> Silent Ponyville: Loving Memory
>  by Asgard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ch. 1: In Protective Arms
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author’s Note: My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro, the concepts for the current generation of ponies belongs to Lauren Faust, Silent Ponyville was created by Jake Herritagu and edited by his crazy-green-ninja-friend-named-Brad. 

Pieces of this fiction is based on stories I’ve heard from family and friends, but most of it is completely fiction. I do not condone ANY of the more horrible aspects within this story, nor do I think about this kind of thing usually, I just had an idea for a story that I felt could only work in Jake’s universe. Please enjoy. 


(Author’s Note after a year: I started this piece with the story in mind, and I lost my will to write.  I want to finish it, but after rereading it, I saw many, MANY problems that range from word choice to even continuity problems.  I plan on continuing writing, of course with interference with school and life in general, but after I finish editing the pages I’ve written.

Thank you for your patience, and your support.)


EDITING NOTE: Look for green highlight to find place.  Look for yellow to find things up for review.














The bright neon lights of the ambulance carriage lit up the dark night above Cloudsdale. It was pulled by a small team of Pegasi, each beating their wings as hard as they could to pull the bulky carriage against the force of gravity. The vehicle was carrying fairly important cargo: a nurse, an attendant, a middle-aged mare, and a young, badly injured filly. The foal was whimpering in pain as the attendant attempted to keep her still so that the nurse could sedate her. 

The foal’s mother, on the other hoof, seemed quite unimpressed with the spectacle behind her. She winced every time her daughter cried out, not in sympathy, but in annoyance. Despite the fact her child was laying not ten inches away from her, the mother kept puffing away at the cigarette she had lit before getting into the carriage. It was rare for a non-unicorn to posses this habit, but it was even rarer for a pegasus to be an avid smoker. The mare spat the butt into the hazard-waste bin beside her, and began to reach for another in her night-gown pocket.

The attendant beside her had had quite enough of this, “Ma’am?” he said as he inserted an IV into the filly’s right foreleg, “Please refrain from smoking in this vehicle. We put up with you finishing the cigarette you had when we picked you and your daughter up, but if you want to smoke so badly please wait until we get to the clinic.” The mare ignored his warning and had now managed to work one of the thin rods from its carton. She was working on getting it lit using the lighter she was wearing around her fetlock when the attendant spoke up again, “Ma’am, plea-”

“Alright, alright, jeeze...” the mare said in a gruff and annoyed tone before taking the now lit cigarette and putting it out against her hoof. She had a luxurious, golden-honey like coat with an unkempt mane and tail of the same, but slightly darker color. Her face looked as if it could have been very beautiful at one point in her life, but after years of abuse and apathy towards her own physical appearance it morphed into a new, more stallion-like form. It was now smeared with cheap, hoof-friendly makeup accented by way too much brown eye shadow that only made her already muddy-brown eyes look more like large orbs of feces than they already did. A scar ran up one corner of her mouth, as if somepony had dragged a knife across it. She looked about forty-five years old, well on her way through a normal pony’s middle age. Her cutie mark, barely visible underneath her nightgown, was that of a metal frying pan. 

“I swear, all you medical types just love to worry the piss out of us normal ponies. Watching us squirm must give y’all so much pleasure,” she said just before spitting the now unlit cigarette into the hazard bin. 

The attendant snorted, satisfied with her putting the accursed thing away. He and the nurse began placing ice packs on the filly’s bruises to try to get the swelling down and to numb the pain. The poor girl was in bad shape: there were bruises down both sides of her body, most notably of which was one of a darker hue on her right shoulder; she had cuts of various stages of severity along with a broken wing on her right side. Her left eye was black and swelling rapidly. Despite the efforts of both the nurse and the attendant, the filly was still screeching in pain periodically every time the carriage hit a bit of turbulence.

The nurse was wearing pink scrubs and a stereotypical nurse’s hat fitted with a red cross. Her coat was white and her hair was a dazzling shade of yellow. Upon her flank was a picture of a large, red, sparkling heart with white wings erupting from either side. “You’re going to be okay sweetie...” she cooed into the little gray pegasus’s ear before turning towards her mother violently, “What is WRONG with you?” she cried in a low hiss, careful not to say it too loud to disturb the child who was only a heart-beat away.

“Eh?” the mother grunted in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“Look at her! She’s in pain, severe pain,” she hissed, “Hell, I don’t even know how she’s conscious, but all you seem to care about is having your next drag off of those disgusting things! Look at her wing! The injury’s so severe that she’ll have to go into surgery!”

“Look here miss...” the mare stopped and glanced down at the nurse’s name tag.

“Soft Cure, Nurse Soft Cure.”

“Alright, look here Miss Sofa Cause, my daughter just fell down the stairs in our apartment building. I’m sleepy; I’m tired, let’s just get this over with so I can take my daughter home and get to sleep.” The mare was clearly annoyed, which only angered Soft Cure even more.

“M-m-mommy...?” the filly managed to sputter after a few attempts. This shut Soft Cure up, she didn’t want to cause any more pain to this filly than was necessary to get her well.

The mare briefly looked down on her daughter before turning away completely. She amused herself by looking at the passing buildings and factories.

The assistant had finally managed to sedate the child adequately and was now taking down various readings from the foal’s blood pressure to her temperature. This allowed Soft Cure to look out of the carriage just in time to see the bright neon red cross over Cloudsdale General. She sighed and thought to herself, ‘Alright, I’ve done all I can. It’s up to Lance now...’


________________________________________________________________



The filly groaned as she came out of her drug-induced stupor. Even through the heavy-sedation she could still feel the intense pain emanating from all over her body. 

The child was in a brightly lit hospital room with two beds; hers was the bed furthest away from the door. Beside each bed was a small wooden nightstand that visitors could place flowers or “Get Well” cards on, but neither table had either of those things. The window provided a stunningly beautiful view of the neon lights of Cloudsdale and (if it were not night at the time) a view of the mountains below. 

The filly began to check her body. Her wing was in a cast and there was some sort of cream rubbed all over her bruises. The fur around her neck was shaved of, and she could feel that a few feathers missing from her broken wing as well. There was a large amount of gauze covering her black eye. 

Just as she began to examine her broken wing’s cast, she heard a small voice pipe up from the bed beside hers, “Oh, y-you’re awake... that’s good.” The foal turned over to see a yellow filly with a bright pink mane and a cast around her right wing, “Are you alright?”

The foal could tell from the yellow filly’s body language that she was slightly nervous about being in the room with her, “Um... I don’t really know...” the foal’s voice was hoarse, but you could still hear the soft undertone that was unmistakable for fillies of that age, “Who are you?”

“Oh!” the yellow filly said in surprise, “My name’s Fluttershy, my dad was… um… your surgeon…”

“I... I had surgery?” the filly said with a confused tilt of the head.

“Y-yes, my dad had to piece the cartilage in your wing back together before they could put it in a cast. You m-might actually be able to fly when it heals now...” Fluttershy’s voice drifted off. The foal had quickly formed an opinion of her new yellow acquaintance: she seemed very mature for her age, but was shy to a fault.

“Hey, you’re wing’s broken too, how’d that happen?” said the foal. Fluttershy grew pale and began to sweat. From the way she was biting her lip the grey filly could tell that Fluttershy was deliberating with herself whether or not to answer her question. After about a minute the yellow filly finally took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and...

The door to the room burst open as the grey foal’s mother hastily cantered into the room, “Now listen to what I tell you you little brat...” she quickly hissed to the foal. Before the mare could notice her Fluttershy had hidden herself underneath the covers of her bed. “A nice stallion is going to come in in a second and ask you a few questions, and I want you to LIE your little ass off. Don’t breathe a word about your discipline to him, okay? ‘Cause if you do,” the mare frowned, “you know what’ll happen...” 

The foal grew pale, “Y-yes Mama...”

“Good...” after that last word to her daughter her whole demeanor changed. The vicious grimace she wore lost all of its bitterness and her voice gained a happy and cheery attitude. “Alllllriiiight!!! You can come in now!” she sweetly shouted to the closed door behind her. 

A pegasus stallion in a grey pinstripe suit cantered into the room and up to the foal’s bed. “Hey there squirt!” he said in an overly happy tone, “Do you mind answering a few questions for me?” The stallion was bright orange with a flaming red locks of hair. His cutie mark was that of a briefcase.

“Um... Sure?” the foal said nervously.

“Alright, Miss D-”

“Mama, my child and positively everypony else just calls me Mama!” the foal’s mother said with a big, phony smile.

“Um... Alright Miss... Mama... Could you please step out of the room?” the stallion said with a quizzical look on his face. Clearly he was confused by Mama’s over-enthusiastic performance.

“Yes sir!” Mama sang as she backed out of the room, but when the social worker turned his back Mama’s face peeked from around the door and returned to its violent look. The foal got the picture: Don’t tell him anything.

The child grew pale, but managed to right it before the social worker could notice. “Alright, let’s get started,” the stallion said as he sat himself in a chair close to the bed, “So, how are you feeling sweetie? Any better?”

The child was silent for a few moments before answering, “I... I guess?” She tilted her head down so that her bright yellow hair would cover up her face.

“Alright... So, how’re you doing in school?” he said with a tilt of his head.

“I don’t go to school... mommy teaches me things at home...” the child mumbled.

“Ah! Alright, now we’re getting somewhere,” he nodded, “Well, how about friends?  Do you hang out with anypony in your neighborhood?” 

The foal shook her head no, dislodging a few strands of hair.

“No friends?  You’re sure?” 
Her head sunk a little bit lower, “Nopony…” 

The stallion winced and cleared his throat, “Well then, any hobbies?  A cute little filly like you has to have something you like to pass the time with.”

Again, she shook her head no, “Just cleaning.”

“Chores?  Does your mom assign them?” he began gently tapping one of his forehooves against the edge of his chair.  

A nod.

“Do you like doing them?”

“I have to do them…”

The deadpan way she said it surprised the stallion, “Yes, but do you like doing them?”

The grey filly turned away from the stallion beside her and emphatically repeated, “I have to do them…”

The stallion bit his lip and steeled himself for his next question, “Does...” he cleared his throat, “Does your mother... Hit... You?” the question came slowly. Silently, he was mentally kicking himself for putting it so bluntly.

As the stallion’s watch ticked away, the foal remained silent. Sweat began to form along her brow, and she bit her bottom lip. When she found the right words, the foal simply said, “Only when I’m bad...”  The child’s eye behind its shell of gauze began to hurt. 

The silence within the room was deafening. Fluttershy held her breath and kept as still as possible under her covers. She didn’t want to be noticed, because she knew what her father would do to her if he found out she was anywhere near this room. Not an hour had passed since her father had told her that a stallion from social services was coming to check on a filly at the hospital, and that she was to stay in his office and stay away from him at all costs. Fluttershy disobeyed him, because the idea of conversing with somepony who was in a similar situation as her intrigued her. Perhaps she could even befriend this kindred spirit, or perhaps they could rescue each other from their respective situations. Alas, these hopeful fantasies would ultimately amount to nothing. 

“I... see... I mean... What does she do when she hits you then? Does she cause you enough harm to...” the stallion’s voice trailed off. His expression had long since lost its mask of happiness.  He sighed harshly, “I’m going to level with you, kid. I’ve worked on cases similar, even almost identical to yours for the past three years, and do you know what the single most common thing shared between all of them was?” the foal shook her head, “Most of the kids involved had never told a soul about their abuse. It baffles me, all of the pain that they experience on a daily basis would...” he softly clicked his hoof against the bedside table, “stop, instantly, if they had only told somepony about it. Oh, I can see why they never tell, their parents or uncles or yadda-yadda-yadda have scared them so much for so long that they begin to think they’ll be punished if they let even one detail slip. Hell, sometimes they try to tell the wrong pony, and that pony just refuses to believe that that pony could ever do such a thing. They sometimes accuse the victim of lying, and that only further alienates the foal from the rest of society.” Fluttershy began remembering all the times she had told Nurse Soft Cure about her father.  She tensed up as she listened. 

“And yet,” the stallion continued, “because of their silence, the pain, the torture, the sleepless, nightmare-filled nights continues on for a lifetime. Even when they leave the nest, these tortured foals never find any real peace. Some of them even go on to beat their own colts and fillies, not because they really want to, but because that’s the only way they know how to raise a foal. That’s all they’d ever really known throughout foalhood, so they pass it on to their kids. It never, ever leaves you, kid. I should know,” he leaned down and tried to look the foal in the eye, the look on his face was dead serious, “I’ve had firsthand experience.”  He let that sentence stew for a few seconds before finishing, “I also know that the only way, the only way, to escape, is to tell somepony. I’m right here; you’re never going to get a chance as good as this. Just say the words, ‘Help me, my mother hurts me,’ and I can have her restrained within seconds. She’ll never be able to hurt you anymore. There’s enough evidence in your home and even in your demeanor to keep her away from you, but the only way we can really help is if you tell me right here, right now, that she’s hurting you.”

The filly kept her head down. Despite the stallion’s best efforts, he still couldn’t see the tears streaming down the filly’s face. Not four feet away, a certain yellow filly also began to cry. The grey foal began to take in air to tell him everything: that her mother hurt her, that she was unhappy, that she wanted to be taken away; but just as she opened her mouth to let him know, the stallion sighed and stood up. He was mere inches from the door when he finally said, “Alright kid... I really hope I was wrong about your mother,” he smiled before opening the door, “I’ll be right back kiddo.  I just need to talk with a few of the nurses that rode with you on the way here.  I’ll be right back.”  And with that, he exited the room.

The foal was stunned. The breath that might’ve alleviated her pain was instead used to fuel her sobs as she cried into her hospital-issued blanket. Before Fluttershy could uncover herself to console her, the foal’s mother burst into the room. 

“Well, well, well...” the foal’s mother said as she cantered up to the bed, “You managed to keep your mouth shut for more than a minute, how nice...” she was now uncomfortably close to her daughter, nuzzling the child’s head with her snout, “Too bad for you though, if you could’ve only kept your mouth shut back in surgery this would have never happened...”

The child could feel the mare’s warm breath on the nape of her neck. Her entire body tensed up; she had a good idea as to what was going to happen. 

The mare bit down hard, grabbing a large wad of the filly’s hair in her mouth. With one of her hooves she covered her child’s mouth to muffle the scream, with the other she held her tiny body down to prevent squirming. She began to yank her head back, sharply, eliciting a series of muffled shouts and cries from her young daughter. 

Fluttershy began to shake and shiver under her covers. Despite the mare’s efforts to muffle the shouts they could still be heard by the young pegasus in the nearby bed. With each cry of pain the yellow filly grew more and more panicked.

The mare gave one final, hard, tug and pulled a mouthful of hair from her daughter’s head. The child gave one last muffled cry before sinking into tears. This only bolstered the mother’s enjoyment, and after spitting the tuft of hair into a nearby wastebasket she angrily quipped in with, “Oh, suck it up you-”

At that moment the door opened, “-precious little thing, what’s wrong?” The mother’s tone and demeanor immediately changed to that of a loving, caring parent. 

The stallion who entered the room was dressed in a white doctor’s coat and wore a pink ponytail holder in his mane. His fur was amber, and his hair was a muted red. His deep blue eyes had dark bags beneath them, hinting at long, sleepless hours spent over patients. “Ms. D-”

“Mama! Practically everypony just calls me Mama!” the mare chimed in with a warm smile before turning back to her daughter.

“Alright, Ms... Mama...” the colt said as he stepped forward, “I’m your daughter’s surgeon.”

“And thank you for the great job you’ve done. So, what is the-”

“Her injuries are fairly severe ma’am,” he interjected before approaching the filly’s bed and placing a hoof on her chin, lifting it up so that the filly’s mother could get a better look at her daughter’s face. “Her left eye is badly bruised, and may take some time to heal. We’ve managed to get the swelling down with a few medicinal herbs, but the blood is still going to pool there for about three weeks,” his voice matched his demeanor, namely apathetic, as if he were separating himself from the situation to have a better grasp on his prognosis. 

Mama kept her smile up despite the cold behavior of her child’s doctor, “And what about-”

“And here,” he used his hoof to remove the blankets covering the filly, “both of her sides are badly bruised, most likely from blunt force trauma.”

“Well, she did fall down the stairs-”

“And here,” his constant interruptions were beginning to annoy Mama. The stallion lifted the child’s broken wing, eliciting a groan from the filly, “Her wing’s been snapped at her carpel joint, splitting the bone in twain. We had to cut open the skin and manually piece the cartilage back together. As it stands, there’s a small chance that your daughter will never be able to fly again. Which brings me to the point of this little chat,” he closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and turned on the mare, “Around some of the more darker bruises on her side, we could clearly see the imprint of hooves, which we believe to be the blunt instrument I mentioned before that was used to injure this child.”

Mama scoffed with surprise, “Are you insinuating-?”

The doctor cut her off, “Furthermore, around the fracture of her wing we found bite marks, marks that fit the general size and shape of a middle-aged mare’s.”

“She fell down the stairs!” the mare spat furiously, “I’d never harm my own child!”

The doctor raised an eyebrow and grimaced, “Also, I happened to notice a lock of this child’s mane has been discarded in the waste bin beside you. It’s virtually impossible for her to have pulled that much of her hair herself, and besides the social worker I called (whom I know to be honest) you’ve been the only pony alone with her for the past few hours.” Mama had long since dropped her facade of happiness and was now positively furious. “Also, to further back up my theory, there’s a strand of yellow hair in your teeth.”

Mama’s surprise got the best of her for a moment, but she immediately showed her anger once more. “Listen here Mister...” she looked down at the doctor’s chest to get a look at his name tag.

“Strongshy, ma’am,” he said, without letting a sliver of emotion slip into his voice.

The filly looked back and forth between her mother and the doctor. She had a vague idea that this stallion, this Strongshy, was trying to help her and she was tempted to ask for his help, but she knew that if she spoke up her mother would backhoof her across her jaw. She blinked her good eye a few times before glancing at Fluttershy’s bed. 

Fluttershy had all but stopped breathing. Every possible expression of fear and panic flew across her face as she tried to remain as silent and still as possible. The struggle to stay hidden was beginning to become too much for her.

“Alright Mr. Strongfly or whatever your bucking name is, listen here,” Mama leaned in uncomfortably close to Strongshy and glared at him through a lock of her hair that had shaken loose at some point during the confrontation, “This is my daughter, how I choose to love, raise, or punish her is my own business, not every filly-floozer-who-walks-by’s.”

“So, punishment eh?” He said as he lifted his eyebrow in surprise, “That’s the reason you beat your child half to death periodically?” he snorted, “Of all the... Look, I admit, it’s none of my, nor the hospital’s, business what you do to your daughter, but it is the government’s. I saw signs of foal abuse, and I reported it. It’s also obvious to the social worker they sent that you’re abusing this filly, but without any clear testimony they won’t act upon it,” with this he turned towards the foal who was shaking and shivering in the hospital bed. His facial features began to soften, “I’m not here to tell either of you what to do, but if you want it to stop, tell someone. Don’t keep silent and take torture lying do-”

Mama bucked him in the face, sending him reeling against the second bed. The bed itself tipped over, sending its only occupant flying to the floor in a pile of yellow and pink fur. 

The doctor slowly pulled himself off of the floor and wiped away a stream of blood that had begun to flow down one corner of his mouth. Before he could verbally retaliate, he noticed and recognized the small filly that was now splayed out on the floor. Any kindness, any anger, any emotion that might have been on Strongshy’s face was replaced by a cold, hard stare that was directed at the small filly. “What are you doing here?” he asked calmly.

The filly picked herself up off the floor and immediately hid her eyes from him, “I-I..”

“Didn’t I tell you to stay in my office?”

The filly tensed up and dropped her head even lower, “Y-yes... But... But I...”

Strongshy’s teeth began to lightly grind against each other, “But you decided to leave despite my orders, why?”

The small pegasus began to back away, only to be blocked by a wall. She was visibly shaking at this point, “I-I heard that the filly you treated was... Like-”

“Like what?” he tilted his head to the side and began to walk towards his child. He was so close that the filly could feel his breath on the nape of her neck.

“L-like... Like... me...” tears were now openly flowing down the child’s cheeks.

Her father snorted, “Like you? This filly’s being abused for no other reason than her parent’s enjoyment; I hurt you because you deserve it, because you need to be punished for what you’ve done. I do it because you’re a monster,” Fluttershy felt as if his eyes were peering into her very soul, as if-

“Wait... What?” Mama said after coming out of her surprised stupor. Strongshy turned around.  Because of his anger, he had forgotten she was there. Fluttershy kept her head down, but one could tell that she was still crying. 

The filly in the bed kept her eyes trained on her mother, who was beginning to sneer. 

“So... Let me get this straight...” Mama said as she inched towards the surgeon, “After that whole ‘Holier than thou’ speech you just gave, you’re ‘punishing’ your own daughter as well?” she scoffed, “Honey, who are you to judge anypony else?”

He faced her and raised an eyebrow, “Hmmf... I’m nothing like you,” he spat.

“Who’s kidding who now?” the sneer fell from her face, “You said you were punishing your daughter, well so am I. This little bitch ruined my life,” she said before turning towards the object of her hate.

The filly just frowned and looked away. Her eyes were red enough from tears already; she couldn’t stand to cry anymore. 

“I was a cook, a damn good cook,” Mama began, “I could fry and fricassee and stir-fry anything you wanted, but my most favorite thing to do was bake. In fact, I worked at a bakery, and that’s when I met him, the stallion of my dreams...” Mama paced about the room as she explained, “Oh, he was a handsome stallion. Had a silver coat and the most beautiful black mane I believe I’d ever seen. He...” she smiled, “was a charmer. I doubt there was a single mare in that town that hadn’t had a turn with him ‘sides me. I knew he had his eye on me from the start, as he knew I had my eye on him,” she righted the upturned bed and placed her relatively thin flank upon it. Despite previous warnings, she reached in her nightgown pocket, grabbed a cigarette between her jaws, and lit it with one of the bedside lamps. Strongshy didn’t object to her smoking.

Fluttershy still had her head down, but had stopped shaking. She began inching towards the door, but a sharp look from her father stopped her short. “So,” Mama continued, “one night, as I’m closing up, he canters up to me all casual like and asks if I want to take a stroll, and I accept in a heartbeat. We did walk for awhile, but, after a bit, things got a little... heated...” the mare was beaming, lost in her memories of lost passion, “We had a good thing going there for awhile. He’d come see me after work, we’d ‘play’ the rest of the night, he’d leave the next morning with a peck on the lips and a promise of joys to come, but then...” she glared at her daughter, “she had to ruin it all,” Her gaze honed in on her daughter’s form, “I began to get bigger and bigger, and he began to show up at the bakery less and less. Eventually, he never showed up at all. That was the first time she had ruined my life...” she had practically whispered that last sentence. 

Strongshy stepped up to the filly’s bed, but still showed no emotion. His sleep-deprived eyes were trained on the mare’s face, and he never once spoke a word.

Mama let a small puff of smoke escape her mouth from around the cigarette, “The second time was when she was about a half a year old. Takin’ care of her had become a real hassle, and a tiring one at that. Day and night she’d scream bloody murder until she got what she wanted, and this had driven me to the brink of exhaustion. Because I hadn’t had any sleep, I had accidentally mistaken one of the pill bottles in my saddle bags for a seasoning. The customers who were served my Vallium-laced dish all passed out, and more than a few had to go to the hospital, Hell! A foal nearly died!” She let a dry chuckle escape from her throat, “I’m surprised nopony, let alone my workplace, filled a lawsuit on my flank. I was let off easy with being fired... I wouldn’t have blamed them if they had reciprocated all of the pain I had caused them onto me.” She spat the butt of her cigarette into the wastebasket, “Needless to say, I was unemployable in the culinary world.” She stared at the tiled floor of the hospital room, “I had lost the only two things that had ever made me happy. I was destitute, lonely, scared, and I had to take care of the very thing that had ruined my life...” 

Muted sounds filtered in through the door to the room. Outside, doctors were rushing to and fro, creating a loud racket that would deafen any sounds coming from inside the soundproofed hospital rooms.

“So you see...” Mama looked back up at the doctor standing beside the bed before letting a large sneer creep onto her face, “I hate her. Her very existence has ruined mine, and I do so enjoy the pain I bring her to heal my own.”

She had heard this story many times in the throes of her mother’s abuse. It was all lies though, and it switched around with every telling. “M-Mama? Could we... Can we go home... now...” her voice trailed off. She was biting her lip in nervousness; she didn’t really want to go home. Home was hell for her, but she knew that if she said anything she could only expect more pain to come her way. She loved her Mama, despite everything she had ever done, despite everything she had ever said. She was still her Mama.

“I dunno,” the mare replied without even looking at her daughter, “It’s up to Mr. Strongshank.”

Strongshy opened his mouth, as if to say something, but stopped before he could voice his opinion. After a second he sighed, and turned away. “Come on Fluttershy, we’re leaving,” he said with a gruff voice before biting down on his daughter’s mane. He began to drag her towards the door. 

“No... No!!! You’re not gonna help her!?!? Why!?!? Why!?!?” the normally docile Fluttershy screamed. Every fiber of her being told her that despite her father’s abuse, despite all the evil he had showered upon her, that he would at least save this one helpless filly. 

“I said,” he grunted through her mane, “let’s go.” He pushed the handle of the door with his shoulder and pulled the filly through the door, her kicking and screaming the whole way.

Mama smiled. The filly covered her head and turned away from the door. ‘Just like everypony else...’ she thought. 
_______________________________________________________________

Fluttershy kicked at her dad’s ankles as he pulled her down the hallway, passing by other doctors and nurses who looked on with confusion plastered across their faces. Nurse Soft Cure had just so happened to see them when they passed by the hospital room where she was tending to a patient. She gained a worried look upon her face, and began to rush through the checkup of the colt she was working on. 

“Let me go!” Fluttershy screamed as her father dragged her into the stair well at the opposite end of the hall. The hospital was set up so that every floor had a balcony for the doctors and various other workers of the hospital could land easily, and there were elevators sparsely placed throughout the building for transportation of patients. In key areas of the hospital (such as the maternity ward and pediatrics) there were also stairwells for evacuation purposes. “She’s going to hurt her! She’s-” her cry was silenced by a hoof that smacked her across her face, sending her crashing against the railing.

“I know that,” he said after a moment of silence, “I still plan on helping her, but this makes it easier.” 

“Ugh...” her broken wing had hit the railing, “B-but why? You w-were going to-”

“She’s lying. She’s out of touch with reality and dangerous, if either of us stayed in the room for much longer there’s no telling what she’d do.”  He approached the prone filly. A fresh bruise began forming around the place where he had hit her. 

She began to cry for the umpteenth time that day as she shook her head. “You can’t just let her... I mean... I know... I know you’re punishing me, but why does somepony else have to suffer?  If you were going to help her anyway, why not help her now?”

He snorted, “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“You can’t... You can’t...” she pulled herself off of the floor and began to trudge towards the door. She was going to save that filly even if it killed he-

He kicked her, hard. Instead of hitting the railing she was sent down the stairwell. She rolled as she fell; bouncing every time her frail, young body hit a step. She finally stopped on the floor below. Strongshy looked down upon her, but showed no emotion, no remorse for his actions.

Soft Cure had come into the stairwell just as his hoof had impacted against Fluttershy’s chest. A look of horror spread across her face. She had guessed that this had been happening for a long time now: the mysterious bruises, the broken wing, the way he acted around his daughter. Every time the foal had tried to explain to her what had happened, she had interrupted her or had slapped her to keep herself from hearing the truth, but she had never witnessed the abuse first-hoof. It shocked her to see just how cold, how unfazed Strongshy was to the violence he caused. He turned toward her before she could get a word in edge-wise.

“See that my daughter has medical attention, Miss Soft Cure,” he said before cantering past her. 

“S-Sir?” she said. He stopped and turned his head to face her. 

“Yes?” he said coldly.

She bit her lip, “Nothing sir... I’ll... I’ll get her to a room immediately...” She couldn’t do it. He had saved hundreds of lives so far, eventually he may save thousands. What’s the happiness of one filly compared to the well-being of an entire society? Besides, she loved him; how could she ever do him any harm?

“Good,” he grunted as he passed through the door and out of sight.

Softcure descended the staircase and examined the small filly: her breathing was strained, her previously unbroken wing was twisted at an odd angle, and a thin pool of blood was beginning to form around her head. With a sigh, she began her usual routine of healing the filly and hiding the signs of abuse on her body.

__________________________________________________________________

“What happened then Mommy?” the small unicorn filly asked as she shook excitedly beside her mother on the bed. 

“Well,” the grey mare said as she nuzzled her daughter, “as the great, golden serpent wrapped itself around the Princess’s body, her most trusted Knight burst into the tower!” the mare said dramatically as she pantomimed the scene with her hooves. 

The mare and her daughter were laying on a small bed (obviously made for a small foal) cuddled up together. The mare had been telling her daughter a bedtime story, one of the stories she had written on her rounds the day before. The room around the pair of ponies was decked out in various shades of pink and purple, and the walls were absolutely covered in the filly’s drawings. They depicted the unicorn filly and her mother doing various things: playing, dancing, and hugging to name a few. Love radiated off of everything in the room.

The filly’s eyes went wide, “Oh! Is this where the Knight comes back in?”

The mare smiled, “Yes, Dinky, the Knight had heard the Princess’s cries for help and had come to rescue her as quickly as he could. The Knight’s silver armor glistened from the light of the full moon that filtered into the tower through the open door behind him. He readied his brandished lance, and charged at the beast.”

Dinky tilted her head, “So, wait... What does ‘brandished’ mean?” she said while looking up at her mother in confusion. Dinky’s mane and eyes matched her mothers. Her irises were tinted with soft shades of yellow, but instead of having a grey coat like her mother she possessed a very beautiful shade of purple. Despite her age, her flank was still blank.

“Well, to ‘brandish’ means to ‘carry’ or ‘hold’. So, The Knight is holding the lance out towards the serpent.” She smiled and got back into character, “The brave warrior’s blow struck true, and it knocked the beast off balance. In its confusion, the serpent loosened its grip on The Princess, and she was able to escape from its evil clutches.”

Dinky barely managed to suppress a cheer, “Was it over, did the Knight win?”

“Oh, heavens no! The battle waged on, The Knight would land a blow, and the serpent would immediately bound back and strike again,” the mare smiled and closed her eyes, “But the Knight refused to give up. He stood his ground, and faced his adversary with dignity and honor,” she opened her eyes and turned her neck towards her daughter, “And, do you know what happened then?”

“Um...” Dinky though for a second, “No, what happened?” 

“The Princess stepped in front of him and took the blow instead. For you see, his gallant rescue had inspired her, had awoken her from a trance that she had been locked in for years. She finally had the courage to stand up for herself.”

Dinky tilted her head, “Mommy, you sure use big words.”

The mare smiled, “Sorry, muffin. Mommy didn’t mean to confuse you.”

“Oh! You aren’t confusing me! I like it when you use big grown-up words...” the mare could tell that her child was getting sleepy. Dinky’s eyes were drooping and her speech was getting much slower.

“You ready to go to bed muffin?”

“No... Please finish the story...” she said before letting loose a large yawn.

“Well, alright...” the mother cleared her throat, “The Knight didn’t hesitate in the slightest. He jabbed his spear into the great beast’s hide before it could retreat, and gave the lance a great buck, sending it straight into the serpent's black heart.”

Dinky (still half-asleep) looked worried, “But what about the Princess mommy? Was she okay?”

The mare grinned, “Of course she was! It wouldn’t be a good bedtime story without a happy ending! The Princess was alive, but injured. The Knight, being the gallant gentlecolt he was, lifted the Princess onto his back and carried her all the way back to her kingdom, where he was rewarded for his bravery by the Princess.”

“What’d she give him mommy?” 

The mare nuzzled Dinky, “Well, she gave her the only thing she truly valued, a small, stuffed lion she had received when she was just a little foal.” 

“Like mine!?” Dinky said excitedly as she held up the stuffed lion she was snuggling with her magic.

“Yes, Dinky. Like yours,” she said gently. “And they all lived happily ever after, the end.” The mare sighed, “All right, time for bed my little muffin!” She wiggled off of the bed and turned around to give her child a kiss goodnight.

“But, wait… What happens afterwards, Mommy?” Dinky said with a tilt of the head.  A light, cool breeze slipped through the room’s open window.

“What do you mean?”

“What happens after happily ever after?  Does the Knight and the Princess get married?  Is the King alright?  Does the kingdom ever recover?”

The mare’s eyes widened, “Huh, I don’t really know muffin.”

“But that’s boring!” the child was fired up, “A happily ever after isn’t enough!  Something has to happen after it!”  

Well, I’m sorry, Dinky, but I don’t know.  That’s all I came up with today, if you want I could write more tomorrow.”
Dinky thought for a moment, but finally shrugged, “Nah, it’s alright.  It’s probably for the best, who knows what’ll happen.  Maybe one of them will get sick or maybe someone will die fighting a monster.  It’s probably for the best that it ends there, it’s much happier that way.”

“Uh… huh…”  The mare smiled, she was used to her child having small bouts of oddness every once in awhile. “Welp, it’s time to go to bed,” she said before aiming a kiss for her daughter’s cheek.  

“But Mommy! I wanna stay up longer! I just gotta!” the filly dodged the kiss and hid under the orange quilt that covered the bed. 

The mare raised an eyebrow, “And why is that?” 

The foal peeked her head out from under the blanket, “Because the monsters’ll get me when you leave...” The child’s voice was serious; she was absolutely afraid of being alone. 

“Hmm...” the mare thought for a moment, “I got it! You won’t sleep if you’re alone, so how about I sleep with you here tonight? You just have to promise to go to sleep.”

“YAY!” the filly yelled as she leaped across the bed to hug her mother. “Mommy! I love you!” The child’s voice exploded into fits of laughter as she grabbed a hold of the gray mare. 

“Ooof! Dinky! Heh! Dinky! I love you too muffin, but you’re hurting mommy!” she managed to get out between outbursts of her own laughter. 

The filly let go of her mother and flew back under the covers. “Can we make an animal fort? Please mommy, can we make an animal fort?” the child begged as she began floating various stuffed animals off of the floor around the bed.

The mare smiled warmly before climbing into bed with her daughter, “Sure we can muffin, sure we can.”

__________________________________________________________________

About thirty minutes later they were snuggled up together in bed. Around both of their bodies was a ring of stuffed animals of various species and colors. In between them was a small stuffed lion, clearly the prized one of the bunch. Dinky’s precious orange quilt was covering the both of them, enveloping them in pleasant warmth. The mare was facing away from her daughter towards the nightstand on the right side of the bed, and Dinky faced her and had her front hooves around her mother’s neck. The mare was looking at a framed picture on the nightstand: it was a drawing of Dinky’s that depicted her and her mother on a hill outside of Ponyville, playing. Above the image was a caption that read, “Dinky and Derpy (Mommy!)” That picture had always brought a smile to her face.

“Mommy?” Dinky had said softly.

“Mhmm?”

“Don’t ever leave me...”

Derpy was silent for a few moments before replying, “I’ll never leave you, Muffin...”

Dinky smiled, and they both drifted off to sleep...

______________________________________________________________


White. That was all she could see. Pure, brilliant, white. The room she was in had nothing but a large, menacing, wooden door and an unearthly light that seemed to shine from every corner of the room. Derpy herself was lying on a mattress that was just as white as the room. The air around her tasted stale, as if nopony had entered the room in a very long time. 

Derpy tried to stand up and examine her surroundings, but for some reason she could not will her body to move. All she could do was breathe steadily, in... And out... In... And out... In a soothing rhythm that kept her muscles relaxed. Every fear she had of the room was washed away by the tides of her breathing.

What she didn’t notice, was the little speck of blood running from underneath the door. It crept along slowly, dragging a dark trail of red along the pristine floor. Another speck followed, along with another, and another, and another. 

She opened her eyes just in time to see a pool of blood seeping from under the door, but still, despite her panic, she could not move. She couldn’t even make a sound in protest. The blood began to pool around the mattress. From outside of the room, Derpy could hear somepony breathing heavily in the exact same rhythm as she. In... And out... In... And out... Except, the sound no longer relaxed her. 

Blood began to flow up the walls around her in strange, vein-like shapes. Blood also began to flow up onto the mattress, soaking the mare’s back with sticky, red liquid. The light in the room began to grow darker and darker as the blood coagulated, until all she could really see was the wooden door, which had lost its pristine shine and had instead become splintery and rough. 

A disfigured claw pushed the door open just as the last bit of light left the room. Derpy could hear a dull scraping, as if something metallic was being dragged across the floor. Despite her mental protests, she still couldn’t move. All she could do was breathe, in and out... In and out... Needless to say, her breathing was much faster.

The shuffling and screeching stopped, but the sound of the Beast’s breathing could still be heard. Derpy heard herself say, “Please, please... Don’t do this... Don’t-”

She heard her legs snap before the pain even registered in her mind. The bones folded in on themselves, and her muscles were flattened. Her blood was now seeping into the bed, mixing with the already hardened blood that it had absorbed before. 

The beast grunted as it lifted the large, blunt weapon back into the air. The room allowed her to scream, and she seized the opportunity fiercely. Pain shot up and down her spinal column as her injured limbs communicated distress. 

After what seemed like an eternity, the weapon came down again against her chest. Her ribs snapped and stabbed into her vital organs, yet she still lived. She could feel blood rushing into her lungs, warming and drowning her. 

As it raised its weapon again, she tried to plead to it. She tried to scream that she had a daughter, that she had to get home to take care of her, but all that escaped her throat was a large glob of blood that spilled out across her lips and a series of croaks that held no semblance of language. The darkness seemed to strangle the last bit of life, the last bit of hope out of her frail, broken form just as the metal truncheon buried itself in her skull, sending bits of fractured bone and grey matter flying in all directions.

> Ch. 2: Home...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	







Silent Ponyville: Loving Memory
Chapter 2

“Mommy... Mommy...? Mommy!” 

“Hmmm, wha-?” Derpy looked up from her plate. She had apparently nodded off while eating her hearty breakfast of blueberry muffins and sliced apples. Derpy hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep in days, and dark bags had formed under her eyes as a result. “What is it Muffin?”

“Mommy, you don’t look so good, you okay?” Dinky looked up at her from across their dining room table. The room was sparsely decorated with a few pictures and muted, cheap wallpaper. The table itself was very small, only allowing a few inches of room between both ponies’ plates. 

The mare cleared her throat, “Yes, I’m alright...” Her bad eye began to roll upwards to look at the ceiling, which was a normal occurrence for the mare. She suffered from a condition called Strabismus, which was when one eye’s muscles became weakened to the point that the eye itself sometimes drifts away from where she wanted to look, but she didn’t really mind it too much. She could still see out of her bad eye; it was just much harder to control it. 

Dinky tilted her head to the side and said with a smile, “We have to hurry Mommy! I’m going to be late for school and you’re going to be late for work!” 

‘She’s such a warm child,’ Derpy thought to herself with pride, ‘Good grades, well behaved... I’m such a lucky mare.’ “Don’t worry so much Muffin, I’m almost finished.” Every room in the Doos’ house was furnished similarly. That is to say, all of the rooms hardly contained any furniture, and all of the furniture they did possess was cheap and falling apart. All, except for the items within Dinky’s room. Derpy spared no expense in raising her child or keeping her happy. Within reason, she bought everything the small unicorn asked for, and she was always rewarded with a smile and a “Thank you Mommy!” every time, without fail. Just hearing those words made Derpy swell with pride.  

“I just can’t wait for school today!” Dinky said with a squeal, “Miss Cheerilee said that we’re going to learn a new game to play out on the playground!” The foal was literally vibrating with energy and excitement for the day ahead. 

Derpy smiled, “Yes, I think Miss Cheerilee told me about it when I dropped a package off at her house yesterday. I’ll bet that that package had something to do with it too,” she let out a small chuckle, “Hope you have fun today, kiddo.” Despite all of her attempts at peppiness, she just couldn’t muster up the energy to be her normal, cheery self. Derpy had been having nightmares for the past few weeks now. Not just your run-of-the-mill “Spooky” nightmares, but the real deal. The kind of nightmares that’d make a grown stallion wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, and she did just that. Every night she’d fall asleep for a good few hours, only to wake up with a start and a muffled scream. The fresh memory of her nightmares would linger within her mind for a few moments, but, like all other dreams, they quickly faded away. Last night had probably been the worst. The only details of the previous night’s dream she could muster were purely cosmetic: the white walls, the rusty smell of blood, the white mattress...

“Mommy!” Dinky cried, shocking her mother out of her sleep-deprived stupor. 

“Huh?”

“I said, is anything really big happening at work today?” the foal began to look worried. 

The mare began rubbing her hair with her fore-hooves as she thought, “Well, the Post Office received a large set of letters from Mayor Mare to be sent to everyone in Ponyville, and we also received a pretty important package from Manehatten right before we closed last night. I believe it was to be sent to the clinic, so...” her face brightened, “I’ll get to see Redheart and Sparkler today!” Despite Derpy’s friendly nature, she didn’t really have many friends. Redheart and Sparkler were the only exceptions. 

“Mhmm!” the foal said with a nod, “Maybe they’ll wake you up a bit Mommy, you’re starting to scare me...” She tilted her head, “Seriously, why did you get out of bed last night? You ruined our animal fort.”

Derpy gave her daughter an apologetic look, “I’m sorry, Muffin, but Mommy had another nightmare. I didn’t want to wake you by thrashing about in my sleep, so I got up and went back to my room.”

Dinky frowned, “You didn’t actually sleep though, did you?”

She sighed, “No, mommy didn’t get to sleep after that.”

Dinky took a big bite out of a muffin and mulled over her mother’s response before swallowing, “Maybe you can ask Nurse Redheart for some sort of medicine, or maybe Sparkler’ll know a spell to clear the nightmares away.”

Derpy nodded, “I hadn’t thought of that... That’s actually a great idea Muffin, I just might ask them- Oh! Mother of Celestia, look at the time!” She had just so happened to catch a glimpse of the clock on her wall; the time was around 7:30 in the morning. “You’re going to be late for school!”

“You’re right!” the unicorn filly shouted before jumping from her seat. “We need to go now!”  her already high pitched voiced cracked into a squeak as she shouted.

By the time Derpy had stood up, the small filly was already at the door. “Alright, I’m coming!” she said with a smile as she followed her daughter into the hallway of her house. “Item check!”

“Wha? But Mom!”

“No buts, we need to make sure you have everything before we leave.” The mare smiled, “Backpack?”

Dinky sighed and shook her body to emphasize her point, “Wearing it,” the backpack was bright orange with a few girly doodles stenciled onto the pockets. 

“I can see that, how about pencils?”

“Sharpened, and organized by length.”

“Oh, nice touch. How about... my kiss?” the mare craned her neck forward and tilted her head. 

The foal beamed before happily planting a nice, wet kiss of her mother’s cheek. Derpy laughed, and began furiously planting small kisses all over her daughter’s face. “Mom! Mommy! Stop! You’re going to- haha! You’re going to mess up my hair!” 

Derpy chuckled and stopped her barrage, “Alright, alright Muffin. I’ll stop.” 

“Let’s go! Onward!” the foal cried happily as she cantered out of the door and into the slightly busy early morning streets of Ponyville. 

“Let’s!” Derpy said with a smile as she followed her pride and joy.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Love,” Cheerilee began, “can anypony here tell me what ‘love’ is?” 

“Oh, oh! I know!” shouted an ecstatic filly sitting in the front row of desks, “I know Ms. Cheerilee!”

“Hmmf, know-it-all...” whispered a very bored pink unicorn in the middle row.

“Yes, Twist?” the pink schoolteacher said. The room was fairly small. At the head of the class was a large desk for Cheerilee’s use, a large and very ornate chalkboard, and a typical waste bin that hadn’t been emptied in quite awhile. The walls were covered with paintings of the royal pony sisters and various other important historical figures, and small bookcases filled with storybooks ran along both sides of the room. In the center of the room were nine desks, arranged in a three by three square. A little colt or filly sat in each desk, save for one. 

Twist beamed, “Love is what a pony feelth when they find thomepony thpecial that they care about a whole lot, like a coltfriend or fillyfriend!” she said in her annoyingly nasally voice.

“Very good, Twist!” Cheerilee nodded, “But is love isn’t always limited to that kind of relationship, anypony else want to give another example of love?” A small, white coated, unicorn filly to the right of Twist in the front row raised her hoof. “Yes, Sweetie Bell?”

“Well,” began the filly, “I love my sister Rarity. She takes care of me when my parents have to go away, and she’s usually nice. I wouldn’t trade her for a thousand diamonds.” She smiled happily.

“Feeling love towards your siblings is a wonderful example of ‘love’,” Cheerilee began pacing back and forth in front of the class, “but that’s not everypony a pony can love is it? Anypony else have an example?” 

A bright orange pegasus filly in the back row lifted her head up from her drawing. It was a poorly made picture of a pegasus mare with a multi-colored mane zooming through the air, though it looked more like a blue blob than anything else. “I know!” she shouted without even bothering to raise her hoof, “I absolutely love Rainbow Dash! The way she zooms through the sky preforming death-defying tricks without a care! She’s <i>SO AWESOME!</i>” The filly was bouncing up and down in her seat in excitement.

“Ahem!” Cheerilee cleared her throat loudly and stared the filly down, skillfully admonishing her without words. The filly took the hint and quietly lowered her head to hide a few muffled choice words. “Yes, Scootaloo... I suppose you can love your role models...” She sighed before regaining her usual cheery face again, “Anypony else? Yes, Diamond Tiara?”

The snobby pink filly lowered her hoof, “Well, <i>I</i> love my tiara!” Across the room, a grey filly with a stylish mane and a cutie mark in the shape of a spoon began to pout and looked deeply hurt. “My daddy gave it to me when I got my cutie mark, and I’ve almost never taken it off since. My daddy also pays somepony to polish it daily when I take my evening bath.” Scootaloo began making gagging noises with her mouth, causing Diamond Tiara to flush with anger, “Ugh, I guess <i>some</i> ponies just don’t enjoy the finer things in life...” She stuck her nose up in the air, and Scootaloo began to laugh.

“AHEM!” both fillies ceased disturbing the class, “No, Diamond, that’s not the kind of love I’m talking about,” Cheerilee had to fight an almost irresistible urge to roll her eyes, “but good guess.”

“Uh,” a yellow filly said as she raised her hoof, “Ah think Ah know another one.” She wore a large red bow in her hair that enhanced her cuteness exponentially. 

Cheerilee smiled, “Yes, Applebloom? What’s your example?” 

“Well,” she began, “me an’ mah friends stick together, an’ we shore do care a lot about each other. We spend nearly every day together, an’ we really have fun.” Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo both wore large smiles on their faces, “An’ Ah think that counts as love... No, Ah know that counts as love.” Happiness radiated off of all three of the fillies.

“Very, very good, Applebloom!” Cheerilee nodded her head before adding, “Friendship is one of the greatest and most important ways a pony can love another pony, but there’s one more relationship that I can think of that is comprised of all of the most powerful aspects of love. It’s a relationship that can be more powerful than even the Elements of Harmony...” she paused for a few seconds for effect, “and does anypony know what that could be?” All eight of the fillies and colts in the room turned to look at each other to see if anypony else knew the answer, though nopony raised their hoof, “Really? Okay, here’s a hint... Chances are, everypony in here has experienced one side of this love at some point in their lives.”

Still, nopony raised their hooves. “Hmm, alright,” Cherilee grinned, “It’s the love between a parent and his or her child.” A rousing chorus of “Oh!”s and “I knew that!”s echoed throughout the classroom. “Mhmm, nothing a pony experiences in their lifetime is as pure or as wonderful as a father’s approving touch or a mother’s soft voice singing them to sleep.” The teacher grabbed a piece of chalk with her mouth and began writing something on the chalkboard. When she was done it read, “Filly/Coltfriend, Siblings, Role Models, Friends, Parent and Child”. 

“This week,” the teacher began after she put the piece of chalk down, “we’re going to be studying these and a few other examples of love. But we’re going to start,” she smiled warmly, “with the love between a foal and their parent.” 

Most of the colts in the room sighed in boredom, and almost all of the girls began to squeal in excitement. Scootaloo was the only filly who groaned.

“We all know that parents are supposed to take care of their little colts and fillies. They’re supposed to nurture, love, and provide for their foals, but they’re job also includes making sure that they don’t become spoiled or entitled.” Everypony in the room glanced towards Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon without really meaning to, and they, in turn, looked at each other. “Ahem, back up here,” she said as she suppressed a giggle. Everypony complied, but the damage was already done. Both of the spoiled fillies were angrily moping in their seats and whispering vicious and sometimes derogatory things under their breath. “But, my little ponies, did you know that you help your parents?” 

Murmured arguments flew across the classroom, “Really?” said one, “There’s no way!” said another, “Other than popping my mom’s back every once in awhile, I don’t really do much for them,” said another.

“Quiet please,” she said, silencing the foals before continuing, “Yes, you do my little ponies. Having a foal is a big responsibility. For some parents, having a foal shocks them out of making bad decisions like using drugs or acting inappropriately. For others, it’s a chance to right wrongs that had happened to them in their foalhood. But for other parents, it’s a gateway into happiness. However bad your life was before having a foal, you’re given a chance to bring happiness to what is essentially a small piece of you. Now, that doesn’t mean you should have a foal before you’re ready, it’s one of the hardest things a pony can ever choose to do, and one should certainly take all precautions to prevent it from happening before you and your partner is emotionally and financially ready to handle it- Yes, Sweetie Bell?”

The foal had raised her hoof partway through her teacher’s speech, “Um, Miss Cheerilee? I don’t mean to get off topic, but where do foals come from?”

Cheerilee turned pale, “Uh... Um...”  

“Well,” Applebloom chimed in, “Granny Smith says that they pick ‘em out of hollows in apple trees.”

“You feather-brain,” Scootaloo chipped in, “My dad says that foals are made when ponies f-”

“<i>Okayyyyyy Scootaloo</i>!” Cheerilee half screamed, “Let’s drop this subject, shall we?”

“But I was just going to say that foals are made when ponies fall in love...”

“Oh, well... Yes, that is true Sco-”

“and then they do something called ‘sex’, and when I asked my dad what that was he said that it was when-”

The teacher’s already reddish face flushed in a brilliant blush, “Moving on!” Scootaloo tried to continue, but Cheerilee screamed, “MOVING ON!” once more, silencing the filly and the now very confused class. 

The door suddenly swung open. A little lilac unicorn filly rushed into the room and to her seat. In the doorway stood a grey pegasus mare who’s left eye was lolling upwards toward the ceiling, while her left was focused on Cheerilee. “Sorry I’m late, Miss Cheerilee,” the unicorn filly said as she situated herself in her desk at the back of the classroom.

“Oh, that’s quite alright dear,” Cheerilee said with a smile before turning towards Derpy, “I’ve been expecting you!” The fuchsia mare pulled a small basket out from under her desk, “Do you think that you could deliver this to my daughter at the clinic?” 

Derpy happily nodded, “Of course, Miss Cheerilee! It’s no problem!” She took the basket away from the teacher. She noticed that the teacher looked rather embarrassed. Before leaving, she placed the basket on the ground and blew a kiss towards her daughter, who reciprocated it with a hearty wave. She picked the basket back up, and left the way she came.

The teacher cleared her throat and continued the lesson, “Alright, now... Why don’t we all give the class examples of how your parents have made a difference in your lives, and how you’ve tried to return that love to them? Why don’t we start with...? Ah! Diamond Tiara! Why don’t you stand and tell the class about your father and mother?” 

The filly stood up and began with a snobby harrumph, “Well, <i>MY</i> daddy <i>always</i> gets me whatever I want. So I know <i>he</i> loves me. I’m not so sure about my mom, she’s always yammering away at daddy with things like, ‘She doesn’t need another toy,’ or, ‘We’re ruining her. She’s being spoiled rotten,’ and other crazy stuff like that. I’m not spoiled,” Scootaloo rolled her eyes, “Seriously, I’m not. Like my daddy says, I’m just... strong willed.”

Dinky paid the others no attention. She was hard at work on coming up with a few examples to share with the class about her mommy before she was called. When she was finished, she had written out a few sweet lines in her childlike bad-mouthwriting, “My mommy is the greatest mommy in the whole, wide world, maybe even the whole of Equestria! She sings to me, reads to me, and even helps me draw sometimes when I’m having a bad day. I never, ever want to leave her side. I want to bring as much joy into her life as I possibly can, and I know that she wants to do the same for me. I love my mommy. I love my mommy more than anything ever.”

__________________________________________________________________________


The basket’s handle tasted faintly bitter in Derpy’s mouth, and its contents were hidden by a piece of cloth that was tied to both ends of the handle to prevent it from falling off, but from the smells wafting up into her nostrils from the basket she could tell she was delivering Sparkler’s lunch. 

Derpy had opted out of flying to the Clinic, for fear of dropping the present Miss Cheerilee had entrusted her with. She happily cantered down the main street of Ponyville, nodding at passing ponies that happened to greet her. She was sporting a fairly large burlap sack on her back full of letters and gifts to be sent to numerous ponies throughout Ponyville from their friends, distant relatives, and the occasional long-distance colt/fillyfriend. Derpy had been Ponyville’s resident mailpony for as long as she could remember, largely because nopony else wanted to take the measly paycheck. She only made enough bits to keep her and her daughter fed with a bit left over to splurge on toys, but she loved it.

Her eyes were drooping though, and she wore a tired frown. Within the past week, she had probably gotten a total of eighteen hours of sleep. Thankfully, she had not experienced any hallucinations or anything else that might hurt her job, but she was just so <i>tired</i>. She pretended to be at least half-awake for her daughter, but now that she was alone…

The clinic came into view. Its architecture matched the rest of Ponyville’s: large, colorful, and based around whatever its function may be. This building in particular was shaped like a medical cross laid flat on the ground. Cherry-colored wood-paneled walls with an even darker red wood for a brazen contrast to accentuate the exterior decorated the building. The building itself wasn’t very large; there were only twelve rooms inside of it. The entryway led into each of the building’s other rooms, two were reserved for administration, one was reserved for supplies and equipment, five were for regular checkups and such, two were for emergencies, and the last room served as the maternity ward. The clinic had a few doctors and nurses on staff, but mostly relied on volunteers for most of the cleaning and organization. 

Derpy lazily nudged the double doors open and stepped into the hospital’s entry hallway. Her hooves produced loud clunking noises as she cantered across the tiled floor to the registration area in the center of the cross. The receptionist, a pink unicorn mare with a purple mane, cheerfully greeted her when she got closer, “Hey there, Derpy! Come to visit us today, have you?”

“Yeah...” Derpy said lazily after setting the basket down on the counter, “and your mother asked me to give you this, Sparkler.”

“Oh, thanks Derpy!” the unicorn eagerly uncovered the contents of the basket with her magic, revealing a still warm apple pie that Cheerilee had undoubtedly bought at the Apple family’s apple stand that morning. 

“So,” Derpy began lazily, “how’s the exciting life of a nurse?”

“Well, we’re a bit understaffed right now, so I’m filling in for Spring Green as the receptionist today, and it’s <i>boring</i>...” Sparkler chuckled, “but at least I get to greet everypony that comes in. How was Mom today?”  

“She looked like she had her hooves full with handling her students,” Derpy snickered, “I’m still not sure how she managed to raise you and your sister without having a conniption fit!” 

Sparkler finally noticed her friend’s decrepit appearance, “Derpy?” she asked, “Are you sleeping well?”

The grey mare sighed, “That obvious huh?” She nodded, “Yeah, that’s actually my other reason for coming here, I wanted to see if Redheart had some sort of remedy for nightmares or something.” She lowered her head and rested it on the desk, displacing a few of the papers that lined it, “It’s getting so bad that I’m having problems flying straight. I’m worried that I’ll crash into some tree or maybe even a stall on my rounds.”

Sparkler tilted her head, “So, you’re having nightmares huh? Like, how bad are they?”

Derpy snorted. Her good eye turned upward to look at Sparkler while her bad eye floated off to the side, “Bad. Really, really bad. I’m not even sure what they even mean...” she shivered for a second, “They just feel so... real... but every time I wake up, I forget almost everything about them. The only thing that sticks is that they’re horrifying and that I always experience an incredible amount of pain before I wake up.” 

The pink mare’s eyes widened, “Wow... That does sound bad... Heh... Um, well...” Sparkler felt very awkward just hearing about the older mare’s dreams. She cleared her throat, “I’m sure that Ol’ Redheart can help you.” She noticed a mare coming out of a door in the hallway to her left, “And look, here she is!” 

Redheart was a mare with a snow white coat and light pink hair. Her eyes were clear blue, and her flank was adorned with a cutie mark with four red hearts poking out of the corners of the cross. On her head was a nurse’s cap that was emblazoned with her namesake. She was a relatively old mare, well into her forties.

She cantered up to the desk and greeted her friend and co-worker warmly, “Hello Derpy, hello Sparkler, how are you both doing today?” her voice sounded wise, but sweet and youthful. 

“Well,” Sparkler began, “Derpy here was just telling me that she’s been having trouble sleeping.” 

“Not really surprising,” the nurse said, “what with you working so hard lately, though you do look positively tired.”

“Yeah...” the mail-mare sighed, “That’s actually why I came; I was wondering if you knew any remedies for nightmares, anything at all would help.” 

Redheart bit her bottom lip; she could tell that Derpy was absolutely exhausted and was very surprised that the pegasus could even stand, “I... I’m sorry Derpy, but... There’s really nothing we could do beyond prescribe you sleeping pills.”

Derpy shook her head, “I’ve already tried a few... No matter how much I take I wake up just a few hours after I fall asleep... Isn’t there any kind of drug you could give me that’d prevent me from dreaming?”

The nurse shook her head, “I’m sorry, but there’s no drug that can eliminate dreams. Now, you could take a large dose of very powerful sleeping pills, but it would be illegal to prescribe you that strong of a sleep medication unless you had a clear medical reason.” The pegasus’s head drooped, “I suppose you could try asking Zecora...” Derpy raised her head once again in hope, “Oh, but she’d be in the same predicament, I don’t think it’s some sort of disease or curse...” 

“Well,” a bit of venom had slipped into Derpy’s voice, “what else can I do? I can’t take another night of this... I just can’t,” her body sagged in defeat. A wide spectrum of emotions flashed across her face, ranging from frustration and anger to sadness and fear. Her ears drooped down low towards the ground, depressing even her onlookers.   

Before Redheart could answer Sparkler threw in her two cents, “You could go to the library.”

Both the pegasus and the white earth pony turned to look at their unicorn friend, ““What?”” they both said at the same time.

“For some reason, our library has information on subjects you wouldn’t normally find in any other library. If you look there, there’s a chance that you’ll find something about getting rid of nightmares.”

“That’s...” Nurse Redheart gave her co-worker a quizzical look, “how do you know that?”

“Let’s just say that I needed a ton of research on a few <i>very</i> difficult assignments in high school,” she sighed, “I pretty much lived there my senior year...”

For the first time that day since she had left home, Derpy looked energetic, “That might work! Thanks girls!” she turned to go.

“Wait, that’s it?” said a surprised Sparkler, “No pleasant chit-chat? No happy get-together?”

Redheart chuckled, “Let her go, Sparkler. Don’t you want her to feel better?”

“Oh!” Derpy turned back around, she wore a broad grin on her face and her happiness was so great that she could even control her bad eye, “You guys have the night shift tonight, right?” 

Both nurses nodded. “Yep,” Sparkler said with a grin, “another night of fighting off sleep, checking vitals of sleeping patients, and keeping Dr. sleepy-head up.”

“Oh shush,” Redheart berated with a smile.

“Alright! I may come tonight, but I doubt it, so just watch for me, okay? Just in case!” she quickly dashed down the hall and burst through the clinic’s double doors.

“And... there she goes,” Sparkler let out a dry chuckle, “Hope she feels better.”

“Yes...” Redheart frowned, “She’s been through a lot, and she deserves a little happiness.”

“Huh, what do you mean?” she asked as she cut a few pieces out of her pie with a knife that was included in the basket. She floated a pair of Styrofoam plates out from within her desk and placed the two pieces on their respective plates.

“It’s... not my place to say. She’s just had a really hard life.”

“Well, yeah. I kinda remember her telling me about her mom, that sucked.”

Redheart was silent for a long time before saying, “It’s... not just that... she-”

“Oh! Wait!” Derpy’s voice called down from the end of the hall as she ran back with  a package under her wing, “Forgot to drop this off!”

When Derpy reached the pair of ponies, Red Heart took the package from her, “Oh, thank Celestia… We’ve been waiting for these for weeks now, thank you Der-“  The mare had already run back down the hall.

“You’re welcome!”

“And there she goes…  Gotta love her energy,” Sparkler smiled and shook her head before reclaiming her seat behind the counter, “Ah well, back to work, eh Red Heart?”

The old mare smiled and agreed before turning and walking away.

___________________________________________________________________________

‘<i>Alright, Twilight... You’ve stayed up a good eighteen hours attempting to figure out any details about this spell, you deserve a nice, long rest... No... Library duties... need to be done... darn...</i>’ Twilight Sparkle internally debated.

She was sitting at a desk on the lower floor of the library which was located in the center of Ponyville within a very large, hollowed out tree. There were hundreds upon hundreds of old tomes and manuscripts lining the shelves all around the lower floor, bringing to mind a great sense of orderliness.  Yes, the entire library was a cathedral for order, but the area around Twilight’s desk was a mess. Various reference materials littered the floor around her chair and every free space on her desk was crammed with scrolls that were covered in notes. Whole sections of these notes were crossed or scribbled out, as if the mare had been on one train of thought only to find out that it was completely wrong. At the center of this controlled chaos was a fairly large old tome. It was turned to a page that only had one spell on it; it was labeled “Mind Delve”.

The mare herself was slumped over the book. Eyes red with weariness, she sighed in defeat. Her mane was matted and disheveled, and a dried trail of drool could be seen connecting her lip to her chin. She groaned and smacked her head against the table, “Spike!” no answer, “Spike! Please get me some coffee, or maybe a bucket of cold water, something!” Still, she received no answer. “Ugh...” she sighed. 

The purple mare drug herself out of her chair and made her way to the stairs, “Spike? Please... I really need some help.” She trotted up the stairs sluggishly. She could hardly believe that she was still able to walk, let alone stand after the previous all-nighter. The second floor of the library felt more like a living area than a library.  Both of the beds were dressed and made, and the small basket at the foot of Twilight’s bed didn’t look like it had been slept in for a long while. 

“Where…? Oh... Well duh, Twilight...” the mare grimaced. Spike gone to Rarity’s to help her out with a new dress. He had a full day of being used as a pincushion for “the most beautiful unicorn ever” to look forward to. She sighed and plopped down face first on the nearest bed, “Heh... He probably left before Celestia even had a chance to lift the sun an inch off of the ground...” Sleep was flooding her mind, “I’ll rest, and then maybe clean up a bit... Or I could make... breakfast... first...” The mare began to snore softly.

Seconds later, Derpy opened the front door. “Hello?” she said as she crossed the threshold into the messy library. The room smelled of musty, old parchment and fresh ink. “Anypony home?” 

Derpy knew that Celestia’s personal protégée was lodged here, and had met her a few times on her mail route, but she had never taken the time to introduce herself. She seemed nice enough though.

The mare was certainly surprised at how unclean the library was, and guessed that its residential librarian had left. “Huh, I guess nopony’s home...” the pegasus mare sighed. She began glancing over each of the sections of books in the library, reading off a few of the various book titles, “Supernaturals, The World According to Berry Bubble, Ponytheus Unbound, Flown with the Wind, Celestia Shrugged... Ugh... nothing here about dreams...” she plopped down in Twilight’s chair that was situated beside her desk, “I thought this library was supposed to have everyth- Hello... This is interesting...” 

Derpy examined the book that was laid out before her. It was a very average looking book, no embellishments added to the cover, and it even looked newly printed. She rubbed her fore-hoof over the smooth paper and flipped the right side over examine the book’s spine. The title, in very plain lettering, read, <i>Dreams: A Psychological Understanding</i>. 

The mare made a very foal-like squeak in delight as she flipped back to the page that the book was opened to originally and began examining a few of the spells written there, “Alright, useless... Useless... Huh... A Mind Delve spell, huh?” A chill ran up her spine, ‘Wh- what was that?’ she thought before chuckling to herself softly, ‘It is pretty cold in here...’ 

The description was simple. Basically, the spell would allow one to enter their subconscious mind to face or fix whatever that was wrong. Beyond that, there were no other details about the spell. No historical uses, no previous iterations of the spell, nothing. 

Derpy put the book in her mailbag and began searching for a pencil on the desk. When one was located, she bit down on the end and wrote a message on one of the blank pieces of paper stacked neatly in one corner of the desk, ‘Miss Sparkle, I’m sorry that I couldn’t stay to properly check this book out, but I need to get back to my rounds pretty quickly. I need it to solve a nightmare problem I’ve been having. I’ll probably have it back to you by tomorrow evening. Thank you, D. (Hooves) Doo.’ 

She placed the pencil back where she found it and stood up. The mailbag pulled down harder on her back from the weight of the book, and yet the mare eagerly cantered across the room and through the door, bringing with her that accursed tome. 

Upstairs, Twilight still lay in her bed, snoring softly in a calm rhythm. Not even a cataclysmic event could wake her from her deep sleep. “Darkarts... book... Mmmmf... -nd Del-... Pinkie...” she said in her sleep. Even in her dreams she could not escape the questions that plagued her. 

___________________________________________________________________________

Derpy could feel sleep setting in as she flew over Ponyville. The horizon glowed brilliant orange ahead of her, and the sky was clear of clouds. Home was her destination; she had just delivered the last batch from letters to Mayor Mare to the entirety of Ponyville. Election season was coming up, so the mayor thought she might as well start early to bolster her chance at being Mayor again. This increased Derpy’s workload drastically, and her already sleepy state only made the work more tedious and tiring. 

The mail mare’s flying was erratic. Every once in awhile she would dip in altitude or veer off course for a bit, but she would carefully correct her mistake before anything drastic happened. The bag on her shoulder made her journey all the harder, pulling her down periodically and putting pressure on her sore bones. The only things that kept her awake at this point was the ever increasing excitement for getting rid of her dreams, and the anticipation of seeing her daughter again.

Coming home was always the high point of Derpy’s day. No matter what had happened, no matter how much work was thrust upon her over the course of the work day, Derpy’s face would always light up when her daughter greeted her with a smile and a kiss. All fatigue would evaporate from her eyes, and her joints would cease to hurt. Even her bad eye would sometimes cooperate with her directions and focus on the shining ray of light that was her daughter. Dinky was quite literally the apple of her eye.

She coasted down gently to the front door of her house and retrieved a key from a pocket within her mail-bag. She knocked a few times before unlocking and opening the door. “Dinky!” she said excitedly as she peeked her head in, “I’m home!”

The entryway of her house was full of the same dull and muted colors that plagued the rest of her house. A few drab, grayish paintings hung on the walls and the wooden floor had a shaggy rug with brownish-red patterns flowing over it. Dinky was sitting on the rug with a pumpkin-colored crayon hanging out of her mouth. The wooden floor in her immediate area was covered in pieces of paper, each sporting a different, colorful drawing. The brilliance of the colors contrasted heavily with the reserved room’s palate.  

“Mommy!” the filly squeed before running up to her mother excitedly, dropping the crayon in the process. 

Derpy stepped through and shut the door before embracing her daughter with her forehooves. The filly’s fur was soft, like velvet. “Hey, how was my little muffin’s day at school today?” the mare said with a warm smile. 

“Oh!” the filly was practically bouncing, “I got to say some things about you today Mommy!” 

“Really?” Derpy said with a tilt of her head before breaking the hug and nuzzling Dinky’s cheek, “What’d you say?” 


“Well,” Dinky started to think really hard, “I said how much I loved my mommy, I said how good my mommy takes care of me, and how I never want to be away from her!” She followed her list with a peck on her mother’s cheek, “Did I do good, Mommy?” 

The mare’s smile grew wider and wider, “Oh yes, Dinky, you did really, really well.” She sighed happily before saying, “I have the greatest daughter in the whole of Equestria...”

“Well, I have the best mommy who ever lived!” 

__________________________________________________________________________

Derpy’s night dragged on. She cooked a delicious meal for the two of them, played a few board games with her daughter, and even told a story to Dinky before tucking the filly in bed for the night. Before the mare could leave her daughter’s room though, the filly called out to her, “Mommy?”

Derpy smiled and walked back to the bed, strategically maneuvering around the toys that were strewn across the floor, “Yes, Muffin?”

“Do you think that you could... Um...” Derpy signaled for her to continue, “Maybe... you could sing to me, like you did when I was little?”

The mare chuckled, “You’re still little Dinky,” she said sweetly.

“Hey! I’m not that little! I’m a big girl now! But... please?” she looked up at her mother with big, doe eyes.

“Alright,” the mare began, “I’ll sing. What do you want me to sing then?”

“Umm... What was that song you used to sing to me when I small?”

“Uh... <i>The Itsy Bitsy Spider</i>?”

“No! Mommy, the one from when I was <i>really</i> little!”

“Ooooohh... <You Are my Sunshine</i>, that’s the one... Wow, I haven’t sung that in years... You ready?”

The filly nodded, and the mare began.

“<i>You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy,
When skies are grey.
You’ll never know, Dear,
How much I love you...</i>”

The filly’s eyes closed a little bit into the song, and she was already drifting off into a deep sleep.

The smile on Derpy’s face softened a bit as she leaned down to sing the last line.

“<i>Please don’t take my sunshine away</i>...” she kissed her daughter on the cheek, “Good night, Dinky...” The mare crossed the room once more and quietly exited through the door.

The house outside of her daughter’s room was dreary and devoid of life, and Derpy’s room was no different. The bed was a double, but the left side looked as if nopony had ever slept in it since it was bought. No pictures hung on the grey walls, and the only things that sat on the bedside table were a cheap alarm clock and an even cheaper lamp. 

Derpy crossed the room to her bed and plopped down on the thick, itchy quilt that covered the mattress and sighed. She hadn’t sung that song to her daughter in a very long time. She actually remembered singing it to her while standing over Dinky’s cradle when she was <i>really</i> little. The mare smiled and looked over to where the cradle still sat in a corner of her room. It was pretty old-fashioned, but in great condition and repair. She had taken care of it over the years. ‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘Dinky’ll use it to care of her colt or filly... maybe...’

Without covering herself up, the mare drifted into a deep, much-needed sleep...

__________________________________________________________________________

It felt as if her entire being was being launched out of her body as she screamed bloody murder into the night. Her entire body was coated in sweat, and the foot of the bed was covered in what she could only guess was her urine. Now fully awake, she desperately fought to forget the horrors she had just witnessed.  

Derpy began to break down into tears as she felt the remaining shreds of her sanity begin to wane. As her entire body shook from violent sobs, she shook her head, ‘I can’t take it anymore I can’ttakeitanymoreIcan’ttakeitanymoreIcan’ttakeitanymoreICAN’TTAKEITANYMOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRREEEEEEEE!’ She launched herself into the air and literally flew down the hall.

Dinky exited her room just as her mother passed, “Mommy!? Mommy, what’s wrong?!”

As Derpy quickly slipped her mailbag around her neck she spat out a reply between sobs, “M-Mommy’s going out for a bit, Muffin. I-” she had to force a whimper back, “I’ll be back by morning. Stay here and wait for me.” 

Before the filly could answer, Derpy slammed the door and took off into the night sky. Little did she know, Dinky followed her as quickly as her little legs could carry her. She’d never be able to reach her mother’s destination before her, but she could at least find out what was wrong. The filly knew exactly where her mother was headed, and she planned on meeting her there.

___________________________________________________________________________

“The night-shift is so <i>boring</i>!” said a very annoyed Sparkler.

Nurse Redheart just rolled her eyes, “It’s required for every nurse to at least have one night a week where she works double shifts. Besides,” she said with a chuckle before biting into a fresh carrot, “nothing ever really happens at night, so we’re free to have a bit of leisure time.”

The two mares were seated around the reception desk in the main hallway of Ponyville’s hospital. Sparkler had her head situated on a pile of paperwork, and Redheart had her nose in a book. They both snacked on a small pile of carrots that had been left for them by a recent patient of theirs’. Sparkler’s eyes were already drooping from fatigue, but Red Heart didn’t look tired in the least. In fact, she looked positively energetic. 

“I really like this book...” Redheart said absentmindedly as she turned the page with a forehoof. 

“You’ve said so a <i>million</i> times in the past hour alone...” Sparkler said as she raised her head, “What’s it about anyway?”

“Well,” Redheart cleared her throat as she entered into her book-dissection mode, “It’s called <i>I am the Cheese</i>. It’s about a young colt on a quest to find his father, and at the same time about a stallion being interviewed by a therapist. I’ve already read it a few times over though. I definitely recommend reading it, if only for the ending.”

“Whoa, whoa hold up... You’re rereading a book?” 

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Because reading is <i>boring</i>!” Sparkler groaned, “Why would you want to waste time on books?”

Redheart raised an eyebrow, “Waste time? Art is never a waste of time, unless it wasn’t made to teach something in some way, shape, or form. One can learn many things just by opening your mind to new things. Besides,” Red Heart chuckled wisely, “I’d never make it through these night-shifts without them to distract me!”

It was at that moment that Derpy burst through the door directly ahead of them. Her mane was still matted from sleep, her eyes were swollen and bloodshot from tears, and her mail-bag was swung wildly over one shoulder. Her chest was heaving painfully fast as she forcefully sucked down air. 

“Hey!” Sparkler quickly exclaimed, “Derpy, what’re you doing here?”

Redheart had immediately put her book away as soon as the pegasus burst through the door. She quickly thrust herself to her hooves and ran to meet her, “”Derpy! What’s wron-?”

“I can’t take it anymore!” the mare collapsed on the floor in a heap. The stress, the fatigue, and the panic had finally caught up to her after all this time and she couldn’t stand. “It won’t stop! It won’t stop! Dear Celestia please MAKE IT STOP!” The mare broke down into tears as she curled into a ball.

Sparkler stood up and cautiously walked towards her friend, “Um... Derpy? Y-you okay?”

The pegasus sniffed and let out a few more sobs before shaking her head, “No... No I’m not...” She buried her face in her forehooves, “The dreams... They just...” chills ran up and down her spine, “won’t... stop... They never stop... Not even for one night... I can’t think straight anymore... I don’t want to think straight, I just want to sleep... Sleep for more than an hour or two... They keep getting worse... and worse...” her voice became progressively higher, “ and worse and worse and WORSE AND WORSE AND-!” 

“Calm down!” shouted a pained Redheart, “You’re hurting me!”

Derpy realized that she had grabbed on to Redheart’s leg at some point and was now squeezing it in a tight hug. “Oh,” she let go and bit her lip, “sorry... I... I-I don’t know what happened...” Blood flowed back through Redheart’s now numb leg, “Sorry...”

“Hey...” Sparkler leaned down and nudged the mare’s face, “Calm down...” Sparkler softened her tone to comfort the panicked mare, “Now... Did you go to the library, like I suggested?” 

Derpy wiped her snout and sniffed, “Mmhmm...”

“Okay, did you find anything that could help?”

Nurse Redheart had always been impressed with Sparkler’s bedside manner. The normally crass and brazen personality always seemed to shrink and filter away every time she encountered somepony that she knew was in trouble. Redheart couldn’t help smiling as she watched her co-worker comforting one of her dearest friends.

“Y-yeah... Actually,” Derpy stuck her snout into her mailbag and retrieved the brightly colored tome, “I found a spell that I think could work, but I was going to wait till tomorrow before asking for help, but...” she bit her lip and lowered her head.

“Another dream, am I right?” Sparkler asked. Derpy nodded, “Well then, Derpy,” the pink unicorn smiled, “we’ll just have to help you right now. Now, why don’t you show us this spell of yours?”

The two mares helped Derpy to the registration desk and sat her down. Sparkler floated the book over with them and laid it out on the table. “Alright, Derpy, what page is it on?”

Derpy flipped to about half-way through the book and pointed at one of the spells, “Here. This is it.” 

Both nurses quickly read through the small spell, “Is this... hard? Or easy?” asked a fairly confused Redheart.

“Actually, it’s pretty easy,” Sparkler stated in surprise, “I mean, it seems like it’s supposed to put the target in his or her own mind, which is usually a <i>very</i> difficult thing to do, but the way it’s made... It’s like it was made for anypony to be able to use...” Sparkler concentrated and let a bit of energy flow through her horn, “Alright, let’s try-”

“Wait!” Redheart interjected, “Look at this one,” she pointed at a spell on the opposite page. The description said that its purpose was to show the subject’s dreams to the caster, “Wouldn’t it make more sense if we had a diagnosis on her condition before we thrust her into her own sub-conscious?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” Red Heart began, “If we know what she’s going through, we could decide whether or not this would be safe.”

“Huh...” Sparkler let her horn go dark, “when you put it that way-”

“NO!” Derpy staggered to her hooves and moved away from the pair, “Just put me in there! You can’t see them! You can’t!” Her eyes went wild and her breathing sped up once more. Her eyes were wide and her normally lazy eye was pointed straight at her friends.

The two mares stepped away from the desk and attempted to calm her down. “Derpy, it’s fine...” Redheart began.

“We’re not gonna judge you based on your dreams,” Sparkler finished.

“I... you...! Ugh...” she shook her head and plopped down on the floor, “You just can’t see them...” she sighed as she tried to calm herself down, “They feel... real... I can barely remember them, but... I just know that they...” 

“Derpy...” Redheart sat down beside her, “How long have I known you?”

The mare sniffed, “A-about six years...”

“Yes and how long have you known Sparkler here?”

“Two... I think... Maybe three years...”

“Mmhmm, have either of us been critical as to what you’ve thought or what you’ve done in all of that time?”

“No...”

“No. That’s right. Well, you’re worrying about something that isn’t your fault. You didn’t make your dreams.”

“I...” the words got caught in her throat, “I know, but...”

“But no matter what happens, no matter what Sparkler would happen to see in there, I doubt she’d judge you in any way for what she sees. Isn’t that right Sparkler?”

Sparkler smiled warmly as she nodded, “She’s right. Nothing I could see in there could change any opinion I have about you, Derpy. You’re my friend.”

Derpy breathed in and out a few times before relenting, “Alright... I’ll... let you see one... Just ONE though... No more...”

Sparkler smiled and floated the book from the desk, across the room, and up to her face. She studied the dream spell a bit before saying, “Alright, if I cast this it’ll just give me the last dream you had. The one that happened earlier tonight.” She set the book on the floor and sat in front of Derpy, “Now, are you sure you’re ready?”

Derpy started to hyperventilate for a moment before she forced herself to calm down, “I’ll be fine... Just... go. Do it now.” She closed her eyes prepared for the inevitable horror that would ensue. 

“Don’t worry,” Red Heart whispered, “it’ll be fine.”

“Here we go then...” Sparkler said as she filled her horn with magic. She slowly bent her head forward and lightly touched Derpy’s forehea-

___________________________________________________________________________


Within an instant Sparkler was in a different place. Leather straps held her legs and neck down on a very cold sheet of metal. It was pitch-black, and the slab of metal she was laying on was moving. All around her she could hear things breathing heavily as they pushed her along. 

“Hello!?” she said in Derpy’s voice, “What’s happening? I can’t move!”

The sound of un-oiled wheels emanate from below her, a very loud, sharp noise that grated on the mind. Her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. The walls looked like they were tiled, but no matter how hard she tried she could not see the ceiling. She could only make out an outline of the ponies pushing her cart, but she wouldn’t really classify them as ponies. The way their bodies were shaped was odd, almost as if-

The cart stopped abruptly, so abruptly Sparkler could feel gravity pulling on her innards. The mare began breathing very quickly, “Heheh... Guys? This is funny and all... but... Heh, could you all stop for a second, you’ve had your laughs!” She began chuckling nervously, “Guys? Gu-!?”

A very bright light flipped on above her, blinding her momentarily. When her vision righted itself again, she realized she was lying on a hospital gurney. A very sterile, smooth, clean gurney.

The figures were standing beyond the circle of light around her. They sounded like they were conversing, but the words they said were distorted beyond recognition. They didn’t sound like ponies at all. 

She began squirming around, attempting to break free of her bonds. “This isn’t funny anymore, guys! Let me go!”

A very loud buzzing noise came from the abyss above her as a red sign lit up a ways above her. It said, “Operation in Progress”. 

Loud, metallic clanging could be heard from all around her as her captors prepared various instruments. “Hey, HEY! Operation?! Why!? What’s going on!?” she began fighting fiercely; “I’m fi-” she finally looked down at her stomach. It was bloated to a very large size, so large that it looked like the skin was going to rip apart. As soon as she saw it she could feel something moving within her, as if something was fighting violently to get out...

“Ah... AH...!” she began screaming. She just realized that she was in pain, an excruciating amount of pain, and the volume of her screaming matched it. Sparkler began fighting even harder to break her restrains, screaming wildly all the while. 

The figures began moving in towards the light, giving the mare a full view of their horrible visages. Each one had no eyes, just black, bloody, and scabbed over orifices. They had no fur, and it looked as if their skin had begun to rot on their bodies. The place where their cutie marks should be had been ripped off, leaving two large, gaping holes in their sides. Within said holes, Sparkler could see half-rotted meat that was covered in coagulated black blood. Their mouths held no teeth, and their cheeks had been sliced open, letting their jaws hang down to their neck. A few of them looked like they had once had wings or a horn, but in the case of the pegasi their wings had been chopped off, leaving small nubs poking out where they should’ve been, and for the unicorns they had large, gaping holes in their skulls where their horns should’ve been. All of them had various surgical tools in their mouths, each one more sharp or horrifying than the last. 

Sparkler screamed even louder. She could feel herself let go of her bladder and a pool of urine began forming around her lower region. Before she could fight it away, one creature came up quickly to her head and slipped a metallic ring around the top of her skull and chin. Before she could pull her tongue back in, the creature tightened the instrument, forcing her to squeeze her mouth shut very quickly. The mares severed tongue fell down onto her chest, and her mouth filled with blood within a few seconds. Her mind screamed in agony.

The mare fought even harder, but the creatures came up to her sides and forced her to hold still. Their skin felt cold. Their skin felt dead.

Tears and snot began streaming down her face, mixing with the blood that came from her now severed tongue. A few trails of blood filtered out through her lips to follow. The thing in her began fighting even harder to get out, and she could now see an outline of it within the bloated skin.

An ex-unicorn creature approached the gurney holding a large, rusty knife and a couple others followed suit holding clamps. Sparkler began to shake her head violently in protest. The poor mare didn’t have a coherent thought within her head.

The ex-unicorn violently stabbed the knife into her stomach, piercing more than just a few vital organs, and began to saw her chest open. A creature untied her head and lifted it up so that she could see. The inside of her body was just as rotted and bloody as her captors’. The blood flowing from her abdomen was black. She could see every slow motion of the knife as it slid up, and down, up, and down, until it reached her pelvis. The ex-unicorn stabbed the knife into the mare’s leg while his two assistants helped pull her skin apart and place clamps down. Another creature approached from the side and reached two cold, hard hooves into her abdomen, clearly trying to fish the parasite out of Sparkler’s body.

After a few agonizing minutes, it finally worked the being free and yanked it out. She could see that the ‘foal’ wasn’t formed completely. It itself was large, but two of its legs were smaller than they should have been and its head was bent inwards, curving the creature’s eyes in weird angles. The ‘foal’s skin was blackened by the dark blood it grew in. Its left eye was pitch black, and its right eye had somehow been smashed within the womb; black ichor and chunks of the under-developed eye dripped from its small socket.  The ‘foal’ immediately began screaming and hollering in a distorted, unrealistic tone, so loud that Sparkler’s ears began to ring. 

Just a moment after its ‘birth’, the ‘foal’ was snatched away by each of the creatures. All of them were fighting for a piece of the child. Loud screaming and grunting echoed throughout the room as they desperately tried to pull the ‘foal’s body apart. After a few attempts, a couple of the larger ones succeeded in ripping off one of the more formed legs. Another pulled off an underdeveloped leg. Finally, the ‘foal’ let out one more ear-splitting cry as the head beast managed to tear the being’s deformed head clean off. Black blood and shredded pieces of the ‘foal’s body flew all over Sparkler’s body, but before she could register this fact a large group of the creatures swarmed around her and began gnawing at her body. Flesh was ripped away violently as she tried desperately to scream in pain, but the vice wouldn’t let her. Blood pumped even more furiously from her severed tongue and flooded down her throat. She drowned in her own blood just as one of the creatures began chewing up her lungs...

___________________________________________________________________________

Sparkler began vomiting up the entire contents of her stomach onto the sterile hospital floor beside Derpy and Redheart. Tears flowed down her face freely as she sobbed between retches. 

“Sparkler!” Redheart leaped to her hooves and began trying to comfort the young mare, “Oh, dear Celestia, what in the Heck did you see?” 

Derpy just shook her head, “I told you two...”

Sparkler bellowed in pain and fear. Unlike Derpy, she could still remember every minute detail about the dream. There was no filtering system when it came to that dream spell, you <i>experienced</i> the dream. Every facet of her experience was engraved in her memory, and it took its toll.

“<i>I TOLD YOU!</i>” Derpy cried angrily, “It’s like that <i>every, single, night</i>! I told you both that it was too horrible to see!” 

“Come on,” Redheart said as she tried to help Sparkler to her hooves, “let’s get you to the desk, we’ll help Derpy tomorrow-” 

“No...” Sparkler said before letting out a violent sob, “I’m helping her now...”

“”What?”” both of the other mares exclaimed at the same time.

“Nopony, should <i>EVER</i> have to go through that... It’s... It’s...” she broke down into sobs again and grabbed Derpy around the neck with her forehooves. “I’m going to do it now... I’m not gonna let you see another one of those... Oh sweet Celestia, what the Hell <i>WAS</i> that!?” 

“I... I don’t know...” Derpy whispered before giving her friend a sad smile, “Thank you...”

When Sparkler broke the hug Nurse Red Heart knelt down beside them, “Well, I’ll be here for you both. Just...” she swallowed, “be careful...” 

Both mares nodded, Sparkler lit her horn up again, and placed it to Derpy’s forehead...

___________________________________________________________________________

Twilight Sparkle finally woke up from her very long power-nap. Her hair was matted in odd angles, but she felt very refreshed. “Spike?” she said as she lowered herself off of the bed, “You here yet?” She descended the staircase and looked around the bottom floor of the library, “Guess not... Huh...” 

She calmly sat down at her desk ad sighed, “Well, back to beating my head against a brick wa- Where’s the book?” She had just noticed that her copy of <i>Dreams: A Psychological Study</i> was missing. This was followed by a frantic search for it around her desk. ‘Where is it where is it where is it... Wait, what’s this?’ 

She had found Derpy’s letter for her, and had gotten through about half of it before she heard a knock at her door. “Uh, come on in! We’re open!” she said without turning around.

The door opened, revealing a very tired, very depressed Derpy Hooves framed by a bright, sunny day. Over her shoulder was her mail-bag, weighted down by a familiar object. She quickly cantered up to Twilight’s desk, pulled the book from her bag, and plopped it down on the table beside Twilight.

“Wha? Oh! Oh, hey, Derpy! Um...” she turned and noticed that Derpy didn’t look too good. The pegasus’s face was downcast, and her bad eye was pointed downwards. 

“Sorry... I just wanted to borrow it for a bit... I-” she stopped herself, “I’m done with it... I fixed what needed fixing...” she turned to leave.

“Wait!” Derpy stopped, “Did... did you use a spell from the book?” 

Derpy silently and slowly nodded.

“W-what was it? Was it something called a <i>Mind Delve</i>?”

Without answering, Derpy crossed the remaining portion of the room and exited the library.

‘<i>Hollow... I just feel...</i>’ Derpy thought as she closed the door, ‘<i>hollow... There’s no going back... I need to see them... See them, one last time...</i>’