Nightmare Boutique

I opened my eyes to find myself in my room back home.
Warmth was all around me… A quick glance about revealed nothing, so I rolled over…
There was a mare beneath the covers with me…
I pulled back the comforter for a peak…
Purple… She had a straight, purple mane… Her head was curled downward, her chin resting against her chest…
I lifted the mare’s chin to look at her, only to recoil. It was a doll. A life sized doll of Rarity… It was made of stitched hide, but something had torn the thing’s chest open… A popped seam, it appeared. The eyes were a pair of obsidian buttons…
I had to get the thing away from me, so I threw it across the room.
Text suddenly flashed across my vision, accompanied by a horrible shriek of static.
Hey…
It hurt…!
I gripped my head to keep it from pounding.
What’s the matter, Sebastian…?
The doll began to stand…
I thought we were friends…
I tried to speak, but no words came. The static was getting louder…
Why did you throw me…?
Louder still…
You look scared…
Within the split seam sat a heart… It was… Beating…
It’s alright…
Rarity was upon me once again, pinning me to my sheets. Her face was mere millimeters from my own…

“Giggle at the Ghostey, right?”

The morning came and went… The afternoon, too… It wasn’t until early evening before Jinx showed up to take me home.

“How was your slumber?” she asked casually. Just like old times…

“I was attacked by a Rarity doll with a beating heart.” I replied.
Jinx chuckled.

“Ya scared, brah?”
I returned the good natured chuckle and nodded.

“So, you knew that pony?” she asked after a while, referring to Rarity.

“No,” I said abruptly. “That wasn’t Rarity… It was something else… Something with her face…”
A thick silence fell over the cart then and remained for a solid ten minutes. Just as we pulled up to my house at the edge of Everfree, Jinx spoke again.

“I’m sorry, Seb…”
A party of four greeted me in my kitchen. They were all glad to see me again. And I was glad to see them… Beyond glad, actually… And I wanted a favor…

“Um, guys?” I called everypony’s attention. “I have a favor to ask. It’s gonna sound really, really, really outrageously juvenile and weird, though…”
Twilight was the first to reply.

“What is it?”
My gaze lingered upon each face for a long while before I was able to get up the nerve to actually ask.

“Would you all stay with me tonight? Just for tonight…?”
A long silence filled the room… Each of the five looked at each other for a few moments before nodding. Twilight spoke up once again.

“Sure.”

“Promise me something…?” I continued.
They all nodded again.

“Be here when I wake up…”
Another group hug ensued, my tiny frame small frame smothered in the warmth of friendship.

“We will be…” They all said in unison.
I was lucky… I had them… With them, nothing could hurt me… And I wouldn’t let anything hurt them… They were mine… I was theirs… Our bonds would carry me, I could feel it… Through the night and the rest of my life… This was love… It had to be…