Fluttershy gazed up at the building before her. The familiar sight of the Ponyville Library stood before her. With its rich oaks and verdant greens. The building had always been a safe place for her. It was always the meet-up, the place where even if eternal night threatened its reign or chaos devoured the world you could come here and sort it out. Plus it housed Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's personal student. With her at the helm Fluttershy never felt the mortal danger she would feel without her. These qualities however turned on Fluttershy today. The feeling of safety had turned to trepidation. The once inviting entry way now screamed danger. Fluttershy considered turning back. It would be so simple. But then she would never know would she? Maybe it was that. Maybe she feared knowing. What if these dreams were repressed memories? Or what if they were a harbinger of a great evil? What if she was just going crazy? With time, she knew she had to keep going. One way or another she was going to find out, so best do it on her terms. So with great anxiety Fluttershy tapped the door for entry.
No answer. Maybe, a little stronger. Fluttershy gave the door a dainty knock.
This worked better. Where there was once nothing, now the tell-tale tapping of Spike's claws could be heard from within. The door opened inward to reveal a small drake.
This was a mistake. As soon as Spike opened the door Fluttershy's fears redoubled. This wasn't just her anxiety playing up either. She had to tell Spike, and probably Twilight about her dream. Which seemed so... wrong. She couldn't tell them yet, every fiber of her being shriveled from the thought of it. No, she won't tell them, not yet. If something really bad came up, then she would tell them. Yes this seemed good.
"Uh, Fluttershy? Earth to Flutters!" Oh right, she should probably acknowledge the drake.
"Oh, uh s- sorry Spike, I was... distracted" Thankfully Fluttershy's usual demeanor hid her nervousness.
"You, ah, alright there Flutters. You're acting weirder than usual." Or not.
A third voice broke the awkward silence "Spike! That's no way to talk to others!" Twilight made her way to the door, no doubt to scold Spike on his behavior. This made things only feel more awkward for Fluttershy. Maybe she shouldn't have come here after all.
Fluttershy didn't pay attention for the next minute or so. Twilight was lecturing Spike about something. Giving Fluttershy precious time to breathe and reflect on this shockingly gripping experience. Why didn't she want to tell anybody about her dream? There was that feeling, at her core, telling her to keep the dreams contents secret. But why did she feel this feeling in the first place. It didn't feel... natural. Maybe she should tell them. Go against-
"So, Fluttershy, what can I do for you?" Fluttershy's internal rebellion withered under Twilight's friendly yet questioning gaze. How could she possibly tell them? they would think she's crazy!
"Oh, well... I was hoping that, uh, maybe I c-could- c-come in and-" Fluttershy's next words never came out. Twilight's unwavering attention plus her already frayed nerves meant that any hope of conversation was gone.
Twilight was exasperated. "Look, just come in Fluttershy, we'll talk about it there." Fluttershy was greatful for this break. She did notice however, Spike giving Twilight a rather pointed look. Obviously not happy with Twilight's brevity. Fluttershy wasn't going to complain however. She walked inside without a word. Not giving Spike a chance to retort.
Now inside the library Fluttershy took a brief moment to calm down. The combination of social anxiety and her trepidation from this dream had become to much to bear. She closed her eyes and breathed. Only for a second. But enough for Twilight to notice.
"You alright Fluttershy, you seem nervous." Fluttershy heard the words from behind her, Twilight taking a sympathetic tone. Fluttershy gathered her mettle and responded.
"I'm f-fine, thank you." It wasn't technically a lie, compared to earlier she did feels leagues better. Still Twilight wasn't satisfied.
"Do you wan't me to make some tea?" That did sound quite nice.
"Yes, please" Fluttershy heard Twilight trot off behind her, into the kitchen no doubt. Leaving Fluttershy alone in the main reading room. The room was as she remembered. Massive, for a building like this. With books lining every wall, crack and crevice. There was a central table, with a bust of some unicorn of another in the center. It is here, Fluttershy reasoned, that she may find her answers. This stirred her anxieties again. Fluttershy's head drooped. Why did this have to be so difficult. It should be just a dream. She hoped at any rate.
It was then she noticed Spike looking at her with intent. "Hey, uh, Flutters, sorry I called you weird earlier" The drake had an arm behind his head. A symbol of bashfulness.
Fluttershy realized that her body language might have conveyed the wrong message. "Don't worry Spike, i'm not upset with you" Fluttershy forced a small smile.
It seemed to work. Spike smiled back. "So, we cool?" Spike offered a claw for a hoof shake. A more genuine smile creased Fluttershy's lips.
"Yes, we're... cool" Fluttershy returned the hoof shake causing both to giggle slightly. Fluttershy was glad she had this conversation, at least until she remembered why she was here in the first place. Fluttershy waited for spike to leave sight before allowing her head to droop again with a sigh. She really didn't like this, hopefully the dreams mean nothing and she can go on with her life. Wishful thinking she suspected.
"I assume Spike has apologized?" Twilight's voice cut through Fluttershy's brooding. Fluttershy looked up to find Twilight trotting towards her. Two cups of tea trailed lazily behind her.
Fluttershy breathed in "Y-yes he has" Fluttershy's anxieties seemed to worsen around Twilight in particular. Something that Twilight herself noticed.
Twilight sighed inwardly and floated a tea cup to Fluttershy, who gracefully accepted "Well I'm glad to hear that. That Drake has got to learn some manners."
Fluttershy merely nodded in response as her attention was fully drawn to her tea. The aromatic fluid beckoned to her, and she gladly accepted it. It wasn't the best tea she had ever had, but at that moment it was perfect. The tea soothed her nerves and put her worries to rest. They were still there pf course, bubbling under the surface, however she needed this respite. Fluttershy addressed Twilight, feeling the best she had all day.
"Sorry I was acting so nervous earlier." Fluttershy figured getting to the point was the best course of action. She took another sip from her tea as Twilight responded.
"Oh it's fine Fluttershy, really." Fluttershy did feel a bit silly now, really why did she allow herself to get so wound up?
"But..." Fluttershy looked up at Twilight. "I am curious why were you so nervous in the first place?" The question that Fluttershy was dreading. It was a strange paradox. Fluttershy was nervous because she was afraid of Twilight asking why. Fluttershy needed an excuse. Quickly. Think.
"Well... I, uh, was nervous because there was... someone in the town." Fluttershy had done it now, Fluttershy prepared to elaborate.
Twilight put her cup down. "Someone in town?" She pondered for a moment. "Who? Why would they make you nervous?" She leaned in. "Are you scared of them?" That gave Fluttershy something to work with. She made a small nod. Squeezing her eyes for added effect.
It worked. Twilight's tone rose. "Well, whoever they are i'll give them a piece of my mind!" Oh good, now Fluttershy would have to give a name.
Or did she? Fluttershy acted scared, not something hard for her. "No!... uh, please don't. Just don't let them know i'm here." There, hopefully that would deter Twilight seeking vengeance in her stead.
"But Fluttershy! You can't just live in fear like this!" Twilight rose to her hooves, wanting to make a stand. "I say you should go out there and show them who's boss yourself!" A cheer could be heard from upstairs, no doubt Spike eavesdropping on the conversation Fluttershy reasoned.
Fluttershy's acting skills were being put to the test here. Fluttershy tenderly grabbed Twilight's hoof. Who had it raised in no doubt indignant rage. With infinite grace Fluttershy lowered the hoof down and put it to her chest. Fluttershy looked Twilight deep in the eyes. "Please Twilight just... leave it be." Fluttershy let the silence reign. "For me.". This was Fluttershy's ace in the hole. Twilight let her body soften for a moment, then looked back to Fluttershy.
Twilight sucked in a breath. Then, barely above a whisper. "Alright." Fluttershy was relieved. Hopefully she would leave the issue.
"But! This won't be the last of this conversation." Well, there went Fluttershy's hope that this mess could be sorted out nice and easy. Maybe she could get to reading now? That tea wasn't finished either.
"One last thing." Fluttershy gulped, hopefully Twilight didn't notice. "Why did you come here in the first place?" Fluttershy smiled a rare genuine smile.
"Well, I wanted to read." Didn't even have to lie this time.
Twilight gently laughed at this. "Of course" She said off offhandedly. "Well, if you need anything, or if you wanna talk about anything" Twilight gave Fluttershy a pointed look. "you know where to find me." With that Twilight retreated down stairs, tea in tow, to her secret laboratory to do Celestia knows.
Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. The talking was over, and with that Fluttershy realized her stupidity. Why in Tartarus did she lie to Twilight like that? She could have come up with literally any other excuse and it would have been fine. But no, now Twilight was going to be hounding her about her stupid story. Fluttershy gave the center table a light kick in rage, a rare sight from the pony. It was worse than that though, Fluttershy thought. she had lied to Twilight, her friend.
Was this really who she was? someone who would lie and manipulate others just to get their way? She wasn't even sure why she felt the need to lie in the first place. Fluttershy breathed a weary sigh. Honestly she should have stayed home today. Oh well. With her internal conflict resolutely not solved, she made her way to the bookshelves. Thinking about the books reminded Fluttershy of her mission, and with that the dread that came with it. Fluttershy took another sip of her tea. It kept the dread at bay. at least, a little bit. Enough at the very least to let her do her work. Fluttershy took a deep breath and began browsing Twilight's selection.
It swiftly dawned on Fluttershy that she didn't have a clue what she was actually looking for. She had been following the advice of a rabbit after all. Fluttershy gave it some thought. It was a strange dream, so logically dreams seemed like the best place to start looking. Unfortunately Fluttershy hadn't the foggiest on Twilight's organization system. It wasn't a nice and simple A through Z affair. No, it had numbers and decimals and all sorts. Fluttershy's blind searching was getting nowhere, and fast. A quick look around the room solved this problem. On the center table sat a book, huge and arcane looking in origin. It bared no title, but Fluttershy had suspicions about its contents. A quick leaf through proved her right. It was the table of contents, as it were. This book should make the rest of this place more understandable. It was even nice and alphabetical, which Fluttershy found to be a relief. Now then D section. Dreams, dreams dreams. There were three books that seemed to be noteworthy. 'Dr. Shack's Easy Guide to Dreams and Their Meaning', 'A Systematic Review On The Origin of Dreams' and lastly 'The Darkest Dream'. Without any recourse, Fluttershy got stuck in.
It started off with Dr. Shack's book. What with it being the most direct. First impressions showed a thick, well-worn green book with a fanciful depiction of a pony resting easy on the front cover. First impressions were good, however this good will quickly faded. First of all it didn't talk much about nightmares specifically and what it did have wasn't exactly breaking new ground. Running in the dream means that you're running from problems in your life. Useful. The elementary book was discarded, daintily, for the next.
While the first book left Fluttershy underwhelmed, this one was completely impenetrable. It was a thin thing, With a simple brown cover, bearing no image. Once inside the book went on about hypothesizes, validity, p-values and other things Fluttershy didn't know about and didn't care to know about. With it being so illegible she put it with 'Dr. Shack'. Hopefully the darkest dream was better.
It wasn't of course. Honestly Fluttershy was surprised this was in Twilight's library. It was a surprisingly pristine book, thin, with a dark purple cover. An image on the front showed Luna's cutie-mark. This book seemed to house conspiracy theories. They were pretty absurd. Apparently Luna is still Nightmare Moon, but just in disguise. Oh and she's brainwashed Celestia and the Element Bearers into becoming her unwitting pawns. While Fluttershy was sure that the book was good for a laugh, really not what she was looking for right now. Off it went with the others.
Fluttershy looked to her small stack of books. How did Twilight do this all day? it had only been three books and already she was feeling tired. Fluttershy glanced up to the Bookshelf. It's size was so much more intimidating now, now that she had to actually use it all. What if she never found the right book? What if she did find the right book but missed the important part. What if she did find out the truth. Her nerves were playing up again. Another swig from her tea dulled the feelings for now. Her cup was empty. A good enough excuse as any to stop. However this excuse didn't last. She found herself back at her spot with her cup unfortunately filled. Maybe she could try nightmare this time. Fluttershy sighed, this was going to take a while.
---0---
The hours flew by. Not because the work was fun, far from it. But because of strong determination to learn from this damn dream. It was funny really. When Fluttershy had started out she was scared to know, the dream could mean anything after all. But now that she was actively pursuing it, that dread gave way to curiosity. A desperate curiosity. Whatever this dream meant, even if it was evil, she had to know. She had skimmed many different sources now. From textbooks to grimoires to novels. None of them were useful. There seemed to be no information at all on her dream. Maybe that was why she was so desperate to know. There was an air of mystique around this dream now. While she had suspected it for a while this all but confirmed it. This reoccurring dream of hers, this was no ordinary dream. This was something special. Honestly who wouldn't be desperate to know?
Due to the depth of her research Fluttershy failed to notice Twilight making a return from the lab. Her face quizzical as she approached Fluttershy. Gently, Twilight tapped Fluttershy on the shoulder.
In a very uncharacteristic move Fluttershy proceeded to jump three feet in the air. Screaming the whole time. Fluttershy looked around, readjusting to where she was. Fluttershy's face began to redden in direct proportion to her understanding of what happened. Which Twilight, based off of what Fluttershy understood, saw as hilarious. Twilight rolled around the floor, there were tears. Fluttershy didn't know how to respond. So she didn't.
After a time Twilight did compose herself, mainly once Spike came down to see what the whole deal was. Didn't want to seem too childish after. Twilight then addressed Fluttershy. "I might have spent too much time with Rainbow, I think." Fluttershy, too embarrassed to respond, agreed silently.
Twilight then a sheepish look to Spike. Which gave him a very smug grin, as he returned to his duties. With the moment over Fluttershy got nervous, Twilight seemed to be interested in the pile of books she discarded. She didn't like Twilight knowing what she was up to. For reasons still unknown to her.
Twilight spoke first. "So what have you been reading anyways?" Damn, Fluttershy didn't want to lie to Twilight anymore than she already had, however it seemed she had few choices. Saying that however, there didn't seem an easy way out of this one. Those titles were quite succinct.
"Oh, just some stuff about a dream" A beat. "Nothing important". Fluttershy suspected that wasn't terribly convincing. Looking at Twilight seemed to further that theory.
"Not important enough to spend hours reading on it?" Fluttershy hadn't been keeping track of the time. A look out the window revealed she had been here far longer than she thought. Judging from the sun it seemed to be mid-afternoon. Definitely longer than she thought.
Fluttershy laughed nervously. "I, uh, lost track of time." Fluttershy really wished she had thought of something cleverer. Fluttershy could tell that Twilight wasn't buying that.
Thankfully though Twilight didn't push the issue either. Her expression softened. "Don't forget Fluttershy, if you want to talk about it I'll be here." Did she get the wrong idea? Hopefully, it would make things much easier. Fluttershy looked down, conveying to Twilight that she didn't want to talk about it.
At that time, Fluttershy's digestive system made itself known. Fluttershy blushed. Maybe she should take a break, she had been here for quite literally hours after all. Fluttershy addressed Twilight who had turned to leave. "Um, you wouldn't mind some lunch... maybe?" Twilight turned and smiled.
"I'd love that."
---0---
Lunch was surprising uneventful. Fluttershy had expected to have been pushed into talking about her research or her lie or anything really. But it seemed that Twilight left the issue. Fluttershy respected Twilight for that. While her 'scary pony' was fabricated, she was glad that Twilight had learned the tact to leave the issue. She suspected that it wouldn't last however. Twilight was curious by nature, she wouldn't just leave the problem forever. Maybe she could say the pony had left Ponyville and avoid the problem entirely, but that seemed to convenient. Plus, Twilight was probably wondering about her dream research also. She could tie that in with the scary pony, but how. Fluttershy returned to her reading spot absorbed by these questions.
The books had piled high now. What started at three books had ballooned to approximately twenty maybe thirty. Yet still, none were any help. Nothing came close even. The whole thing was turning out to be a huge bust, she reasoned. Maybe she should just give up now, that ravenous appetite for knowing still burned within her, but this was hopeless. She could just come back tomorrow anyways, the books weren't going anywhere. It was a very tough decision, she really did want to know after all. Yet she knew she couldn't stay. She wasn't Twilight, she needed rest from reading. She felt a noticeable headache now that she wasn't focused on anything. Plus critters needed feeding.
Path set Fluttershy got back up from her spot. She neatly placed all of the books back in the respective places, to the best of her ability. She still wished she could have learned sooner. As Fluttershy headed for the exit, she saw a book plop on the floor through the mail hole. It was intriguing, mail usually doesn't run at this time of day. Curious Fluttershy picked on the book she saw the royal seal on the top of a bow encasing the book. There appeared to be a card placed between the bow and the book. This clearly wasn't her business. Fluttershy went to go put it on Twilight's reading table. While doing so Fluttershy idly flipped the book over. This made her stop dead.
The cover depicted an old gnarled tree. Same as the ones she saw in her dreams. It was crazy, she didn't even remember her dreams outside the premise and yet she knew with full confidence this was the same tree. Fluttershy frantically looked around the room, no one was here. Spike was upstairs, probably reading and Twilight was downstairs, probably researching. It would be so simple to take. This sparked a raging internal debate. She had already lied to Twilight and now she was going to steal from her!? Yet, she knew, at her core, that her answers would lie here. Lying was one thing, but theft! that's an offense. She would lose her friends and go to prison, probably forever! Fluttershy sucked in a deep breath, placed the book on the bench and went for the door.
But stopped. She would never know. If she didn't do this right now she would never, ever know what these dreams meant. What if they tormented her forever? What if she went crazy. She turned around. Was she really going to do this. Cheat her friend Twilight, who she had known for so long now? Just for a damn book. But she knew, it was no ordinary book. If she didn't do this now she would never get another chance. Twilight likely doesn't even know that it has arrived, she would probably think it lost in shipping. Fluttershy took a step toward the book. There was a royal seal on that book. And stopped. If she took it, she could be banished! or worse. Then again, that added to the tension. If the only booked with anything related to her dream had the royal seal, it must be important, huge even. Another step forward. She was standing over it now. A voice cut through the air.
"Hey, Flutters!" Spike yelled, from the other room.
Fluttershy jumped again. She didn't blush this time. "Y-yes?"
"Can ya, check if anythings come through the mail at all?" Fluttershy looked down to the book. "Twilight said a book was supposed to come through today."
There was a prolonged pause. This was it, was Fluttershy about to risk it all, fail her friend and even the princesses for her own sake. She thought back to her dream, it was terrifying each time. Nothing made sense. She would wake up in a sweat each time. She thought about today. How desperately she wanted to know. The feeling hadn't subsided she realized, it had intensified. Fluttershy gulped out a response.
"N-no, no, I d-don't see anything." Fluttershy hoped she chose right.
Spike shortly responded. "Alright, keep your eyes peeled if anything else comes through, hey Flutters."
There was no response.