Fall Obsessions

by mechafone

Chapter 1

The evening air was chilly. Fall was in full swing, and while the days were warm and pleasant, the nights were much less kind. The frost would come soon, hardening the grass and the ground.

It was three months after the whole Nightmare Moon incident. Since then, the citizens of Ponyville had all been on edge at night. It was steadily getting better, but some early mornings, some ponies could be seen by their windows, waiting for the sun to come up. It always did, but there was always that tiny, lingering fear that the sun wouldn't rise.

It was one such night at the Carousel Boutique that Rarity found herself unable to sleep. The unnerving experience of everything she and her friends went through that long, long night still kept her up sometimes.

She sat at her second floor window, staring out at the empty streets. She didn't fear the night much anymore, not after what she'd been through, but something had been nagging at her lately. Something felt different in the air, like it was charged with palpable anxiety.

She was just about to close her window and turn in when she saw a shadowy figure moving past her shop. It was hunched over, like it was hunting. And it was big. From the shape and bulk, it looked like a...a Timberwolf!

Panic and fear ran through her bones. "Oh my, oh my, this is terrible, dreadful!"

She gasped and held a hoof to her lips as the shadow stopped and turned to face her. Bright, gleaming eyes stared at her, and Rarity felt her heart begin to beat faster and faster as she stared back. She felt frozen in place, unable to take her eyes off this frightening creature.

Suddenly, the creature darted from view around the corner, and out of Rarity's sight. "Oooh...I don't think so!" Shedding her fear, Rarity shot down the stairs and burst out of her store. She wasn't about to let some monster terrorize her town in the middle of the night!

Why, she was Rarity, the Element of Generosity! She had faced a Manticore and Nightmare Moon, and all on the same night. A silly little wooden wolf was not going to best her. She focused magic in her horn as she turned the corner where she had seen the beast disappear, preparing her strongest fire spell. Of course, this was normally used to light candles, but the Timberwolf needn't know that.

She ran with all her might, but she was starting to feel her lungs burn, and the creature didn't seem to be in sight. Had she chased it off? She came to a halt in the middle of the town square, taking time to get her lungs reacquainted with air.

After some careful observation, it seemed that the creature had indeed escaped her. Which was fine by her. She wasn't really looking for a fight, she just wouldn't put up with monsters in her town!

After a few moments of making sure the area was clear of big wooden wolves, Rarity made her way back home. As she did, bright, reflective eyes watched her from the shadows.

---

The next day, first thing in the morning, Rarity made her way to the library. Twilight Sparkle had proven to be quite adept at finding information, as well as absolutely...well, "adorkable". She got so excited when somepony mentioned one of her favorite subjects, she was always helpful when it came finding the books Rarity wanted to find. Oh, she could talk for hours about books and their endless treasure troves of knowledge.

Surely she'd have something on Timberwolves.

"Hello! Twilight!" She called after she knocked once on the door. She stepped in slowly. She came nearly nose to nose with Twilight as she had been walking over to get the door. "Oh! Hello, Twilight." Rarity stepped back to even the space between them.

"Hi, Rarity!" Twilight Sparkle smiled, but it was clear she was a big frazzled today, a little more than usual. "What brings you around today?" Twilight stepped back, an inviting gesture.

Rarity stepped inside graciously, and closed the door behind her with her magic. She took a long look around the library. It was unusually quiet. Usually Twilight had Spike running about doing chores...Oh. Of course. She rolled her eyes at her own speculations, then turned to look at her friend with a warm smile.

"Oh, I do apologize for barging in so early, Twilight. I came to see if I could find some books on mon-"

She didn't get a chance to finish as Twilight's face lit up with excitement. She was instantly running through the M section. Her eyes worked furiously through the titles until she finally came to...

"Monsters!" A thick book slipped out of it's comfy place on the shelves engulfed in a light purple shell of magic. Rarity rolled her eyes good-naturedly and joined her friend at the table as Twilight set it there. They both blew on the book at the same time, then shared a look of mirth as Twilight opened the old tome.

"So what kind of monsters are you interested in, Rarity?"

The fashionista smiled at her friend before taking over. Her magic gripped the book and started flipping the pages until she finally came to what she was looking for.

"The Timberwolf?" Twilight looked at her friend curiously. "You came here looking for information on a very specific type of creature, Rarity. Why the Timberwolf?"

"Because I saw one last night, Twilight..." Rarity spoke in excited, hushed tones as she read through the Timberwolf page. It also had an illustration, although she was having trouble piecing the drawing before her together with the creature she had seen last night. They were similar in size, but the way it moved...something about it was off.

Rarity looked up to the unexpected sound of Twilight giggling. Rarity pouted lightly and gave her friend a pointed stare. "Twilight, are you laughing at me?" She whined, then nudged her friend with her side and gave her a grin to show she was joking.

Twilight shook her head and looked down at the book before them. "Rarity, Timberwolves haven't been spotted in town for years and years. Believe me, I've gone through the town records for all kinds of monster sightings. After the incident with Nightmare Moon, I wanted to know all about what's happened with the town in the past. You've been here much longer than I have, Rarity; have you ever seen a Timberwolf in Ponyville?"

"I...well...No." Rarity sighed with disappointment as she looked down at the illustration of the Timberwolf. She frowned as the artist in her began to draw make-believe lines along the creature. Not quite as long. About as tall, but wider. Why was it wider? It wasn't fat. It was stocky, like a farm pony. Come to think of, it had hair, like a mane. Why was it's back so wide? It reminded her a bit like a Pegasus...

"Wait, that's it!" Rarity practically bounced with joy as she magic'd the nearest drawing utensil she saw and a scroll that Twilight kept in a pile at the end of the table. Twilight watched in pure fascination as Rarity recreated the creature from her memory. Taking the shadows into account, and the fact that she was above it and a ways away, she produced a faithful recreation of the creature in it's entirety.

"Well! What do you have to say about that, Twilight Sparkle? That's what I saw last night!"

Rarity smiled triumphantly at Twilight, but her smile quickly faded. Twilight looked horrified. Rarity frowned, then looked down at her drawing. The "creature" had evolved from the illustration to look much less like a wolf, and more like a Pegasus. It's wings were held straight and tight against it's back, the feathers abnormally long and cresting over it's rump. She had made sure to emphasize on the shiny, reflective eyes. It was haunting, but also beautiful, and somehow lonely.

The fashionista smiled down at her work. She almost never drew stallions, as she was quite sure by now it was a Pegasus.

Twilight, however, looked like she'd seen a ghost. She had sat stock since Rarity had finished the drawing.

Finally she stood and walked away from the table, and made for the stairs. Halfway there, she turned and gave Rarity a sad, apologetic smile. "Oh Rarity, I'm so sorry. I-I'm not feeling too well suddenly. Would you...do you mind...Could you leave, please, and take that drawing with you? I...don't feel like explaining right now..." She sighed and continued up the steps. The silence in the library was deafening, even as the door to her room was shut.

Rarity frowned sadly as she looked back down at the drawing. Had her drawing made her sad? She picked it up with her magic, staring at it hard and long. Now that she really thought about it, there was something very familiar about it. She sighed and rolled it up, and left the library as quietly as she could.

End part one. Stay tuned for more!

Comments

[mrmayortheiv]

But... she knows Spark? If Twi is in Ponyville it must be set long after he became a "relatively" common sight to his old friends in Ponyville, including Rarity. Maybe it is in a slightly alternate universe or something IDK.

Also, I rather like the heroic side to Rarity you give her, she gets a lot of hate but she is actually pretty cool in my opinion.