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// Chapter Four: The Pink-quisition 
// Story: The Nightmares 
// by Kumishy 
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	Fluttershy had no plans for the bulk of the day, which was fortunate in her case. The nightmares that had been plaguing her night after night without end were starting to drain her. The animals in her care were starting to notice it. A squirrel came over to her after she filled their bowls for lunch. He placed his paw on her hoof to draw her attention downwards.
His small face with filled with unspoken concern. “I'm alright.” she offered him a small smile. While she spoke the words, she knew she wasn't telling him the truth. She only wished she could convince herself as much as she was him. Fluttershy ushered him back to eat before yawning. She really did need a nap or something. Did ponies drink coffee? Because she was feeling the need for a double shot of the hot caffeine. 
Just as she was considering going back to bed for a little bit of shut eye, there was a knock at her door. Her plan ruined, she went to the door. Maybe if this could be dealt with quickly she could sleep. But to her dismay, she knew there would be none of that when she opened the door to a bouncing Pinkie Pie.
“I need your help! I need to set up the party and Rainbow Dash is nowhere to be found.” The pumped up pink party pony claimed.
Fluttershy blinked. “Why do you need my help?” she asked. Not that she was one to turn down a friend in the need of help. It just seemed a bit strange that she was the first one to be asked when Rainbow couldn't be found.
“Well duh,” Pinkie rolled her eyes but grinned all the same. “I need to finish decorating for the party tonight! And I need to get decorations waaaay high up there. I can't quite do it myself unless I use the party canon but I already used it and missed some spots sooo...”
“Ah alright.” Fluttershy agreed. 
“Great! This'll be the best party ever! Maybe in all of Equestria!” Pinkie was so cheerful. She started bouncing up the path leading back towards Ponyville Proper; Fluttershy tailing her. What she wouldn't give for a bit of Pinkie's energy.

They arrived in a hall that was mostly decorated save for some spots closer to the ceiling. Pinkie Pie had clearly been working quite hard to put this party together. The colors were not her normal vibrant pinks and blues, but rather a more sedate and regal dark blue, purple and black scheme. “Um, Pinkie, who's this party for?” Fluttershy asked.
The party pony was busy setting her with streamers and balloons to fill in the bare spots. “It's a surprise party for Princess Luna.” she beamed proudly. “Princess Celestia requested it a few weeks ago.”
Fluttershy's eyes widened a little. A surprise party for a princess? Right here in Ponyville? No wonder Pinkie Pie had been putting a lot more time in planning this than any other she threw. This was a huge deal. “Oh my...I see.”
Pinkie nodded, sending her up to finish the decorating. Fluttershy put the streamers up in a way that it mirrored the rest of Pinkie's decorations. The balloons were placed strategically as well. 
“Yeah, it's a pretty big deal. But the party is going to be amazing! We hired the best DJ in all of Equestria to cover the music, Applejack's making all the sweets...” Fluttershy landed, looking around at the room. It was rather well set for the party. “And best of all, all of us are going to party with princesses!” Pinkie finished.
“Ah right.” Fluttershy offered a smile. Hopefully the party would make her forget the nightmares. Maybe even tire her out enough that the dreams wouldn't happen. If she got lucky.

The day wore on quickly, faster than Fluttershy would have liked. She was still so tired. But the emotions that were building towards the party were highly anticipated. It built her up to a point that she was awake even though she knew there would be a crash coming soon after. 
Guests started arriving, chattering happily. There were all sorts of ponies from Ponyville, and even some from Canterlot. Pinkie hadn't been making it up. This would be a party for the record books. Even Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had come in for the event. There was all sorts of polite chatter going on, some ponies getting punch that had been specially made for the party.
A hush fell over the crowd when Princess Celestia stepped into the room. Almost everypony bowed, a show of reverence for their Princess. Her mane like always was flowing. But instead of the kind smile she almost always had on her face, it was replaced with a look of worry. Twilight trotted over to her. 
“Princess Celestia, what's wrong?” Her faithful student asked.
She bowed her head slightly to speak only to Twilight. No one else heard the words she spoke until Twilight's eyes widened. She took a few steps back, looking rather shocked. “No...that can't be right.”
Celestia winced. “It is unfortunately so.” She lifted her head to address the crowd. “Mares and gentlecolts, I'm sorry to inform you that this party must be postponed.”
The words hung in the air like bitter zapapple jam. Surely the princess had to be joking. No pony would ever postpone a Pinkie Pie party. It had to be an end of the world type event to do that. 
Some pony spoke up. “Why?”
“My sister was feeling too ill to travel I'm afraid. And since it was in her honor...” Celestia spoke. The ponies muttered, leaving the building slightly disgruntled. Only the Mane 6, Cadence and Shining Armor stayed after with Celestia. Once the door was closed, Celestia spoke.
“I hated having to tell them that. But should they know the truth...”
“The truth?” Cadence asked, looking at her aunt with worry. “What is the truth?”
“Luna has gone missing.”

Fluttershy made her way back towards her cottage, running over the possibly facts in her head. Princess Luna, the Princess of the Moon and the protector of dreams was missing. Was that why she was having so many nightmares? Because there was no security in the dreams?
She shuddered, letting herself inside. All her animals had gone to bed, tucked in by none other than Angel. Apparently he had decided to take her place while she was gone. Fluttershy smiled to herself, fixing his own blanket. He snuggled up, sleeping soundly. “Good night Angel.” She said with a yawn.
She walked over to her bed, settling down. The girls had decided that they would reconvene in the morning to  look into the case of the missing Princess. With luck, they would find her. If not...
Fluttershy's eyes closed, dragging her unwillingly off to sleep.

There was the sound of a heavy chain door closing before the male voice spoke. “Well well well, look who we have here. Welcome back. Tonight's chamber is the Inquisition. I hope you're all ready for this. You'll be tested on your merit.”
He laughed a bit. That didn't sound so good. Fluttershy paled a bit. He was going to test them? The sheep followed, pushing for the door. She was dragged along unwillingly. They reached the tower of blocks. This was just like the nights before, right?
“Oh, I forgot to mention. Look out for the trap blocks. They'll kill you.” The voice said. It sounded like he was grinning a manner most unpleasant. Fluttershy gulped. Trap blocks? How would she know what was a trap and what wasn't?
The sheep around her started to climb. It seemed like they were starting to panic more now than they had any previous time. Maybe it was the added pressure of traps? She started to climb, making slow progress because the sheep were in the way. Just as she was about halfway up and starting to feel a bit more at ease from the lack of traps; there was a scream up ahead. As a sheep stepped on a block, blades shot upwards, skewering him.
She winced, trying not to vomit. It was sickening. The sheep were frantic, shoving each other and trying to climb higher. She had placed her front hooves on the next block, starting to pull herself up when a sheep pushed her off. Her eyes widened then shut tightly. 
She was falling!
Her wings were held tight to her body, unable to help save herself. What would happen if she hit the bottom? Was there even a bottom to what seemed like endless darkness? She had no idea.
Just as she was fearing the worst, Fluttershy felt somepony grab onto her hoof. No, that was impossible. There were no other ponies here. It was just her and a bunch of sheep. Chancing a glance, she opened an eye. What she saw surprised her.
“P-Pinkie Pie?” She gasped.
The pink party pony was indeed the one who had grabbed her hoof and was currently pulling her to the safety of the block. “What are you doing Fluttershy?” she piped up. With another pull, Fluttershy was safely on the platform. 	
She was shaking badly. “I-I don't know. I got pushed...and then you...”
The ground rumbled. The clock was ticking for them. “We need to get out of here.” she said, glancing upwards. The sheep had pushed her a ways down. If Pinkie Pie hadn't caught her...she shuddered to think what could have happened.
“Alright! Let's go!” Pinkie cheered, hopping from one block to another. How could she do this so easily? Like she didn't have a care in the world. Fluttershy followed, hoping to keep up with her bouncing friend.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on which way a pony wanted to take it, the traps had been mostly set off by the sheep. Fluttershy cringed inwardly, hoping they had survived rather than the unforgiving alternative. They made a rather easy way upwards and to the door.
With a sigh of relief, they went through. One thing was nagging at the back of Fluttershy's mind. What in the name of Celestia was Pinkie Pie doing here?
She bounced along, happy as could be. “Ooo look! A sign in book! Like a guest book! I wonder if they'll throw a party if we write our names down.” Pinkie grinned, jotting their names down quickly.  Somehow, Fluttershy wasn't that worried about a party. She was too busy looking around at the various sheep that were clustered or sitting. All of them seemed to have a similar expression of worry on their faces.
Fluttershy took a couple steps over to a group of three sheep that seemed to be talking. “Um...excuse me.”
“Can I help you?” One of them spoke with a tint of a Southern Drawl. That sounded vaguely like Applejack but she knew it wasn't.
“Oh um...maybe. Do you know where we are?”
“Not a clue.” Said one of the other sheep. The voice was a bit higher with a squeak to it. How strange, she never knew sheep to have that much variation in their voices. “Do you know? I mean, you are a sheep right?”
That statement caught her off guard. They thought she was a sheep? But she was a pony. A pegasus. Couldn't they see that? Unless...
Pinkie Pie went and collected the stunned pegasus, bringing her over to the confessional. “One at a time,” said a sheep that seemed to have an orderly way about her. Yes, this voice was distinctly feminine compared to the disembodied voice they heard every now and again. Pinkie nudged Fluttershy. 
“After you.”
Feeling nervous and even more confused than she had been prior to talking to the sheep, she stepped in. Noting the painting on the wall, it was very similar to what she had seen previously. She was still nailed to a tree but there was a sheep near her hooves. It looked like he was praying for her to save him. A shiver rippled down her spine.
“Well, you've made it this far. I'll admit I'm surprised. I didn't think you had what it takes.”
She whipped her head from the painting. The voice sounded like it had been right over her shoulder. But no pony was there. This was getting creepy. “Where are we?”
“I already told you.” The voice purred. “But I will tell you there is a way out. One the eighth floor there is a Cathedral...they say the path to freedom is that way. If you can survive. For now...answer me this. How do you make decisions?”
“H-Huh?”
Like the night before, two ropes dropped from the ceiling. One read 'My gut', and the other read 'My mind'. “Choose carefully.”
Fluttershy considered both of them carefully. After a moment, she pulled on 'My mind.' 
“Oh so I see...” the voice considered her. “Very well. On to the next chamber. I hear they're very excited to see you.”	
“They?”
Before she got an answer, the confessional closed, bringing her up, up and away towards the next stage. Panic hit her in her stomach. What about Pinkie Pie? What would happen to her?
They came to a stop. Fluttershy took a step out onto the platform. She looked around and up, trying to see the way out. A bad feeling was creeping through her. Another confessional came and stopped where hers had been moments before. Pinkie hopped out, looking around. “Wow, we have another one?”
“Oh! Pinkie Pie!” Fluttershy nearly hugged the other pony. “Did he ask you a question too?”
“Yup! He asked me if I got bored easily. I was like 'pfft, me? Bored easily. Hardly! I mean really, look at how I am every single day! There's never a boring minute!'” She beamed. Her rambling was cut short by the sound of something, no, two something's coming to join them.
“I'd start climbing if I were you...” the voice taunted. “Unless you want to babysit.” 
“I love babysitting!” Pinkie said. “There's no baby I can't sit!”
Two giant babies, one pegasus and one unicorn came up. Their normally innocent expressions were looks of abject horror. “Oh...” Pinkie said, staring up at them. “Um...well...they've certainly grown since I've last-”
A large hoof started to come down on top of where they were standing. Fluttershy grabbed Pinkie and pulled her out of the way just in time. There was no time to sit idle. They had to move lest the bouncing babies of terror decided to squish the sitters. “Come on! We need to run!”
They set off, climbing as fast as they could. The babies gave each other wide toothless grins. They started banging on the blocks, shaking the already precarious ascent that was taking place. The girls had to stop, catching their breath and maintaining their ground. “Has this happened before??” Pinkie asked as she climbed, pulling Fluttershy with her.
She shook her head quickly. “No, last time it was Angel.” They scrambled up to the block, looking quickly for the next step. It had to be close. 
Feeling frustrated that their quarry was so quick to climb, the babies started taking things into their own hooves. The pegasus started beating his tiny wings, creating a whirlwind. The unicorn on the other hand, decided to play building blocks. With its magic, the blocks were rearranged. This changed how Fluttershy and Pinkie needed to climb. Instead of going up, they were going sideways while avoiding any blocks and debris from the whirlwind.
“Just don't look down!” Pinkie called to Fluttershy. There was a rumbling noise. Everything was falling apart too? This just wasn't fair!
The blocks rearranged themselves again thanks to the magic. This time, it was in their favor. The door was in sight. Freedom was almost there. Just needed one more level...
“Come on! We're almost there!” Pinkie called, taking a leap for the exit. A piece of debris caught her mid-jump, sending her off course. 
“Pinkie!” Fluttershy cried. She launched herself and caught her friend's hoof. Using her wings that had decided that now would be the time to shine, she managed to crash themselves into the block below the exit. They were almost there.
Feeling a bit dazed from fighting the winds, Fluttershy looked at her friend. Pinkie was up, climbing to the exit. She reached down, pulling Fluttershy up as the babies came up to their level. There were lots of goos and gaas, but that didn't matter. 
Together, they yanked open the door, flooding the room with light. The babies screamed a bit at the light. The two fillies ran through, grateful to be free.

Fluttershy woke with a start. Her heart was pounding harder than ever before. And her wings ached like they had when they had been building the hurricane. There had been so much wind....
Wind. That snapped her attention. There was no wind in her cottage. So how...?
And Pinkie pie.
This was getting stranger and stranger. Wearily she looked out the window. It was barely dawn. She would see the girls soon. And get everything sorted out.
She hoped.