The snake stared Twilight down as it slid towards her. While everypony else was busy preparing themselves for the dinner party Fluttershy planned, Twilight’s eyes darted around the room looking for an escape route as the snake continued its route towards her. Sure, she just saw Fluttershy handling the snake, but Fluttershy didn’t know them the way Twilight did. The snake almost got within striking distance when it hissed. She screamed as loud as she could and bolted out the door.
The memories of that horrible day flooded back to her.
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A traveling circus had come to Canterlot, and her family thought that it would be a perfect day for everyone to enjoy summer. They managed to get ringside seats which made the experience thrilling for a young filly.
The bravery of the tightrope walkers amazed Twilight. She fell off her seat from laughing so hard at the hilarity of the clowns. The dancers’ flips and tumbles stunned her.
Then, that fateful moment happened which marked the beginning of her nightmares.
“Fillies and gentlecolts!” the animal tamer announced, “Today, you are going to bear witness to the most dangerous stunt I have ever performed.” The entire crowd waited with baited breath. “For today, I am going to control a cobra using nothing but a flute and the ancient techniques of the Saddle Arabians!” An assistant ran out from backstage carrying a flute and basket in his magic. He gingerly sat the basket on the ground while placing the flute in the outstretched hoof of the tamer. “I must ask for complete silence from the audience.”
All the lights shined on the tamer. He sat down in front of the basket and took a deep breath as the assistant left the spotlights. Everyone sat on the edge of their seats, watching this brave pony tame the dangerous creature.
The tamer played a hypnotic tune from the flute, never taking his eyes off the basket.
The crowd watched in awe as the lid on the basket lifted and the cobra rose up, swaying back and forth to the tune while hissing its tongue. The tamer and the cobra stared at each other, neither one willing to back down from this potentially deadly game.
The cobra descended back into the basket.
The tamer, slowly relaxing his muscles, started playing softer and softer. But his hoof slipped, and a horrible, earth-shattering squeak froze everypony’s breath and even time itself.
The cobra shot back up and slithered away from the tamer, its trance broken, straight towards the easiest and closest prey – a wide-eyed and trembling filly.
Nopony had time to react. The cobra lunged straight for Twilight and sank its fangs into her side.
Her cries of pain joined with screams of horror as the crowd watched the tamer carefully force the snake off her.
A medical team sprang into action, placing hooves on her and inserting needles in her, spouting incoherent, rushed gibberish at each other. They placed her on a stretcher and forcibly shoved aside anyone that tried to get between them and the ambulance. Her breaths felt like she was sucking through a straw. The pain in her chest threatened to make her vomit. Her head screamed in agony as her eyelids drooped. As her eyes closed, she caught one last look at her mother before succumbing to the darkness.
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Twilight awoke in such a hurry that she nearly jumped out of her bed but a sharp stinging pain shot through her. Once the pain had subsided, she glanced at her surroundings and saw her family fast asleep at different spots around the room. She glanced at herself and saw she was wearing a hospital gown, she had stitches on the side of her body, and a bag of fluid dripping through a tube into her left foreleg.
The memories of what happened came flooding back to her. The pain of the bite of the cobra, the agonizing ride to the hospital, the doctors talking to somepony, and the mask that knocked her out. What scared her the most wasn’t the pain, but the explanation from the doctors. She didn’t understand most of it, but she did catch three words that stuck to her: ‘life or death.’ Her life was on the line.
Her family must have awoken because they gently embraced her until her sobbing stopped. Their words of comfort calmed Twilight, but the fear of death had already implanted nightmares.
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The nightmares would always be the same: she walked through a forest in the middle of the night when she heard that hissing sound. She turned to find a snake the size of a house glaring at her. She tried to use her magic to fight it, but she never could. She did the only thing that she could think of.
She ran.
She headed deeper and deeper into the forest, trying to outrun the snake. The hissing never stopped, and it came from everywhere.
The ground opened up in front of her, and she fell into a pit.
Snakes slid out of the very walls and ground around her, slowly surrounding the helpless filly. She cowered until they attacked with savage speed and ferocity. Every bite felt like a thousand needles piercing her skin, and she cried and begged for it to be over.
She would always wake up after that screaming and drenched in sweat, only to find the worried eyes of her family watching her. She would cry her heart out to them, asking if they would make the nightmares go away and stay with her throughout the night to protect her. She always felt the safest in the hooves of her BBBFF, Shining Armor.
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That was years ago, though. There were some instances where she was unable to keep the nightmares away no matter how hard she tried – like that time during the Winter Wrap Up – and would always wake up the same, minus the screaming. She would lie back down and wish for the warm embrace of her brother or any other member of her family, but they had their own lives now. Besides, she always told herself, how pathetic would it be for her to run home to her family over every nightmare? So, she silently kept her fears to herself.
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“Twi, wait!” Twilight didn’t bother to see who called out to her as she ran down the dirt path leading back into Ponyville. Nopony tried to stop her. She cried out to the setting sun as she barged into the library, slammed the door shut, and slumped against the floor sobbing. She defeated three dangerous villains in the history of Equestria, and showed no sign of fear when she stood up to them. So, why was she so afraid of a snake? She shoved the thought out of her mind, the memories leaving her to languish in fear.
“Come on, Twilight, please open the door. We’re getting worried about you.” Another knock came on Twilight’s door.
It was the third time today that Spike had tried to help her. She stared at her desk, trying to immerse herself in her newest edition of Daring Do, “Daring Do and the Temple of Icthlarin!” She ignored the meal placed beside her book as she closed it with a slight sigh and blew out the candle lighting the room. Hanging her head in defeat, she shuffled to her bed, knowing it was going to be one of those nights again.
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Twilight tried to jump up out of bed. She fell back on it with a resounding thud. She glanced at the room around her. Five ponies and a little dragon surrounded her bed. The neat bookshelves reminded Twilight that she was in her home, safe from the snakes in her nightmare. She looked at herself and saw a rope across her chest holding her down. She called upon magic to undo her bonds, but only a few sparks fell lazily from the tip of her horn. She thrashed against her bonds.
“Ya ain’t getting outta that, sugarcube. And don’t think about using magic, ya hear? Spike fetched us that magic training thingy preventing spells.”
“Very funny, girls, now let me go!” Twilight continued straining against the rope.
“Sorry Twi, but until yer fear is conquered, we ain’t letting ya go.”
Twilight froze. Was it that obvious to everypony? “How did you know? And how did you get in here?”
Pinkie giggled. “Silly Twilight, we came in the front door.”
“I let them in,” Spike answered, “You need help, Twi. You’re starting to worry us. You haven’t left the library in four days.”
“I was doing some important studying,” she lied. “And what is it that I need help with?” Twilight hoped they would give the wrong answer.
“Um... well… you seem to be afraid of snakes. I’m sorry, was I too direct?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, Twilight. Don’t play dumb with us. Fluttershy told us everything. Ain’t that right, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash nudged the yellow pegasi.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t get your permission,” Fluttershy said, head hanging down.
“So I’m afraid of snakes, big deal. I’m not hurting anypony else, right?”
“So hurting yerself is better, Twi? Look at ya! According ta Spike, ya barely eat and can’t sleep. Tain’t healthy.”
“And just look at your mane, dear! It looks as if you haven’t seen a brush in years!” Rarity added.
“Ya ain’t helping.”
“But one must take pride in one’s appearance, unlike some ponies.” Rarity flipped her mane.
Twilight forced herself to look. They were right. She felt how her body had wasted away in the past days. She felt lightheaded and weak every day. Her mane was a disheveled mess. Her stomach growled out for any form of sustenance. She needed help. Twilight held back the tears welling up in the corners of her vision.
“Let it out, Twi. Ya wanna tell us about it?”
Twilight did. She told them every detail of her horror.
“It all started back when I was a filly. A circus had come to Canterlot…”
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“Now you know everything,” Twilight told them, her eyes staring at the floor.
“Don’t ya feel better, Twi, getting it off yer chest this way?”
“You’re right, AJ, it’s like a weight I carried with me for years is gone,” Twilight said to her smiling friends, “Now would you please let me go?”
“Not so fast, Twilight. We're not finished yet.” Rainbow stomped the floor and flapped her wings.
“Telling ponies your fear is one thing, facing it is what makes a pony stronger.” Rarity glanced at the group and received a silent agreement.
“Everypony is afraid of something,” Fluttershy said.
“I’m not afraid of anything! I’m the bravest pony that ever lived!” Rainbow smiled and puffed out her chest.
“Hey Dashie, remember the day with the scary dragon, and you were bouncing your ball, and I was like ‘Roar,’ and I scared you into thinking the dragon was back, and I roared again and we all laughed?” Pinkie flashed a smile.
The smile on Dash’s face dropped slightly, but she regained her composure. “You guys didn’t scare me. I was faking it the whole time!”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Alright. Everypony ‘cept Dash has a fear.”
“Spike, be a dear and go fetch our friend downstairs.” Rarity blinked her eyelashes at him.
Spike sprinted downstairs.
“Who’s this ‘friend,’ and why can’t he or she come up here without assistance?” Twilight asked, suspicion laced in her voice.
Before anypony could answer, Spike returned, carrying a crate with a handle on it. As he set it on the ground beside Fluttershy, a sound came from the crate.
Twilight’s eyes grew wide at the sound.
“Are you crazy!?” she screamed at the group, resuming her struggle.
“O-oh… are you sure about this?” Fluttershy pawed at the ground.
“Come on Fluttershy, we’ve been over this already,” Rainbow beat her wings a little faster and rolled her eyes.
“Rainbow’s right, this is the only way to help Twilight,” Rarity added.
“Now Twi, I promise–”
“Do you Pinkie promise? Doyoudoyoudoyou?” Pinkie bounced in front of Applejack.
“Yeah, I Pinkie promise.” Applejack recited the movements and words, closing her eye before putting her hoof into it. “That ain’t nothin’ bad gonna happen ta ya, Twi.”
“Yeah, if anything does go wrong, Fluttershy can use The Stare."
Twilight had to give credit to Rainbow Dash for trying, but it did nothing to reassure her.
“Maybe we should get started before somepony says anything else. Right, girls?” Rarity glared at Rainbow.
They all nodded and stared at Fluttershy. She reached into the crate and pulled out a monstrosity that Twilight never wanted in her home. Twilight noticed every detail of the snake: the green scales, the elongated body, the forked tongue, the razor sharp fangs, the slits for eyes, and that hissing sound brought Twilight back to her past. Twilight wished she could cast a memory-erasing spell on everypony.
Beads of sweat formed on Twilight’s head as Fluttershy stood there with the snake. It wrapped itself around Fluttershy’s hooves and flicked its tongue. Fluttershy just giggled at it.
“I’m sorry, Mister Slithers, for keeping you locked up. I’ll make it up to you later.” Fluttershy carried the snake towards Twilight.
“Fluttershy, what are you doing?” Twilight felt her voice crack.
“Twi, we’re gonna show ya that snakes can be yer friends, too. Now sit still an’ don’t move.”
Twilight stopped, not because she listened to Applejack, but because Fluttershy reached the edge of her bed and unwound the snake from her hooves.
“Now be nice, or you won’t get your special treat later.” Fluttershy looked sternly at the snake before placing it on Twilight’s chest and stepping back.
Twilight nearly fainted now that it touched her.
The snake sat curled up for a moment in the middle of her chest. It rose and fell with her panicked breathing. It moved towards her face. The entire room around her blurred. She could no longer see her friends. As the snake continued its movements, Twilight closed her eyes and turned her head. She waited for the inevitable bite and pain.
Something wet grazed her cheek. She flicked her eyes open and waited. The room around her returned into focus.
“I think he likes you, dear.” Rarity pointed her hoof.
Twilight craned her head forward and stared into the eyes of the snake.
It flicked its tongue out again and licked her cheek. It then curled up on her chest.
Her breathing calmed, the tense nerves in her body creaking back into place. Why was it just sitting there? It could have attacked her at any point, yet it just licked her cheek and curled back up. Was she truly afraid of this creature, a being that caused her pain? Could it be something far deeper causing her fear? Her eyes widened, a slight twinkle flashing across them. She smiled for the first time in days.
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“See Twi, not every snake is ah bad apple. Was it as bad as ya thought it would be?” Applejack asked through a mouthful of rope.
Rarity’s horn glowed. The magic prevention device fell away from Twilight’s horn.
Fluttershy lifted the snake off Twilight and smiled at it. “You are such a good boy. Just for that, you get two treats tonight,” she told it, who hissed in joy.
“Actually, it was. But it also revealed something to me. I finally understand why I was afraid of snakes,” Twilight told them.
“And that would be…?” Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrows, her wings beating faster in anticipation of Twilight’s answer.
“It wasn’t the snake I was afraid of. It was the fear of my family losing me. I saw the pain in their eyes in the following days. They purposely went out of their way to spend time with me and make me happy. If they were doing this because they almost lost me, how would they react if I did die?” Twilight felt tears in the edge of her vision, but willed herself to keep it together. “I didn’t want anypony else to feel the pain my family went through, especially you girls. I feared that if I died, everypony I care for would fall apart.”
“Twilight, we all care for you. If you had told us, we would have understood and helped you. You made us proud today,” Rarity wrapped a hoof around Twilight.
The group bobbed their heads up and down.
Pinkie shoved her face into Twilight’s, obscuring her vision with blue eyes and a huge smile. “Does this mean that I get to throw my ‘We’re so happy you faced your fear of snakes and are friends with snakes now’ party?”
“Yes, Pinkie, you get to throw your party.” Twilight rolled her eyes. Leave it to Pinkie Pie to jump right back into party mode.
Pinkie leaped off Twilight’s bed and pulled out her party cannon. She fired it into the air and bounced up with the confetti and streamers.
“Whoa there, sugercube. I don’t think a party is a good idea right now.”
“Oh, okay!” Pinkie fell back to the ground. The streamers and confetti still hung in the air.
“But we can have a party tomorrow, Pinkie. Nopony misses a Pinkie Party!”
Rainbow Dash stamped her hooves in excitement and everypony else followed suit with cheers.
“Tomorrow will be fine, girls. But right now, I have some sleep to catch up on.” Twilight yawned as the adrenaline in system died down.
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The girls and Spike followed Twilight as she trotted downstairs. Twilight thanked each of them for looking out for her and their help in overcoming her fear. One by one, her friends left, until it was just Spike and her.
“You ready for a good night’s sleep?” Spike turned his head towards her.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, but would you mind getting the spare bed out for tonight?” Twilight asked as she turned to head back upstairs.
“Why?” Spike followed her.
“No reason in particular.”
They reached the top of the steps.
“Would you please get the bed out and fetch me a glass of water?” Twilight asked, coughing into her hoof.
Spike ran over to the closet and pulled down the spare bed out of the wall. He ran back downstairs.
When Twilight was sure he was gone, she quickly unleashed her magic on her main bed. It disintegrated into a pile of ash that Twilight quickly pushed under the rug.
“Note to self, buy new bed tomorrow,” Twilight said to herself.
She no longer feared snakes, but that didn’t mean she wanted to touch them or have them touch her things.
