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// 3 : But Yet No Being, Pony or Other 
// Story: SIX walk IN 
// by KitsuneRisu 
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3 -But Yet No Being, Pony or Other





The first time she opened the door was when she heard the door across the balcony slamming shut, and a monstrous head with a white face poking out of its mouth peered out of the frame.

"Flutters– oh…" Rarity said, to herself, watching the Pegasus fly off the edge. She hadn't heard her, hadn't seen her, and perhaps it was time to duck back into the room for a second try.

A second try to get it off.

For the pretty little mare was stuck.

The suit refused to be removed.

She had made an earlier attempt, pulling on the zipper with all of her might and all of her magic, but it held fast.

Rarity was trapped in a skin of her creation.

From the speed that Fluttershy was flying, there was no way that Rarity could have caught up in time. She could barely walk in the thing, let alone take the stairs in oversized feet and draping layers.

It felt like she was piling ten thick blankets over herself, and she slid around inside of it, the only traction she could get coming from the plastic claws that she had sewn into the costume.

It was a rush job, after all. With a bit of afterthought she should have made it more form fitting or given the paws some non-stick fabric, but, well, it was only going to be used for a short time. She'd certainly been in the thing far longer than she had expected.

And it now made her feel incredibly annoyed.

She glanced around the room that she was in, furnished by a couple of portable lanterns of her own. Her saddlebags, now empty, lay sinking into a far corner, and she found herself pacing around the large settee that displayed itself in the middle of the room.

It was a larger bedroom, but one unremarkable in character. It was obviously meant to cater to guests of the mansion – it had a full dresser, cushions, a large bed, nightstands, and everything was spaced out just so. With its clean and upholstered look, it was lacking that element of personality that let you know someone was living in it.

It was a template, something empty and formless to put an image upon, but only for a while.

Rarity almost felt like she could relate.

In proper lighting, the image that she bore was a bit of a joke. It was a patchwork of cloth, colours and faux hair, mostly white, but with bits of green and red and blue all sticking out in the shadowy areas. The use of colour was in fact masterful, as Rarity would have nothing less from a product that she made, with the darker colours filling in the shadows and creating contours… but only in the dark.

Right now, it looked like a vaudevillian nightmare.

The head was a globe of white, with two yellow topaz gems tied on and bits of string where the eyes should go. Random patches of fur were glued on in slapdash patterns, and a slit down the middle, running from left to right, provided the hole through which Rarity now stuck her face through. The rest of the head hung down like the trunk of a mammoth from Rarity's chin, a flapping, sagging piece of skin that made the whole thing look like a deformed anteater.

It was a saggy rhinoceros of a costume, heavy on Rarity's shoulders and hot enough to make her sweat even in the cool air of the house.

She couldn’t help but be angry.

Well, fine.

This is just fantastic, isn't it?

It's not enough that I have to parade around in this horrific shame of a costume, but now I'm stuck.

And everypony's in a bad mood and have all gone off to do their own things, well.

If they thought she was going out there looking like this, they had another think coming. Rarity, upturned nose, decided there and then to stay, and when they had finished their childish games and decided to leave, they could come get her. In the meantime, she'd be trying to get out of this stupid costume.

She stared hard into the mirror above the dresser in the corner, looking at her mane matted over her forehead and all down her horn, looking at her face poking out of that skin, looking at her eyes that flashed red from the reflection of the light…

What was wrong with this suit, anyway? She turned, shuffling to the side awkwardly, trying to point her back toward the mirror in an angle that she could see. Just at the very edge, the zipper poked out, tauntingly, waving back and forth as if to challenge anyone to pull it down.

With another jolt of magic, Rarity tried again, exerting force upon the zip, yanking it with all her might, but still, it wouldn't move.

Her magic was not strong enough. Her powers had failed. Maybe Twilight would be able to help her…

No. Twilight was in a bad enough mood already. She didn't want to have to deal with it right now.

Besides, there were other ways to get out of a costume.

But, she really should leave, shouldn't she?

The strange thing was, every time she thought about going for help, something else would come into her mind and work on her pride, suggest the opposite, and tell her that she needn't bother. And she found herself listening to that voice, even when she knew that she shouldn't.

In the end, all she wanted to do was return to her own skin.

Rarity collapsed, with a huff of aggravation, on the settee, folds of flesh flopping over the side. She was extremely hot now, burning inside the cooker, and was finding it hard to breathe.

She closed her eyes for a while and sucked in the sweet, cool air of the room through her nostrils, hungrily drinking in oxygen to refresh her senses.

But she opened her eyes again at a sound.

It was hard to see in that thing. Peripheral vision was all but cut off, and it was like looking through a tunnel. The hole wasn't large enough for her entire head to push through, and she had to make do with swinging wildly in all directions, looking for the source of the noise.

It was a snort of sorts, the kind of noise that large animals make when they're huffing, wheezing, sneezing, or growling. A blast of air; in boredom, in anticipation.

A sound of impatience.

Rarity felt the hair on her skin prick up as she looked around.

It couldn't have been in her head, she heard it clearly.

But there was nothing there in the room with her.

She settled down again, slightly on edge, but not nesting as far as she did earlier.

Gently, slowly, her eyes began to shut once again.

And when her eyelids touched, they shot open as she stumbled off the lounger, cloth wadding up underneath her as she dragged herself out upon the sound of a wheezing in her ear.

It was definitely breathing. Something had breathed, audibly, directly beside her. It was loud enough to penetrate through the heavy fabric as if she were wearing nothing at all.

"W…who's there?" Rarity said, for no particular reason. It was strange that she asked that, she considered. It wasn't as if she was expecting an answer. She would be far happier if there wasn't one.

Her eyes scanned the room again, moving in a circle, rotating in spot. It was bright enough to see corner to corner with no problems whatsoever, and there certainly wasn't anywhere to hide, but there was nothing, yet again.

But there the oppressive noises began, more wheezing, more breathing, like an old stallion choking on water, it bubbled up from behind her and coughed out a guttural note.

Rarity swung around, tripping over herself, legs tangled in legs.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, eyes focusing on a figure on the opposite side of the room, a strange, lumpy figure with a bulbous head…

Her reflection.

Well now, that's all it was. Just her reflection.

Her heart decided to calm down now, as she took some deep breaths to settle her nerves. A gloved hoof came up to swaddle her face; she took comfort in the action.

Just… just a reflection.

She stared at the gems of the monster, yellow eyes glittering even more strongly than her own.

Her heart raced, beating upward, jumping through her body as an electric shock singed her skin and her brain. There was a sharp crashing noise that came from outside, somewhere downstairs, somewhere through the walls, and it made her jump.

Alright, this was just silly now.

Jumping at noises and funny sounds.

You're just uneasy. Just calm down, Rarity, and it'll be all alright. It'll be all okay. It'll be just… fine.

Maybe she should… take a look.

The concern overrode the nonsense clouding her brain, and perhaps, just perhaps, now would be a good time to leave, silly costume or no.

She plodded, as fast as she could drag herself, to the door, prising it open out of instinctual caution rather than flinging it open at a second's notice.

But what she saw was something she hadn't expected.

Darkness.

There had been a lantern outside lighting up the place not ten minutes ago, but now it was dark. The lantern was off, or gone, or broken, or spirited away. But whatever it was, it was now dark as night, and moving from the light of the room to the bleak of the hallways, Rarity had to squint to see.

She had to squint to see the gloomy figure that stood in front of her. A silhouette of pony form that blended into the shadows and stood at the very top of the stairs on her side. The door itself prevented the light from inside the room from casting itself upon the figure as it quickly picked up its head and stared at Rarity, before turning abruptly and making its way silently to the other end of the balcony.

"Apple…jack?" Rarity asked the darkness. "Twilight? Is that you?"

Another action born out of instinct drew Rarity back into the relative comfort of the room and shut the door behind her, which she leaned upon and stared, mouth half-open, eyes jumping randomly from furniture to furniture.

What was going on here? What happened?

Tonight was about noises. Noises that shouldn't be there; noises that shocked her and startled her.

And she was almost expecting it by this point, so she neither jumped nor flailed, but sat there still with a heart that clenched tightly when the third shocking noise suddenly echoed into the room.

Someone knocked.

Three times, gently, upon the door that Rarity was leaning against.

It was, once again, directly behind her, and imagination brought her instantly to think of ghouls, ghosts and demons.

But it was just a knock.

"Who's… who's there?" Rarity asked, a nervousness coating her usual sing-song tone. A grating sound etched into her voice from her raw, dry throat, and her peppered breathing was not helping in the slightest.

"It's me, Rarity. Fluttershy."

"Oh, thank goodness," Rarity cried out, throwing open the door this time, since there was safety on the other side. "Come in, quickly!"

"Is… is everything alright, Rarity?" Fluttershy asked, as she was pulled into the room, the door slamming shut.

"Fluttershy, is… where were you?" Rarity asked, barely registering Fluttershy's vapid look and dishevelled appearance. "Is everything okay?"

"I was downstairs. I was… helping Twilight," Fluttershy responded in monotone. "Rarity, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I've been… well, I've been hearing things." Rarity shuddered. "The… the sounds of wild beasts. And the shattering of glass."

"Oh, something… broke. Downstairs. It was what I was… helping Twilight with," Fluttershy said, an odd look crossing her face. Try as she might, she couldn't articulate the events that occurred. She remembered it as if watching it from a very far distance away through rain and fog. "I'm here to gather everypony to leave. I'm… helping."

Rarity turned away, a huge smile of relief crawling in.

"That… that is excellent news, dar… darling. I, for one, am done with this house. It is… creepy here. We should leave post haste, and it is good that you have come to fetch me, for I too require your help."

"You… you need my help as well?" Fluttershy asked, surprised that what Twilight had said was in fact, true.

"Yes. I… now, listen, you must keep this a secret from the other girls. I'm stuck in this horrid costume. You have to help me get out. No matter what it takes, alright?"

"Ye…yes, I'll help. I hope I can."

"Of course you can, Fluttershy. I believe in you. No matter what Twilight said earlier. Now come over here and help me out."

Fluttershy rushed over, to where Rarity was pointing to on her neck.

"I'd do this myself, of course," Rarity explained, a large fluffy claw motioning to the sleeve around her face, "but the zipper got stuck, if you can believe it! Anyway, help me out of this suit. I'm melting in this thing, dear!"

"Of… of course, Rarity," Fluttershy said, pushing on the head with her hooves.

Rarity's face struggled through the slit, not being able to make it past all the way. It was like trying to push a large balloon through a hoop. Her face stretched and squashed in strange ways as it fought against the headpiece, but would not pass.

"Um… Rarity, I think it's too small…"

"Yes, I know, Fluttershy. It is. Otherwise I wouldn't really need your help, would I? I have magic, after all," Rarity replied, a bit of that impatience returning. "Go on, just push a little harder, why don't you? Tear it if you must. I'll have no use for this costume after tonight."

"Um… alright…" Fluttershy mumbled, pressing toward the edge again, toward one of the corners of the slit. At least there was a bit of an edge there, a place where she could pull the cloth apart. With any luck it would tear easily. "I… I can't get a grip."

"Come on, Fluttershy, I'm dying in here!"

"Rarity, this… this feels strange."

"Oh, what is it?"

"I thought this was cloth," Fluttershy muttered further, stroking at the side of Rarity's face, trying to pry the costume open.

"It… is?" Rarity stated, that odd feeling from earlier once again creeping into her chest.

"But… it feels like leather. It's as thick as leather, too. I… I don't think I can tear it, at least not by myself. Don't you have a pair of scissors?"

"No, I left my tools at home, dear. Why would I carry them with me?"

"In case you got… stuck in the suit?"

"Please try harder, dear," Rarity said drearily. She hadn't the mood nor effort to handle nonsensical remarks at that time.

Fluttershy placed both hooves flat against the top of the costume, upon the pod-like protrusion on top of the headpiece, and pushed as hard as she could, even putting her wings into it a little.

"Ow!" Rarity squeaked, pulling back. "Not so hard!"

"But you told me…"

Rarity rubbed her forehead with the large costumed paw; she had felt the costume pulling on her skin, the sort of feeling you'd get if someone took a grab at your mane and jerked it back.

Pinpricks of discomfort crawled across her skull like ants.

She swallowed hard, feeling claustrophobic.

"I don't think it's coming out that way, Rarity," Fluttershy said in stark observation.

"It… it should not be that tight," Rarity said, staring at her companion. "It's… it's just cloth."

"It's very well made, though," Fluttershy commented. "I can barely see where the costume begins and where you end."

"Well… thank you, I suppose."

"Um… why don't you remove the shoes first?"

"Oh, it's all in one… in one piece, Fluttershy. The only entrance is in the back where the z… oh, of course! The zip, Fluttershy. Forget about the head. Just get the zip and we'll be out of here and on our way in no time."

"Couldn't you have unzipped yourself?" Fluttershy asked, full of questions, as she made her way around Rarity toward her back.

"I had tried, but the zipper… it seems to have caught on something. I simply can't see what from where I am. Could you take a look please?"

"Um…" Fluttershy murmured, as she drew her hooves over the folds of skin on Rarity's back, pushing aside swathes of flesh to look at the metal tag.

"Perhaps a thread or something…"

"Rarity, did you… did you sew this right?" Fluttershy asked.

"Of course I did, don't… don't be silly. Maybe it jumped a tooth…"

"No, I mean… well, I can't see anything, Rarity. There's nothing for it to go down…"

"What… what are you saying, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked, the last remnants of her smile fading from the confusion.

"Rarity, there's no zip."

"That's not funny, Fluttershy. Now… now just pull the zipper and…"

"Rarity, there's no zip… The zipper is there, the little thing… but there's no…. there's no zip. It's just sticking out of the cloth," Fluttershy stated, still crawling upon Rarity's back.

"Fluttershy?" Rarity said, a calamitous frown of worry on her mouth. "Pull the zipper."

"But there–"

"Pull the zipper!" Rarity demanded, her head pounding.

Spurred by the shout, Fluttershy grasped the little metal tag between her teeth, and yanked as hard as she could, backward and downward.

Rarity screamed.

She shrieked, she yelled, she wailed.

She collapsed onto the floor, breathing through the pain that shot down her back, holding onto the last remnants of self-control.

On her back the skin tore, a piece of fabric hanging onto the metal tag. It was wet, moist, it glistened black, lumps of wet thread hanging onto the flap that was ripped off from the pulling. From the tear in the cloth a black oil began to ooze up, bubbling and streaking down the side of the costume, staining the floor with ichor.

"Oh… oh my goodness… Rarity, are you alright?" Fluttershy gasped, flecks of black oil splattered across her face. She rushed to the front where Rarity was burying her face into the ground, hammering on the floor with a hoof to stop the throbbing on her back.

"W… what did you do?" Rarity yelled, stuttering and shuddering out of a teary face. "Wh… what hap… happened?"

"I… I pulled the zip!" Fluttershy shouted back, panic and fear again rising in her head.

"Why… why does it hurt? It hurts, Fluttershy, it hurts!"

"I don't know! The… the cloth tore, and there's some kind of black liquid pouring out! What is that, Rarity? What is that?"

Pushing herself up with one final breath, she clambered to her hooves, wincing every so often although the pain was starting to die down. Thick oil dripped, splashing around Rarity's legs.

"Rarity…" Fluttershy said, looking at her face.

"Wh…what?" Rarity croaked.

"What's happening to you…?"

Rarity turned. Shaking, but strangely solidly. No longer did she slide in the oversized legs. No longer did she have trouble keeping balance. Even the pain was not much of a distraction from what she saw in the mirror that lay on the far end of the room.

The slit in the head of the beast was gone. The fabric, as white as Rarity's own skin, was now transiting from her cheeks, her neck, her forehead, her face, directly into the bulbous head of the monster. A patch of purple mane stuck out – Rarity's own hair – but it looked no better than one of the tufts of fur she had sewn into the costume.

It looked like a malignant growth upon her head; a huge tumour that bulged out lopsidedly, throbbing and pulsating. It was like a chalk-white spider sac, stuffed full of crawling insects, things moving under the surface and liquids rushing back and forth within the skin.

The long drooping face of the creature swayed with Rarity's movements, bobbing up and down slightly in tempo with Rarity's breathing. She could see it contract and extend like an accordion, and every so often it would twitch.

For no reason but to affirm this fact, she lifted a hoof to her face, rubbing it down her own cheek to where the costume was meant to begin.

She almost didn't notice that she could feel it. Through the costume. Through the fabric. She could feel her own touch.

She could feel it as if the hand of the costume were her own.

She dropped her hoof, wincing again, as a sharp claw scratched her face.

A black ooze poured out, dripping down in rivulets, even from the skin that was supposed to be hers.

Rarity's head lowered, her mind overwhelmed with the thought of this vile magic.

"S…sa…"

She whispered, her voice joined by a voice that wasn't hers.

"Save me…. save me, Fluttershy. Please. Please help me. Save me," the two sets of words whimpered, her eyes remained stuck to a single spot on the floor.

"Rarity… what's going…. going on? Why do you sound like that?"

"Get me out… get me out of this costume," she begged, implored, the pool of oil gathering under her growing to a quantity of frightening amounts.

She breathed in hard and once again the sound of a guttural wheezing came from behind her. But no longer was she shocked. She now knew where the sounds were coming from.

"Fluttershy, please… save me…"

The words lingered in Fluttershy's head as she dashed outside again, down the stairs, and stopped in the darkness of the bottom floor. She had no idea what she was doing or where she was going.

All she knew was that she had to save Rarity.

Save her.

No matter what it took.

The words wrapped themselves in dense red fog, swirling in and out of her mind; the only clear image were the words; the only clear action was the path that lay before her.

Panic had almost completely tied Rarity up in its grip, as she reduced herself to a corner, crawling and scratching at the walls with her paws, as if she could dig the answers she sought out from the edges where the floor met the walls.

She didn't even look up when Fluttershy reappeared an eternal minute after she had left, wing wrapped around something shiny and colourful.

"Rarity!" Fluttershy shouted, rushing toward her friend in the corner, her wing unfolding to reveal an eye staring out of stained glass. "I… I can help! I can save you! Just… come here and trust me, trust me!"

"W…what?" Rarity asked, her head juddering to the left, sickly and lost.

And then Fluttershy began her work.

–––

Rarity lay in the corner, unmoving, a large scar of fibres running down the length of her back. Twisted knots of frayed thread separated from each other, and balls of yarn on string hung loosely from the opening  – balls like winter ornaments, various sizes and shapes, all hanging from the wound.

Thick pink ropes in a large coil exploded from Rarity's back some time ago, sliding out and landing on the floor, their ends hidden somewhere within the cavity.

And all of Rarity swam in a large, circular pool of oil, a thick black mucous that carried the offering on an obsidian platter.

Rarity lay in the corner, unmoving.

Fluttershy cried, once again, cried to herself and to her own conscience, weeping at her failure, weeping at how she once again failed to save a friend.

The shard of glass lay beside her, black oil running off its edge.

Her face scrunched up into a tortured visage of mental anguish.

She had failed.

Failed.

Failure.

Was she? Was she a failure?

She rocked back and forth, once again her mind opening to the fog.

But no.

No. She wasn't.

Why not?

Because you did well. Because you saved me.

Really?

"Really," Rarity answered.

Fluttershy beamed, facing the door. A grand smile returned to her wet face, a feeling of pride and accomplishment bringing warmth to her heart.

"You did well, darling!" Rarity said, further complimenting the proud little pony. "As I knew you would."

"I… I'm really not a failure, am I?"

"Oh, don't be silly, of course not. You saved Twilight, and now you saved me. I was in so much pain, darling, you have no idea. But you took the pain away. You took it away and you saved me."

"I did." Fluttershy nodded. "I did. Thank you, Rarity."

"No, thank you, dear Fluttershy. We knew we could count on you."

"Well… it's nice to have the support…"

"And we're behind you all the way, darling! Now, there's three more in the house, and I think they're in trouble too! You might want to pop on out. I think I hear one of our friends just outside."

Fluttershy nodded, grinning from ear to ear. She snatched the shard of glass up again, holding it tightly in a wing, secure in mother's arm. She didn't react to the glass scratching against her down, and even when small trickles of blood seeped and stained her feathers, she still smiled as she left.

"Oh!" Fluttershy said, as she pushed the door open.

On the ground in front of her lay another of her friends, just as Rarity had said. Surely, this must be whom she was referring to.

Rainbow Dash twitched, crawling up against the balcony. Her whole body was shaking, so much so that even though it was obscured by shadow, Fluttershy could see it clearly. The light from the wide open door cast down upon the other Pegasus as Fluttershy stepped out of the way, and Rainbow's full form was revealed.

Dash's eyes were wide open, dry and cracking, throbbing red veins travelling across the whites, and her pupils so enlarged that they pushed out the deep lilacs of her irises.

She was breathing in short bursts, her wings bent into unusual positions, as she pulled herself along the floor, away from the dark corridor. She crawled, yanking herself forward as if struggling to escape something. Even as she reached the balustrade itself, wooden bars of a cage that prevented her from dropping off the edge, she still tried to push through, as if it were part of the flat terrain behind her.

Fluttershy walked up to her friend, meekly, nodding down at the figure.

"Don't worry," she said, smiling gently. "I can save you."


End : 3