Astraphobia
"...so then he..."
"...picked up a..."
"...big...silver pot!"
Pinkie Pie was laughing merrily and having the time of her life. She couldn't stop smiling, and hadn't been able to stop smiling throughout this entire slumber party. This three-word game was the best idea she'd come up with yet! Everypony was laughing so much and having so much fun.
"It was the..." Rainbow Dash said through her snickering.
"Best pot EVER!!" Pinkie exclaimed, and the whole room erupted into laughter once more.
"What kinda story is this??" Dash said, barely able to speak through her laughter.
"Something that totally belongs in Twilight's Library!" she replied, "Now shh, it's Twilight's turn!"
Twilight thought for a moment, and then contributed, "It was a..."
"...good thing that..." Rarity added.
"Um...he had found..." Fluttershy said after a moment's hesitation.
"...that there pot..." Applejack said, and there was more tittering.
Rainbow Dash paused, grinning as she thought about what to say next. "...because of the..."
Pinkie wasted no time in throwing up her hooves and shouting, "THE BIG DRAGON!"
Four other ponies laughed in response, but Fluttershy squeaked in terror and fell to the floor, cowering beneath her forehooves. She sat there like that, trembling on the carpeted floor of the library.
The others were quick to change their tone when they noticed this. "Aw, don't worry Fluttershy!" Pinkie said in an upbeat, but caring voice, "He's not that big!"
"It's okay, Fluttershy. It's just a story," Twilight said, reaching over to give her a comforting pat on the back.
The pegasus cautiously peeked out from behind her thick pink mane. "Um..." she said, "I...I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, Fluttershy," Twilight repeated, "Don't worry, you're safe with all of us."
Fluttershy slowly lifted herself off of the ground and took a few deep, calming breaths. "Sorry, everypony..." she said while staring at the ground, "But, dragons still...I mean..."
"It's okay darling, we know," Rarity interjected.
"And don't worry about the dragon," Pinkie cut in, "Because George has the POT!"
Rainbow Dash guffawed. "I still don't get it, Pinkie...What kind of a name for a pony is 'George' anyway?"
"I dunno," she replied with a smile and a shrug, "Would you prefer 'Jim'?"
"Okay now you're just makin' stuff up..."
Pinkie began to laugh again, but then shouted in surprise as she suddenly found herself wearing a pillow as a face mask. She reached up and grasped the pillow that had been thrown at her, turning to look at Rainbow Dash and giving her a huge grin.
"Oh...it is ON, Dashie...!"
Dash only had a moment to cry out in surprise before a full on pillow war erupted. Every pony in the room began swinging and flinging the feather-stuffed weapons at one another, all the while having a wonderful time. Though she spent most of her time trying to keep away from the action, Fluttershy did manage to land a couple of light hits.
Hours passed and the six best friends continued to play games and enjoy each other's company. Though they were certainly not little schoolfillies any more, slumber parties were a thing that they would never grow too old for. For most of them, it was their favourite way to spend time together. There was just something unexplainable about how much more fun things could be when they took place during a slumber party.
Especially when Pinkie had a hoof in planning it.
The day slowly began to drift into the night. Before any of them knew it, Luna's moon had graced the sky and her gentle darkness had enveloped the land. Most of the energy had been drained from Twilight and her friends, but nopony was even close to being ready for bed yet. It was always a challenge to stay up as late as possible, and to stay up all night if at all possible, though they hardly ever succeeded.
"You girls wanna play Truth or Dare?"
Rainbow Dash snorted. "That would be fun, but you always win, Pinkie. There's no way to beat you."
Pinkie giggled. "Aw, c'mon!"
"You'll answer pretty much any 'Truth' we throw at you, and you'll do every 'Dare'! You're not scared of anything." Dash paused for a moment before realizing what she had said. "Y'know...like me. Totally."
The group all laughed. Instead of Truth or Dare, they simply decided to chat about things. They spent nearly an hour talking about what had been going on in their lives and laughing at funny anecdotes. Midnight drew closer, but still nopony was the least bit tired.
It was about 12:15 and Rarity was telling a story about how she had spent the last weekend doing business with Fancypants in Canterlot. Everypony was listening to her story intently but as she began to describe which dress she had worn on the second day, Rainbow Dash held up her hoof.
"Wait...Do you hear that?"
"Hmm?" Rarity replied, only slightly miffed at having been interrupted, "Hear what?"
"Shh..."
The six all fell silent and slowly turned their heads, listening closely for whatever Dash had heard. It only took a few moments for everypony else to hear it too.
"It's raining..." Twilight observed.
"Yeah..." Dash said perplexedly. She and a few others stood up to go look out the window. It was hard to see in the darkness of the night, but a heavy torrent of rain was visible, illuminated by the lanterns outside of other houses. It was pouring outside.
"I thought you said the Pegasi were planning clear skies tonight," Twilight said, turning to Dash.
"They did," she replied, confused, "I should know, I helped write the schedule."
"Well that's weird..."
"Well," Rarity said from next to them, "At least we're indoors. And I have to say, I rather enjoy the sounds of the rain."
"I'm gonna go see what's up, 'cus this is weird," Dash said as she turned towards the front door. "Twi? Hit me with something to keep me dry?"
"Yeah, sure," Twilight said, following Dash towards the door.
Rarity and Applejack turned to look at the two ponies still sitting in the middle of the floor.
"Ah well," Rarity said as she returned to them, "Nothing to worry about, I suppose. Your animals will be all right won't they, Fluttershy?"
"Oh yes, they'll be fine," Fluttershy replied, "They're all allowed to come in the house if they need to."
"Dear me, that sounds rather cramped."
Fluttershy smiled. "It's okay. Most of them are used to living in cramped quarters anyway. It's how they like to make their homes."
Applejack chuckled as she also returned. "Winona loves gettin' herself all wet an' dirty, but she don't like the rain..."
"Yeah," Fluttershy nodded, "She told me she doesn't like the noise."
"Did she now?"
"Mhm! I can honestly say that I have to respectfully disagree with her. Listening to the rain while you fall asleep is just wonderful, as long as it's not too heavy."
Twilight returned to the group with Rainbow Dash absent. "It's weird, though," she said, injecting herself into the conversation, "The Pegasi don't usually have unscheduled weather unless it's some sort of emergency. I hope nothing bad happened..."
"Maybe they're trying to grow a super duper big flower!" Pinkie proclaimed, "And they don't have a big enough watering can!"
The five of them chatted for a few minutes about rain in general before Rainbow Dash reappeared through the front door. Thanks to Twilight's magic, she was dry as a bone and didn't track any water into the interior.
"Huh...!" she said as she trotted over, "Well, apparently the weather factory in Cloudsdale went haywire for a few hours and nopony could shut it off!"
"Oh my goodness," Rarity replied.
"Yeah, so now to get rid of all the surplus they're pushing all the rainclouds out to the surrounding areas, and we just happen to be close enough."
"Surplus?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah! Rainclouds are like fruit, or somethin'. You can't just leave them in storage or they'll lose all their water. When you make one, you gotta ship it out right away."
"How fascinating," Rarity murmured and Twilight nodded.
There was a moment of silence, and the volume of the sounds outside increased slightly.
"The workers out there told me it was gonna get pretty heavy, but they said not to worry 'cus there'll be no wind."
"Oh...Well that's okay then," Fluttershy murmured.
"Who wants to play 'Count the Raindrops'?" Pinkie asked, and the other five proceeded to politely decline her offer.
"All right then," Twilight said, "Now that that's all been sorted out, where were we?"
"Rarity was telling us about her dresses from Hakachur!" Pinkie proclaimed.
Rarity smiled and rolled her eyes. "It's Haute Couture, Pinkie," she said, and everypony laughed. "Anyway," she continued, "I chose to wear that purple one I've been working on with the lovely frills. You know the one, don't you Twilight?"
She kept talking for a couple of minutes with everypony listening politely. As she talked, the sounds of the rain outside only continued to increase in volume. Eventually, Rarity even had to speak up a little bit in order to be heard. The downpour was getting extremely heavy, and the six of them were thankful that they were all indoors.
"And I was home the next day," Rarity concluded her story, "All in all it was a fantastic trip."
"Awesome story Rarity!" Pinkie said, tossing a small amount of confetti at her from seemingly nowhere.
"It's nice to hear that Fancypants is still doing well," Twilight said.
"Yes," Rarity concurred, "Sweetie wanted to come with me, but unfortunately I-"
Without warning, the library was suddenly filled with a tremendous, sharp BOOM sound, accompanied by a bright, blinding flash through the windows. The sudden burst of thunder caused everypony to let out a startled cry.
"Whoa!" Dash said, quick to recover from her initial surprise, "They didn't tell me there was gonna be thunder too!"
"My word," Rarity said with a hoof to her chest, "That was certainly startling."
"Oh dear," Twilight said with a frown. She got to her hooves and turned to one of the others. "Don't worry Fluttershy," she said, stepping over to the yellow pegasus, "We're all here for you."
"Yeah!" Dash added, getting to her hooves and sidling up next to the unicorn, "Don't get scared. It's just loud noises and big white flashes. Nothing's gonna hurt you."
"Do y'all want a blanket or somethin'?" Applejack asked.
"Um..." was all Fluttershy could say before Rarity cut her off.
"Don't be upset, darling," she said, putting on a gentle, caring smile, "Your friends are here for you, and there's no shame in being afraid of something."
"I..."
"I'm not much for hugs," Dash said before she sat down next her and wrapped her wing tightly around the other pegasus, "Buuuut I think this time I could make an exception."
"Um, that's very nice of you, Dash..."
"We'll help you get through this, Fluttershy," Twilight said, a hint of determination showing in her expression, "You'll be okay."
The room fell silent for a moment. Fluttershy turned and regarded all of her friends, and then blinked. "Um..." she said, "I'm thankful for what you're doing, and...I don't want to make anypony upset...but, 'help me get through' what?"
There was another deep burst of thunder, sounding almost like a point-blank blast of arcane magic. The others all put on worried, compassionate expressions and Rainbow Dash tightened her hug.
"Don't be scared, Fluttershy," Twilight said in a comforting voice.
Fluttershy furrowed her brow, utterly confused. "Scared of what?"
Now it was the others' turn to blink.
"Uhh..." Dash replied, "Scared of the thunder...?"
There was another pause. "I'm not scared of thunder..." Fluttershy replied blankly.
Yet another pause. "You aren't?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy shook her head.
"Are you sure?" Dash asked, moving back from the hug, "'Cus it's, y'know, pretty scary stuff. Not for me, obviously, but I'm not scared of anything..."
"Um...Pretty sure..." Fluttershy said, still a little confused, "Did you all think I was afraid of thunder? Did I say that before? If I did, I didn't mean to...Sorry..."
"No, it's just..." Twilight muttered and then trailed off.
"'Shy," Applejack said, "We don't mean it as an insult or nothin', but you are afraid of a number of things. I guess we all just kinda made an assumption."
Twilight nodded. "Yes we did. We apologize, Fluttershy. We didn't mean to stereotype you."
Fluttershy smiled. "It's okay, everypony. I know you didn't mean any harm, and I'm glad you all tried to make me not afraid, even if you didn't need to." There was another powerful boom of thunder. Everypony in the room jumped just slightly, but Fluttershy was unfazed.
"You really ain't scared-a lightnin', are ya?" Applejack observed.
"Oh, no," she replied, "I don't get scared of weather if I'm not out in it. I know that weather is controlled by smart, competent pegasi like Rainbow Dash! I trust them completely and I know they do their absolute best to make sure nopony gets hurt."
Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Thanks, Fluttershy. Yeah, we try to do our best! It's kinda a matter of pride."
Her statement was punctuated by another loud burst of thunder, but the ponies barely noticed it.
"It is pretty loud," Fluttershy said, "and almost sounds like evil, but I know it's just the pegasi doing their jobs."
Everypony in the room had a light chuckle and nodded in agreement. For a moment it was all smiles, but the trend was broken when Twilight's smile began to fade away.
"Hey..." she muttered, grabbing everypony's attention, "Where's Pinkie?"
The other four ponies looked around and noticed for the first time that the pink mare was nowhere to be seen.
"She disappeared," Dash observed, "Where'd so go?"
"I don't know," Twilight responded as she got to her hooves, "I didn't see her leave. Did any of you?"
They all shook their heads and joined her in getting to their hooves. The five performed a quick search of the library, looking in all of the little hiding places they could find. Pinkie had a knack for squeezing herself into impossibly-small places in preparation for a jack-in-the-box-like surprise. They split up and searched in the kitchen and the basement as well, but Pinkie Pie could not be found.
"She didn't go outside, did she?" Dash asked as they reconvened in the centre of the library.
"I didn't hear the door open," Twilight replied.
"Good heavens! She'd better not be out in this dreadful weather," Rarity said with a touch of worry.
"Well, where else would she be? Unless she's in my bedroom. But why would she be in my bedroom? Spike's not even up there; he's sleeping over with the Crusaders."
"Well we might as well look up there before we all get wet," Applejack said matter-of-factly.
"Hey, I can cast a spell, remember?" Twilight spoke.
"Yeah, but fer all of us? And for how long?"
"Good point. Let's go look."
The five ponies made their way to the upper level of the library and entered through the doorway into the unicorn resident's bedroom. They scanned the room, but there wasn't much more to see than Twilight's bed, Spike's little basket bed, Twilight's work desk and an assorted amount of books in various places. The room appeared to be devoid of Pinkie.
"I don't think she's here..." Twilight muttered to the others. A few seconds later, the library was shaken once again by a powerful burst of thunder and lightning. After the bright flash cleared, the group was about to turn and leave the room but something caused them all to pause.
"Do you hear that...?" Twilight whispered.
Everypony's ears were perked up as they tried to listen for the faint sound. They could all definitely hear something, and a moment later they realized what it was.
It was the sound of a pony quietly whimpering.
"Pinkie...?" Twilight asked, stepping back into the room, "Are you in here?"
The whimpering grew just slightly louder. It belonged to a female voice, and it was coming from somewhere in the room. While the others were looking at each other in confusion, Twilight took a few more steps into the room. She stood still for a moment, swivelling her ears, and then realized where the sound was coming from. She trotted over to her bed and used her magic to lift up the covers hanging over the side.
Hiding behind them and cowering beneath the bed was a mare with a bright pink coat.
"Pinkie? What are you doing?" Twilight asked gently as she leaned down towards her.
Pinkie had her eyes closed and was shivering profusely. She didn't respond.
"Are you okay, darling?" Rarity said as she and the others trotted over to the bed.
"I...I..." Pinkie murmured quietly, "I'm-" She was cut off by another burst of thunder, which made her cry out in surprise and hide herself beneath her forehooves.
Twilight immediately understood and put on a kind, caring smile as she spoke. "Pinkie...Are you scared of the thunder?"
"Mmmn..." Pinkie moaned, "Mhm...!"
"Ohh, you poor thing," Fluttershy said, squeezing herself to the front of the pack "It's okay, you're safe now. All of your friends are here."
Pinkie merely continued to moan with her head beneath her legs. She refused to open her eyes or look up at any of them, trembling like a leaf with a few tears running down her face. The mare was completely terrified.
"Come on out, Pinkie," Twilight said gently, "I can't imagine it's very comfortable under there."
Pinkie didn't respond.
"Please, Pinkie?" Twilight continued, "I can get you a blanket, and we'll all give you big hugs! Right, girls?" She was met with a chorus of approval from her other friends.
The terrified pony at first only let out a few quiet moans, but then eventually said, "No..." Her voice was nearly inaudible.
"C'mon, Pinkie..." Dash said, "You know it's not gonna hurt ya, right? It's a controlled thunderstorm. The weather team only bucks them when they're over somewhere clear. They keep an eye out."
Dash's reply was in the form of another loud burst of thunder. Pinkie squealed in terror and shivered even more. The room was filled with soft gasps as she began to cry.
"Oh, Pinkie..." Twilight muttered helplessly, lying down on the ground and getting herself as close to Pinkie as she could. Fluttershy mirrored her actions.
"I never knew you were afraid of thunder..." Fluttershy spoke softly.
Pinkie sniffled and opened a single, extremely cautious, quivering eye to look at them with.
"Yeah," Twilight concurred, "I didn't know you were an astrophobe."
"A what...?" Dash's voice asked from behind her.
"She's afraid of thunderstorms," Twilight said, turning back to look at the pegasus.
"Oh, well why don't you just say that?"
"Wh...When..." Pinkie's soft quivering voice drifted past, recapturing Twilight's attention.
"What is it, Pinkie?"
"When...will it be over...?" she asked. The tone of her voice made every heart in the room break. Gone was the overly-enthusiastic, high-energy voice that was normally associated with the party mare. Pinkie now sounded like a frightened little foal.
The others all turned to look at Dash, and all she could do was shrug. "I dunno," she replied, "It's unscheduled. It might even last all night..."
Pinkie wimpered some more and tried to bury herself even further beneath her hooves.
Twilight simply put on a warm smile, as did the rest of her friends. "Come on out, Pinkie," she said, using her magic to give the gentlest of tugs on Pinkie's hooves, "It's a lot less scary when you're with all of your friends."
Pinkie didn't move at first.
"Please...?" Fluttershy said, and at this Pinkie slowly lifted her shivering head again. Fluttershy had on the most compassionate smile she could muster. Pinkie sniffled, paused, and then gave a subtle nod.
Twilight chuckled softly. "You're stuck, aren't you?"
"M...Maybe..." Pinkie whispered.
The unicorn slowly stood and lit up her horn. A purple glow surrounded the bed, which then smoothly slid upwards off of the ground, allowing the earth mare to crawl out.
Pinkie moved rather quickly, scrambling towards the closest pony who just happened to be Fluttershy. She leapt into the pegasus' arms, hugging her tightly and shivering.
"There," Twilight said as she put the bed back down. Applejack gathered up the blankets and brought them over, draping two of them over Pinkie like a protective cloak. Her other friends gathered close as well.
"Are you okay...?" Twilight said as Fluttershy gently rubbed her back.
"I..."
Another burst of thunder from the storm, still strong as ever. Pinkie yelped and buried her head into Fluttershy's chest, beginning to cry.
That was the four others' cue to wordlessly move in for a big group hug. Pinkie soon found herself surrounded in an embrace by all five of her best friends in the whole world. Before long at all, her cries has stopped and her shivering began to subside. It was such a warm, caring and loving hug, and it was almost enough to bring a smile to her face.
"Don't be afraid, Pinkie," Rarity cooed.
"We'll stay with you until the storm passes," Twilight said.
"You can count on it," Applejack added.
Pinkie sniffled, gave a light moan, and then said, "Th-thank you...Thank you, girls...I...I'm sorry..."
"Shhhh..." Fluttershy soothed the panicking mare.
After a long, wonderful hug and with a slight pause in the thunder, the other five drew away and Pinkie found the strength to let go of Fluttershy. She held her gaze low, trembling as she sat. It was certainly a sight to see; Pinkie looked like an entirely different pony. However, what she looked like or was acting like didn't matter to the five in the room at the least. One of their friends was in distress, and that was immediately top priority for them all.
"Have you always been scared of thunderstorms?" Dash asked.
Pinkie nodded.
"Y-yeah..." Pinkie muttered meekly, "S-since I was a f-filly..."
"Well, that's okay," Fluttershy said, "Everypony's scared of something."
Everypony nodded in agreement except Rainbow Dash. At first it looked like she was going to object, but then she sat herself back down and said, "Yeah...I guess even I'm afraid of something."
Pinkie turned to look at her with her teary eyes. "Y-you are...?"
Dash glanced away and rubbed the back of her neck, smiling awkwardly. "Y-yeah...I'm afraid of...losing you guys."
The pegasus immediately blushed as she was met with a chorus of "Awww!!"
"H-hey!" she responded, "It's not that adorable. You all have the same fear, don't you?"
Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, I think we all do, definitely."
Everypony then paused and turned to look at Pinkie. She had giggled.
Their smiles were cut short, however, as another burst of thunder had sent Pinkie right back into Fluttershy's arms. The pegasus rubbed her back some more and gave her gentle nuzzles.
"Pinkie?" Twilight said, leaning forward, "Why don't you try giggling at what you're scared of? That's what you taught all of us."
Pinkie shook her head into Fluttershy's chest. "I-I tried...Giggling at the ghostie almost always works...but it just doesn't work here. I tried and tried but I...I can't..."
Twilight nodded sombrely. "I was just guessing before, but it really is astraphobia." She turned to the others. "A phobia is an irrational fear that is very difficult to conquer. It's...Well, it's like me with snakes."
The five ponies all turned to gaze at the shivering mare in Pinkie's arms. They were all frowning at first, but one by one they all began to smile again as they moved in for another hug.
"Make it go away..." Pinkie moaned as she trembled and wept.
"It's okay, Pinkie..." Twilight said.
"We'll help you conquer this," Dash spoke.
"And we'll always be there for you, okay?" Fluttershy said.
"Always, darling."
"'Cus we love ya, Pinkie."
There was another loud burst of thunder, and Pinkie gave a yelp of terror, but after a few minutes of rigorous hugging the ponies could see something wonderful. It was small, and it was fleeting, but Pinkie had smiled.