Rarity awoke with a start. She sat up, breathing heavily. She pulled off her sleep mask and ran a hoof through her mane. She blinked as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness of her bedroom and she took notice of the tapping of rain against the roof of her boutique.
She sighed. Just a bad dream. She cringed slightly at the perspiration she felt on her forehead. I knew I should have put my mane up before going to bed.
Now calmed, Rarity disregarded her messy mane as an issue for the morning. She closed her eyes and took in the sound of rain outside; a distant roar of thunder accompanied the symphony. What a relaxing sound. Perhaps it would lull her back into a more restful sleep. Laying back down though, she found the thought of going back to sleep a tad uncomfortable. She supposed that was to be expected, having just awoken from a nightmare. Why, she couldn't count the amount of times Sweetie Belle had climbed into bed with her after having a nightmare.
Taking a deep breath, Rarity focused on the rain tapping on her roof, hoping to drown out the memory of... Huh, that was odd. She couldn't remember what she had dreamed about. She knew it was something quite dreadful, but her mind came up short of any details. She found this quite strange, as she had only just woken up and she had been so scared in the moment before. She reasoned that perhaps the rain was already working it's magic.
Rarity neglected her sleep mask for the time being and just laid in her bed, allowing her eyes to roam around the dark room. She glanced at her window; it was too dark to see anything outside, though she thought she could just make out the raindrops rolling down the glass. she turned a bit and took in the rest of the room as another boom of thunder roared outside.
She blinked and squinted. She felt her chest tighten slightly. She couldn't say why, especially as she had only a dark view of the room, but she felt that something was amiss. Lighting her horn, she winced at the sudden light and gave the room another glance around. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she noticed a shape out of the corner of her eye. She gasped and pointed her horn's light in the direction of the shape, only to find another light flashing back. Oh. My reflection. Of course. She made a mental note to move her vanity desk back to the left of the room to avoid such scares in the future.
Figuring she was mistaken, Rarity dimmed the light and let her head hit the pillow again. She considered turning on the room's actual light, but decided that would be a silly thing to do. After all, she was still trying to get to sleep. There was no need to act like such a little filly just because of a nightmare she had already forgotten. Still, the temptation was there, eyeing the light switch next to the open door as she let the light fade...
Rarity's eyes widened and she lit her horn once more. Her bedroom door was cracked open. Had she forgotten to close it? She was sure she had closed it when she went to bed. Rarity used her magic the flip the switch. The light didn't come on. She flipped it a few more times to the same result. Had the storm caused a power failure? The storm outside didn't seem violent enough for such to occur. Perhaps she had slept through the worst of it and had awoken after it had calmed down?
She shook off the thought and looked towards the open door. Had she closed it when she went to bed? She tried to think of a moment where she may have opened it and just forgot to shut it again. Perhaps Opalescence had wanted out and Rarity let her out in a half-asleep state? It would explain why Opal wasn't there and why Rarity didn't remember opening the door. Yes. Yes, that must have been it.
Rarity pushed off her covers and made to get off the bed, but found herself hesitating. That uneasy feeling that she knew something was out of place was still lingering. A doubt that her rationale was correct. Oh, enough of this nonsense. You are a grown mare, Rarity. What would Sweetie Belle think if she saw you being so silly? With a huff, she got up and walked towards the door. Without even thinking, she peeked her head out the door and looked down the hallway before she closed it. Darkness there and nothing more.
Then she heard it. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Rarity froze. Just the rain... The tapping of the rain outside. The tapping down the hall. More distinct. More solitary. More deliberate. Tap. Tap. Tap. No, that was not the rain.
The unicorn stood halfway through the door, her horn glowing and her eyes wide. A cold chill crept down her spine as her heart pounded in her chest. As she stared into the dark hall, she felt a vague sense of deju vu. Was this in her nightmare? Was she even awake?
Rarity shook the thought out of her head. It was nothing. She was still getting worked up by a dumb dream and a silly little blackout. It was probably Opal getting into something. All she had to do was call out to her and the cat would come back to her bed, the tapping would stop, and Rarity could finally get some proper sleep.
Yes, I just need to call her. Rarity found it difficult to get the words out though. Part of her wanted to go back into her room and not make a sound. But that was the foalish side of her. Her rational side wanted to prove to herself that there was nothing to be afraid of. The rational side won out. "O-Opal?" She called out, her voice quiet. The tapping continued. "Opal, darling, stop messing with... whatever it is you're messing with and come back to bed."
The tapping stopped.
Rarity held her breath. There was only the tapping of the rain on the roof now. Nothing from inside. For a minute that felt much longer, Rarity waited to see her fluffy white cat scampering out of the dark towards her, but no such thing was occurring. Just the rain.
"Opal?" Rarity whispered.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
There it was again. It was no mistake, no trick of the mind. Rarity stood perfectly still, looking down the hall; looking into the black abyss just outside her light.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It was getting louder. No, not louder. Closer. Rarity's whole body shook. Wake up. Wake up.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It was on the stairs. She could practically feel it tap on each step as it moved up. Clear and sharp. Where was Opal? Why were the lights out? Why was the door open? Please wake up. Please wake up.
Two bright eyes looked at Rarity from the shadows.
Rarity slammed the door shut. No lock. Need to barricade it with something. Rarity's thoughts were jumbled as she backed away from the door, not daring to take her eyes off of it.
A tap on her door. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Whatever you are, stay away from me!" Rarity screamed. "Just go away!"
The tapping stopped. A roar of thunder as the rain picked up outside. Rarity stood in the middle of her room, shaking and breathing hard.
The doorknob slowly turned, and Rarity watched as the door slowly swung open with creak.
Rarity's light was dim; too dim to light anything from the hallway. Yet it still reflected those two eyes staring at her. For a moment, the two simply stared at each other. Then it came closer. It was large and furry, seeming to be hunched over. The light reflected a large mouth of fangs; almost seeming to smile at her. Then she noticed the claws. One far longer than the others was on the creature's right paw extended and tapped on the floor.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Buck this. Rarity turned around and dashed straight into the window, not daring to waste any time opening it. Glass shattered as the unicorn threw herself out the window. She landed roughly on the muddy ground. She winced as she rolled onto her back and gazed up at the stormy night sky, now brightened by the moonlight, only to blink away the drops of rain hitting her face. Knowing she wasn't out of danger yet, she sucked in a deep breath and forced herself onto her hooves. She wasn't hurt too badly, thanks to the soften ground, but it still took a moment for her to get her legs to work. Once they did, she started to run.
Trying to find her bearings, she ended up at the front of the boutique. That's when she heard a noise that made her stop.
Meow.
Rarity turned her head towards the front door. Had she heard correctly? She had to be sure. "Opal?! Is that you, darling?!" She asked as she pressed her ear against the door.
Meow.
Rarity knew her cat's meow. Opal was alive and inside with that monster. Rarity quickly tugged at the door handle. Locked. "Don't worry, baby; I'm coming!" Remembering the key she hid under the fake rock at the side of the door, she quickly got it and unlocked the door, trying to maintain control of her magic. She burst through the door, the moonlight illuminating the doorway into the boutique. "Opal?!" Rarity called out. She scanned the ground of the dark room for the white, fluffy cat. Then the tapping returned.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Rarity slowly looked ahead to find those eyes looking back at her. No longer reflecting the light of her horn, she could see how large and gleaming they truly were. Yellow and cat-like. It came closer, not making a sound aside from the tapping of that enlarged claw. In the moonlight, she could see the white of it's fur.
The monstrosity was like a large, hunched, bipedal cat. A cat with white, fluffy fur. And yellow eyes. Yellow eyes that looked strangely familiar.
Opal meowed.
Rarity stared at her cat... and then she laughed. And laughed. And laughed.
