//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9 - Her Nightmare 
// Story: Your Faithful Student, Buggy Brush 
// by BUGFlower413 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 9: Her Nightmare



A really young griffon was sitting in the middle of a classroom in one of Cloudsdale’s Elementary Schools. She was new in the city, her parents and her just moved there a few weeks ago and she still needed to get use to the change. Moving from a more hostile and colder environment where griffons barely even talk to each other to a place where everypony seemed so energetic and friendly was kind of difficult for her to adapt to, especially due to how shy she was. Being the only one so drastically different also made her feel more insecure. Despite all of that, she was doing great so far academically speaking, getting really high grades since the moment she started. She may be young, but she was pretty smart.

On her desk, her notebook was covered in doodles of everything she had been seeing since the moment she moved: some ponies flying around, some drawings of random places in the city, she even saw a pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail! She didn’t even know manes could be naturally like that! She also wrote some words all around the pages, a few of the thoughts coming to her mind lately. Kindness, clouds, family, weather, rainbow and friends, the last word being the main thing in her mind since the moment they arrived. She never got to make friends back in Griffonstone, she never knew how.

Eventually her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the bell, it was lunch time. She picked up her lunchbox and sat on the floor outside not so far away from her classroom. She rather eating there where less ponies reunited so she could have a moment of peace. Meanwhile all the pegasi were heading to the lunch area or just walking around. Everypony seemed to have a group or at least one friend already, except for her. She opened her lunchbox to find a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, her favorite. Her face lightened up as she gave a bite to it, closing her eyes to enjoy it more. Her expression was the pure definition of happiness.

“You really love peanut butter and jelly, don’t you?”

A voice pulled her out of her fantasy as she realized a young pegasus with a light pink coat and a messy brown and pink mane was standing in front of her with a little, yet sincere smile. The griffon didn’t know how to react, so she just looked at her without saying a word.

“Is it ok if I eat here with you?” asked the filly. She got a nod as a reply and sat down while humming a little.

“You’re June, right? June Griffon?”

June nodded again.

“Well nice to meet you! I’m Sunrise Goldhearts.”

Sunrise extended her hoof at her as a friendly gesture which the young griffon replied by grabbing it with her claw and shaking it softly. Really softly. She already knew Sunrise. The most upbeat and happy pony in her entire class, basically everypony’s friend and one of the few ponies in her class to already have gotten her cutie mark.

“You’re new around here, aren’t you? Have you been enjoying Cloudsdale so far?”

 “Y- yes,” she practically whispered to her while not even looking at her.

“I’m happy to hear that. How are things from where you came from? I have never been outside of Cloudsdale.”

“Well… um, Griffonstone is… … different.”

“How different?”

“Very.”

The filly kept looking at her with curious eyes that June couldn’t continue avoiding due to how purple, big, and beautiful they were. She knew that answer was not going to be good enough to satisfy her curiosity, so she thought of another way to describe it.

“It is not as friendly as here.”

“Oh no!”

The pegasus didn’t expect that as an answer.

“I thought it was a really friendly place too.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re really nice and sweet and you’re from there.”

That comment made the young griffon blush as a little, shy smile appeared on her face.

“Maybe everygriff was just not having a nice day.”

“Everyday?”

“Yeah. Maybe because of the weather. It can affect everycreature’s mood when the sky is sad.” -She looked through a window- “Today is sunny though, meaning the sky is happy,” she said with a big smile.

The filly’s extreme positiveness made June giggle a little. She was just a happy pony enjoying every little thing in life, like any filly, colt and even grown-up ponies should do.



Minutes passed as they were chatting and eating, eventually June’s short answers became longer, and her shy whispers became more confident, even at the point of laughing audibly at some of the things Sunrise said. She made her feel comfortable being herself. Suddenly, lunch was over, the bell rang again indicating the start of more classes.

“Thanks for eating with me, Sunrise.”

“There’s no problem, Juney.”

June smiled. She couldn’t believe how just like that she had met somepony she could call her friend. She had finally made a friend.

“Sorry?”

“Huh?”

“I never said that.”

“Said what?”

“That I was your friend. I never said I was.”

The griffon was confused.

“W- wait, what do you mean??”

“What even gave you that idea?”

“B- but you said that we were friends now. You even told me a few minutes ago that you were going to show me around the city and-“

“Oh geez, you really can’t distinguish when somepony is just feeling pity towards you and when they actually want to be friends with you.”

Tears started flooding her eyes. Why was she being so mean to her all of a sudden?

“Ha, you are really funny, you know? What made you think I would want to be friends with somepony like y-“

“Wait, no. Stop.”

“…”

“Shut up. Just…”

June closed her eyes as the entire world around her stopped.

“This is… not how I remember this. This is not how it happened."

"This is…”









She opened her eyes again. She was in her room, laying on her bed. No longer a child, but a grown-up griffon. The tears were still falling down her cheeks. She sat down and wiped the tears, then looked at the picture on her table of her and the pink pegasus. Of course that was not how it happened. Sunrise was, is and always will be her best friend and soulmate. In fact, they even have been dating for some years by now. Why would she even think she would act that way?

“Geez, I may be more tired than I thought I was. My mind is starting to play tricks on me again,” she said to herself while rising her claw to her forehead.

She looked between the things on her table and her eyes stopped on a little blue box with a pair of rings turned into necklaces in the inside. She has been thinking about it since the moment she got them about 2 months ago. She decided today had to be the day when she finally put the fear behind and gave the next step. It was going to be something simple, she invited her beloved to eat outside as they have done a lot of times, and then she would surprise her when she expected it the least. Nothing bad could come out of that plan, right?

June repassed the plan in her head over and over again, analyzing every possibility she could think of. It was going to be something little, there was no way of messing it up. She could not mess it up. Yet, between all the possible things going through her mind, there was still one she didn’t have an answer ready for:
What if she said “no”?

The idea was stupid, wasn’t it? Why would she? She was her marefriend after all, her companion. She loved her… right?

She stroke her hair with a claw.

“Cut it, June! Why am I even so worried about this?? Is Sunrise! I have known her basically my entire life! Gosh!”

She left out a sigh before standing up.

“Maybe a little snack will do the trick.”

The griffon went to her kitchen and grabbed a bag of peanuts. She always kept snacks at home ready for this kind of situations. While eating them she grabbed her phone to check her messages. Nothing new to see. She then sent Sunrise a message reminding her of her date, and she replied almost immediately as cheerful as always. June smiled at her screen.

“I better get ready.”

She left the half-eaten bag of peanuts over her bed and ran to the bathroom to take a short shower. Not only to be fresh and clean, but to clear her thoughts and worries a little. After it she brushed her mane, put some perfume on and equipped herself with the little box and her phone, then headed to her door. She stopped at a mirror in her hallway to look herself one last time before going out.

“I’ve had better days, but I don’t look bad at all,” she said with a reassuring smile to her reflection before leaving her house.

“I’m ready for this.”

The griffon flew down going really fast until she got to Canterlot, where she and Sunrise planned to have their date. She didn’t want to jumpscare her in case she was there already, so she stopped a street before the place and walked the rest of the way. She got to the restaurant in a couple of minutes, but the pegasus was not there yet. She was sure on her way though. She shouldn’t be too far away by now.

She started playing with her feathers a little to calm down, yet the more minutes passed, the more anxious she got. It was unusual of her to be late for a date. What if something happened to her? She was a few minutes away from flying back to Cloudsdale to check if she was in trouble when the mare appeared flying at her.

“Oh my Tia forgive me I overslept!!” said the pegasus clearly out of air. Did she just fly the entire way from her house to here nonstop?

“Hey, it’s fine Goldhearts,” replied the griffon with a relieved smile. “A beauty like you need to get as many hours of sleep as possible.”

She giggled at the compliment.

“So, you’re starting with the flirting game this early, aren’t you?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t like it, we all know you do. Your cheeks can’t lie to me.”

And indeed they couldn’t, since she was blushing already.

“You’re so silly, Juney-Boo.”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

They both shared a little laugh.

“Then, are we doing this?”

“We are so doing this, girl!”

June quickly went to one of the tables outside the restaurant and pulled out a chair for Sunrise, then one for herself, and they both sat down waiting for the waiter to ask for their dishes. Both ordered something light, since the pegasus wasn’t used to eat heavy dishes and the griffon had already eaten before, so she was short on appetite.

Not so long after, they came back with their dishes and both marefriends ate them while talking as they usually do, yet June couldn’t stop thinking about what she was about to do.

Before they were ready to go, she decided it was time. It was now or never.

“Sunrise.”

“Yeah, deary?”

“I have been wanting to tell you something for a while now.”

“Oh! Alright, what is it?”

She took a deep breath to calm down, yet, her head started to feel fuzzy, like if suddenly she wasn’t able to fully focus on her own words. She did her hardest of efforts to do so anyways.

“Listen, babe, Sunrise Goldhearts, we have known each other for so many moons by now and you have always been there for me, and you know I always will be here for you too.”

Sunrise realized where this was going and her expression changed to something unreadable. June continued talking.

“I love you more than I think I have ever loved anycreature in my entire life, and waking up everyday knowing I have you to rely on really means the world to me.”

She took out the box she had been carrying all day and lowered her sight at it.

“I could not see myself with any other creature in all of Equestria, since you are my source of happiness. So Sunrise, I have been meaning to ask you,” -she rose her sight again- “would you marry m-“

She was no longer there. Her seat was empty.

“Sunrise? Girl, where did you go?”

She stood up to look around, but she couldn’t see her anywhere, there was nopony nearby.

“Maybe she went to the bathroom, maybe there was something bad with the food,” she said as she saved the little box again. “I better go see if she’s ok.”

She tried to make her way to the bathrooms, but her head was so dizzy that her eyes couldn’t figure out where it even was, until, eventually, everything faded to black and grays at her eyes and she lost her balance, falling down.

“Sunrise?? Sunrise, please, where are you?!?”


She got no response from her. All she could hear was a distorted laugh coming from behind her. Her anxiety started to get worse and worse.


“Why did you leave me!?!? Come back, please!! I BEG YOU!!!”



Still no answer, but the laugh started to get louder.



“What did I do wrong?!? Please give me another chance!! GOLDHEARTS????”



She buried her face in the floor as she embraced her head with her claws. The laugh now came from above her as well, and eventually from in front of her, and from any single direction. It was surrounding her, mocking her. It was deafening. She was too scared to even try to open her eyes.




“I’M SCARED!! DON’T ABANDOM ME, PLEASE!! I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT YOU!!!”







She started crying desperately as her entire body was shaking when suddenly, all the noise stopped and a light from the sky invited her to look up.

“Calm down, dear June.”



That light seemed to come from the moon. The only thing lighting up the entire abyss. And that voice seemed awfully… familiar.

From the moon appeared the silhouette of a pony, a young unicorn to be specific. He descended from it and gave her a reassuring smile. It was one of her friends. The student of the Princess of the Night.

“Buggy? Is that you?”

“Yes, June. It’s me,” he said while getting closer to her.

“What are you doing here? What’s going on?”

“I’ll give you a little clue.”

He stomped one of his back hooves, dissolving the black voidness and turning it into a calmer, stary, yet dark sky.

“Wait, I… think I get it.” -She wiped her tears with her wings- “I’m sleeping, aren’t I?”

“Bingo.”

He hugged her to calm her down and give her a feeling of safeness.

“How are you here then? I didn’t know you were able to go through dreams like this.”

“I’m still in training actually, but it’s the first time I’m doing it alone.”

“Hey, that’s awesome then!”

“Thanks, pal.”

She looked down.

“This is not the first nightmare you have had about this, is it?”

“No. I have had these since the moment I started thinking on it, but they have never been this bad.”

“I see. I’m sorry I couldn’t intervene earlier.”

“It’s ok. I’m glad you did at least.”

“June, you know she wouldn’t do -nor say- any of those rude things she did in your dreams, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied while playing with her claws a little embarrassed.

“Then why do you think she would? She’s not only your marefriend, she’s your best friend. She loves you like nopony else.”

“I know, but, it’s just that…”

She lowered her voice and, without rising her head, looked at him.

“Do you really think she should say 'yes'? I know she loves me, Brush, but… she deserves somepony better than me.”

He placed a hoof over her wing-shoulder.

“June, what are you talking about? That’s nonsense!”

“That’s how I feel, at least.”

“That makes absolutely no sense, Juney.”

“Buggy, she’s kind, funny, the purest pony I have ever met, for Celestia’s sake! And what am I?? Compared to her, I’m noth-“

“You’re also kind, and fun to be around, and creative, and skilled at a lot of things, and a really loyal and thoughtful friend.”

She looked around again.

“Do you think that?”

He rose her head up again with his hoof to see her eyes.

“I don’t ‘think’ that, dear, I know that. I have also been your friend for years. I think I have knowledge enough about you to say it with all certainty.”

“I… don’t know. I believe you, but I just…”

She sat down and so did he.

“You said it had to be ‘now or never’, didn’t you?”

“Not really, but I thought so to myself before. Really, really strongly.”

“You thought about it strong enough for me to hear apparently.”

“Heh, I just hope it was the only thing I thought that strongly since you entered my dream then.”

They shared a little laugh.

“Why now, though?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you want to do it now?”

She sighed.

“I’ve had these rings for almost 3 months by now I think, and I haven’t reunited the courage to do it yet. I guess I’m just too scared if I don’t do it now, I won’t do it, ever.”

“I think you might be putting a little too much pressure over yourself, honey. I have never been in your position, so I can’t say I know how you feel, since I don’t, but I know that this is a huge step in anypony’s life, and, because of that, it must take as much time as it requires to.”

“But, am I not just making all of this wait longer for no reason?”

“Nope. You’re not.”

“…”

“Do you feel ready yet?”

“I think I just proved that I don’t.”

“Then that’s it. You still need time to feel ready for that step, even if it means having that box over your table another couple of months. It’s perfectly fine.” -He leaned closer to her and placed a hoof behind her back, bending over a little to see her face more clearly- “She loves you, and she always will, no matter how much time passes. She wouldn’t be happy to know you’re passing through all of this because of forcing yourself to be ready for it. She would also want you to take it at your own pace and, when you finally feel truly able and confident enough to take that step, then do it.”

She looked at him with a little smile and hug him.

“Thanks Buggy.”

“It’s ok, Jun. In fact, just tell me whenever you get a nightmare like this again so I can come faster to kick its ass.”

She laughed.

“How am I supposed to tell you from inside the nightmare, you dumb pony?”

“I don’t know. That’s not my deal, that’s yours.”

“Isn’t that literally your deal now though?”

“Oh shut up, you!”



They broke one final time into laughter before they were lightened up once more by the moon, from where the silhouette of an alicorn with stary mane wonk an eye at them. Then, she woke up. For real this time.

 







“You did well, my assistant.”

“That was surreal! And I feel so happy now that I got to help my friend!!”

“It is a wonderful, gratifying feeling. I know.”

He smiled at her as a reply.

“Just one thing for the next time.”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe try thinking of a more… original entrance. Moon silhouettes are kind of my thing.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

She giggled.