//------------------------------// // Chapter 68: The Most Terrifying Pony Alive // Story: Marshmallow Dreams // by Halira //------------------------------// We sat waiting for the receptionist to review the paperwork. Me, Sunflower, and Blanche in the lobby chairs, and Phobia Remedy sat on the other side of the room—I was pretty sure she was napping. I had tried reading all the forms, but they started to all blend together after a while. I got the gist of it after the first few pages. The clinic claimed no responsibility if I was injured, maimed, experienced severe mental or emotional trauma, burned, driven insane, or died. On the bright side, I wouldn't be billed for any damage I did while in a panic or trying to defend myself. At least I didn't have to worry about asking my mom to pay any fines for me again.  The silence while waiting was too much for me, so I turned towards Blanche with a big grin. "Hey, my best friend shares a bathroom with you. She said you were not too happy this morning," I said.  Blanche went wide-eyed. "She knows about me?" "Well, she didn't know until today," I replied. "She says she heard you crying, went to check on you, and your roommate slammed the bathroom door in her face. She left her room to get some air and ran into us and told us about it. We suspected it at that point, but we didn't know for sure until S-B told us. She will keep your secret. She knew about me before today but just found out about Sunflower." She looked down at the ground. "I am sorry about that. Yolanda gets very protective. I wish Yolanda had been able to come along. I feel safer with her about." "I feel safer with Ashley watching me too," Sunflower said in a sad tone. "It seems like whatever this is, it is going to be bad. I wish Ashley were here." I shrugged. "I'm not sure any of them could help. Phobia Remedy said that her bodyguards wouldn't be of use. She makes this trip here every week and is letting us do it, so it can't be that dangerous." "The forms we just signed say otherwise," Sunflower said with a grimace.  "They wouldn't let Phobia Remedy in if it were dangerous," I insisted.  Blanche looked over at the Dreamwarden, who was snoozing. "They said it was not dangerous to her, but implied to dangerous to us. There's only one thing that could mean, mind magic. Dreamwardens are immune to it, but we aren't." Sunflower looked confused. "But aren't they supposed to punish ponies that abuse mind magic?" Blanche nodded. "Yes, but remember what they said. This is a clinic, and the people here cannot control their magic. This Moses pony is not using his magic on purpose. Are they going to punish someone for something they have no control over? They can sever the ability to do mind magic, but it isn't like them giving or taking away dreamwalking; it can damage the mind. It is not something that is done lightly. They aren't doing justice by doing that, not with someone who doesn't intentionally do people harm. It is punishing a victim." "I suppose," I replied. "I still wish they would warn us what exactly he does. Mind magic covers a lot of stuff." "Whatever it is, it's bad enough for the receptionist to treat him like a literal demon," Sunflower whispered with a pointed look at the receptionist.  A door next to the receptionist's desk opened, and a human man in a white doctor's coat stepped out. He glanced at us, then the sleeping form of Phobia Remedy. He then turned and leaned in close to the receptionist to whisper, low enough I couldn't hear it. They whispered for about thirty seconds before he straightened up and smiled at us. "Hello, I am Director Falon. I am in charge of this facility. I am ready to escort you in once we wake the Dreamwarden and monitor your stay by camera. For staff safety purposes, they will not be available for the duration of your meeting with Moses. For your safety, please follow the Dreamwarden's instructions to the letter, and please be kind and respectful to our patient and his caregiver. Try not to upset him; it gets worse if he gets agitated and impacts a larger area. If he is calm and you need to escape the impact of being near him, get at least twelve feet away. If he is upset, you need to go further away. This door will remain unlocked on the other side for you to escape. I know it is difficult, but try not to run if you need to leave. It upsets him." He had a caregiver? Was he sick? At least it meant someone other than Phobia Remedy could stand to be around him.  "You can't tell us exactly what he may do?" Blanche asked.  Falon shook his head. "Patient confidentiality rules may seem to be counterintuitive at times. I can tell you safety precautions to take, but I can't tell you the full nature of what he can do. Privacy rules do not cover safety precautions, but the nature of his magic is protected. I don't make the rules; I simply enforce them." "And rules and regulations are important." We all looked to see Phobia Remedy was awake and walking over to us. "They don't just protect; they give the world some measure of predictability, and with predictability comes comfort and a sense of security. Chaos and unpredictability are very frightening. Sometimes people don't like rules, but they have to follow them anyway." Falon kept his expression blank, which made me think he had a lot to say that he wasn't going to say because it would get him in deep doo-doo. He instead nodded to Phobia Remedy. "Are you ready, Madam Dreamwarden?" "I'm ready," Phobia Remedy replied. "You don't need to lead the way. There is no rule requiring it, and I know you are eager to head to your safe room." My senses were tingling, and my senses said there was hostility here. I wondered why the doctor and Phobia Remedy didn't seem to like each other.  "As you wish, Madam Dreamwarden," Falon replied. He then went back out the door and held it open for us.  We all walked through with Phobia Remedy bringing up the rear. As soon as she was through, Director Falon stormed off, leaving us standing in a nature-filled courtyard about the size of Walgreens with stone benches, a few scattered trees, and walls on four sides—no bushes. A few tables were set up with seats, one with a pair of unicorn colts sitting at it playing checkers and a nervous-looking crystal pony stallion standing near them. I listened to their conversation as Phobia Remedy led us past them. "Hurry up, the Dreamwarden is here," the stallion said to the colts.  One of the colts looked at us, then back to the game. "Music isn't playing yet. We have time to do a few more turns." "You know Ulga and Moses will be down here soon if she's in the building," the crystal pony pleaded. "Everyone else has gone to their rooms. Please, you can come back to the game after Moses's hour is complete. It isn't going anywhere." "You could just run off now if you are so worried," the second colt suggested as he lit his horn and moved a piece. "We can make it back to our rooms by ourselves." The stallion gave a half-hearted stomp. "You know I can't leave patients unattended!" I didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation because Phobia remedy led us through another set of doors going back into the building on the opposite side of the courtyard. We were now in a long hall that ended with an elevator. All the doors to either side were closed, and the only thing else to see was there was an opening for a service desk or something halfway down the hall. Phobia Remedy just calmly led us down the hall.  "Why did the doctor guy not like you?" Sunflower asked her as we walked.  "It is a personal issue between him and me," Phobia Remedy answered. "One that I, unfortunately, had to settle by going to his superiors and have them make clear to him how it was going to be if he wanted to keep his job. You need not concern yourself with it." We passed by the desk with the open window and saw a human scrambling to get some last-minute tasks done. When she saw the Dreamwarden, she squeaked and somehow became even more frantic to finish what she was doing. Phobia Remedy ignored her and kept on walking.  Music started to play over, What a Wonderful World—the original version from Louis Armstrong. It felt strangely out of place with the tension all these staff people were showing.  I gave a startled jump, as did Blanche and Sunflower,  as the desk window slammed shut. We heard the closest door to it lock. Throughout the hallway, we heard doors locking.  Phobia Remedy came to a halt, staring up at the elevator's lights, which showed what floor it was currently on. I saw the light move from the top floor to the next.  What a Wonderful World kept playing.  "Stay back from me about fifteen feet until he notices you, so you don't startle him," Phobia Remedy instructed. "Once he takes notice of you, get in closer, and keep your eyes on him." We all backed up as the song continued to play, and the elevator continued to descend.  I heard someone in the room closest to me. They were crying loud enough for me to hear through the door repeating, don't open your eyes to themselves over and over again like a mantra.  The elevator descended another floor. The song continued to play.  "I am not sure why we need to see this pony," Blanche said nervously.  I stepped an extra step back. "He was seen with the—" The elevator reached the bottom floor, and I closed my mouth. The song seemed like it was on a loop.  We all held our breaths as the doors started to open.  Out of the elevator stepped a cream-colored earth pony mare with a dull brown mane. She stared straight forward, and her eyes were glassy and clouded over. Right behind her was a very young, like, too young to even go to school, earth pony colt with orange fur and yellow mane. I looked behind them to see if there was anyone else, but it was just these two. Was that little colt the pony everyone was scared of?! The mare's ears twitched, and she sniffed, still without breaking her blank gaze. She then smiled. "Miss Remedy, you have brought guests. Moses will be so pleased. Moses, go say hello to your friend." She had one of the weirdest sounding accents I ever heard—like Russian only extra Russian if that was possible.  The colt broke from behind her and hurried forward, coming to an abrupt halt in front of the Dreamwarden. He then sat down on his haunches and raised his forelegs pleadingly to her. "Hug!" I don't know why I was surprised, but I was when Phobia Remedy wrapped a wing around him and pulled him close to give him a warm embrace. It wasn't even a just be friendly or polite hug. It was a warm, loving, hug of someone who dearly cared for and loved who they were hugging.  The mare stepped forward and stood beside the Dreamwarden and colt, never turning her head, never blinking, never even moving her eyes. I felt stupid as I only now started to realize she was blind. It looked like she was staring at us, but her eyes never focused on anything. Now that she was closer, I could see scars and burn marks around her eyes.  "Friends of the Dreamwarden, I am Ulga, Moses's adopted mother," she announced. "Please, be kind to my son; he can't help it." With that announcement, the colt stuck his head out over Phobia's shoulder as she continued to hug him. He spotted us and ducked back into hiding on the other side of her.  "He has seen you," Phobia said calmly as she released him from her grasp, exposing him to our vision again. "Come forward slowly, so you don't scare him, and only look at him. If you see anything on the edges of your vision, ignore it. Don't look at me, Ulga, each other, or your surroundings. Just focus on Moses. Whatever you think you see, it isn't important. It isn't real." The music played on.  "He doesn't seem that scary," Sunflower said nervously. I turned out of instinct to look at her and noticed something dripping from the ceiling. I started to lift my gaze to see. "Rebecca, what did I just say?" Phobia asked, making me quickly turn to look back at Moses. She didn't snap or raise her voice. There was no harshness to her voice at all. Still, I somehow heard the command in it.  We slowly approached, as instructed. The colt cringed, and I came to an abrupt stop, and I heard Sunflower and Blanche do the same. We kept our eyes on him as Ulga came over to him and gave him a gentle hug and kiss on the head.  The music played on.  "No need to be frightened," she said in a kind voice. "They are friends. Maybe you can give them each a hug and see that they are nice?" Moses slowly crept towards us as we stood still. The colt was practically hugging the floor with how low to the ground he was creeping, and he kept looking back and forth between each of us fearfully. At this point, I was pretty sure he was more terrified of us than we were of him. My eyes flicked to his flank and bulged slightly as I saw he already had a cutie mark—a pitch-black butterfly resting on a black flower. How did a colt this young already have their mark? The music played on.  He got close to each of us and looked at each of us slowly as if gauging how scary we were. He eventually settled on looking at me and sat upon his haunches, lifting his forelegs to me.  "Hug?" he asked with a voice that was partially hopeful and partially terrified.  "You can hug him," Ulga instructed. "Be gentle. He doesn't meet many other people. Also, please close your eyes while hugging him." I sat and reached forward with my forelegs, as non-threatening as I could, and was able to pull him close to me. He stiffened, but then threw himself into the hug, gripping me tightly while rubbing his head against me. I closed my eyes. I heard him crying—crying with relief like he couldn't believe he was being held by someone new. What was life like for this colt? Did he ever see anyone but Ulga and Phobia Remedy? The music played on.  "What could this colt do to inspire such terror?" I heard Blanche say.  I then heard her take a few steps towards me. Moses must have heard them, too, because he suddenly jerked out of my grip as he was startled. I opened my eyes and looked over at Blanche, ready to tell her to kindly back up, but the words died on my tongue as I looked up at her.  Impaled on the wall behind her, with multiple metal spikes, was the lifeless form of me. I shook my head in disbelief at the gruesome sight. There were spikes through each of my wings, each of my legs, and one right through my belly. Flies hovered around my body as blood poured from the wounds. Yellow muck dripped my mouth as my head hung limply with the eyes sightlessly staring forward.  "Don't look. Bad!" Moses called out from beside me, and I turned to see him crying as he looked at me. "Big bad! Don't look at bad!" The music played on, What a Wonderful World.