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// Chapter Three: Sugarcube Corner 
// Story: The Nightmares 
// by Kumishy 
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	“Oh my dear, dear Fluttershy. You look simply awful.” Rarity said when the girls were meeting in the lovely bakery that was owned by the Cakes. They were waiting on their cupcakes to be ready so they could feast on the sugary goodness. 
Fluttershy perked her head up at Rarity's words. A yawn escaped her when she went to answer her. “I'm fine, really.”
“You don't seem fine Sugarcube.” Applejack said, peering at her friend with concern. “Have you been sleeping enough?”
“Not enough sleep causes problems with your health. You should really try to get more of it.” Twilight said in her best lecture voice. She took a deep breath, ready to embark on the tirade of what would or could come from the lack of sleep.
“I'm getting enough sleep.” Fluttershy murmured. It took all her effort to not rest her head on the table. She had slept, but the sleep had not been restful. Until this past couple nights, she hadn't thought such a thing was even possible. But it was. “It's just....not quality.”
“By not getting enough sleep, you run the risk of your focus not being as clear as it could be, your memory takes a turn for the worse, you can't remember things, you compromise your immune system-” Twilight was rattling off. But no pony was paying her attention.
“Maybe you should go to bed earlier.” Rarity suggested. “Fine fillies like us require plenty of beauty sleep.”
“Shoot, no. What she needs is a long hard day of work. It'll tucker her right out into a nice deep sleep.” Applejack was suggesting. 
“Even worse, your higher reasoning and problem solving are compromised. And once that's gone who knows what'll actually happen. What if you can't help animals like that? You can't think quickly enough to save a poor bouncing baby bunny from a timber wolf?” Twilight continued as though no pony had interrupted her in the slightest. 
“You want our delicate little Fluttershy to toil away bucking apples like some common farm hand? That's just absurd!”
“Delicate? Shoot Rarity, you're the only one that objects to getting her hooves dirty!” Applejack huffed a bit, her forelegs slamming down onto the table.
“Ah girls-” Fluttershy attempted to rein them in. But as usual, she was too quiet to be noticed.
“Not to mention the other health problems. And emotional stress. High blood pressure, you'll get irritated more easily-”
“Girls-”
“Excuse me? I've gotten my hooves dirty plenty of times!”
“And right afterwards went straight for a hooficure! How petty can a pony be? Looks aren't everything you know-”
“Girls!” Fluttershy managed to raise her voice over her babbling friends. They stopped, looking at her with slight shock on her face. She felt bad, but it had needed to be done. The girls fell quiet, looking at the normally soft spoken mare. 
She lowered her gaze to the table. “I just....haven't been sleeping that well. And um...” Her hind leg pawed nervously at the ground. “I think...I think I've been having nightmares.” She shivered, still unable to recall the specifics of the nightmares that had woken her in sweats.
That stopped some of the arguments. The girls exchanged concerned looks. “They're just dreams Sugarcube.” Applejack said, patting her on the back. Fluttershy lowered her gaze to the floor.
“Yeah...I guess so...”

She returned to her cottage a little bit before sunset. The girls had spent the afternoon after that conversation talking animatedly about the party that Pinkie was putting together. She and Rainbow had been busy as of late, which was why they hadn't joined them at Sugarcube Corner.
Fluttershy sighed, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly. Hadn't they learned the lesson about taking a friend's concerns into consideration? Multiple times now that she thought about it. So why now were they brushing away her concerns? Maybe they were just nightmares. Angel came over, tapping his foot impatiently. 
“Oh, I'm sorry Angel. Dinner will be ready in a moment.” She offered him a smile. What she got in response was a food bowl to the face. “Angel-”
He huffed, stomping his foot. A bit irked at his insistence, she went over to fill it with the lovely greens he adored. Once filled, she brought the bowl to him. “There you go Angel.” She smiled, hoping that he wouldn't be that angry. Angel turned, snubbing her until she stepped away. Then once she had walked away, he dug in, his hunger winning over.
Fluttershy glanced at the sky, watching the sun set. She was so exhausted. Not wanting to suffer through another nightmare, but the exhaustion creeping over her body, she passed out on her bed.

“Well well well, welcome back little pegasus. Tonight's floor is the Torture Chamber. I hope you're ready to be pushed to your limits.”  The disembodied male's voice spoke. She frowned, looking upwards. Something was different about this night. 
Somepony shoved her. Fluttershy stumbled slightly to the left. Then somepony shoved her to the right. She almost fell, her wings unable to help her maintain balance. “H-hey-” she squeaked out. That was all rather rude. But then she looked closely at the ponies that had pushed her. They weren't ponies at all!
Sheep with curly horns that were kept close to their heads were ambling along towards some great big door that no doubt would bring them to the Torture Chamber. Why were they going so willingly towards what seemed like doom? Looking around, she ascertained that it was because there was no other way out. 
“Um, excuse me-” she squeaked. No pony or sheep paid her any mind.  All they did was push her along in the swell of the crowd towards the door. This would be a long night. 
Once through the door, she saw the huge structure that was in the center of the room. There were already sheep climbing, presumably to freedom. At least now she wasn't so alone. Maybe they would be kind and lend a hoof.
She swallowed hard, looking around at the walls. There were all sorts of chains and various torture devices that made her stomach twist and turn. Distantly, she heard moans and screams of pain. Hopefully that was just her imagination acting up to the sights of the instruments of destruction. She heard a crumbling noise. Fluttershy had to get moving unless she wanted to fall. 
So she started to climb. Fortunately or unfortunately, the sheep that were climbing with her were moving blocks and stones in a panic to climb. This led to some tricky maneuvering. Fluttershy looked critically at the path made by the sheep. If they kept going like this, they would come into a dead end. 
She took a deep breath, using all her strength to push a block over two block lengths. This would help make a better path. A rumbling sound broke her conversation. Fluttershy looked down to see stones fall into the darkness. She had to keep going. 
The climb was unsteady, the occasional block crumbling under her hoof. With a worried look, she kept climbing. The only way was to keep going. 
A sheep's surprised and frightened bleat broke through her concentration. He had fallen from another sheep panicking and pushing him out of the way. He was a level below she was. Fluttershy reached down, offering him her hoof. “Grab on.” She wasn't as strong as Applejack or Rainbow Dash, but she didn't want to see him fall to his doom. 
He was too scared to grab on right away. By the time he reached out to take her hoof, the ground beneath him fell, dragging him down to the dark depths. She watched in horror as that happened. 
Fluttershy closed her eyes, trying to summon her courage. She needed to continue, lest she join him in the darkness. So upwards she climbed, pushing a block every now and then to keep going. Eventually she reached a huge door. Relief flooded her. This meant the nightmare was over for the night.
She opened the door with a mighty tug and stepped through. 

Instead of waking up like she anticipated, there was an open area with what looked like pews from a church, sheep milling around and a confessional building structure as the main feature of the room. Fluttershy blinked. This was...new.
Why hadn't she woken up? What was going on here? Feeling more nervous and unsure than before, she approached a sheep. “Um, excuse me-”
“Bug off.” He snarled at her. He was visibly trembling from head to toe. “I just want to climb and get out of here. No time for distractions.”
“Oh I'm sorry.” She hid behind her hair. Not all of the sheep seemed to share his exact sentiment. Some of them were clustered together, whispering. But they all shared one thing. 
Fear. 
She felt it too. And the anxiousness of everyone waiting. She could cut it with a knife. Not sure who else to talk to at this time, she approached the confessional. Poking her head in, she noticed a grate against the one wall directly to her left. But on the wall facing her as she entered was a painting. 
Squinting hard at the painting, she almost panicked. It looked like...like her. Being nailed to a tree. Her wings and hooves were pinned and her mane covered her face. It was horrifying. 
“Well well, I'm impressed you made it this far.” The voice purred. Fluttershy jumped.
“Who are you?”
The voice tutted at her. “Now now, I'm the one who'll ask the questions here.” He almost sounded amused. “Now tell me Fluttershy...Is popping bubble wrap fun?” 
“Is...what?” She blinked, confused. Why was he asking her such a thing? As she was pondering why, two ropes with notes tied to them dropped down from the ceiling in front of her. One read 'Hell Yes!' and the other said 'What a Waste'. She blinked.
“Choose wisely. For if you survive...” The voice said, laughing too much to finish the statement. 
She flinched at what he could have meant. Fluttershy frowned, considering her options carefully. “Um...I guess it's...fun.” She paused. Taking the rope into her mouth, she pulled it.
“Ah...so you took that route. I see...” the voice said. There was a small snap and a rumble. Fluttershy braced herself as the room she was in started to travel upwards. Maybe this was the way out?
“Prepare yourself for the next stage of this floor. There's still more torture to come.” Then an evil laugh made her ears flatten against her head. The room was shaking until it finally came to a stop. “Go on. The real torture is about to begin.”
Grateful for getting out of that room, Fluttershy stepped out onto yet another tower of blocks. 'Not again...' she thought, wondering how exhausting this would be. But there was a door on the top, there had to be. Nothing else to do but climb again. Just as she stepped up on the first block, there was a rumbling sound. Her eyes widened. The tower couldn't be falling already.
Giant white ears preceded the rest of a body that she recognized. The color drained out of her face. “Angel-”
There was an un-bunny like roar that came from him. He slammed his paws down on the blocks, shaking everything they were connected to. Clutched in one paw was an empty bowl. That was making it's way to where Fluttershy stood. 
Quicker than ever before, she climbed upwards. The bowl connected with the block she had just been standing on. It smashed to pieces. Shaking, but grateful she had enough sense to move, she climbed. Angel was becoming more and more furious with her, throwing his tantrum and his empty food bowl at her. 
Fluttershy climbed, desperate to escape. After a long climb and many broken blocks later, the end was in sight. She made to climb up the block that was connected to the block that bore the exit door. Hope was filling her.
The food bowl crashed down, destroying the adjoining block. She stopped quickly, almost falling off the edge. Angel was clambering up, ready to strike her down for missing his dinner time. Fluttershy backed away to the edge of the block she was on. If she didn't escape quickly, she would die here.
Her blood ran cold. What would happen if she died in the dream? Surely she'd be alive when she woke up right? Given how these dreams had progressed so far, she wasn't sure she wanted to risk that. Taking a deep breath, she spread her wings. She only had one shot.
Taking a running leap as the food bowl was crashed down onto the block she had been standing on a moment ago, Fluttershy flapped quickly, and managed to barely grab onto the edge of her goal. She pulled herself up, her limbs all trembling from the effort. The blood red door stood there, waiting to be opened.
Angel reared his head, opening his mouth as though to eat her. She yanked open the door, letting bright white light flood through. He let out a squeaking scream and vanished. Fluttershy stepped through the door.

Just like that, she stirred, her heart pounding in her chest. It was a little past dawn in Equestria. Angel was snoozing away in his empty food dish, his tiny tummy distended from all the veggies he ate the night before.
Fluttershy sank down into her bed wearily. This was getting ridiculous. Something had to be done. These nightmares were getting out of hoof. 
But where and what could be done?