//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - The Morning // Story: Pinksomnia: The Darkest Descent // by Wolokai //------------------------------// Fluttershy burst into the room, rushing over and crawling into the bed, scooping up the screaming Scootaloo in her arms. Fluttershy cooed to her gently "There there Scootaloo...it's ok...it's ok...Auntie Shy is here, easy...sssshhh" The orange mare sobbed, burying her face in Fluttershy's coat and shivering. Fluttershy sighed, holding and rocking the whimpering mare gently, the sobs gently subsiding into light sniffing. She looked down at the poor mare and whispered "Was it the nightmares again?" Scootaloo didn't say anything, merely nodding against her coat, leaving Fluttershy to sigh and hug her a little tighter. She looked over to the nightstand clock, the hands clearly displaying the time 4:12 A.M. Fluttershy put her chin on top of Scootaloo's head and sighed again, rocking her back and forth and staring out the far window into the night sky. This was the seventh day in a row...a week now that Scootaloo's been having her nightmares. It made sense to the Canary-Yellow Mare...she knew what day was coming. It had been a year since that day...that day when Canterlot was destroyed, Twilight ponynapped, and herself...well...she died. Herself and Scootaloo had both died a year ago, but with The Entity's defeat, they were brought back...every-pony was brought back...save one. Scootaloo had a hard time adjusting to Pinkie Pie being gone. She didn't talk as much, didn't eat as much...and now, she wasn't sleeping, barely at all. Before everything was fine, well, mostly. Fluttershy would often wake up in the middle of the night to get herself a warm glass of milk, only to hear Scootaloo mumbling, tossing, and turning in her sleep. Fluttershy figured maybe Scootaloo was just having some intense, deep sleep like dreams...but when the nightmares and screaming started, Fluttershy herself seldom slept herself. She wasn't angry or upset at Scootaloo because of her losing sleep, but she was becoming increasingly worried. She had been trying everything to get Scootaloo to feel better and smile, taking her on small trips, helping with animals, parks, picnics, shows, reading, games, even giving her a lot of space and time to herself, to see if she just needed to be alone. Nothing was working, and everything was getting worse and worse. Fluttershy gave Scootaloo a gentle squeeze with her hug and whispered "You're not going back to bed, right?" Scootaloo nodded quickly, leaving Fluttershy to gently lead her out of bed, helping her out of the room and down the hallway, whispering still "Alrighty then, let's get you something to eat and maybe we can watch some television, they always have interesting shows for the late night ponies." Scootaloo didn't say anything, keeping her face buried in Fluttershy's coat as Fluttershy draped a wing over her back, helping her down the stairs. They entered the kitchen, Fluttershy helping a weak and feeble Scootaloo into one of the wooden chairs and heading over to the fridge. She opened it with her teeth around the handle, looking about inside for a good late night treat, when she heard Scootaloo's hoarse voice from the table "Fl...Fluttershy?" The yellow mare looked over from the fridge and saw Scootaloo looking down at the table, tears brimming in her eyes and whimpering "I'm...I'm sorry for waking you up, I'm so...I'm so sorry!" She burst into tears, making Fluttershy sigh again and gently walk over, pulling her into another hug and whispering "Now now...it's alright. I don't mind it Scootaloo, I just want you to feel better. You don't bother me at all, ok?" Scootaloo sniffed and wiped her eyes, whispering "Ok..." Fluttershy nodded, gently letting her go and heading back over to the fridge. She heard the chair moving across the ground and saw Scootaloo getting up, walking into the living room. She watched her go, and after a minute or two heard the TV turn on and she nodded, poking her head back into the fridge and sighing a little. It was going to be a long night. ~~~ Fluttershy groaned a little, her eyes opening slowly and closing immediately due to the sunlight basking through her windows. She felt something move against her and she lifted her head, turning and seeing Scootaloo with her side pressed up against hers, staring at the TV with a blank expression on her face and her eyes bloodshot. Fluttershy rubbed at her own eyes with her hooves and muttered "What time is it...?" Scootaloo didn't even blink, saying back "Around eleven." Fluttershy nodded and weakly got up, heading towards the stairs so she could head up to the bathroom to get herself properly groomed for the day. She combed her mane, brushed her teeth (with some careful hoof movement), and soaked her face in some water, sighing contently and heading back down. Scootaloo looked like she hadn't moved from the couch, but the T.V. had been turned off. Fluttershy head towards the front door, turning her head to Scootaloo who was STILL staring at the T.V. and saying "Scootaloo, I'm going to go check the mail and check on the animals, ok?" Scootaloo didn't move, she didn't blink...just stared at the blank screen, watching. Fluttershy blinked and muttered "O....K....be right back." She pushed the door open with her hooves and headed outside, gently closing the door behind her and heading towards the mailbox, seeing a flying Pegasus heading her way. She smiled, letting out a breath of relief that she hadn't missed Ditzy Doo on her flight route. She always enjoyed talking to the wall-eyed mare, and she always had such interesting things to say. She frowned however as the Pegasus drew closer, and saw that it wasn't the usual blonde-maned, gray-coated mare she was used to...but a cyan-coated, Rainbow-maned Rainbow Dash. She did a twirl in the air and landed in front of Fluttershy's house, saddlebags crammed with letters and packages over her back. She held up a hoof and shouted with glee "Hey there Fluttershy!!! What's up?" Fluttershy gave a tiny wave and spoke in her usual timid voice "Oh...Hi Rainbow...um, where's Ditzy Doo? Doesn't she...you know, usually take care of the mail? Not that I don't mind you doing it, I think you're doing a great job...well...I don't know what kind of job you're doing...you just got here...um...where's Ditzy Doo?" Rainbow Dash blinked for a moment, staring at her before the question registered in her head and she said "Oh yeah! Ditzy Doo, she got sick and I offered to take her route for her. I owed her for a few high-priority packages I needed delivered, and when she got sick from some undercooked muffins, I told her I'd take her route!" Fluttershy let out a silent "Oh" and walked up to her Rainbow friend, who was now rummaging through the saddlebags for her mail. She handed Fluttershy some letters and asked, a bit quietly "How's Scoots...I know the...you know...the 'Day', is coming up. She doing ok?" Fluttershy winced a little, looking back towards the house and turning back to Rainbow "It...could be better. I mean, I don't mind her being here...I want to do what I can to help her but...she's not sleeping much anymore, and she's getting nightmares." Rainbow nodded, pointing at her face and replying "I see what you mean...you look a little red in the eyes. She keeping you up?" Fluttershy shook her head quickly and whispered "Oh no! I wake up sometimes in the middle of the night, to get some milk you know...what's this?" She trailed off, holding up a white envelope with yellow trim around it, twirling in fancy patterns. Rainbow Dash saw it and exclaimed "Oh yeah!!! I forgot to mention, we're all getting invitations to Twilight's wedding! She's marrying Quill, remember?" Fluttershy looked up, appearing a bit upset "Oh dear...I forgot all about it...how awful of me...when's the wedding?" Rainbow shrugged "Meh, who even knows. It's probably in the envelope so...anyway, I need to get back to delivering, later Shy!" Fluttershy gave her signature, tiny, shy wave and turned, heading to the back yard while she tore open the letter and read Dear Fluttershy, You are most welcome and graciously Invited to attend the Wedding of Twilight Sparkle & White Quill Next week on Wednesday. The Wedding will take place In the Town Hall, on the North Side of Ponyville, Please RSVP! P.S. Fluttershy darling, Do expect me at your house today, we have much to go over!!! -Rarity Fluttershy squeaked as she ran back to the house. "Oh my goodness! Rarity's coming, oh my goodness oh my goodness! I haven't cleaned, I haven't tidied up!!! EEE!!!!" She burst into the house, not even noticing Scootaloo was gone, and instantly began moving about the room, picking up her favorite feather duster and flying around the house, cleaning and dusting everywhere she moved. She was just dusting the T.V. when she heard something wet slap against the floor in her kitchen. She stopped for a moment, heading to the kitchen and finding Scootaloo mopping. She was wide-eyed, her mouth pressed into a thin line as she mopped back and forth, cleaning her floor. Fluttershy softly spoke as Scootaloo kept mopping "Um...Scootaloo...why are you mopping the floor? Was it dirty? It's ok, I could have done it you know...but if you wanted to that's...that's fine." Scootaloo looked up with her wide-eyed expression and mumbled "You burst into the house and started cleaning...that means someone's coming right? It has to be clean, everything. Everything has to be clean." Fluttershy turned her head to one side, her eyes still on Scootaloo as she whispered "Scootaloo...are you ok?" Scootaloo said nothing, looking back down and mopping with greater effort now, mumbling "Have to pass inspection...visitors...visitors. Always good at mopping...that's what I was...am...good at. Mop the floors, I got this." Fluttershy's jaw dropped a little, watching as Scootaloo spaced out again, mopping and humming lightly. Fluttershy slowly backed up, heading back into the living room and sitting on the couch. She couldn't ignore the feeling creeping up inside her...the feeling of fear. Scootaloo was starting to scare her, but she felt silly because of it...it was Scootaloo...she wouldn't do anything to hurt Fluttershy....would she? The yellow mare kept an eye on the kitchen opening, still hearing the sounds of mopping. She squirmed on the couch, growing more and more uncomfortable until she finally hopped off the couch and ran for the kitchen. She poked her head in and said "Scootaloo, please stop mopping, the floor's clean enough!" She suddenly blinked in surprise however, seeing that Scootaloo was sitting at the table and drinking a juice-box...the mop nowhere to be seen. She blinked as Scootaloo looked at her funny, muttering "Fluttershy...are you ok? I'm not mopping...I'm drinking juice." Fluttershy blinked, stunned. She looked around awkwardly before saying "Oh...um...my mistake, Rarity's coming over so...um...if you wanted to see her, I'll let you know when she's here...ok?" Scootaloo nodded and said "Alrighty. Sheesh Fluttershy, you think you'd know me by now after all these years!" Fluttershy cocked her head in confusion and asked "What do you mean...?" Scootaloo looked at Fluttershy with a smile and a rolling of her eyes, saying "Um...Fluttershy, I HATE mopping, remember? I wouldn't be caught dead doing it ever again, you know that!"