59. Nightmares From The Past
It all starts in a dark place, where nothing but darkness itself can be seen.
"Hello?" Sunny's voice called out nervously, as the earth pony mare tried to look around for something, anything.
Suddenly, however, a light turned on over her, and she had to cover her face with her own hooves. But once she got used to the light, her eyes widened, and her heart started to race in panic, while her breath increased as well: She was back in Eggman's lab, in the middle of the same place he beat her up.
"N-No... No, no, no, no, no, no..." Sunny muttered in panic, as she stepped back several times, just to suddenly stop as she bumped up with something.
But it wasn't something, it was someone... It was Eggman.
Sunny gasped, and by instinct, she made her Alicorn Powers come up, as she blasted a laser beam to the doctor. However, this didn't did anything, because not only Eggman wasn't there when she launched the laser beam anymore... He also managed to move fast enough to be behind Sunny again.
Sunny bumped with him again in panic, but this time, she had no time to react, because Eggman grabbed her and launched her against a panel control. In the process, her Alicorn form faded away... It was happening again...
Soon enough, Eggman approached her with a growl and tried to smash her, but Sunny moved just in time when Eggman smashed down the panel control with his fists.
Followed by this, Sunny tried to quickly summon her Alicorn form again, but she couldn't even flap her wings once it did so, because Eggman approached her and grabbed her from her tail, quickly smashing her against the floor.
Then, he stomped on Sunny's tail and made her groan in pain, since she tried to get away from him. After that, he stomped on Sunny's back and pressed over her bones, while Sunny screamed in pure agony and pain.
"N-No... N-Not this again!" Sunny cried out in pain, while some tears came out of her eyes.
But this was far from being over, because Eggman then grabbed her tail and started to smash Sunny in the floor from one side to the other.
Sunny cried out in pain, and she felt more tears coming out as Eggman did this to her again... But then, Eggman finished by sending her towards a door that she traversed.
She rolled in the ground and grunted in pain, but once she shook her head and looked ahead, she gasped, and her eyes widened again: She was now in Maretime Bay, with Eggman's Death Egg Titan coming out of water and looking down at her.
Sunny looked back and saw that Mane Melody's doors were open, but they closed alone, and so, she returned her sight to the Death Egg Titan, now frowning in rage.
However, the Death Egg Titan slowly turned to see the Crystal Brighthouse, which didn't had the rainbow light anymore, before the machine closed its right hand into a fist, and then, it smashed the Brighthouse in on single punch, destroying the entire building in the process.
"No!" Sunny screamed with panic, before looking over at the Death Egg Titan with a bigger frown.
And so, she summoned her Alicorn form again and flew towards the robot. She charged up a laser beam on her horn and launched it against the Death Egg Titan's face, but the machine didn't even flinched.
In fact, the machine charged up its laser eyes and launched them against Sunny. The mare gasped and managed to quickly create a shield around herself, but the impact with the laser sent her backwards, as the laser not only pushed her, but it also destroyed all in it's way, including several buildings in Maretime Bay, like Mane Melody and the Museum.
Sunny found herself coughing and laying on the floor weakly, while her magic vanished, as well as her Alicorn form, but she still managed to painfully stand up and look over at the Death Egg Titan with a frown.
However, the Titan was not facing her anymore. Instead, it was using its laser eyes to destroy the rest of the town.
".. I-I... N-Need to... G-Get closer..." Sunny muttered to herself, as she started to walk painfully, because she wasn't strong enough to summon her wings and horn right now.
But then, while the machine kept destroying everything, Sunny managed to see something in the distance... or rather, somepony, running up to her as fast as they could.
Sunny narrowed her eyes to look better... and then her eyes widened in shock, as her lips started to tremble, while her heart ran like a marathon, and tears formed in her eyes.
"... D-Dad?" Sunny muttered with disbelief.
Precisely, Argyle Starshine, Sunny's dad, was running towards her daughter with both a panicked and concerned expression for his daughters well-being.
"Sunny!" Argyle's voice spoke with both relief and worry, as he trotted faster.
Sunny couldn't believe what she was seeing... Her dad died years ago... But here he was, running towards her.
She had no time to process how this was possible, she simply needed to get to him. So, she managed to move a bit faster than usual and run towards her father.
Argyle and Sunny were so close to each other... But before they could even say something, the Death Egg Titan's right foot stomped over Argyle and killed him again, much to Sunny's horror, while she looked up at the robot, whom launched its laser eyes against her...
"NO!!!" Sunny screamed in panic, as she sat down on her bed and breathed heavily.
Everything we just saw was a nightmare. One that felt very real, of course, but a nightmare at the end of the day... One that Sunny's been having for weeks now, ever since the defeat of the Death Egg Titan, actually.
However, her scream made everyone else in the room wake up as well... Okay, everyone but Knuckles. He just kept sleeping while snoring loudly with his mouth open.
Sunny kept breathing heavily, while Sonic, Tails, Izzy and Zipp immediately rushed to her side and tried to calm her down. Tails placed a hand on her back, the other one on her hoof and told her to breath deeply; Sonic placed his hand over her hoof as well and told her the same; while Izzy and Zipp limited themselves to hug Sunny.
As for Pipp, Misty and Amy? They just approached and watched the scene with concern, while Knuckles kept sleeping.
After several minutes, Sunny was breathing normally again, and she felt her heart bumping regularly as well, while she took one last deep breath and sighed in relief.
"... Thanks, guys..." Sunny said with a smile, despite having her eyes closed.
"No problem, but... What happened?" Tails asked with concern, still not letting go of Sunny's hoof.
Sunny's smile faded away, and she looked down with concern, while some tears dared to show off on her eyes.
"Let me guess... Another nightmare with Eggman's Titan?" Sonic said with a frown, but his voice showed concern for Sunny.
Sunny slowly looked over to Sonic and nodded. "It... I-It was that thing killing my father... again..." she muttered, while some tears fell from her eyes and she tried to wipe them away.
"Dang it!" Zipp muttered with anger, while she also rubbed her face with a hoof. "Sunny, this is the second time this week, and like the seventh one ever since Sonic launched that thing to the Sun and Moon knows where!" she pointed out with concern.
"I-I know..." Sunny replied with concern, while she caressed her mane with her free hoof.
"Okay, I know we all made a bow to never mention this again, but I think is time we have the turkey talk!" Sonic stated with a frown. "What did Eggman did to all of you while I was unconscious?" he asked.
Sunny's and Zipp's eyes widened in panic after he asked that, while Izzy tilted her head confused at the question.
Let's just say that Izzy's mind blocked out the memories of what Eggman did to Sunny and everything he said the day he ponynapped them, since it was just to traumatic for her to process it.
"Um... D-Do we really have to talk about it?" Sunny asked with concern, also looking away from him. "I-I don't think it's gonna change anything––" she tried to protest.
"Sunny..." Tails called out this time around. "I know that Eggman did something so bad that you want to forget it... But I think Sonic wants you to say it because that is what keeps giving you nightmares... And I honestly agree with him" he said with concern.
"I'm usually not that much into making anyone talk about their traumas, but I agree with Sonic and Tails" Amy spoke, as she approached along Pipp and Misty. "The sooner you talk this out of your system, the sooner these nightmares will fade away" she pointed out.
"And you'll sleep good again!" Misty added with a small smile.
"Sunny... I also think they're right..." Pipp spoke. "In all honesty, we all had nightmares from that day at some point, but you're the one who's having the worse of them!" she pointed out with concern.
"I... Don't really know what you all are talking about, but I think they're right. You should tell us what's wrong" Izzy agreed with a smile.
Sunny opened her mouth to say something, but as soon as she did so, she immediately regret it and closed her mouth, also looking down in shame.
This made everyone else sigh, and Sonic even rubbed his eyes with slight annoyance.
Tails let out a sigh, but he still looked at Sunny with a smile. "Well, then... How about you go and see a therapist?" he suggested. "Unlike us, they're more experienced at dealing with traumatic events, you know?" he pointed out.
"Actually... That's a really good idea" Sonic agreed with a smile. "If you can't take it out with us, at least try and see an expert in the matter!" he stated.
"Yeah!" Zipp agreed as well. "If we gotta be honest, Pipp and I went with one for a whole week, and it helped us stop having nightmares about that day!" she confessed with a sheepish smile.
"Wait... You took therapy and never told me?!" Sonic asked Pipp, as he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her with panic.
"You were going to freak out if I ever told you!" Pipp pointed out with an eye roll.
"Well, what else would I've had done?! I love you, for Chaos sake! Of course I would've worried!" Sonic pointed out with a frown.
"Wait... Is that why you asked me to sleep close to you a whole week?" Tails asked Zipp, while raising an eyebrow at her and deadpanned as well.
Zipp blushed and chuckled sheepishly, looking away and scratching her neck embarrassed.
"You two sleep together?" Misty asked confused, but also frowning at Tails.
"Technically, she slept wrapped to my tails..." Tails corrected himself, still deadpanning.
"Getting back on track!" Amy called out. "I agree that you should see a therapist, then. I'm sure they could help you!" she assured with a smile.
"I... Don't think so..." Sunny said. "Besides, I already made plans for this week, and I have to run my stand in the morning... Maybe if I find some free time in my schedule, I would see a therapist, but right now? I just wanna go back to sleep..." she confessed, also letting out a yawn.
"Oh, no!" Sonic said. "You are not avoiding another problem like this! Last time you did so, magic almost caused the end of the world, and we created new magic because racism isn't an option in this generation, apparently" he added with a bored expression.
"But this time around is worse, because it affects you and your life!" Tails pointed out. "Come on, Sunny! Don't this to yourself and just see a therapist!" he begged with the sad puppy eyes that only he can made.
However, that trick wasn't going to work, because Sunny still shook her head in denial. "Guys, I'm gonna be fine! I just need to distract my mind with happy thoughts at night, and my sleep will be okay!" she assured. "I promise that this isn't a big deal" she stated.
"Ā, anata wa raba yori mo gankodesu!" Sonic said with a frown, and then he started to swear a lot of not rated E words in Japanese, as he walked over to his bed again.
"What did he said?" Zipp asked confused.
"The first sentence was 'You are more stubborn than a mule'! Which I agree with!" Amy replied, also looking at Sunny slightly annoyed. "As for everything else? You don't wanna know..." she said, as she yawned and also head back to her bed.
Soon, Pipp, Zipp and Izzy did the same, with just Misty and Tails staying with Sunny.
"Sunny, if you keep hiding what Eggman did to you that day, when the truth is out, everything's gonna be really bad" Misty told her with concern. "Trust me, I know why I say this..." she assured with an ashamed expression. "The sooner you tell everyone what's waking you up, the better" she finished, before turning around and walking up to her bed as well.
"She's right, Sunny" Tails agreed. "Avoiding this won't do any better to you. But... If you really want to act like nothing's wrong, then we won't stop you" he added, before hoping off her bed and flying towards his, while Sunny stood behind and looked down at the floor in concern.
She could understand her friends worry for her, but she seriously didn't wanted to talk about what happened that day, specially since she knew that Sonic and Tails wouldn't take it so well.
So, she decided to stick to her word and lay on her bed, resting her head against her pillow and slowly drifting back to sleep, hoping she wouldn't have that nightmare again...
Yeah, let's emphasize on hoping, because she slept terribly.
That very same day, in the morning, and because of the lack of sleep, Sunny struggled to make breakfast this time around. She poured the content for the pancakes and, since she was too tired to even look at what she was doing, she also broke some eggs over the pan... where the pancakes' content was already poured.
In the process, she mixed pancakes and eggs, something that she didn't realized until Zipp pointed it out when the rest of the breakfast was served.
Of course, nobody seemed to complain with the mix, but Sunny still yawned and gave a sheepish smile at the rest, something that made Sonic and Tails frown at her.
The next day, Sunny went to her smoothie stand.
Once again, she had a terrible night because of nightmares with Eggman and the Death Egg Titan, which was now affecting her work as well.
Still sleepy and yawning, she took the orders from Posey, Dahlia and Mayflower, who were asking for their usual, something Sunny heard clearly... However, as she started to look after the ingredients, she yawned with her eyes closed again, and instead of grabbing a pear for Dahlia's smoothie, she grabbed a pearnana, which she already putted in the blender.
This got worse with Posey's, because Sunny replaced the usual ingredients she used on her smoothie with some that Posey not only disliked, but Sunny also placed one that Posey was allergic to.
With Mayflower's smoothie, weird enough, she was paying attention and got it right... But when she delivered the smoothies, however, both Dahlia and Posey spitted their smoothies away, much to Sunny's and Mayflower's surprise, followed by Posey's face swelling and turning red from her allergy.
Of course Posey screamed in panic and ran away, with Dahlia immediately following, while Sunny got red herself from embarrassment, as she slowly ducked behind her stand while covering her face with her hooves.
The next few days, things just got worse.
First it was messing up breakfast, then it was delivering the wrong orders at work, and now? Now she was getting late to all the meetings with her friends that they planned months ago, even before Team Dark, Amy and Misty were part of the crew.
First, she got late to a monthly reunion she always had with Sonic, Queen Haven and Alphabittle about important stuff regarding ponykind, something that never happened before.
A few days later, not so far from Hitch's birthday, she got late to the secret planning.
She, along with Zipp, Pipp, Izzy, Misty and Team Sonic, agreed to make secret meetings behind Hitch's back, while Team Dark would make their best effort to keep him busy and away from them. These meetings were to plan out a surprise birthday party for Hitch, but everytime these meetings happened, she always got late.
In fact, they were at least three or four times close to be discovered by Hitch, if it wasn't because Knuckles always managed to trick him by saying that a critter stoled something, which immediately made Hitch ran away.
Still, it didn't changed the fact that Sunny wasn't helping around that much, but instead was complicating things and, sometimes, even making them worse, which only concerned Sonic and Tails even more, because she has never been a problem in this kind of stuff, specially when it comes to Hitch.
After that, there was a small reunion in the Brighthouse.
Well. it was more a party thrown out of nowhere for absolutely no reason, but a party regardless... One that Sunny did't even showed up, because she was busy with her work, which was now starting to fail because of herself failing at make the proper orders as ponies asked them.
This last thing was noticed by Hitch, who finished his rounds and was heading to the party, but when he saw Sunny having trouble in her stand, as well as her tired expression, he frowned in worry, and Sparky on his back babbled concerned too.
And finally, the worse thing of all happened...
This occurred exactly one week after Sunny's friends advised her to go get therapy. Sunny was walking towards her smoothie stand with a tired expression, as she let out a yawn.
Her aspect was horrible: There were massive eye bags that anyone could notice even from afar; her mane was messed to the point that she barely bothered to brush it so it could look as good as usual; and she wasn't even wearing her saddlebag today, which she never left behind.
But as if looking bad wasn't enough, she tripped with a rock and fell to the floor with a thud and a grunt. She shook her head and blinked a few times, but as soon as she got up and rubbed her eyes, she looked ahead again, just for her eyes to open in panic, because right in front of her was Eggman, not wearing glasses and glaring daggers at her.
That made her scream and trip again, as she fell backwards and landed on her back this time around.
She sat down on the road and rubbed her head with a hoof, also shaking it, but once she looked ahead again, Eggman was gone... Was he even there to begin with? Who knew, but one thing was for sure: Sunny was seeing things now.
She got up and scratched her head confused, but as she looked around to make sure nopony saw her, she yelped and fell backwards again, because she was convinced that she saw the Death Egg Titan raising from the water.
Yet, when she opened her eyes and shook her head, the Titan wasn't there.
The mare sighed in relief and got up, once again looking around to make sure nopony saw her. Yawning tired, she walked towards her stand, not knowing that Hitch and Sparky saw all of this again, which only worried the Sheriff even more, while the baby dragon made sad puppy noises, clearly concerned about her as well.
However, they were not the only ones who witnessed Sunny's strange attitude, because Shadow was watching her as well.
In fact, he's been noticing her strange attitude ever since the incident with Posey at the beginning of that week, and he couldn't feel more concerned for her.
In just a short amount of time, Shadow managed to get over his stupid rule of 'not getting attached to Sunny' and gave her the chance he promised he would give her... It has evolved to this point, where he needs to find out why she's acting this way lately.
Later that same day, Hitch and Sparky went to Electronic Tails.
Despite her horrible aspect and bad reputation, Sunny still managed to sell good smoothies and keep her business running, despite it being really obvious at this point that she wasn't okay.
So, Hitch decided to directly ask Sonic and Tails about her, because he's also been noticing that they frown at her whenever she gets late to any event, which made him suspect that they knew what was going on with her, which was also the reason why they've been frowning at her lately.
Sonic and Tails were on Electronic Tails' ceiling, with Tails fixing up the Tornado IV after the Death Egg Titan damaged it on its robot form, while Sonic help Tails out by passing him tools and any part he could need for the plane.
"Hey, guys!" Hitch called out, as he approached the brothers.
Sonic looked over at him and smirked. "Well, well, well! The Knight in yellow armor has arrived!" he mocked up.
"Hi, Hitch" Tails replied instead, but he didn't sound any happy at all, while he was fixing the plane's motor.
Hitch seemed to notice that, because he smiled a bit sheepishly. "Um... If you two are not that busy, can I ask you something?" he requested. "It's about... Sunny..." he added, now frowning with concern.
That made Sonic look over at him with wide eyes, while Tails got out of the plane's motor and looked over at Hitch with a frown, even though he was all covered in black tint.
"Look, I know you guys have noticed it, too" Hitch spoke with concern. "Sunny's acting really weird lately: She gets late everywhere, she's delivering wrong orders to her clients, and she even mixed up breakfast! Knuckles told me" he pointed out. "And don't even make me talk about her aspect. She's always so beautiful, cheerful, optimistic, so... so Sunny! Now, she doesn't even brush her mane!" he added with concern, also pointing at Sunny at the distance.
She was at her stand, giving the Pippsqueaks their smoothies, as the three fillies smiled at the flavors, payed Sunny and walked away with their smoothies, while Sunny putted the money away and yawned tiredly.
This immediately made Sonic and Tails cringe, while they both looked at each other in concern, before looking back at Hitch.
"And, today Knuckles asked for a free day so he could take Izzy out to Bridlewood and distract her a bit from what's happening with Sunny!" Hitch continued. "Yes, he said it explicitly like that..." he added with a bored expression.
"D'oh! Knuckles..." Sonic and Tails both muttered, with Sonic facepalming and Tails rubbing his eyes with a hand.
"I know really well that you two have at least an idea of what's going on with her, and I want an answer!" Hitch stated with a frown, before sighing and giving a pleading look to Sonic and Tails. "Please, guys... I... I need to know what's going on with her..." he begged.
At this, the two Mobians looked at each other before nodding and look back at Hitch. "Ever since we defeated the Death Egg Titan, Sunny's been having nightmares with that day... About what Eggman did to her in his lab, and about that thing smashing her father as he tries to help her..." Sonic started to explain.
"At first, it wasn't a big deal. It only happened one or two times a week, and we thought it wasn't such a problem..." Tails confessed. "But since the seventh time, we suggested her to take therapy to deal with the trauma... She refuses to do so..." he added with a slight frown, also rubbing his arm.
"Worse of all, not only the nightmares have come all the week now, but it also changes who Eggman kills" Sonic added with concern. "First it was her father. But then, as days went by, it changed. First it was Izzy, then Tails, then me, then you, then Zipp... And she even got to witness her mom dying!" he added with panic.
"... Her Mom?" Hitch asked. "But she only have sawn her on an old picture where she's marrying Argyle..." he pointed out with an anxious look. "Ugh, why didn't I asked sooner? And why none of you told me?!" he asked them panicked.
"Sunny insisted to not tell you when we finally come to suggest that..." Tails spoke. "And, as you can see, this is the result of her being so stubborn..." he added, once again frowning.
"So, Sunny's been having nightmares because of what happened with Eggman and his robot?" Hitch asked, looking down at the floor in concern, while Sonic and Tails nodded. This made Hitch sigh and look at them with a determinate look. "I have a feeling she's gonna hate me because of our bow... But you guys deserve to know the truth!" he stated.
"Wait... Are you going to––" Sonic tried to ask, as his eyes and Tails' widened.
"Yes. I'm gonna tell you what happened... exactly like it happened" Hitch replied.
And so he did. He told them everything: From Eggman using Chaos Control on Sunny, to him beating the crap out of her, to him manipulating Zipp, Pipp and Izzy mentally, and even destroying all hopes from Sunny by telling her that her dream of unity will remain as that once she was gone.
Of course, if Sonic and Tails thought that they couldn't hate Eggman more, they were very wrong, because it was one thing to destroy the Brighthouse, but literally destroy Sunny? That was going to far... And they were not the only ones who felt in that way.
Shadow has been hiding behind the Tornado IV this whole time, and after hearing from Hitch everything that Eggman did to Sunny, he couldn't be angrier.
If he knew where Eggman was hiding, he would go there right now and finish him off with his bare fists, not minding what anyone would tell him if he did so, because in his eyes, that's what Eggman deserves for everything he did not only to Sunny, but also to everyone else he has affected through the years.
Yet, he had to deep breath and calm his anger down. He could deal with his anger later. First things first: He had to find Sunny and talk to her about this.
So, nodding to himself, he glanced at Sonic, Tails, Hitch and Sparky one last time, before teleporting away.
The next day, Sunny was walking alone in the beach.
Everyone in the Brighthouse told her to take the day off while they filled her duties in her place. Sunny accepted without hesitation, not only because she didn't wanted to argue with her friends, but also because she hated how her lack of sleep because of her nightmares was affecting them now too.
She decided to walk around the beach. Despite her eye bags still being noticeable, at least Pipp and Izzy offered to brush her mane, so that was something good, at least.
Still, it didn't changed the fact that she was feeling awful for all these nightmares. Anyone would think that seeing your dad dying over and over again was bad enough, but seeing him and your friends dying non-stop, aside from getting the crap beat out of you? It was worse than a nightmare...
Sunny looked over to the sea and sighed with concern. "... I wish you were here, dad..." she muttered, before looking down with low ears, while sniffing a bit.
Soon enough, however, footsteps where heard, but she didn't wanted to see whoever was getting at her side right now.
At least, not a first, because when he spoke, it was a whole new story...
"I get the feeling this is the part where I brake into a song out of nowhere just to cheer you up..." Shadow's voice spoke, as he slowly got at Sunny's side with his arms crossed, while Sunny herself opened her eyes widely and looked at her side, surprised to find Shadow here. "But I don't think my voice is that good at singing, nor that any song I could ever come up with would make you feel better" he added, although he seemed to have a playful smirk instead of the usual seriousness.
"... Shadow?" Sunny called out confused, wiping her tears the best she could, but more kept coming out no matter how much she rubbed her eyes with her hooves. "W-What are you doing here?" she asked weakly.
"A little birdy told me what Eggman did to you weeks ago, and how it has affected your mental health" Shadow replied. "I can always go after that piece of garbage and beat the crap out of him if you just say it" he added with a playful smirk.
That actually made Sunny chuckle a bit, as she sobbed again. "O-Okay... I'll admit that was funny..." she said with a sad smile. "But if you're talking seriously, no thanks. As much as he would deserve it, I don't really wanna trigger him even more..." she added, looking down at the floor with sadness.
Shadow sighed and frowned in concern. "Yeah... I thought you were going to say that..." he replied. "I really haven't heard that much of your nightmares, so if you don't mind me asking..." he said, as he finally sat down at her side. "What's the matter?" he asked.
Sunny sorbed from the nose a bit and then sighed. "All my nightmares start the very same way: I appear back at Eggman's lab, then he appears out of nowhere and... B-Beats me again... Then he launches me to a door that makes me exit Mane Melody, and I appear in the middle of Maretime Bay, just when his giant robot is attacking. Then, he destroys the Brighthouse, I try to fight against him, I loose, and then... The worse part comes... E-Either dad o-or any of you guys appear to try and help me, b-but Eggman stomps over them and... a-and..." she tried to add, but she couldn't.
Instead, she immediately broke into tears, covering her face with her hooves, since remembering seeing her dad and friends getting killed over and over again in the span of one week was... She couldn't take it anymore.
And Shadow? Shadow was frowning in rage. Eggman crossed a line he never though he would cross, which was his big mistake. Whenever he underestimates how far is Eggman willing to go to accomplish his dream, he gets surprised with the results the doctor gives.
And, of course, he wanted so badly to go and look after him just so he could get a taste of his own medicine... But he not only wasn't going to because Sunny told him so, but also because he had no idea where Eggman even was hiding...
Sighing frustrated with this fact, he looked at Sunny at his side... And did something no one would ever thought he would do... He hugged her.
Not because she asked her to, not because anyone else dare him to, not because the world could be at stake... He did out of kindness, because he wanted to do it.
Of course, Sunny wasn't surprised with this gesture. In fact, she needed it, because she immediately buried her face on Shadow's chest, also wrapping her hooves around him, while Shadow limited himself to let her cry and hug her tightly, even rubbing her back from time to time.
After several minutes of crying her sadness out, Sunny finally calmed down and pulled away from Shadow, finally wiping away the few tears left and looking up at him with a smile.
"... T-Thanks, Shadow..." Sunny said with a sad smile. "I... I really needed that..." she added, rubbing her right hoof a bit embarrassed.
Shadow smiled back and nodded at her. "I'm not good with words nor actions when it comes to be affective, but... I guess one can always make an exception" he said with a playful tone. "Jokes aside. I do believe you should ask for profesional help if the nightmares aren't over at this point" he suggested.
Sunny sighed after hearing this. "I've been hearing that the whole week! But I don't want to see a therapist!" Sunny confessed. "There's no guarantee that I will stop having that nightmare, nor that I will sleep any better!" she pointed out, placing her hooves on her head.
"Maybe not, but a therapist could help you to deal with the trauma of what Eggman did to you" Shadow pointed out.
"And if they can't?!" Sunny asked desperately.
"Sunny, keeping this to yourself is gonna blow on your face at one point" Shadow stated with a frown. "Your life is being consumed by the lack of sleep, and if you don't make sure you deal with that trauma, it isn't going to get any better. I know that, because I once couldn't let go of my past" he added with concern.
This made Sunny's eyes open wide, and she tilted her head curiously. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"... I was created out of the blood of a sinister creature named Black Doom..." Shadow started to explain. "He was... technically my biological father. He tried to make me join his side and destroy humanity... But I refused to. Maria would had hated me if I ever did so. In the end, when I discovered who he really was, well... I felt stupid, dumb, used... He only cared about my power and what it could do. So, once I decided to forge my own path without depending on my past anymore, I destroyed Black Doom myself..." he added. "Many think I was like nothing after that, but... That's not true. I literally killed my 'father'... You really expected me to walk out of that without sequels?" he asked with a bored look.
Sunny was surprised to hear all of this, specially the part where Shadow confesses that he directly killed his own 'father' out of rage.
"So... You took therapy?" Sunny asked.
"Kinda" Shadow replied. "While I did saw a therapist for a week or two, I still started to get nightmares where I accepted to side with Black Doom and eradicate the planet. It... It took me a long time to finally sleep again, and even eat the same way I used to" he explained.
"But you did went back to your normal self... Didn't you?" Sunny asked him with a smile.
"Yeah... Now, I'll be lying if I said that I never got that nightmare again, but it just pops out of nowhere sometimes" Shadow added. "The relief of waking up and see that none of that happened makes me relax again and fall sleep to never have the same nightmare for a very long time. Sometimes I had lasted years not having the same nightmare again" he explained.
"... All because you asked for help?!" Sunny asked in shock.
"I may be proud and arrogant, but I know when to ask for help if I need it... Even if my only available option is Sonic..." Shadow replied with a slight smirk.
Sunny giggled at this, even covering her mouth with a hoof, and Shadow couldn't help but smile like an idiot at the sound of her voice.
After that, the ultimate life-form got up and looked down at Sunny. "So? What are you gonna do now?" he asked her.
Sunny looked down to the ground and thought about it...
On one hand, there was still no guarantee that therapy was going to help her with her problem... But on the other hand, if she kept going with this, her friends would feel even more hurt to see her like this, and she couldn't allow this anymore.
So, with a sigh and a nod, Sunny stood up for herself and looked up at Shadow with a smile. "I know what I have to do now" she stated.
Shadow nodded at her with a smile, and Sunny turned to leave, but before doing so, she smiled, returned with Shadow and hugged him tightly once again, which startled Shadow a bit since he didn't expected it.
"Thank you, Shadow. You really are a good friend, like it or not" Sunny told him with a smile and a wink, before turning around and running away.
However, as she did so, Shadow found himself amused, because after she called him a good friend, he... He couldn't help but smile brightly, while his heart started to bump like if he ran a marathon.
It was weird for him to smile out of nowhere, but this... It actually felt nice to him... Maybe getting attached to Sunny wasn't so bad after all.
The next day, Sunny, Hitch and Sparky were in the waiting room of the therapist's office.
Sunny was still hesitant with the idea of talking with a therapist, but once Hitch and everyone else offered to go with her to the sessions, alternating between each other, she accepted immediately. After all, she doubted that she could visit a therapist on her own without panicking.
This last thing was something that Hitch noticed, because Sunny was rubbing her own hoof with an anxious expression. "Sun?" he called out. "You okay?" he asked.
"Not at all..." Sunny replied. "I... I still think this is a really bad idea..." she confessed.
"Hey, look at me..." Hitch said, as he placed a hoof on her chin and made her look at him in the eyes. "It's gonna be okay. I'll be with you the whole time, and whenever you feel unsure to say something, know that I won't go anywhere" he assured her with a smile and a slight blush.
Sunny blushed a bit as well, but she still smiled back at him, giving him a small peek on his cheek as a way to thank him, which made Hitch's blush increase, as he also chuckled sheepishly.
Sparky also wanted to assure Sunny as well, so he jumped from Hitch's back to land on Sunny's, then he went to nuzzle and hug her neck, which made Sunny's heart melt by the gesture, as she smiled warmly at the baby dragon and nuzzled him back.
Then, the therapist's office door opened. "Sunny Starscout?" a stallion's voice called out.
This was a pegasus stallion that had gray fur, pink hair and beard, light blue eyes, and a winged badge as his cutie mark.
When she heard her name, Sunny gulped nervously and hopped off her seat, with Hitch following close and taking Sparky again, sitting him down on his back. "H-Here!" Sunny called out nervously.
"Oh, excellent!" the stallion said with smile, as he extended his hoof to her, while Sunny extended it back. "Nice to meet you, Sunny. I'm Dr. Andrew Windwards, but everypony calls me Dr. Andy" he presented himself.
"Um... Nice to meet you, too..." Sunny replied with an awkward chuckle. "Um... I never did this before, but I kind of understand that we must to the session alone, right?" she asked nervously.
"What? Oh, no, no, no! That won't be necessary!" Andy replied with a smile. "Other therapists are way too strict for my liking in that aspect, but if my patients need somepony to come with them, they are welcome!" he stated with a wink.
This made Sunny sigh in relief, and Hitch at her side bumped her playfully. "That's good to hear. So, Hitch and Sparky can come in with me? I would feel better if they were in the session with me" she confessed.
"Be my guests!" Andy replied, as he stepped aside and allowed Sunny and Hitch to get inside of his office.
With a last glance to Hitch, who nodded at her with a smile, Sunny smiled as well, and so, they both got inside of Andy's office, while the therapist closed the door behind him.
"Well, then. Tell me what's been bothering your mind, Sunny" Andy requested, as he sat over a big chair, while Sunny, Hitch and Sparky sat on a couch.
Sunny hesitated at first, but when she felt Hitch's hoof over her own, she smiled sweetly at her best friend, her love, the most important pony in her life, before taking a deep breath and look at Andy, as she started to tell the whole story.
THE END
Happy first anniversary to me on FIMFiction!
When BenictheHedgehog suggested me this idea (thanks for that by the way), I saw the perfect chance to delay Canon Episode 59 for later on and do something else. And here it is!
If I'm being honest, the idea of some of the girls from the group taking therapy after what happened in "Dancing With Destiny" was going to be nothing but a silly joke in Episode 60... Yet Ben came by and told me how to make that silly joke into, well, this Episode.
I also got some inspiration from Flamewarrior02 and his story (Path to Peace) for the final part where Hitch goes with Sunny to her therapy sessions. That story is also kind of the reason why I wanted to joke with the therapy thing in the first place, so thanks to you for the help as well, Flamewarrior02! (I have no nickname for you, sorry! 
)
Now, how are the events of this Episode getting acknowledge? At the beginning of the Next Episode, as well as on Season 3. Which reminds me, next episode is the last one before going to Frontiers! I know, I know. Only 6 Episodes between Season 2 and Frontiers, but that's how things work here!
Let's see what awaits us for the next episode! See ya! 
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Call me Drew, or Flame, if you want a nickname.
Anyway, so this is how bad Sunny is suffering (for now at least) constant nightmares. Not as extreme as I thought, but I’m still betting on things getting worse come Frontiers.
I do really like seeing Shadow and Sunny bonding more. Nice to see the edgelord showing other emotions.
Also, at first I wanted to just see Sunny be the s##t out of Eggman. Now I want to see Sonic and Tails join in after hearing what he did to Pipp and Zipp.
I swear, his days are going to literally be numbered at this point.
Awesome chapter, and wow Sunny really was traumatize from what Eggman did to beat her mentally and physically while the rest of the girls and hitch had therapy while sunny didn’t, which really wasn’t good for her health while team sonic and team dark was kept in the dark as hitch told sonic and tails about what happened; while shadow sneakily heard, and shadow talking sunny into getting therapy while telling more about his past to her while comforting her as sunny finally get the therapy while hitch and sparky joined her as she is finally getting help.
Awesome chapter there and happy anniversary
Waitaminute…
It landed on Chaos Island, didn’t it? Since the Death Egg Robot from Forces couldn’t be there, you’ve replaced it with the Titan, haven’t you?!
11673708
No
Sonic 06
11675714
Makes sense.
Ah crap... I wasn't expecting this to be that bad for Sunny...
... Yeah, okay... This isn't what I had in mind for Sunny... I hope she gets better.