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// Ch 2 A Night 
// Story: A Ship With No Plot 
// by paoiue 
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	Tap tap tap – tap tap tap
The constant sound of soft tapping on glass continued until Pinkie lifted her head up off pillow.
Without opening her eyes, Pinkie called, “Gummy is that you? What are you still doing awake? Don’t you know we have a big day tomorrow? You need you sleep, and so do I.”
In response to Pinkie’s questions, the tapping resumed a little louder now. Knowing she probably won’t be getting anymore sleep if this incessant tapping didn’t stop, Pinkie opened her eyes half way. She was met with a shadow dancing around her room. The shadow lead back to a dark figure at her window.
“Pinkie! Open the window,” whispered the figure through the glass.
“Oh no! It’s The Boogie Man!” Pinkie launched out of her bed and dove straight into the closet. Moments later, she emerged with her piñata bat ready for battle. “Wait! The Boogie Man doesn’t exist. I’m not a foal anymore.” Pinkie drops her bat and heads towards the window to find out who or what caused her to wake up. At the window, Pinkie finds Rainbow hovering outside, and immediately opens the window to let her in.
“Finally! I know it’s not winter, but it’s not exactly warm outside during the night,” complained Rainbow Dash.
“I know. I’m sorry, Dashie, but I don’t usually get visitors at -“ Pinkie Pie turns to look at the clock on her wall “- three in the morning.”
“Well, I’m here about that cupcake you gave me earlier,” retorted Rainbow Dash. “What did you add in there? I was having some really messed up dreams. First, I was at some sea village with some sort of rope wall and ground set up, so they can walk further out to sea to catch fish or something. To get into each room, if you can call it that, I had to crawl through a little hole in the rope mesh that was created to get pass the wall. I go out to see what other ponies are doing, but then I hear a horn coming from the huts and I see ponies climbing the ropes back up to the wood huts. I try going through the hole I came from, and then my –“ Rainbow Dash paused, avoided eye contact, and mumbled “- behind got stuck because the hole got smaller.”
Pinkie Pie giggled at that last statement.
“This was serious, Pinkie Pie,” exclaimed Dash! “I heard a passing pony say there was a flood coming, and I was stuck in a place one or two feet above the water. That was dangerous. I could have almost died, but I managed to pull myself out and get into the huts. After I got into the hut, I spent hours running around my old school in Cloudsdale trying to get to my locker.” Suddenly, Rainbow Dash realized why Pinkie was giggling and hissed through clenched teeth, “And I am not fat. The hole got smaller.”
“Don’t worry, Dashie. There is nothing weird in the cupcake. This is just what happens when you have a bunch of sugar before bed.” Pinkie casually replied and strolled over to her bed. “Just make sure you brush your teeth before going to bed.”
“Oh. I-I knew that.” Rainbow Dash back stepped towards the window. “As long as nothing is wrong with the cupcake, then I’m going home.”
Pinkie quickly turned to Dash and said, “Wait, I can’t let you go home this late at night. You might get hit by a raging invisible night cloud and there will be no pony around to save you.”
Rainbow Dash blinked a few times. “Umm, are you still asleep, Pinkie? There is no such thing as a raging invisible night cloud. I work on the weather team. I should know.”
“Have you ever seen one?”
“Well…no, I haven’t.”
“See that’s because they are invisible and waiting for the perfect moment to strike, like during the night when a pegasus flies alone. You’re staying over for the night. No arguing. It’s just too dangerous to let you go out there alone.” Pinkie picked Rainbow Dash up and carried her over to the bed and tucked the pegasus in.
“Wait, where are you going to sleep, Pinkie?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m prepared for emergency sleepovers,” said Pinkie as she pulled a pre-inflated mattress made out of balloons out of her closet. She gets onto her squeaky inflatable raft like bed and whispered, “Good night, Dashie, I’ll be right here if you get another nightmare.” Pinkie Pie promptly fell back to sleep.
“Good night,” replied Rainbow Dash. Her body relaxed as the sweet scent surrounded her. “I don’t think I will be having any nightmares tonight.” Rainbow turned in place to look at Pinkie, who was fast asleep next to the bed, and smiled. She slid a hoof under the pillow and prepared to drift off to sleep when her hoof touched a cylindrical stick. Wondering what it was, Rainbow pulled it out from under the pillow and held it up to the moonlight. “Is this…a stick of cinnamon?” thought Rainbow Dash. “Maybe that’s why her mane has a hint of cinnamon.” The cinnamon was put back where she found it, and she let her eye lids fall down. “Good night, Pinkie,” whispered Rainbow Dash before she fell asleep.