Pinkamena ran as fast as she could. Her flat mane whipped about her head like a curtain caught in a hurricane’s gale. The dark pink locks swatted at her eyes, making it hard for her to tell if she was still running straight or not. The little filly’s lungs were burning, her heart wheezing with the strain of her escape. Her legs begged her to stop and rest, but she knew that even if she slowed down for just a moment, it would spell instant death for her. Her eyes scrunched as she pushed forward, tears streaming behind her and wetting the rock fields she left behind.
The torturous sound of a rattle filled her ears, as if her chaser was following just beside her. But when she turned to check, she was running alone. But still, she could feel those slitted yellow eyes boring into her very soul as she fled for her life. A long scaly tail extended from under a giant granite boulder her father had been nursing for the past few months, lying in wait for its prey. Pinkamena’s hair once again shrouded her vision, obscuring her view of the danger that lay ahead of her. As she attempted to push herself to run faster, hoping her speed would flick her treacherous mane away from her eyes, she tripped and tumbled hoof over wither, landing uncomfortably in a patch of marble pebbles her sister Limestone had planted.
The little filly whimpered as pain tore through her tiny body from her tumble. Her breaths came deep and wet, her saliva dribbled down her chin in thick trails, and her ears rang as she nursed her sore cranium. As the ringing died down, she became acutely aware of a new, but sadly not alien, sound swamping her ears. Slowly cracking open a quivering eyelid confirmed her greatest fear, as a forked tongue lashed at her cheek, ripping the skin, and a pair of sharp shiny fangs dove for her throat. She grabbed a pebble and threw…
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…a punch right into the side of Twilight’s face. The Alicorn yelped as she was rudely thrown out of her own bed by a screaming pink ball of panicking pony. Pinkie, though still sleeping, was waving her hooves around frantically, swinging punches and kicks in every direction with spastic, desperate movements. Twilight rubbed her sore cheek as she stumbled to her hooves. She turned to the bed once her jaw was snapped back into place, ready to scold Pinkie for her rude awakening, until she realised that the pink pony was thrashing around like a terrified filly, screaming and wailing in tortured terror.
“Pinkie? Pinkie‽” The purple pony princess planted her hooves on Pinkie’s shoulders, rocking her roughly in an attempt to rouse her from her plagued slumber. “Pinkie Pie, wake up! You’re having a nightmare, you need to wake up. I’ll be here for you. Pinkie Pie, can you hear me?” Twilight cried, but none of her words seemed to reach the party pony, who continued to shriek and scream, flailing around like a filly. Twilight took a calming breath, raising her hoof to her chest and arching it away from her body as she exhaled deeply. With her nerves steadied, Twilight ignited her horn, a soft magenta aura surrounding the appendage as she focused her magic into a soothing energy with which to calm Pinkie down. Gingerly, she lowered her head and touched the tip of her horn to Pinkie’s forehead, the soft purple glow slowly sinking into the pink pony’s brow.
Pinkie’s movements started to slow, her breathing stabilised and her wails and shrieks faded away into a series of soft moans and mumbles. The party pony’s eyelids fluttered, and her face scrunched a little as she opened her eyes and blinked away her drowsy haze. She looked a little baffled by the unfamiliar surroundings she found herself in. Perhaps she hadn’t realised she’d fallen asleep at Twilight’s palace. As she turned her face upward to look at the purple pony looking over her, she gasped at the sight of a large red mark shining on the princess’ face. Her hoof jumped to her lips before slowly pulling back for her to inspect. A look of realisation flashed upon Pinkie’s face and she stuttered out an apology.
“Oh, Twilight, I-I’m so sorry. I… I didn’t mean to- oh gosh, what have I done? I-I would never…” Twilight silenced the worried mare with a hoof, before carefully embracing her friend and pulling her into her breast with a soothing shush.
“It’s OK, Pinkie,” she assured, as the pink pony began crying all over again, burying her muzzle deep into the princess’ shoulder. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me on purpose. I realised you were having a nightmare. It seemed like a bad one.” She was met with a few sharp nods and a hoofful of snivels. “I know I might not be the first to say this, but I never expected you to even have nightmares, Pinkie.” The purple Alicorn pulled away from the hug and looked her friend in the eyes, wiping away the last of her tears before giving her a reassuring nuzzle, nose tip to nose tip. Pinkie giggled, a little half-heartedly, before turning her gaze to the crystal floor, twirling a hoof in circles on the bedclothes.
“I haven’t had a nightmare for, at least, two years now.”
Twilight’s gasp. Pinkie’s ears drooped at the sound.
“I know. I know. “Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s Permanent Party Pony having nightmares in her twenties, what a shocker (!)” Pinkie winced at the bitterness in her own words, turning an apologetic expression toward Twilight, who simply rubbed the pink pony’s withers comfortingly.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Pinkie flinched at Twilight’s question. A question she’d feared would be asked if she came to Twilight for help. But, nevertheless, it was a question that needed answering. Pinkie drew in a deep breath, her hooves shaking a little as she willed her nerves to steady. Exhaling as slowly as she dared, Pinkie turned her face away from Twilight’s quizzical gaze, tears pooling in her eyes as she cast her mind back to her foalhood. To a time she would much rather forget.
“It all started when I was a filly,” she started, Twilight slowly sliding onto the bed beside her, “back when I lived on my family’s rock farm.”