Fear. It is a feeling that grabs us all and holds on, never letting go of you. Fear makes you squirm and beg for mercy. Fear makes you hide till your heartbeat calms down. Fear resides in everyone but for some it is harder to reveal. Sometimes so hard that even others think one may not be controlled by fear. Only one truth remains. Fear attacks...everyone.
Wordplay contemplated her thoughts. She had written them on paper. For the life of the unicorn though she didn't know why she had the sudden urge to write this down. A pony came to mind when she reread her paragraph. Chatterjoy.
"That silly pegasus has to be afraid of something! I'll find out what it is. I mean how hard can it be to find what she is most afraid of?" Wordplay mused to herself. She put her quill and ink away. She left the parchment to dry of its newly written ink while she grabbed a saddle bag. She would go to the store to buy some supplies. After all a good research project required a good bag full of supplies.
True to her word the unicorn had stuffed her bag with as much as she could. Snakes, spiders, bones, paper, a quill, some portable ink, and other things that the pegasus might be startled and scared of. "With this I am sure to find what makes her squeal in terror!" Wordplay exclaimed menacingly rubbing her hooves together.
The unicorn stalked around Ponyville in search of her sky bound friend. Wordplay spotted her in the park. She was chasing a butterfly. The butterfly seemed to be actually enjoying it as it would flutter around the pegasus causing her to spin in circles before going back on course.
Now was her chance. She took the plastic spider and some fake webs used for Nightmare Night and while the pegasus was doing one of her turns she used her magic to lay a trap of webs with the spider laying upon it. Her plan seemed to work, for the butterfly not paying attention managed to lodge itself in the web.
"Oh no! Flutter! You okay?" Chatterjoy asked bouncing up to the captured butterfly. Chatterjoy noticed the spider that had been placed upon the web. "You wouldn't mind letting my friend go would you?" Chatterjoy asked the plastic toy, "You would? That's great!" Chatterjoy said after a pause. She freed the butterfly and they both went about their way.
"What! I-I don't...what? No. Just...No," Wordplay said to herself in shock. "That was a total dud. How do you even?! Gah!" The unicorn grunted in anger. She cleaned up her trap and threw it away into the nearest trashcan. "I'm afraid of spiders and most ponies are! Gah! I'm not done yet. I will figure out the mystery of Chatterjoy's fear!
Wordplay continued to stalk Chatterjoy throughout Ponyville. Seeing her head to Sugarcube Corner, Wordplay knew that she would have to come out so she curled a snake right next to the opening of the building. Chatterjoy would have to be able to see it. Wordplay waited. And she waited. And waited some more. The sun had moved away from the early morning hours to the blistering noon.
She stifled a yawn, and she jumped when the pegasus bounced out from the building. Wordplay was correct, because Chatterjoy had spotted the snake. Instead of screaming and taking off like Wordplay had hoped she would do, the pegasus reached into her basket and pulled out a cupcake.
"Here you go Mr. Slinky! You looked pretty lonely just curled up her next to the door. I figured you would want a friend. I can't stay long but have a cupcake! Your day will get better soon!" Chatterjoy said to the toy snake. The snake itself looked realistic so the pegasus shouldn't have been able to tell the difference at first glance.
"Did...she just name a toy...snake?" Wordplay asked herself. Her eyes almost bulged from her head in disbelief. "How? What? You know what? I'm not surprised anymore! I'm not!" the unicorn yelled to the sky. The villagers looked at her weirdly, and Wordplay just smiled and teleported away.
She didn't go far, as Sugarcube Corner was still in sight. The unicorn saw another pony exit the building. This time she screamed and swatted the snake away. She ran in terror through town screaming about a snake causing the town to panic.
Later in the day, Wordplay had gone through all the tricks she could afford. She had a pegasus imitate thunder. Chatterjoy merely said hello to pegasus helping her. Wordplay created a crime scene with gore, guts, and a decapitated body. Chatterjoy just took a picture and hummed to herself. Wordplay locked her in a tight box. Chatterjoy had somehow escaped it.
Wordplay sat at home thinking about the different strategies and how they went wrong when she heard knocking on her door. Using her magic, Wordplay opened the door to see Chatterjoy smiling at her. In her mouth was a stack of papers.
"Hello! How are you? I'm great! I met a spider, a snake, a new pegasus friend, and other things to! It was a great day. I also gave my cupcake to the snake too! He seemed to enjoy it. I just wish that Daisy didn't smack him. That was just rude. Anyway I wanted you to take a look at the story I'm writing to correct it and such. You're a writer and all, so I figured that you would be able to help me!"
Wordplay's head was spinning, but she managed to focus long enough to hear her friend's request. She grasped the papers with her magic and began to carefully read them. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Chatterjoy pacing around with a nervous look in her eye. No...not nervous. Terrified.
"What's wrong Chatterjoy?" the unicorn asked looking up from the papers curiously.
"I'm just terrified that you won't like it..." the pegasus mumbled back.
Fear is within every one. For some it is physical like spiders, snakes, and tight spaces. For others, it is intangible. For Chatterjoy it was the fear of disappointing someone. Particularly her friends and family.
A spider crawled in front of Wordplay's view causing her to screech and teleport into Chatterjoy's arms. The poor pegasus caught by surprise grunted and strained but managed to keep her barely above the floor.
"Oh hey! A cute little jumping spider!"