Rarity limped through the dark streets. She pulled herself up to the nearest house belonging to the flower sisters and knocked on the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
She shivered and gasped in place, holding her right forehoof gingerly off the ground. Blood trickled down, marring her pristine fur with garish red in the darkness. Her horn light glowed fitfully, the pain of the break keeping her from holding it as steady as she would like. She hissed breaths through her teeth as another bout of throbbing pain filled her, and waited for somepony to answer the door.
“Hello? Lily? Daisy? Please help!”
“Is that Rarity? Rarity!” A head stuck out from a window up above. It was Roseluck. She stared down at Rarity, blinking sleepily. “Oh! You’ve been hurt!”
Another head stuck out from the window, followed by the last of the trio. All three looked down at her.
“She’s hurt?”
“Oh! We’ll be right down!”
All three disappeared and there was the clattering of hooves as they rushed downstairs. Rarity sighed in relief and waited for them to open the door.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
Rarity heard them rush up to the door, then a loud, echoing knock struck the door, from the inside.
Rarity felt a chill.
“H-hello? Daisy? Roseluck?”
The door cracked open, but Rarity shuffled away from it. An eye appeared in the crack, large, dark, and filled with starlight. A mouth appeared underneath it, metallic teeth glittering.
“It’s not so easy, leaving home. Not when I want you all alone,” Mr. Mean said with a chuckle. “Would you like to see them?” He swung the door wide, the inside of the flower sister’s house pitch black, with a bit of light in the darkness showing a picture of the doorway with the flower sisters in it. They were clustered in the doorway, looking confused.
“Where did she go?” Roseluck asked.
“She was right here, right?” Daisy said.
“She was hurt, too!” Lily added.
“Do you think she was being attacked?” Roseluck said.
“Probably. Her hoof was bleeding,” said Daisy.
“Not just bleeding; broken. Did you see the angle it was at?”
Rarity sobbed and looked around. The city was darker now, with only streetlamps providing any light in long, staggered strings in every direction. She felt cold fear seeping into her as she stared, looking for a way out but finding nothing.
“Why are you doing this?” She begged.
“I was called to play the game. By fillies, foals, and ponies tame. You have to play, that’s why I came. All so that you can learn my name.”
“I know your name!” Rarity sobbed as she staggered away from the house. “It’s Mr. Mean!”
His teeth grew in size, lengthening in his mouth which grew to accommodate them. The pinpricks of light in his eyes turned red and his hooves sparked on the cobbles as he jumped out of the doorway. “That’s right! That’s right! You know my name! But can your friends all say the same?”
Rarity shrieked and hobbled away as fast as she could. She raced to the nearest streetlamp and risked a glance back. Mr. Mean was advancing on her, hooves clanking loudly against the cobbles. His teeth gnashed and shrieked as metal scraped against metal. He followed her, and she ran from one lamp to the next. He skirted around the outside of the pool of light, his foul breath on her flank until she entered the next light. She covered her head with her one good hoof and ducked, waiting, but he never struck her.
She waited, hearing him walking nearby, hearing the horrible noises he made circling around her. She risked a glance, and saw him, sitting on the edge of the light, looming large with his dark, fluttering jacket and wild mane, but he didn’t get any closer.
“What are you waiting for?” she yelled fearfully. “Just get it over with, you horrid monster!”
He walked in a slow circle, not answering at once. His eyes went back to black with cold stars, but his teeth stayed long and terrible.
“Those aren’t the rules, that’s not how we play. I’ve got to follow them, must obey.”
Rarity looked around her at the pool of light. She was safe, even though she didn’t feel like it. If he couldn’t get in when she stayed here, then all she had to do was run to the next one, then to the next, and to the next, all while Mr. Mean followed her, harrying her hoofsteps on her quest to get… where? Where did this lead? I wasn’t natural, so would she just run forever, not getting anywhere?
Rarity heard a familiar voice then, over the scraping of Mr. Mean’s teeth. She stood and looked down the line of lights, and saw Pinkie Pie running past. There was a flash of pink, then a flash of yellow. Was that Fluttershy?
“Who else is in here? What are you doing?” Rarity demanded. Mr. Mean just stood at the edge of the light, staring with those unnatural eyes.
Rarity waited, holding her place in the center of the pool of light. She kept an eye on the distant lamps, waiting to see if she could spot another flash of color. After maybe another minute, the lamp above her began to flicker. The pool of safe yellow faded, becoming dimmer with every passing second. It flickered out entirely and Mr. Mean surged forward. She flinched, but heard him hiss as the light came back, forcing him out. Still he stared, though, and still he grinned. Time was in his favor.
“If you created this, why are you giving me light to hide in?” Rarity asked as she edged toward the next light. Mr. Mean followed along on the outside of the light, but never moved to block her path. He waited, smiling, for her to dive out of it on her own.
“To serve oneself the sweetest treats, one must prepare the sweetest meats. The hunt will simmer, beat to beat, until you come, my teeth to greet.”
“You’re… hunting me? Well, I never! What if I just sit here?”
“I’ll still eat it.”
Rarity bit her lip and looked over at the next light. It wasn’t too far away, but with her broken leg, Rarity would certainly be easy prey. He could catch her, easily if he wanted. So why shouldn’t she just stay put? He wouldn’t get the best meal he wanted, and she’d get that one, final dig against him and his awful attitude. It would be easy.
Rarity set her lip, raised her nose in the air, and stayed put, waiting while the light flickered. Mr. Mean stalked around the outside edge of the light, moving closer as the light dimmed and sputtered.
When she light finally went out, Rarity closed her eyes. She could hear the clack of his hooves in the darkness and the horrid grinding of his teeth against each other. She closed her eyes and waited for the life-ending bite, but nothing came. She heard him, scraping along in the dark. But there was nothing.
She felt the slightest bit of exhultation at having outsmarted the monster, but the moment that thought crossed her mind and her heart jumped at the thought that he might not eat her because of it, she heard him surge forward and felt a stinging pain on her flank. Razor-sharp nails bit into her flesh and tore a chunk out of her hind leg. She screamed in pain and her eyes flew open. She hobbled, slowly, awkwardly, and painfully toward the light. Mr. Mean’s movements followed her, unseen but ever-present.
“Rarity?” Pinkie’s voice said from somewhere nearby. “Fluttershy, it’s Rarity! Rarity, are you okay?”
“Ohhh, no! She’s not okay! She’s really not okay! She’s b-bleeding!” Fluttershy’s voice added. Rarity saw them both rush into the light nearby, seemingly coming out of the darkness. Rarity panted, panicking as she rushed for the light.
“Come on, Rarity! You can do it! You can make it!” They both called in unison.
Then come help me! Rarity thought to herself. She didn’t say it out loud, and briefly the possibility that they were fake crossed her mind, but it didn’t matter either way. She would die, or she would be safe. Safe to suffer in the light for Celestia knows how much longer. But no matter what, she wasn’t going to wait here to die in agony. She’d play his stupid game just that much longer, in the hopes that she would get to rub his face in her escape.
Rarity’s head broke into the light and she cried out in happiness. Her friends grabbed her good hoof just as she felt a stinging pain stab into her flank! Mr. Mean’s hooked horseshoe was stabbed into her flesh and was pulling her back out of the light.
Rarity grimaced as the wicked hooks pulled at her. She felt her skin tear while Pinkie and Fluttershy yanked on her hoof, and screamed in pain as a chunk of her skin ripped off, then she slid into the light. With every heartbeat she felt pain in her flank and her legs, but she was alive.
For now.
“What… are you two doing here?” Rarity gasped out.
“We could ask you the same thing. In fact, we will: What are you doing here?” Pinkie Pie said.
Fluttershy was already looking at Rarity’s wounds. She took cloth from some torn-up bedsheet Pinkie had with her for some reason and ripped it into strips, then began binding the wound on Rarity’s hind leg and flank.
“I… was going for help after being chased out my window by Mr. Mean. I assume you saw him too?”
Pinkie nodded. “He’s a big meanie. I was trying to get help from Twilight when I ended up here. I don’t think I ever left the house.”
“Well, he is named ‘Mr. Mean’,” Fluttershy said. She moved up to Rarity’s forehoof and gently stroked her mane. “This is gonna hurt, okay? Just relax and take some deep breaths.”
“I’m not one of your animals, Fluttershy. I know. Just— ah!” she gasped as Fluttershy set the bone in her leg, then began wrapping the remainder of the sheet tightly around it. “Thank you both. Let’s go find the others, or some way out of here, shall we?”