Twilight sat up when she heard hooves coming towards the door. After her terrible dream, she wanted to scream to make the pony go away. She kept her muzzle shut, and Nurse Redheart came inside. A mask covered her mouth, and her usually uncovered fur was covered with a red coat. Over it was a saddlebag with her cutie mark on it. She came over to Twilight, and touched a hoof to her head. “She has an awful fever. She just needs to drink some of this, and she’ll be fine by the day after tomorrow.” She gave Twilight a cup with purple liquid in it, which she drank down.
“Oh, Nurse,” Fluttershy whispered. “I was, uh, wondering if I could take care of Twilight when you go back to Ponyville.” Twilight had almost forgotten that her friend had been working as a student for Nurse Redheart. She wanted to learn more about a pony’s body than an animal’s.
Nurse Redheart looked thoughtful for a second, but then smiled. “Sure you can. I’m afraid I’ll have to leave right away. Look closely over your friend and check her temperature periodically. Pretty much anything you’d do for Angel Bunny if he were sick.” She was about to walk out the door when she paused and turned. “Just, don’t feed her carrots.” She started to laugh, and Flutters giggled.
After Redheart left, Fluttershy looked at Twilight. She placed her hoof on her head, and then stuck a thermometer in her mouth. She looked at it and nodded. “Okay, Twilight, I’ll bring you some water. You can just rest for a while.”
Twilight’s head sank to her pillow. She felt as if she could sleep forever. She sighed, and slipped into a light slumber. She heard a scream and pricked her ears. She saw red and black around her, and she heard another ear-splitting scream. She yelled as she covered her ears, and started to run. She then saw Fluttershy in front of her. “Fluttershy?” she asked, and she smiled. Tears formed in her eyes as she stepped in front of her friend, and froze when she saw her face.
Blood dripped from her nose and mouth. She stared above Twilight, but her eyes were covered with blood; her pupils were huge as she stared above Twilight’s horn. Twilight slowly looked up, and her pupils shrank as she looked at the looming words. They were drawn with Fluttershy’s blood.
She woke up, sweat dropping from her face. She felt much better than she did earlier, so she decided to get up and walk to the throne room. She felt as if she could fly and dance once more. She saw Princess Cadence in front of her, and she smiled. Cadence looked serious for a moment, and then smiled happily. “Sunshine, sunshine,” her former foalsitter started.
Twilight kept her song going by getting low to the ground, and covering her eyes with her hooves. “Ladybugs awake!” she said happily. They then started to sing and do the motions together. “Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!” They finished they’re old song in unison, and they started to laugh.
Princess Luna stepped forward, and propped up her niece. “I hope I am not interrupting your memories, but I believe we need to talk to you, Princess Twilight.” Luna looked into Twilight’s worried eyes, but the magenta pony turned her head away, and nodded. They walked to the four thrones. One had Celestia’s cutie mark, one with Luna’s, and the other two with Twilight’s and Cadence’s.
Twilight sat down on hers when Celestia started to speak. “Strawberry,” she said, turning to a yellow pony with a bright red mane. “Please fetch the other elements.” Twilight wanted to tell her former mentor that they’re not only the elements, but her friends. “Thank you,” she said when the others walked in.
Twilight flinched when she saw a small cut on Fluttershy’s leg. She stared at it, and Fluttershy blushed. “I cut myself on some glass outside. I’ll be okay. It wasn’t even bleeding that badly.” She smiled happily, and Twilight shook her head. Nothing is going to happen to Fluttershy, she told herself. “So, Princess, what did you need? And why are you up, Twilight? You should be resting.” This was the first time Twilight heard Fluttershy scold any pony besides one of her animals.
“Fluttershy, I’m fine,” Twilight said. “I’m just hungry, that’s all.” Celestia started to laugh, and Twilight turned to her.
“How could we forget? You mares just woke up. You must be starving! C’mon, c’mon, we’ll have Strawberry ask the cook for something big to eat.” She winked to
Strawberry, and the pony walked into the kitchen. Celestia sat the six mares down, and ponies began bringing in appetizers. Twilight ate slowly. The appetizers weren’t anything special, just crackers with some cheese and an olive on a toothpick pushed through it. She still ate slowly, and turned to see the ponies were bringing in daffodil sandwiches, crispy hay, and some stuff Twilight didn’t even recognize. They set them down in the middle of the table, and her friends started to reach to grab things with their forks or magic.
“Princess Twilight,” Luna began, after swallowing some soup the servants brought in. “I believe it’s time to tell you that I’ve been walking in your dreams. I see that you’ve been having awful nightmares, and I see that you’ve been seeing, um, certain ponies. I must say that these dreams mean something to everypony in Equestria.” She paused, and turned to Celestia. Her sister nodded.
“Twilight,” she said. “I know you’ll hate doing this, but you need to tell us what has been happening in your dreams, and who you saw. Let’s start with tonight’s dream. If it makes you more comfortable your friends will go.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I’m not leaving Twilight alone. She might need us.”
Twilight looked at Rainbow, and she sighed. “I’m sorry, Rainbow, but you guys should leave. Especially Fluttershy; I don’t want her to hear this.” Rainbow Dash snorted, and flew off. The other mares followed, but Applejack stayed behind.
“Y’all never said anything ‘bout me,” she said, smiling. “I can help ya through this, Twi, and ya know the others can too. Just let me stay. I want to hear this.”
Twilight nodded, and turned away from her honest friend. She started to explain the shadows and running away from them. She then explained how the shadows always screamed at her. She finished with what she saw with Fluttershy. She started to sweat and breathe heavily. Her migraine came back, and she started to fall over.
Applejack caught her, and looked at Celestia. “Get Fluttershy, quick.”