Pond

Wind howled over the doorway and through the halls upstairs, even down into the basement. Shutters swung on their hinges and rattled against the siding.

“Ah, this sucks.” Cat Tails rolled onto her back and stared up at the little webs on the unfinished ceiling.

“Hmm?” Petal stood over her and craned her neck to look her in the eye.

Cat Tails pushed herself up to her hooves. “This whole thing just sucks.”

“What, the storm?” The racket upstairs started again. Petal lowered her head. “I forgot the door, didn’t I?”

Cat Tails waved a hoof at her. “No, not– no, it’s just...” She let her arm drop. “Well, yeah.”

“At least we found the bed?” Petal pointed and gave an optimistic smile. She tilted her head and pondered. Her eyes narrowed. “We should probably go close that.”

Cat Tails made a face at the old feather mattress. She looked up at Petal. “You mean I should go close it.”

Petal crossed her hooves on the cold cement.

Cat Tails rolled her eyes. “Don’t gimme that.” She sniffed a little.

“It’s okay.” Petal sighed. “I get it.”

“Get what?” She sounded irritated. “I just don’t need help closing a door.”

“Why are you all frustrated, now?” Petal furrowed her brow and swallowed hard.

“What? I dunno.” Cat Tails’ voice trailed off as she disappeared around the corner and wandered around to the other half of the basement. “How am I gonna explain that?”

“It’s not that hard."

A drawer slid open in the other room.

“Wasn’t there supposed to be food in here?” Cat Tails called. “Or… Uh, somewhere?”

The cabinets popped open, one after another. Some paper rustled.

“You know,” Petal started. “I don’t wanna start anything, but–.”

“Then let’s not.” Cat Tails slid the drawer shut and slammed the cabinets. “Come on, we’re home alone on a cozy little storm night.”

Petal frowned and chewed her cheek.

“I can literally hear you brooding.” Cat Tails gave an adrenaline filled laugh. “Seriously, can we not do this, Nowie?”

Petal let out a breath. She blinked twice. “Sure.”

“Alright, cool.” Cat Tails poked her head around the corner with an eyebrow raised and a spoon stuck on her nose. “Peanutbutter?”

Petal coughed out a weak laugh and forced a grin. She shook her head. “Hey, do you remember that time…”

Petal squeaked as she stretched her neck. Cat Tails’ chest pressed into her back, then fell away together with her sweet, warm breath. She rolled her shoulders back delicately, then sighed and smiled.

The breeze from the broken window tickled her ears. She watched the wind kick some stray leaves across the pond in the back yard. The wet towels that Cat Tails’ mom had forgotten waved from the clothes line.

A face looked in at her on the other side. Fraying strips of bark peeled from beneath its eye.

An odd chill poured in.

She shuddered. Her eyes wanted to water, and a tingling itch built in her nose. Shadows clawed at the walls in the corners of the room

The whole room felt cold and lonely.

It made eye contact. Slit pupils slowly dilated at the center of yellow marble.

Cat Tails mumbled in her sleep.

Petal snapped stiff and shrunk back into Cat Tails’ wings. She breathed out and pulled the covers in tight.

Petal blinked as the sunlight filtering through the torn window screen made its way in. She watched for a while, then rolled into the sheets. “Mama?” she called into her pillow.

There was a set of hoofsteps. Cat Tails’ mom poked her head through the doorway. “Sleep okay?” she asked, still folding laundry.

“Mmmhmm,” she lied, nodding into the pillow. She patted the empty space on the bed. “Mmm?” she moaned.

“She went out,” Cat Tails’ mom answered. “You could catch her if you want.” She tossed a folded pillow case at her head.

“Mm-m.”

“Suit yourself.” She turned to open the bathroom door and set down the stack of laundry next to the closet. “I just cleaned the shower.”

Petal winced, pushing herself up on stiff muscles to see across the hall, eyes still half closed. “Mama?”

“What is it, baby?”

“I wish she’d stay with me,” Petal said, throwing off the covers. “I would have gone with her.” She made a pouty face and pulled the sheets back up around her nose.

“Can I tell you something?” Cat Tails’ mom put her weight on the mattress and ran her hoof through petal’s hair.

Petal shook her head.

Her mom giggled. “Fair enough,” she said, roughing up Petal’s mane.

Petal huffed.

“How about that shower?” Cat Tails’ mom had a sparkle in her eye.

Petal just blinked a couple times, narrowing her eyes.

“Fresh towels,” Cat Tails' mom had a bit of song in her voice.

Steam poured into the kitchen over the bathroom door as Petal nudged it open. She was still drying her hair when the screen door to the porch swung open. The inner door handle rattled and a knock came from outside.

Cat Tails’ father dusted off his pipe as Petal turned the handle and pulled.

She threw the towel over the door and made her best effort to fix up her scraggly mane. “Morning, Doctor,” she said, nodding and keeping her head low.

“I always forget this thing locks itself from the inside,” he mumbled as he fretted his lips and fiddled with the handle. “Oh, were you going out?” He looked up and met her eye.

She hadn’t planned on it. “Mmm, yes.”

“Well, then I won’t shut you in.” He motioned at the door with his wing, bowing his head. “By the by, I won’t be home ‘til supper.”

Petal nodded, then pushed open the screen door.

Both doors swung shut behind her.

Petal sighed, shaking her head, and stepped out onto the enclosed deck overlooking the pond. She stared down past her hooves, through the cracks of the white planks into the green algae coating the water below. She walked to the edge of the deck and hung her arms over the fence.

The ducks paddled in a line, leaving a single wake in the stagnant pond.

The old owl statue held a rain-meter under his right wing. He pressed his other wing to his forehead, ruffling the feathers on his face, and staring in amazement at the little tube. Mr. Owl was impressed by a meager bit of dew clinging to the sides.

She rolled back her shoulders, curled up on the wood, and folded her hooves under her chin.

Petal’s ears perked to the clunking of hooves on the deck.

“Nowie, what’re you nappin’ on the porch for?” Cat Tails sniffed at the air. “Huh, you smell nice.”

“Doctor–” Petal started.

“Agh, again? Jeez, Dad.” Cat Tails shook her head and ruffled Petal’s mane. “What’s he think, you’re gonna jump and swim?”

“Next time, maybe.” Petal blinked.

Cat Tails gave a half smile, motioning over her shoulder. “My mom’s making french toast.”

Petal rose to her hooves and turned to nuzzle Cat Tails’ neck. “I was thinking about the ducks.”

“Yeah?” Cat Tails brushed flakes of paint from Petal’s fur.

Petal nodded, chewing on her lip. “Mmhmm, I wanna make ‘em little hats.”

“Like, newspaper hats?” Cat Tails pulled the screen door open. “And, like, eye patches?”

“They could be tiny pirate ducks.” Petal smiled up at Cat Tails, flipping her mane out of her eyes.

Cat Tails raised an eyebrow.

Cat Tails’ mom looked up from the stove as they wiped their hooves on the mat. “Petal, I’m sorry, I thought you went out after Cat Tails.” She reached for an egg, then cracked over the edge of a bowl.

“Mm-m.” Petal shook her head. “Mama, do you wanna make paper hats with us?”

“Paper hats?”

Cat Tails pulled open a drawer by the sink and eyed a few butter knives real close. “Mom, why didn't you, like, let her in when you saw her locked out?” She scraped something off of one of the knives with her hoof, then slid the silverware onto the table and pulled out some chairs.

Petal made a face at the wooden legs dragging over tile. “For the ducks.”

“She looked so cozy out in the sun.” Cat Tails’ mom took a long whiff as she cut a slice of bread and soaked it in the egg. “I’m sorry, honey, what about the ducks?” She wrapped a checkered dish cloth around the half loaf of bread and tied bunny ears at the top.

“Nothing, Mama.” Petal sat and pulled the newspaper closer, then laid it flat. She placed one hoof on each section and dragged them apart, pushing one in Cat Tails’ direction and smiling.

Cat Tails turned to her mother and gave a quick sniff. “You could have at least left it open,” she said, dog earing the page and running her hoof over it.

Her mom smiled and sighed, then trotted over and gave Cat Tails a kiss on the head.

Petal bit her lip, holding back a grin as she watched Cat Tails’ face.

“What’re you lookin’ at? Mom, go get Nowie, she’s jealous.” Cat Tails leaned away shielded her face with her wings.

“I love you, too.” Her mom blew a kiss off her wing. “And don’t poke fun at Petal,” she scolded, flicking Cat Tails on the nose with the tips of her feathers.

Cat Tails jerked her head back. “She likes it,” she said, fixing her bangs.

“Mmm.” Her mom chewed her cheek and glanced over at Petal delicately creasing the squares of paper.

“Here.” Cat Tails made a few more folds, then leaned over and pulled her first hat on over Petal’s eyes. “This one’s too big for ducks.”

Her mom covered her mouth and choked a laugh.

Petal scrunched her face, trying to push up the edges.

Cat Tails rolled her eyes, then tipped it back. “Too big for you too, huh?”

“Nope,” she said, flashing her teeth. “Its perfect.”

“Do you remember all that? Or any of it?” Petal rolled on the damp, dusty mattress to face her friend.

“How am I gonna remember you seeing monsters outside your window?” Cat Tails shrugged.

Petal gave a slanted frown. “‘Cause I told you... It hasn't really been that long.”

Cat Tails sighed. “Dude, you tell me about your hallucinations all the time, just, like–” She stopped, looking up at the ceiling for the right words to be written in the exposed rafters. “I don’t remember that one specific time. Oh, and my mom making french toast? All that stuff is super average, you know?”

“I guess.”

“I remember the important stuff.”

“Like...?”

Cat Tails groaned. “I don’t know. Your birthday?”

“My name?” Petal interrupted.

“Nowie,” she teased.

Petal looked less than thrilled.

Cat Tails rolled her eyes and gave Petal a playful shove. “Petal Wrought! Psh, who do you think I am!”

“Nowie isn't funny anymore. You’re the only one that still calls me that.”

“Petal just sounds so stiff.” She pushed herself up from the mattress. “No Wings is just easier.”

“Alright but–” Petal stood on the dirt specked pillow.

“What’s the problem, then?”

Petal turned her head away. “‘Cause that’s what bullies call me.”

“Then own it.” Cat Tails stomped her hoof. “If it looks like you like it, they stop.”

She furrowed her brow. “But–”

Cat Tails raised her voice. “No, Petal; I’m not a bully, okay?” She turned away. “You act like I don’t care sometimes.”

“I–”

“Stop!” Cat Tails spun to face her. “You act like you’re the only one who has trouble in this relationship. Do you think it’s cool for me when my dad comes home and sees me sleeping next to you? With somepony your age? Your gender? Your race?” She turned her head aside.”Yeah, sometimes I get up before he comes in, but you don’t see him shake his head when I touch you. You miss the disgust, or disappointment, or whatever he feels while his daughter ruins any chance at seeing one more generation.” She swallowed back the lump in her throat.

Petal opened her mouth. “Is that–”

“Please!”

“I just–”

“Don’t make this about you!”

Petal’s eyes started to water.

Cat Tail’s sighed, dropping the tension in her shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

Petal blinked back tears.

“I didn't mean to yell.” Cat Tails turned to the trickle of rain snaking its way down the crevices in the rotting stairs. “I’m gonna go up for a second.”

Her steps echoed.

Petal reached out. Her ears rang.

The air felt drier. It stung her eyes.

Her nose started to itch.

The light died. No buzz. No flicker.

Cat Tails disappeared in the dark.

A long breath rolled past her.

She felt her fur prickle all over her body.

A metallic scent overtook the musty cellar smell.

Carefully, she raised one leg. Her hoof found the bottom stair and a wet spot. The little stream was warm.

She drew back when her second hoof found the cold flow of rainwater. She sniffed and swallowed.

A lighthouse all the way in the swamp pierced through the storm. Every fifteen seconds, the stairwell got a flash of light. Every fifteen seconds, Petal found footing on the next step.

Dark water dripped opposite the rain. Viscous blood seeped into the cracks and ran a twisted path down to the basement floor.

Petal held her breath and silently mouthed a prayer. She sniffed again and again. Her nose wouldn't stop running.

The two drips spattered her face as she neared the top of the staircase.

Sharp sirens bled through the roar of rain as the lighthouse illuminated the property.

Water in the grout of the kitchen tile carried a sick, sanguine swirl. A pool of ruddy water rippled like a tiny pond at the top of the stairs.

Petal squeezed her eyes shut as she stepped through it. She crept around the corner of the doorway and peeked at the front entrance, waiting for another pass of light.

She felt a migraine take seed in her eye.

The center of the carpet down the entire hallway was streaked a sweet ruby. The door was still open. Wind pushed it hard into the wall, the doorstop spring fighting back with what it could.

Her steps squished into the moist shag. Droplets of rain collected on her coat as she slid along the wallpaper.

The beam of light came again.

A silhouette lurched in the distance. Strips of flesh dangled from its face, flapping in the wind as they dripped with rain.

Something dragged behind it.

It was still in the yard.

Its head turned toward the house.

It stood on its hind legs and let its grip go.

Whatever it was dragging slumped to the ground.

Yellow slit eyes flashed before the light faded.

Petal shielded her face from a gust and slinked back. She pressed hard into the wall. Her whole body quivered.

Piercing light swept past her.

The silhouette was gone.

Petal moved out the front door.

Rainwater washed up to her knees.

A shadow stretched over her own as the light came from behind.

Drowning grass tickled her fetlocks. She looked down through the glassy water at the loosely swaying blades.

Her headache spiked.

Sludge gurgled in the thing’s throat as it whispered. “I find...” It waited.

Petal couldn't bring herself to turn. She heard it swallow whatever was stuck in its throat, interrupting its heavy breathing for a second.

“Two pony...” A pointed claw tipped up her chin.

Blood pooled under her tongue as the claw pierced the underside of her jaw and wormed it’s way over her teeth. “I supposed to take…”

Petal gave a squeak as her neck stiffened. Her vision went dark. She felt her balance fade, tumbling gracelessly to the flooded lawn as the claw pulled away.

"One pony..."

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