It seemed like at least an hour had passed before Fluttershy felt she could stand. The sun hadn't moved from its position in the sky, and it still seemed like mid-morning or perhaps early afternoon within the meadow. While she could feel what seemed like the passage of time, the dream was insisting that this was a frozen moment. It was both comforting and harrowing to know that despite what felt like hours or even days had passed within this dreamscape, it seemed to be only moments if not minutes.
Still, if she could just figure out how to wake up, then she would be safe and sound back in the real world where crazy nightmares didn't happen and she could enjoy the flowers and the bees and the birds without being bothered by anypony. At least now there weren't any storms to contend with, no fear to choke down and certainly no ponies putting all this pressure on her. That lifted a rather large weight from her shoulders as Fluttershy realized she was safely alone again. It was a comfort to her, and she found herself smiling.
Moving slowly and carefully, Fluttershy tried to remember how she'd gotten into this dream in the first place. Aside from a hazy feeling of falling in slow motion, she couldn't tell when the dream had began. Well, that wasn't really an avenue to explore, but it did give her an idea. She would have to try flying, or falling, and that would undoubtedly wake her up. Determination filled her, fueling her aching limbs since Fluttershy was keen on returning to the land of the waking.
"Here goes nothing!" she said to herself, and with a flare of her wings she took off for the sky. Sunshine beat down on her body, but it wasn't an unpleasant sensation. Up, up, higher and higher she flew like Icarus kissing his fate. Fluttershy hoped that this would do the trick, but it seemed not to be the case. Undeterred, she stopped flapping her wings and allowed herself to begin tumbling to the earth far below.
Fear and adrenaline pumped through her body as the ground rushed up to meet her, and just before impact her eyes snapped open within the real world. Her relief was palpable, and she nearly kissed the actual grass around her just to confirm that this was reality once more. As her heartbeat returned to normal levels after all the chaos that had ensued from her dream, Fluttershy managed to look around.
She was still lying in the shade beneath a tree, birds singing joyfully in the branches while her animal friends frolicked nearby in the sanctuary. Everything was peaceful, and the day itself seemed perfect. Nothing was amiss from her quite adventurous nap, which Fluttershy was grateful for. Slowly getting to her hooves, she then made her way over to the stream for some much-needed water as her fright had left her parched.
Princess Luna made her way out of the trees then, stopping some feet away. "I'm proud of you, Fluttershy," she said warmly. "You have conquered a great fear and shown thy strength is greater than you know."
Fluttershy lifted her head from the water, turned and curtsied. "Oh thank you princess," she replied. "And thank you for all your help."
With a bow of her head, Princess Luna beamed at the little pony before flying off to get some desperately needed rest in the castle for the day. Her job here was done, and just in time too for a little friendship lesson about inner strength. Fluttershy took to writing about it in the book, happily describing the events as they had unfolded to her animal friends during tea time. It was an unexpected adventure, but one she treasured all the same.