//------------------------------// // Interrogation // Story: Heart Without a Beat // by BronzeUnicorn //------------------------------// The world was spinning wildly as the colt slept. What had that been? Where id it come from? It hit him like a snowball full of rocks from thin air! He knew the memory that he'd seen. It was before his parents left him. They were normally too busy to come and see stuff like that. That had been one of the worst days of his life! Today, however, beat it without a fight. All those ponies watching him, judging him. He didn't get the chance to tell Pinkie Pie that he couldn't be around crowds, or strange ponies for that matter. It had terrified him to his very core. And now, he scared everypony who was present half to death! What would they think of him now? As some kind of freak or possessed pony? It didn't matter anyway. Now, he was probably laying on the floor while somepony fetched the doctor. Great start to the first day out of the hospital. Suddenly, his hearing came back. He couldn't hear the talking or whispering of voices from before. That must mean the party was over. Now, however, he could hear two ponies talking. "Can you just tell me what made him do that, please?" That was Twilight's voice. How long had he been out? "Yes. He was under too much stress, which caused his mind to go into overload. The bloody nose was from his mind running so hard, so fast. The tears, though, I can't explain. You'll have to ask him about that yourself. Now, with much rest and relaxation, he should be fine. I must take my leave. Have a good rest of the day." That must've been the doctor. There ws the sound of a door shutting, then silence. Listening further, White Mark heard a soft, but strained sigh. 'This probably put a lot of stress on Twilight.' The white colt thought as he heard hoofsteps walking back toward him and stopping just in front of him. He felt pressure on the other side of the couch, coming closer to where he lay. He soon felt a soft muzzle against his neck and a pair of hooves holding him against somepony's chest. By the smell of the fur, which was lavender, it had to be the Alicorn of Magic herself. "I can tell you're listening, White Mark. you really scared everypony today." She spoke softly as she moved a hoof to his back and rubbed it in smooth circles. The young colt moaned a bit at that and sighed. "I'm sorry I scared everypony. I didn't mean to. I just... I don't like crowds, especially if they're all ponies I don't know. It reminded me of something from my past that scared me horribly and I couldn't held, but get scared by it. The fact that everypony was staring at me only made it worse. I wanted to tell Pinkie Pie now to invite everypony, but she didn't even give me a chance back at the hospital. Now... I just look like a weak, defenseless pony to everypony else..." Tear began to fall from his eyes as opened them and shut them tightly again. Twilight frowned and wiped some away. "Hey, its okay. Some may see you that way, but I certainly don't. All I see is a sweet, caring, hurt colt that just need tender love and care to feel better. My friends agree with me on that." She just held him closer as she said this. The colt took that opertunity to snuggle into the alicorn mare and unleash his sorrow. Twilight just held him, letting him know that everything will be alright and nopony will hurt him. After a few moments, the colt dried his tears and sighed weakly. "Twilight? I know this has nothing to do with what you want, but... can I have something to eat and drink?" He asked inoccently. She giggled at his cuteness. "Of course you can. I'll just go make us some dinner and we can talk more about it later tonight. The doctor said you need much rest to recover from this, so don't bother to get up. I'll be back in a few minutes." The colt nodded as she got up and trotted to the kitchen. He shivered as the warmth left his body, immediately wishing she hadn't left him. Ten minutes passed as White Mark waited. 'What was taking her so long? With how late it is, wouldn't she've just fixed sandwiches or something?' He thought as he continued to lay in the same spot on the couch. Suddenly, a throaty growl came from the kitchen. The young colt pointed his ears towards it to listen better, but heard nothing. He shrugged and slumped back against the cushion. A few moments later, the door slowly opened with a creaking sound. This was starting to seem very familiar. "T-Twilight? Is that you?" He asked shakily. The only reply was the door continuing it's creaking path. "Tw-Twilight? This isn't funny... You're scaring me..." He whimpered as the door finally opened. He gasped when he noticed two bright yellow eyes staring at him from the darkened kitchen. Tears began to flow down his face as he recognized this scene. "No... N-No! Please, no!" He suddenly found that he couldn't move. He was frozen in place! He began to cry out and sob loudly as the creature showed itself, walking slowly out of the shadows. "Wha... That's not possible!" He screamed as he gawked at the abomination. It looked somewhat like Twilight, but it had many rows of razor sharp teeth in its mouth, bloody claws coming out of its hooves, and cat-like eyes staring at their prey. It was drooling at the sight of it's late night snack. White Mark began to scream as the creature got into a pouncing position. Within seconds, it pounced, the poor colt screaming as he watched his short life flash before his eyes. Moments went by before he noticed the lack of pain. He immediately looked up at the creature, only to find Twilight staring at him with a concerned frown. She was standing over him on the couch while her horn glowed a gentle violet. In the span of miliseconds, the colt broke down, crying and sobbing as Twilight grabbed him in her forelegs, holding him tightly. "Its okay. The nightmare is over. You'll be okay." She spoke softly. The colt couldn't stop now, that was the worst one yet. "I-It was horrible! It was l-like I never l-left! Y-You became a-a m-monster when y-you went in th-the kitchen! Y-You tr-tried to-" he was broken off by a sudden coughing fit. "I know. I saw it and I used a spell to stop it. You won't have another dream like that if I have anything to say about it. Speaking of dreams, would you like to try and go to bed? I'll be there with you, so that won't happen again." She asked, trying to sound reassuring. The colt just nodded with a yawn. Using her magic, the young alicorn put the exhausted colt on her back and trotted toward the stairs. "If you hadn't started screaming, I wouldn't have known that was happening." She said when they reached the stairs. She only got a shiver and a nod back. Reaching the stairs, she floated the colt to her bed. "You just stay there and I'll be right back. I'll keep the door open, so you can see me, okay?" She gestured to her bathroom. White Mark nodded as she went. He blinked once and she became the monster again. Gasping loudly and whimpering, he put his hooves over his eyes, hoping to stop it before it happened. A hoof stirred him as he looked up to see Twilight, normal this time. "It happened again?" He nodded and wiped the tears away before they could fall. "Okay." Twilight began, climbing in bed along with White Mark. "I have something that could make the nightmares go away." The colt perked up at this and smiled slightly. "Well, first you have to come closer to make this work." He nodded and did as he was told. "Now, this will feel weird at first, but don't panic, alright?" He nodded once again as she lowered her horn to his, making him gasp as he 'felt' Twilight enter into his mind. Oddly, it felt more relaxing than weird. He sighed as he suddenly felt her magic spread throughout his body, releasing the tension from his muscles all at once. 'Better?' She asked without the use of her mouth. The colt nodded as he snuggled into her and nuzzled her neck, smiling softly as exhaustion began to set in. Twilight just smiled and wrapped her forelegs and wings around him while pulling the covers over both of them with her magic. Within minutes, the colt was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling in a calm motion. Letting sleep finally come to her, the lavender alicorn yawned and nuzzled his cheek, keeping their horns connected. 'I have to help this poor colt. He has so many things wrong with him and it will definitely take a long time for him to recover. I promise, White Mark, I will do everything in my power to help you get better.' She felt the colt fully relax after that, making her relax as well. 'Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for everypony.' She though as she let the world of dreams take them both away.