Twilight's Phobia, by Homage
Chapter 4: The Aftermath
“Do it again, do it again, do it again, do it again, do it again, do it again...” chanted Pinkie Pie over and over. She stood near the back of the stage, bouncing up and down.
A mortified Twilight Sparkle sat on her haunches next to the pink mare, too embarrassed to look up from the floor. Forked Tongue stood over the lavender unicorn, his bruised face giving a leer that could have made Iron Will back down.
“Which one of you two issss ressssponssssible for thissss?” the green stallion asked in a cold, hard voice.
Nearly everypony in the audience pointed a hoof at Twilight, but Forked Tongue's unblinking stare didn't leave from the lavender unicorn.
“Well?” asked the green pony, snapping Twilight out of her daze.
“I'm so sorry...” Twilight began, her voice on the point of breaking. “It's just, a s-s-s-s-snake landed on me and–”
“What'ssss that about ssssnakessss!!??” Forked Tongue interrupted, cutting off Twilight's excuse.
Not wanting to anger the stallion further, the unicorn responded, “Nothing. It won't happen again.” She didn't look up from the floor.
Forked Tongue, in a voice with an undertone of anger and hatred, told Twilight, “You have ruined my fesssstival, assssssssaulted me, and worsssst of all, made a total mockery of me. Let it be remembered that it wassss becausssse of you that the Ponyville Annual Reptile Fesssstival has been cancelled. Forever.”
The entire audience was now glaring at the shamed lavender unicorn. Pinkie Pie stopped babbling about her wild balloon ride. The pink mare tilted her head and asked the green stallion, “Foreverrrrrr?”
Forked Tongue turned toward Pinkie and confirmed, “Foreverrrrrr.”
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Twilight lay in her bed, crying. Fluttershy was sitting next to her, trying to console her.
“Shhhh, shhh, it's ok, Twilight,” said the yellow pegasus.
“No (sniff), it's (sniff) not,” choked Twilight between her tears. “I was almost killed by a snake today, and to top it off, everypony is mad at me.”
Fluttershy assured her, “Not everypony. I'm sure Pinkie Pie will find a friend for Gummy someplace else, and I think Rainbow Dash is happy the festival is gone. I think she once said how she hated snakes, just like Daring Do.”
Twilight continued wailing as hard as ever. Fluttershy gave up and decided to let her friend calm down on her own. The pegasus got up, and as she rose to her hooves, her attention was drawn to the wall next to Twilight's telescope. The huge wall was completely covered with pieces of paper containing carefully organized notes and diagrams. She read the labels on some of them. “Snake sightings in Ponyville” “Snake activity hours” “Snake shaped things seen around Ponyville.” Each of the list items had a location, a date, a time, and a number. The dates went back to the very first day Twilight arrived in Ponyville.
Fluttershy glanced back at her miserable friend. The yellow pegasus knew that Twilight was afraid of snakes, but Fluttershy now realized that it was an obsession. Twilight had spent hours after hours at her telescope, monitoring everything in Ponyville for signs of serpents. Fluttershy knew that the lavender unicorn had a problem, and the yellow mare decided then and there that she would help Twilight overcome her ophidiophobia.
“Um... Twilight?” asked the pegasus, sitting back down on the bed. “Do you think... that, um, you have a problem with snakes?”
The lavender pony, sat up in bed, tears streaming down her face. “Problem with snakes? Of course I do. I don't even know why!” Twilight whimpered. “I won't even go anywhere near the Everfree Forest by myself because I am too scared that snakes will come out and get me.”
Fluttershy thought for a moment, and said, “But Twilight, what about that time the cockatrice turned you into stone? You were by yourself that time.”
The unicorn buried her face in her pillow and mumbled, “I had Spike with me, but he must have abandoned me as soon as the cockatrice stared at me. I guess dragons are immune or something.”
Twilight lifted her head from the pillow, and her tear-filled purple eyes met the pegasus' turquoise ones. The unicorn let out another whimper, and said, “I'm always afraid, all the time, even when I'm safe with friends. I guess you would know what it's like, with your drakonophobia and all.”
Fluttershy sighed. This was not the time to talk about her own fears. “Twilight,” the pegasus said gently, putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “I am your friend. I want you to know you aren't alone.” The yellow mare added, “I want to help you.”
Twilight nodded, wiping her tears away with a hoof. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her forelegs spread out and wrapped around Fluttershy. “Thank you so much,” the unicorn whispered into the yellow pegasus' ear. Fluttershy nodded, relieved that the her friend had finally calmed down.
When Twilight finally let go, Fluttershy said, “Now, for the first step, let's do something you love. Let's go learn a few things about snakes.” The pegasus and the unicorn walked down the stairs, toward a shelf containing books on animals. The pegasus took out the first book, “Herpetology for Foals,” and started leafing through the pages, eventually landing on the section about snakes. Twilight shrieked at the big color photograph of a rattlesnake ready to strike. Fluttershy facehoofed. This was going to take a while.