaving slices of fabric decorating the floor and several gnashes with exposed stuffing leaking through. Rarity felt nothing more than her basic survival instincts firing on all cylinders as she tore the living mannequin to shreds. Her attack eventually slowed down as she took labored breaths, the mannequin laying before her in a destroyed heap on the floor.
Rarity dropped the cleaver with a clatter and limply made her way to Opal, not forgetting her poor condition. Rarity was suddenly stopped by a tug at her tail, her heart sinking as she turned and was met with the sight of the mangled, deformed mannequin holding her tail down with its limp, barely attached hoof. It began to pull her in closer, leaving Rarity to squirm in desperation. She attempted to levitate the cleaver over but was interrupted by a pale hoof grabbing her throat. Rarity gagged, left completely defenseless as the mannequin suddenly began to lift her off the ground as it somehow managed to stand up, despite the tattered state of its body. The mannequin got on its hind legs and wound its arm back, launching it forward and sending Rarity flying across the room. Rarity soar through the air before promptly crashing into her work table, scattering her supplies and leaving her aching on the floor. She’d been completely immobilized. Her back was surely broken, with every small movement sending the worst pain imaginable rippling through her body. She tried her hardest to call for help, but she was barely able to make anything other than small whimpers. The mannequin lumbered it’s way to Rarity. It stood tall over her quivering form.
“N-no.. please, let me…” Rarity weeped. She was practically inaudible. The towering figure above her filled her with a hopeless dread. Rarity’s life streamed through her head, leaving silent tears down her face. The mannequin picked up one of the sewing needles and limply titled its head as it stared Rarity in the eyes, and got back to work.
_______________________________________________
“Rarity? Raaaaariiiity?” Sweetie Belle called out. She had just awoken and couldn’t find her sister anywhere. “Huh, she’s probably off one of those friendship adventures. A little early for that if you ask me.” Sweetie said to herself. Her ear twitched at the sound of light scratching on the front door. She trotted to the source and found Opalescence weakly clawing away at the door.
“What’s wrong Opal? Do you need.. what the?” Sweetie was taken aback when she noticed the thick bandage wrapped around the cat. “What the hay happened?” Sweetie wasn’t able to ponder that for much longer when a strange oder hit her nose.
“Ugh, what is happening around here?” She asked with a hoof over her nostrils. Sweetie scanned the room to see if there was an obvious source for the smell when her eyes landed on a strange looking mannequin. It was white, well, mostly white. It had weird patches of the usual cream color common on mannequins mixed with lighter, albeit somewhat scuffed, patches of bright white. Not to mention it was.. damp, with faded stains of red along the bottom. Sweetie looked at it curiously, just being around it left her somewhat uncomfortable.
“I always hated those things.. c’mon Opal, maybe Ms. Fluttershy can help me with your bandage.” Sweetie said as she picked up the cat and trotted out the front door.
The decrepit mannequin stood alone in the boutique. Faint light barely glowing through shuttered blinds acting as the only deterrent from pitch darkness. The mannequin wept. Invisible tears running down its featureless face.
