Part 4 – Bedtime
Baby Rainribbon awoke in darkness to the sound of hooves. The moon shone through the small window and she found Pearly already awake, standing in the middle of the room.
“What’s that noise?” she asked, already out of bed.
“What I warned you about,” Pearly answered. Her horn glowed in the darkness and lit up the room.
“Is the door unlocked?”
Pearly nodded.
Baby Rainribbon steeled herself and approached the door. She reached out, opened it and poked her head through the gap. The corridor outside was in darkness, this seeming even more oppressive than in the room they were sharing. Thankfully, Pearly approached and stepped out of the room first, her horn lighting the way. She followed, close at Pearly’s heels.
The sound of hooves had stopped and another noise began. A rhythmic thump echoed down the corridor, though it did not sound as if it were a pony making the sound. Baby Rainribbon stayed close to Pearly, the other unicorn appearing to be unfazed by the noise or the darkness. She wished she had Pearly’s bravery.
They continued down to the end of the corridor, where silence then reigned. Pearly stood motionless, her horn still lit up. She turned to go back to their room when the thumping began again. She nodded to her then followed the noise again.
Everyone seemed to be asleep. There was silence in the rest of the rooms, beyond the odd sound of snoring here and there. They followed the sound of the thumping until it stopped once more.
Pearly sighed. “It feels like it’s leading us on a wild goose chase,” she complained.
Baby Rainribbon gasped when she heard crying, a fleeting shadow sprinting past the end of the corridor. She glanced to Pearly and saw the unicorn wore a look of anger on her face.
“If this is the same thing that tormented my cousin,” she muttered, marching down to where the sound seemed to be coming from. Baby Rainribbon followed suit, not wanting to be left behind.
“You think it’s the same thing as the other pony?” she asked, now having caught up with Pearly.
“I’d bet on it. The ponies here look too similar to Applejack,” Pearly replied.
“But if it took Princess Pony magic, then what do we do?”
“We find out for definite, get your friend out of here and let others know.”
This at least seemed to be a sensible enough plan for Baby Rainribbon to accept, and she gave a nod, continuing to follow Pearly.
In front of them, another dark corridor lay, though at the end of it, a figure stood. It raised its head and walked away. This action seemed to incense Pearly and she charged down the corridor after it. Baby Rainribbon swallowed, then followed the glow from Pearly’s horn. She rounded the corner, just stopping herself from crashing into Pearly when the other unicorn had stopped.
There were two ways to go. Silence reigned, the figure nowhere to be seen. Softly, a sobbing emanated. Unconsciously, Baby Rainribbon moved closer to Pearly. She reached out and rubbed Baby Rainribbon’s hoof.
Footsteps resounded hurrying towards them and the figure appeared once more. It sprinted towards them, Pearly moving in front of Baby Rainribbon when she cried out. The figure stopped in front of them.
It was like looking into a void. Blackness itself, no light penetrated, and it opened its eyes, no pupils, only the white of an eye.
Baby Rainribbon felt tightness in her chest, her breathing became rapid. She grabbed Pearly’s hoof and dragged the other unicorn away. The creature followed, its heavy hoof-beats echoing around and bounced off of the walls. Pearly let go of her hoof, ran in front and made her entire body glow, leading them down the corridor back to their room. She ran inside, waited long enough for Baby Rainribbon, then slammed the door shut.
She grabbed a chair and positioned it under the door handle. The creature moved slowly, its steps walking past their door. It stopped, turned around and came back. There it paced, walking back and forth, back and forth, with a maddening methodical air to it.
The thumping from earlier began once more.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
“Heavy hooves,” Baby Rainribbon said, “Is this going to go on all night?”
Pearly didn’t answer. Instead, she grabbed the blankets from the bed, wrapped them around Baby Rainribbon, and sat with her on the floor.
~
When Baby Rainribbon awoke, Pearly had dozed off while her head rested on Baby Rainribbon’s shoulder. At once, she noticed the silence. No thumping, no hooves outside the door, nothing.
She moved carefully from the blanket, letting Pearly rest her head on the blanket. She stood up, moved the chair out of the way and opened the door.
The corridor was empty, though the sounds of ponies awakening echoed. She heard doors open and close, ponies going to and fro from rooms, then leaving entirely. There was movement behind her, and she heard Pearly groan.
“Is it gone?” she asked, getting up from the floor and folded the blankets.
Baby Rainribbon nodded. “Everything seems to be back to normal.”
Pearly snorted. “We’ll see when night-time hits.”
Baby Rainribbon said nothing. She was not looking forward to that evening, for fear the figure would return.
My Little Obsession 