Lavender Ponyville

by Quadraginta

Chapter 2: I must still be dreaming. I must.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight knocked on the door to her cottage. She decided to check up on Fluttershy, even though she knew that she would be just fine. It was silly, she knew, but it was just a nagging feeling that went through her. She had to make sure, just in case.

"Fluttershy?" she knocked again, more firmly this time. No answer. She pushed against the door. It was locked.

Huh, that's strange. Thought Twilight. She decided to use her magic to break into Fluttershy's cottage. She felt bad about breaking into her friend's house, but she also felt that she had to deny a new feeling within her. A feeling of suspicion.

The door clicked open, and she used her magic to push the door inwards. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Fluttershy?" she called out again. Still no answer.

"Am I still dreaming?" She wondered out loud. She did a reality check and spun around. The scenery did not change. "Maybe not." Fluttershy probably went out. It wasn't unlike her to go out early to buy supplies for her precious animals. But Twilight decided to make sure.

She walked up the stairs to Fluttershy's room and knocked. No answer. What a surprise there. She gently opened the door and stepped inside. She saw Fluttershy's bed and saw a lump underneath the sheets. She promptly breathed a sigh of relief. She was just asleep, that was all.

"Oh, Fluttershy," she said as she walked closer to her bed. "Sorry about breaking in. I just wanted to check up on you. I'm glad to see you're ok, tho-" She froze. Something was amiss. Fluttershy wasn't moving. She wasn't even breathing. Twilight walked over to Fluttershy's bed and ripped the sheets off of her. She gasped at what she saw. Fluttershy's complexion was pallid. Twilight reached out a hoof to touch her. She was cold. She had likely been dead for a while.

"I-I'm still dreaming," Twilight said, unsure. "I've got to be." She quickly covered up Fluttershy's corpse, unable to look at it any further, and went to a closet and withdrew a sewing kit. She took out a random needle and jammed it within herself. It hurt. Blood drew where she stabbed herself.

She was awake. She would have shed tears then and there, but right now was no time to grieve. She saw the outline of Fluttershy being stomped upon by a mysterious figure in a dream she had, and now the real Fluttershy lay dead in her bed.

Wait a second. Twilight went back over to Fluttershy's bed. She braced herself and yanked the sheets back off again. She examined the corpse closely and saw bruises on it. It looked like somepony had stomped on her over and over again.

Twilight immediately ran down the stairs, out the cottage, and towards her library. She was going to get to the bottom of this, if it meant risking her own life.