Why Did Equestria Shrink?

by Monsieur-Flatterer

Day 7

No sleep, no dreams, no sleep, no dreams, no sleep, no dreams, no sleep, no dreams, no sleep, no dreams...

Without realising, Fluttershy had written that all over her bedroom wall with a pencil that was left behind when she asked to draw more. The pegasus blinked, stopping and gazing at her work. The words trailed down slightly, because the mare had been seated on the same spot while writing down. She blinked and looked at the pencil, then at the wall, back to the pencil... She had no idea what she’s doing. But she wanted to stay awake. No more dreaming, no more stallions, that was her theory. Although she felt bad for abandoning Spera. She was scared of what had happened to the fox after her last dream, where the fox and the stallion finally acknowledged each other... and provoked. She didn’t know if they were hurt or worse...gone...

But she didn’t want to find out. She wanted to stay awake. She had no idea what time it was, but it was dark outside, and the lights in the hallway were off. All Fluttershy had to light up her room was the moonlight, which peacefully crept out of her window. She looked down to her bed, searching for her silver fox plushie, but she was nowhere to be found. Maybe she had accidentally dropped it, but the pegasus didn’t really have the confidence to glance under the bed at night, due to some creepy stories Dash had told her.

Like the one of a creature the size of a dust particle during day, that lives under your bed. But when night falls, the creature grows to a full-sized monster called the ‘leg-gnawer’ and when you tried to step out of bed, the creature would swipe out and bite your leg off! Fluttershy shuddered just thinking about it. Yup, she wasn’t getting off her bed the entire night. At least until the sun pokes out.

The yellow equine sighed softly, hugging her blanket close instead. She looked down to the cutiemarks sewn together, giving each a soft nuzzle. And a whisper. “I miss your cupcakes...” She whispered as she softly nuzzled one of the balloons. “I miss your help...” She cooed, stroking her snout on Twilight’s mark. “I miss your companionship...” She muttered while giving Dash’s mark the same treatment. “I miss your dresses...” She softly hummed to the three gems. “And I miss your protection...” She finally said to Applejack’s. Then she saw her own cutiemark.

Her hoof stroked slowly over the three butterflies on the blanket. “And above all... I miss who you were...” She said to the three insects, sniffling slightly. The shy mare let out a soft whimper and cuddled the blanket tightly, shutting her eyes. Everything would be alright. She’d get out of her. She must get out of here. There’s no chance of escape, though. The window was unable to be opened and even if it could be opened, Fluttershy doubted they’d just leave it unlocked. And the lobby doors were locked at night as well, and there’s ponies guarding during the night.

She opened her eyes again, and blinked. Her ears perked up. It was awfully quiet. Silence was another thing the mare was scared of, because silence brings forth the most scariest of noises. Because when it’s silent noises can be heard more clearly, and you start to wonder what those noises are or coming from. And before you know, the brain starts playing tricks on you and makes you think that you can hear things that aren’t there, like whispers or... or...

“Hello miss.”

The pegasus jumped up with a yelp, her wings spreading wide as she glanced around on the bed, while still balancing herself so she doesn’t fall off. But nopony was in the room, or outside of it. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. At least she hoped so. The mare closed her eyes again. She’d never been this tired in her life! The mare emitted a gentle yawn and slowly fell backwards on her bed. She was just closing her eyes a bit...

...As long as she didn’t fall asleep.

Fluttershy opened her eyes again. Strangely, she didn’t feel all that sleepy anymore. The mare sat up and glanced around in the room. The words she had drawn on the wall were still there. The feathered mare let out a soft huff, grabbing her Spera plush and holding her close. She snuggled the stuffed animal softly, a gentle smile had appeared on her face. Until... Didn’t she lose this? She eyed the plushie, frowning. She sat up again and gasped sharply. The door to her room was wide open, and the brown stallion stood in it.

Out of reflex, she threw the stuffed silver fox at the stallion, backing away on her bed. She whimpered softly, her yellow ears laying flat against her skull. The stallion just gazed at Fluttershy, the silver plushie floating up next to him.

“Time’s running out, Fluttershy.”

That cold, harsh voice sent chills down Fluttershy’s spines, the pegasus yelping in fear as she tried to hide behind her blanket.

“My patience is good as gone. After this day, things’ll change forever.” He said, staring straight at the frightened mare. Fluttershy almost squealed, but only yelped louder when her bed started moving up, the piece of furniture seeming to keep its balance on something. Something big, growing and growling. “I’m only trying to help you see, not everything is what it seems.” He continued, a dark tendril creeping from beneath the bed and snaking towards Fluttershy. “But you won’t open your eyes!”

The pegasus screamed and opened her eyes, looking around. The mare was breathing heavily, shaking on her bed. But what she saw, she couldn’t believe. The wall writing she made earlier was still there, oh yes, but it was now joined by many more. Her whole room was written full with nonsense and gibberish. Things like ‘tick tock time’s up’ and ‘wake up’. She wondered who had written all of that. The mare shivered in anxiety, until she looked at her own front hooves, which were covered in black ink. Shivering at this point, she quickly searched for the cause of the ink, which she quickly found. There was a quill and ink on her bedside table, given to her to write things down, but the inkwell was toppled over and had hoofmarks in them.

Fluttershy shook her head. She did this in her sleep? She couldn’t have. She scanned all the words in her room again, whimpering. But the sentence that terrified her most was one she wrote on the ceiling.

‘Asleep or dead?’

Fluttershy stared at that sentence, eyes hastily scanning over it. That’s when she broke. She emitted a loud scream, placing her hooves on her ears, causing ink to get all over her coat. She shut her eyes firmly, curling up on her bed. of course her scream attracted the personnel. The door busted open, showing nurse Redheart in the doorframe.

“Fluttershy, what’s... Oh dear Luna...” She gasped out, seeing the cladded walls. She looked over to Fluttershy, who was a mess of whimpers and shivers. The nurse didn’t hesitate to rush over to the mare and grab onto her hooves, trying to pull them away.

“Fluttershy, calm down...” She tried to comfort.

“Go away!” The mare immediately protested, trying to forcefully pull her hooves back. The mare let out a long whine, tears running down her ink smothered cheeks, which on their turn turned the salty water black and made grey spots on her pillow and blanket. Her struggle with the nurse continued, the poor mare trying to retreat from her cooing and comforting words, but strong grip. Until nurse Grunt was also attracted by the ruckus the two were causing. He noticed the words, but that wasn’t his number one priority right now. The nurse took out a syringe and walked to Fluttershy.

“Hold her still, I’ll inject.” Redheart said, floating the needle from Grunt’s hooves. The big stallion then held Fluttershy down, watching her squirm against her grip. “You’ll feel a sting, but you’re going to be fine, okay sweetie?” The female nurse consoled, before sticking the needle in Fluttershy’s front leg, making her yelp out. The liquid was quickly injected down her veins, and after a few more seconds of struggle, she started to calm down, to the point she just laid back and breathed heavily, staring at the ceiling blankly. It was only then that the mare noticed it was already morning, and the sun was lighting up her room.

“She was doing so well...” Redheart said with a sigh, looking around in the room. “Look at this mess... This isn’t normal anymore. She needs help immediately. Go warn Terryn.” She said to Grunt, he nodded and walked off. Redheart sighed again, looking at the yellow pegasus with a slight shake of her head.

-

Terryn huffed slightly, pen hastily noting things down in his papers. Fluttershy was sitting across, on the other side of that desk. She looked lifeless, as if she was very sleepy. That was true, however, because last night’s rest wasn’t particularly a good one, plus the injection she got was still fading out. Other than that, it was the fact that she was alone. Twilight didn’t come to help her through this session. Neither did any of her friends, even Cobalt. But she had expected she’d just end up like him in this place. Alone. Abandoned and deserted, bound to sit in the lobby for a whole afternoon, waiting for friends that would never show up.

So now she sat there, in front of a writing doctor that presumed her mentally ill, and the writings in her room just proved that fact. Was she really ill? Did she really need help? She didn’t even know herself. She needed help to decide if she needed help. She was in the hospital for a reason. Her head lifted up slowly, the mare still a bit drowsy. Just as Terryn finally put down his pen and looked over to the mare.

“You’re suffering from night terrors, hallucinations and sleepwalking... if this gets worse it may even lead to insomnia, paranoia and schizophrenia. You know I can’t let that happen, Fluttershy. I’m sorry but you’ll have to start taking medication. Just know that it’s for your own good. If you’re a dear and co-operate to take this medication, it’ll only be even better on your side. Don’t let this morning happen again.” Terryn explained to Fluttershy. The mare meekly nodded, looking down at his desk. “You need to take the pills twice a day. I’m going to start with your nurse just bringing them to your room, but I want to see you get out more, so it’s only going to be for the first couple of days.” He explained. Again, the same response from the pegasus; a weak little nod.

She wanted to talk, because she was scared. Terrified, even. She didn’t know what to say, but maybe the medication would be the best. Maybe it would help her sleep better, or even make that stallion disappear. Because maybe, just maybe, it was all just in her head. She looked up at Terryn, wondering if she could go back to her room, even though she was a bit scared to do so. Mainly because of what she had written all over the place, but also because that’s the only place where she encountered what she believed to be creations of her imagination.

“I have a list of a few things you wrote on your walls, Fluttershy... What I want you to do is try to explain to me if you remember writing it down, what it means and if it was directed to anypony, okay?” Terryn explained, the mare nodding again. “Alright. First one is; Tick tock time’s up? Are you counting down to something?” The doctor asked. His voice was soothing, obviously trying to coo Fluttershy into talking. The empty mare said nothing, just sitting there within her thoughts. “Fluttershy?” Terryn sighed. He breathed in to start talking again.

“H-He said that...” She suddenly muttered. The mare sniffled, feeling those tears come again. How much has she been crying during her one week period in this place? The mare hadn’t kept count but she was sure it was a lot. She raised a hoof to wipe her eye. “H-He said time’s up a-and...” Her voice was shakey, her fear and distress clear in her trembling words. “He said things would change...That I have one day...” She whimpered.

“Fluttershy, you need to remember that none of this is real. It’s all inside your head, okay? It can’t hurt you, it can’t touch you, it can only speak to you and lure you into Ins- illness.” The doctor spoke. “You’re having night terrors. Everything might look real, but it’s not. When you’re asleep, you’re in a false world.” He explained. He looked at his clipboard and sighed. “And that’s what the medication is for, because it can actually get so bad you start seeing reflections of that false world in real life. You’ll start imagining and hearing things. That’s called schizophrenia, but we won’t let it get that far, okay Fluttershy?” The mare nodded slightly in response, letting out a soft and worried sob. “I’ll warn Twilight and your other friends about this, okay?”

“Why did Equestria shrink?” The pegasus suddenly asked, staring straight into the doctor’s eyes. “I-I need to know...” She pleaded, moving one of her yellow hooves up to place it on her lips. Terryn looked baffled for a moment, just staring at the pegasus.

“We’ll find out together, okay? It’s as big of a question to me as it is to you. And we’re here to find the answer.” He soothed, deserving another nod from the mare. “Now, moving further down the list, we have a really... unnerving one.” Terryn said. “Asleep or dead?”

“I-I didn’t write that...” She quickly said, looking at the desk.

“Than who did, Fluttershy?” Terryn asked.

“T-The stallion did...” She said. It must’ve been, because the mare didn’t remember actually writing any of that down, except for the ‘no sleep, no dreams’ text. That’s the only one she was sure she was responsible for.

“The brown stallion you drew once?” Terryn asked. Fluttershy quickly nodded, while Terryn scratched his head. His pen floated up and quickly noted some things down on his clipboard. “Now, last one. The only one that wasn’t done in ink. ‘No sleep, no dreams’?”

“I-I tried to stay awake so he wouldn’t pop up...” Fluttershy used as excuse, sniffling. Terryn sighed and shook his head.

“You need sleep, Fluttershy. You can’t just stay awake all night. I know it’s difficult to go to sleep while you know things are going to happen, but as I just said it’s not real. This is a beginning of insomnia; and that might even make things worse.” He said. “Therapy is over for now, dear. Redheart will bring you your first dose of medicine tonight at seven. Go back to your room for some rest or go meet some other patients, social actions will do good on you. Until next time, Fluttershy.” Terryn said. Fluttershy nodded once more, before sliding off her chair and walking out of the office.

The mare didn’t feel the need to go meet others. All she wanted to do is rest in solitude. She believed the doctor, maybe it’s all her imagination and she can just think the stallion away and have some good dreams about Spera and herself and her friends. She trotted through the lobby, which had two or so patients talking with friends or family, through the hallway and into her room. The mare settled on her bed and sighed. After taking a good look around and at the walls, she saw that they hadn’t cleaned up, the words were still everywhere. She rolled on her back, staring up at the ceiling as another soft huff escaped her lips.

However, she blinked when she noticed Spera’s stuffed version next to her pillow. She lifted the plush up and looked at it, maybe the staff recovered it while cleaning her room or something. Her eyes examined the stuffed animal’s features, everything seemed in place. She lowered the plush again and looked at her door. That’s when she saw words she hadn’t noticed before.

‘Bye-bye Fluttershy’

Why hadn’t the doctor asked about those words? Were they added after her visit? Or did they really not see that? Her eyes looked that sentence above her door over again and again, the mare having trouble taking that in. She shook her head, ears flattening. She felt queasy. Her body was aching. Her mind was troubled. Fluttershy felt as if she had reached a point of no return. The point where, according to the stallion...

...Things’ll change forever.

Comments

[Ivo]

I know it´s hackneyed, but...

The plot thickens.

Perfect as always. Your depicting of Fluttershy going insane step by step is just marvelous.

I still hope her nightmare at Day 5 with her killing herself isn´t going to become real...
But it´s your story!

[Azure Sandora]

Please write the next chapter! I need to know what's going to happen! Please let me know what's happening!

[Lightning Star]

Well I must say, this chapter was worth the rather long wait. I love the way you write these stories. It's right one the line between "Sadfic" and "Physiological Horror".

[SeriousFluttershy]

God, this story is good. The way you juggle emotion, horror, mystery and suspense is amazing, and I love your writing style. 58 views is a joke, this chapter (and story) definetly deserves WAY more! Anyways, keep up the great work!