Part 11 – Darkness
Pearly was tired, this much was clear to Baby Rainribbon. The grey unicorn had stayed awake all night and woke Baby Bouncy to return to her room. She returned, woke Baby Rainribbon, and was immediately whisked away to her own duties. When she returned, her glow was dim, and she rubbed her eyes, fighting back a yawn.
The day dragged on, the pale ponies seeming to be eager to get as much work done as they could. The baby ponies were worked to the point of dropping, before finally, mercifully, the work was called to a halt for the day.
Baby Rainribbon ran to Pearly, let her new friend lean on her, where they both waited for Baby Bouncy. The yellow Pegasus was as tired as they were, eyes bloodshot, hooves dragging through the dirt. Between them, they held Pearly up and escorted her back to their room. Once there, Baby Rainribbon bundled her into bed, tucked her in then left the room.
"Is she all right?" Baby Bouncy asked quietly, when they were back outside the room.
Baby Rainribbon shook her head. "She didn't sleep all night. To be honest, I think she was afraid."
"I heard that!" came the indignant reply.
Baby Bouncy took her hoof and led her away. They stopped around the corner and out of earshot from Pearly.
"Whatever she saw, it's got her rattled," Baby Rainribbon told her.
Baby Bouncy nodded. "Then maybe we should find out what it was." Without waiting for an answer, she marched on ahead. Baby Rainribbon ran after her.
Baby Bouncy went to her room, opened the door and let Baby Rainribbon in. Much to Baby Rainribbon's surprise, Baby Bouncy had the room to herself. She sat down on the floor until Baby Bouncy nodded to the bed, making Baby Rainribbon sit down on it.
"There's more strange noises coming from that room with the mirrors," she said. "I heard it finishing up, when Pearly dropped me off here."
"More of those weird howls?" Baby Rainribbon asked.
Baby Bouncy shook her head. "Something else. Voices from somewhere."
"So now what?"
"Wait and see?"
Despite the nervous knot in her stomach, Baby Rainribbon nodded in agreement. Baby Bouncy lay down on the floor, tucking her legs under her. They sat, talked, and briefly forgot where they were. Baby Bouncy told her stories of the First Tooths, while Baby Rainribbon spoke of her friends at the Rainbow Nursery. It seemed like another life, one that she was merely a spectator to and not the active participant. It made her sad, that things could change so much, so quickly.
Baby Rainribbon felt her eyes grow heavy; her head drooped to her chest. She felt Baby Bouncy shake her awake once more, and she awoke with a start. Baby Bouncy put a hoof to her lips, then nodded to the door.
Baby Rainribbon got up from the bed, approached the door and put her ear to it.
"Do you hear it?" Baby Bouncy whispered.
Voices.
A group of voices, and throughout, whimpering. Her heart sank.
"Is there a baby pony in there with them?" Baby Rainribbon asked.
"Think so."
She took a few steps back, then looked to Baby Bouncy. "What do we do?"
Baby Bouncy shook her head and went back to the door. She pressed her ear against it, then cried out, stumbling backwards when something hammered on it. Baby Rainribbon reached for her and pulled her close.
The knocks continued, hammering and urgent. Something wanted in.
They crouched down next to the bed, Baby Bouncy grabbing the blanket and put it over them. The room grew cold, cold enough for them to see their breath. With the cold, came silence. Whatever had been on the other side, had lost interest for the moment.
Baby Bouncy pulled the blanket off of their heads and stood up from the floor. She approached the door, though she did not open it. Baby Rainribbon got to her feet too, then looked out of the window. She frowned.
"Does it look darker outside to you?" she said.
Baby Bouncy joined her at the window. Already it was hard to see, clouded, with frost creeping around the windowpane. Baby Bouncy wiped the window and saw what she meant. Where there had been light, now darkness remained, thick and unrelenting.
"Come on, let's see what they were doing in that room," she said, tugging Baby Rainribbon away from the window.
Baby Bouncy crept toward the door for the room of mirrors. She pressed her ear against it, then beckoned Baby Rainribbon closer. She opened the door, stepped through and held it. Baby Rainribbon followed.
The mirrors were all covered, except one. The white cloth was draped over the corner, while the rest were neatly placed. Half of the mirror reflected the room back, and Baby Bouncy went over to it, pulling the cloth off.
At first glance, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Until they looked to the corner of the room.
White cloth; piled in the corner. As they looked, the cloth began to move. It rose up from the floor, and they could make out the shape of a pony. Hooves, ears, head, body, contorted, however. When it made to take a step forward, the hoof was backwards, knee on the wrong side, and they could hear the bones crack. Baby Rainribbon looked to the corner where it rose from, her eyes widening when, in reality, it was not there. Only in the mirror did this thing exist, though it did nothing to calm their nerves.
Baby Bouncy went around the rest of the mirrors, pulling off the cloth. In some were shadows, ponies in various states of coming closer to the mirror. In the last one, the shadowed pony was pressed against the mirror's glass, and watched them intently.
Baby Bouncy's nerves failed her and she ran. Baby Rainribbon followed her, both sprinting back to Baby Rainribbon's room. Pearly was awake, lying in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. When the door was flung open, she was on her feet in seconds.
"What's wrong?" she asked. The wind was knocked out of her when Baby Rainribbon threw herself at Pearly.
"That room! The one with the mirrors," Baby Bouncy told her between pants. "There's something in the mirrors!"
"What?" It took a moment for Pearly to extract Baby Rainribbon from her, and the purple unicorn stood facing her, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. "What happened?"
"There's things living in the mirrors, we heard voices and one of the baby ponies, I don't know who it was," Baby Rainribbon said. She sniffed and wiped her eyes.
Pearly pulled her into a hug once more.
"I need to tell the others," Baby Bouncy stated. "Bright Eyes, Tic Tac Toe, someone." She sounded on the edge of hysteria.
"If you see any of the Rainbow Curls then, let them know Baby Rainribbon is all right. I'll look after you both."
Baby Bouncy said nothing more and left the room.