Sleep of the Just
Dinky was on her side, under the blankets, staring at the rustling trees under the starry night. The moonlight cast eerie shadows the branches made into the floorboard of her room. Gwendolyn, her stuffed alicorn doll, was clutched under her arms. Of all the dolls and stuffed animals that surrounded her, Gwendolyn was her favorite. There were times during the night Dinky felt secure with the stitched alicorn around her arms. It was not so anymore. She fought against the urge to sleep. Dinky forced her eyes to remain open as long as she could.
The wind blew against the trees. Dinky tighten her grip on Gwendolyn when the shadows danced on her floor. She didn’t want to look at the trees. She turned to the other side, staring at the wall. Her face fell when she noticed she was facing the closet.
Dinky wanted to call for her mother. She opened her mouth, but closed it. Nopony would answer, she realized.
Her arms squeezed Gwendolyn.
She was too afraid to look back at the window, too frightened to climb out of her bed. Her older sister was in the other room, but what can she do? Dinky knew she couldn’t stay awake forever. She held her gaze to the wall. The wind shook the leaves on the trees. For a brief moment she thought she heard thunder. Dinky hid her head under the blanket for protection.
With the blanket over her head it was even more dark than it was before. She couldn’t see a thing. She couldn’t see Gwendolyn, but felt her soft wings against her chest. Dinky curled herself under the sheets. Then, although she hadn’t realized until it was too late, she closed her eyes.
“Dinky…”
The voice was low, but it called her from her sleep. Dinky opened her eyes and found that she was still under the blanket. She didn’t move, not even blink.
“Dinky… “
This time the voice was more audible. It sounded as though the air was trying to speak in a deep voice. She slowly emerged from the blanket with Gwendolyn in her arms. The shadows on the floor stopped dancing and shaking. The wind was silent. It was like time had suddenly stopped.
“Dinky…” The deep voice grew.
“Please… don’t hurt me,” Dinky said. Her voice was small and pleading. The voice in the air breathed continuously. It made terrible sounds with its mouth. Dinky return to the blanket to hide herself.
A cold chill entered the room.
“Please go away.” Dinky shivered under the sheets, looking to Gwendolyn for protection, her arms squeezing the life out of her.
The voice was silent, but she could still feel its presence. Dinky, with Gwendolyn still in her arms, rose from the blanket, slowly. It was so quiet she could hear herself breathing. She couldn’t figure out why, but her room was darker than before. She couldn’t see the trees outside the window.
Dinky couldn’t help it. To her, anywhere but her room will be a good place to stay. She pulled the blankets back and climbed out of her bed. She did a double-take to make sure Gwendolyn was still in her arms.
She quickly made her way to the door… only she couldn’t move. Dinky forced her legs to move, but she was stuck in place. She looked behind her and found a nasty, black, sticky material that glued her to the floor. The black gunk crawled on the floor, turning into a terrifying hand that grabbed Dinky. She screamed for help until the hand covered her face.
To her horror the black material was a shadow. It manifested itself into a figure standing on two legs. The shadowy figure, its face contorting into a smile devoid of life, flung itself at Dinky.
She screamed herself awake, filling the room with her grief. Her bedroom door flung open, and from there she closed her mouth, but began to shake. Her older sister rushed into the room, a bluish-grey young mare, a pegasus, with a long blonde mane.
“Dinky, I heard you screaming! What’s wrong?” she said frantically.
The filly’s shook in her bed, breathing heavily and helplessly. Then her breathing turned into quiet sobs. Dinky tightly shut her eyes, tears seeping and flowing down her cheeks. Dosey shushed her, then wrapped her arms around her little sister.
“He won’t go away,” Dinky said, her voice muffled. “He won’t leave me alone.”
“It’s okay. I’m here,” Dosey said softly. “Everything’s okay.”
Dosey saw that Dinky’s favorite toy, Gwendolyn, was on the floor. She removed herself from her, while still holding her with one arm, to pick up the little alicorn.
“I scared,” Dinky cried. “I don’t wanna go to sleep.”
“... Don’t worry, Dinky. I’ll stay right here,” said Dosey. “I’ll stay with you all night.”
She dried Dinky’s eyes of the tears and placed Gwendolyn into her hooves. Dosey rubbed her short blonde mane, trying to soothe her. As she promised, Dosey stayed with her throughout the night, even sleeping on the opposite side of her bed. That still didn’t make matters better. Dinky was afraid to close her eyes, and whenever she did the shadow will eat her.
****
“Dinky,” Dosey whispered. She tapped the filly lightly on her arm. Then she gently rocked her until she moaned under her breath. “Dinky, wake up. You almost missed breakfast.”
“Mnnhh?”
“Come downstairs. There’s a bowl of oatmeal waiting for you, but you might have to heat it up,” said Dosey.
Dinky opened her eyes and rose from under her blankets. She shielded her eyes from the bright morning light when Dosey opened the curtains. Adjusting her eyes she looked out the window. It was strange how different the trees were during the day. They were a different entity altogether under the darkness of night. The moon always cast a shadow from the branches that resembled ugly, monstrous hands with claws, and when the wind blew on them the trees looked like tall figures that danced sideways with their arms stretched.
Then she remembered she fell asleep last night, again. Dinky couldn’t remember what she dreamt about. Did she even dream at all? For countless nights all she saw was the horrifying shadow that grew into a living, walking being of blackness. She held Gwendolyn close to her, then she climbed out of her bed to join her sister for breakfast.
Dosey reheated the oatmeal for her, then sprinkled some cinnamon. Cinnamon flavored oatmeal has always been her favorite, she said to herself. She hoped Dinky will feel better after eating it. Dosey ate her cereal, but paused a few times to watch Dinky. She only took a couple of spoonfuls in her mouth, then swirled the utensil around. There were bags under her groggy eyes, and whenever she opened her mouth a yawn came out.
“Dinky, are you feeling alright?”
She nodded her head sideways without looking at her.
“Did you… get any sleep?”
Dinky was silent.
Dosey took a few spoonfuls of her cereal until she decided she didn’t want anymore. It was obvious that Dinky didn’t want to eat breakfast as well. Dosey gazed at her for a moment. She searched deep inside her to find the happy little filly she used to know. The filly whose smile used to light up the world, even if there were rain clouds in the sky. Looking behind her she saw that the clock on the kitchen read read 8:50 a.m. She didn’t want to leave her sister behind, but she had a job to do.
“Dinky, I have to go to work,” Dosey said with a hint of sadness. “I’ll be back this afternoon, just in time to make dinner for us.”
She was silent. She had her head down, staring at the table.
“Fluttershy will be here to foalsit you.” Dosey tried to force a smile on her lips. “You like Miss Fluttershy, don’t you?”
Dinky raised her head at the mention of Fluttershy, but there was no emotion on her face, not even a little smile of appreciation. She mumbled under her breath, something Dosey couldn’t understand.
“I’ll see you later,” said Dosey. She kissed Dinky on her forehead, then walked out of the house, but not before giving her one last concerned look.
Dinky threw her oatmeal away. She played with Gwendolyn on the living room floor while she waited for Fluttershy to arrive. Gwendolyn was the only thing in her life that gave her a peace of mind, until it was time to go to bed. Dinky made her fly in the air by raising the doll above her head. She held Gwendolyn in front of her face, and the two gazed into each other’s eyes.
“Why won’t he leave me alone?” said Dinky.
She hoped Gwendolyn would provide the answer. Sadly, none came.
Dinky sat alone on the carpet with her doll and her thoughts until there was a knock on the door.
“Hello? Is anypony here?” a soft, feminine voice asked. “It’s me, Fluttershy. I’m here to take care of Dinky.”
Dinky walked from the living room to the front door of her house. There stood Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus with a beautifully-groomed pink mane. She couldn’t help but smile sweetly at the filly that stood below her.
“Good morning, Dinky. How are you today?”
She took her eyes away from Fluttershy. With her face on the floor Dinky only mumbled, “I feel fine.”
“What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you.”
“... I feel fine.”
****
The morning passed while Dinky was under Fluttershy’s watchful eye. The yellow pegasus had enough experience to know what a normal foalsitter would do. Of the children Fluttershy had to care for, Dinky was considerably easy. She never ran around the house, whined or cried when things didn’t go her way; she was a quiet as a church mouse when she played with her alicorn doll. During midday she fed her a dandelion and mayo sandwich with wheat bread. Afterward Dinky retreated to the living room to draw and color.
Of course, she was not dense to realize that Dinky was not feeling well. She wasn’t well enough to watch her favorite TV show, or to have her favorite book read to her. To make her feel better, Fluttershy talked to her about the animals that occupied her home, and her volunteer work at the newly-established Ponyville Animal Sanctuary. She talked, despite Dinky being somewhere else in her mind, nodding occasionally. Fluttershy reminded herself to bring Angel, her rabbit, with her the next time she foalsits Dinky.
She thought mentioning Angel would cheer her up. Dinky sighed and continued drawing with her crayons.
“Dinky, are you upset about something?” asked Fluttershy. It might have been inappropriate to ask, but she thought maybe Dinky needed somepony to talk to.
But Dinky kept coloring, ignoring Fluttershy’s question. There were sheets of paper scattered on the little table where she sat and on the floor by her legs. Fluttershy had no idea Dinky could draw so much in so little time. Most of it was abstract drawings with different shapes in no order, but some were drawings of herself and her family. Fluttershy approached Dinky on the opposite side of the table and inspected the drawings.
She focused on one particular drawing. It was crude, but adorable drawing of two ponies, a mare and a stallion; the stallion was a unicorn, the mare was a pegasus. Both had blonde manes, and their coats were a mix of grey and light-purple.
They were Dinky’s mother and father.
Fluttershy wanted to say something to her, but was cautious in choosing her words. Anything that came out of her mouth would result in Dinky crying. She gazed at the drawing until she thought of something.
“Your parents were the nicest ponies in the world.”
Dinky looked at her, then the drawing, but said nothing.
“Especially Derpy. She was great friend.”
She made the wise decision to not say she missed her. It would have been too much for the both of them. She didn’t want to see tears in Dinky’s face. Like Dosey, Fluttershy wondered what had happened to the filly who used to smile everywhere she went.
Then another drawing caught her eye.
It was different than the others. Fluttershy picked up the sheet of paper, and grew nervous from what she saw. In the drawing there was a little unicorn filly lying on her bed, but she was crying with teardrops falling from her eyes. Beside her a tall, looming, black figure stood over the filly. It’s appendages were stretched out, almost like tree branches, with two white circles on the top of the black figure, side by side of each other. The circles looked like evil eyes.
Dinky stopped coloring, knowing that Fluttershy had found this particular drawing of her’s. She whimpered, unconsciously dropping her crayons. Fluttershy took her eyes off the creepy drawing.
“Dinky… who is this?”
She hastily took the drawing away from Fluttershy’s hooves, hiding it under the table, burying it with the other scattered papers.
“Dinky?”
“... I don’t feel so good.”
Dinky removed herself from the small table. With Gwendolyn in her arms she led herself to the upstairs bathroom. Fluttershy followed her, waiting for her in the hallway outside her door. It was a little while until Dinky came out, but she didn’t mind. She can take all the time she wants.
****
Dosey came home from her job at five o’clock. She was the assistant manager of the grocery store located on the shopping center at Thiessen Avenue. It wasn’t much, but it was certainly enough to pay the bills and provide for Dinky and herself.
Fluttershy had nothing but good things to say about Dinky. It was the usual praise - well behaved, very polite. Although she had to pick up the drawings and crayons when Dinky was coloring earlier, but she didn’t mind. But Fluttershy wanted to speak to her privately, so Dosey politely told Dinky to leave the room. Fluttershy and Dosey walked together until they stopped at the front door.
She gave the Dosey the drawing of the monster.
“What’s this?”
“Dinky drew it. Oh, I’m so worried. There’s nothing wrong with her, right?”
Dosey inspected the drawing. It was very clear that it was monster from Dinky’s nightmares. She remembered the endless nights when she rushed into her bedroom when she screamed, telling her with vivid detail what the monster looked like and what it did to her. It was shock to Dosey when Fluttershy found out.
“You see… Dinky has been having nightmares. It began right after what happened to our parents.”
“That’s terrible,” said Fluttershy.
“You have no idea how bad this is. I feel so helpless because there’s nothing I can do.”
Helpless. The word rang through her mind. There was silent between them. She didn’t want to hold Fluttershy up, so Dosey searched inside her saddlebag to find money to pay her. “Here’s fifteen bits.”
“Oh, you keep it,” Fluttershy said.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. I always enjoy foalsitting Dinky.” They nodded to each other and smiled. Fluttershy and Dosey rubbed cheeks, then she flapped her wings and ascended to the clouds, back to her cottage. With nothing else, it was time to make dinner.
****
No matter how close she and Dinky are, they were distant and far emotionally. They found themselves in separate rooms with their own thoughts. The golden age of the sisters chasing each other through the house, clamoring with delight as their mother or father chased after them, were long gone. It was the horrible truth Dosey reminded herself when she prepared dinner for herself and Dinky. It was the truth she always known.
Sometime later Dosey glanced at a clock that was nearby, and it read nine o’clock. She didn’t want to do it, but there was no other way around it. Dosey knelt to Dinky’s level, looked her in the eyes.
“Dinky, it’s time for bed.”
Dinky clutched her Gwendolyn, took a few steps back.
“No.”
“Dinky, please, you have to.”
“But he’ll come for me…”
Dosey put her arms on Dinky’s shoulders. No words can make this any better, she thought. How can she make her better? She let go her and led her upstairs where she washed her and slipped her pajamas on her.
A long time ago, Dinky’s bedroom used to be her sanctuary. A place where she can unwind after a day of adventure, or hide from the neighborhood children who teased her, maybe even watch the orange and red leaves on the trees change color during autumn. Now, not even her stuffed animals gave her comfort. As Dosey tucked her little sister in her blanket Dinky made sure Gwendolyn was next to her.
Dosey reached for the lamp on the nightstand, but stopped herself when she saw the nightlight on the floor. Dinky’s going to need it, she thought. Dosey plugged it into the wall, then turned off the light, causing Dinky to whimper.
“Dinky,” she said, “I just want to let you know that you’re safe. You don’t have to be afraid of anything, as long as I’m here with you. Whatever bad dream you have, just remember…” She decided whether it was the right thing to say, but she couldn’t think of anything else. “... Just remember that I’m here.” She rubbed Dinky’s belly, then turned to leave. But she felt a hoof touch her foreleg.
“Will you sing to me?”
“Sing? Like a lullaby?”
“Like the one mommy used to sing.”
Dosey lowered herself beside the bed. It has been so long since she heard any of their mother’s lullabies. She couldn’t remember what their mother’s voice sounded like.
“I don’t know any.”
“Then just make one up.”
Dosey stared at the wall.
“I’m sorry.”
Disappointed, Dinky turned her head to face the wall. Dosey rubbed her short mane before quietly leaving the room. Her own room was across the hall from Dinky’s. She climbed in her bed and pull the blankets over her. Now if only she can go to sleep. Her eyes remained opened, knowing that some time during the night Dinky will scream.
****
There’s a peculiar thing about dreams. You have no idea where you are, how you got there, all that you know is that you’re in the middle of a strange place. Dinky found herself in the middle of an open field. Nothing grew under the soil. The dark sky was devoid of stars, and the moon’s light was shallow. Ahead of her was a large, black tree with no leaves on its branches. The bark looked as though somepony, possibly a giant, had been twisting it, and it was bent.
There was something strange about this place. Dinky couldn’t hear the chirping crickets, not even the bellowing croaks of toads and frogs. The only thing that seemed normal was the chilling breeze that tingled her nerves.
She turned around. Anything was better than standing next to that dreadful tree. She moved toward the opposite direction, but stopped when she stepped on something soft. Moving her foreleg she found Gwendolyn underneath the dirt.
“... Dinky… “
There was that voice again. She raised her head, scanning the sky to find the source. She held Gwendolyn tight.
“Dinky… “
The voice was everywhere at once, and at the same time nowhere at all. Dinky opened her mouth to ask who it was, but she was too petrified to say anything. Although Gwendolyn was the size of her hoof, she hid behind her doll for protection.
“... Dinky… “
It was from the tree. Her legs were as stiff as wooden boards. The soil grew cold beneath her hooves. Yet, she was drawn to the tree. Her curiosity clouded her better judgement. She took slow, cautious steps toward the tree.
The tree made a long, deep sigh.
Something that looked like eyelids appeared on the bark. The eyelids opened, revealing empty sockets on its wood. The branches began to shake, moving up and down until vines attached itself to the them, creating arms. The roots detached from the ground, making the tree stand upright.
Dinky stood frozen like a statue. She never averted her eyes from the monstrosity, her mouth agape. After the tree became a living creature of darkness she whimpered. At was then and there that Gwendolyn could no longer protect her.
She ran the opposite direction when the monster raised its arm to strike down. The stomping feet of the monster shook the earth, along with Dinky. It cast its long, breathless, deep sign into the night air. If this was a dream, then Dinky wanted to wake up as soon as she could.
“Please wake up,” she begged herself, on the verge of tears. “Somepony wake me up!”
Tall trees sprang from the ground, which made her surroundings as darker than before. The trees blocked her path to escape, yet somehow the monster was able to keep up with her by carelessly knocking them down. The farther she ran the more frightening the trees became. Many of them seem to be possessed by a diabolical force. There were faces on them that cast their glares on the filly. Dinky lost her balance and tumbled on the ground. She looked back and saw that a vine was caught her hind leg. She tried to drag herself out of its clutches, but vines and branches held her hostage.
The deep sigh sent chills up her spine.
The monster arrived just as Dinky was captured. Now it looked less like a tree and more like a large walking shadow. Another hole formed under the two empty eye sockets and let out a ghastly sigh that sounded like a dying animal. It was too late for Dinky to realize that Gwendolyn was on the ground, far from her reach. Her mind was gone from her for a brief moment. She didn’t know what was happening. It occurred all at once for her to comprehend. Then, seeing that monster was holding her up to its black face, she screamed.
“Let me go!” she shrieked. “Please let me go!”
The shadow opened the hole on its face that was its mouth. It was about to consume Dinky, after giving one last deep sigh.
But its arm was sliced off by a beam of light.
Dinky plunged into the bottom of the dark forest, but a blue orb of light caught her, sending her to the ground safely. Once again the events happened in a blur. She sat inside the orb; shivering, whimpering, holding herself, staring at nothing. She heard a noise of thunder, felt a warm sensation on her back and the groans of the shadow. Then all was silent. The orb dissipated, but Dinky refused to move.
Then Gwendolyn hovered in front of her.
“Do not fear little one,” said a feminine voice. Her voice gentle, almost like a mother’s, but with a hint of authority. Dinky grabbed Gwendolyn, only to turn around and see Princess Luna standing over her.
Dinky didn’t know how to react, so she latched on to the foreleg of the princess and sobbed.
“Do not cry,” Luna said. “All will be well soon.”
“Why is this happening?” Dinky said through her sobs. Luna took no pleasure in watching children cry. She wanted them to have happy thoughts and dreams. To Watch Dinky squeezing her and to watch the flood of tears pour from her eyes made her heart ache.
Dinky calmed down, if only for a short while, then Luna spoke. “There’s something in your mind that has been tormenting you. Something deep within. The shadow was the result of that torment.”
“... I don’t get it,” Dinky said softly, wiping the moist from her face.
“Something happened to you a long time ago, and you can’t seem to get over it,” Luna said. “That’s why the shadow has been terrorizing you for many nights.” She brought her head up to the starless sky. “The shadow is not defeated. He is still in our midst.”
Her eyes glowed, and the dark forest disappeared, only to be replaced by a void of nothingness. Out of habit, Dinky glanced at her arms to be sure Gwendolyn was with her. The princess enveloped herself, and Dinky, in glowing blue light, and the empty void was filled with stars and ever changing colors.
“Come child,” Luna said.
The star-filled void changed color, mostly from blue to green to purple, and back to blue again. They were silent throughout the flight through the endless void. Being Princess Luna’s companion made her incredibly nervous. The memory of the Summer Sun Celebration, when Nightmare Moon threatened to bring eternal darkness, was still fresh in her mind.
“There is no need to be frightened of me,” Luna said. “The days of Nightmare Moon are gone and forgotten. My only desire is to help you conquer this nightmare.”
“How can you help me?” asked Dinky.
“I’ve helped many ponies, young and old, in their dreams.”
Luna stopped flying, held her hoof out to stop Dinky. Her ears picked up the sound of a low groan, followed by a breathless sight.
“He is near.”
Luna used her magic to produce a doorway. She lead herself in, but Dinky floated in place on the other side of the door, not wanting to go. Luna tilted her head in confusion, so she turned to the other way and saw that the way through was dark. A sweet smile crossed her lips.
“Come. I will light the way,” Luna said, extending her hoof toward her.
Dinky wasn’t sure whether to trust her. She complied when Luna kept smiling at her. Luna’s horn glowed, filling the inside of the doorway with light.
That’s when the shadow attacked her.
The shadow gasp harshly at Luna, bound her legs, grabbed her neck and pulled her into the darkness. Dinky screamed for the princess, begged the shadow to leave them alone. She moved her legs to run, but forgot she was floating in mid-air.
“Luna, where are you?” she cried. “Please wake me up! I’m so scared!” With no way out, she wept. Even the echoes cried with her.
“Dinky?” a female voice said. But it was not Luna’s.
Wait. She knew that voice.
“Dinky darling, please don’t cry,” another voice said, this time a stallion. She knew that voice too.
It was them.
But how could she be sure? She couldn’t know. There was no way to know. Dinky looked up, wiped the tears from her eyes. And there they were, as clear day.
“Mommy… daddy… “
“Yes Dinky, it’s us,” Derpy said. “We’ve missed you so much.”
“Mommy… you’re alive.”
“We’re here Dinky,” her father, Ponet, said. “You don’t have to be scared anymore. Come give us a hug.”
Dinky wasted no time to jump bounce toward her parents. Dosey had always said they will reunite with them, but she didn’t know it would be so soon. She wish her sister was here with her to see this. Derpy and Ponet cheered her on while she floated through the void. For the first time she forgot about her troubles. She forgot about the nightmares, the shadow, Princess Luna. All that mattered was this moment.
Finally, after what seem like an eternity of loneliness, Dinky was reunited with her parents. She hugged them tightly like a constrictor. She wept once more, mumbling mommy and daddy under her breath.
“I love you,” Dinky said. “Please don’t leave me again.”
“We will never leave you Dinky,” Derpy said. There was somehow a change in her voice. It went from sweet to… something else.
“We will always be here,” said Ponet. “Forever and ever.”
Dinky looked up, and her smile vanished, leaving a mouth agape. Their eye sockets were empty, leaving large black holes on their faces, although they were still smiling.
“Mommy… daddy?”
The adult ponies opened their mouths.
Long, deep, bellowing sighs escaped from them.
Streams of shadows wrapped themselves around Dinky. Her parents melted before her horrified eyes, revealing only to be mere disguises for the shadow. Dinky was so overwhelmed she couldn’t scream or cry for help. She didn’t noticed that she had dropped Gwendolyn, whom was now lost in the abyss.
“Dinky!” somepony yelled. Dinky never search for the voice, but if she had took the time to look she would have saw Princess Luna glued to the blackness, buried up to her neck in shadows. It was hard for her to speak. “You must listen, Dinky! You have to defeat this monster! It means to consume you!”
“I can’t,” she wept. “I’m too scared.” More shadows enclosed Dinky, making herself immobile. The monster sighed, satisfied with the fear the filly was feeding it.
Luna screamed for her to fight the shadow, but Dinky was emotionally drained to do anything. The shadows crawled up the princess’ face, and may very well consume her as well. Then, somewhere far from the abyss, she detected a faint noise. Luna with all of her might aimed her horn toward the thick blackness and shot a beam of bright magic. A window to the real world appeared above Dinky.
“Dinky! Look!”
And she did.
There was Dosey, crouched beside Dinky’s comatose body, crying, hooves covering her eyes. She shook Dinky’s body furiously, pleading for whatever higher power to wake her up.
“Think of her, Dinky,” Luna said. “She’s nothing without you. Remember… she lost her parents too.”
Dinky gazed at the magical window. She had no idea how much Dosey really loved her. She always rush into her room whenever she had a nightmare. The one who worked long hours during the day so they can have a better life. What will Dosey have if she was taken away?
The shadowy monster opened its mouth, ready to consume Dinky. Then, she felt something inside her. A feeling she felt for the first time since her parents died.
“Go away,” she said quietly. The giant shadow stared at her, seemingly confused. Dinky couldn’t tell because the holes on its face showed no emotion. “Go away,” she said loudly. “My sister loves me and I love her too! Our parents may be gone, but Dosey will always be there for me, no matter what!”
The shadows squeezed Dinky, but she held her ground. “I’m not afraid of you anymore! You’re just a big bully! And Dosey said to never be afraid of bullies!”
The shadows slowly lost their grip on Dinky. She shifted her arms until they were free.
“That’s right, Dinky. Fight it,” Luna whispered.
“Dosey works, cooks dinner, plays with me! Everything mommy and daddy used to do!” Dinky yelled. Soon enough, the shadows slipped and detracted from her. They also scattered from Luna. Dinky yelled at it some more, causing the shadow to shrink. It held its arms over its head for protection against her tirade.
Luna freed herself from the grip of the darkness, aimed her horn at the monster, who was now just about Dinky’s size. A ray of magic shot from her horn and engulfed the shadow in a sphere. They watched as the shadow was dissolved in the ball of light, shrieking and screaming.
It was no more.
“You may rest now,” Luna said.
“What about the monster?”
“It will never return, as long as you remember that you are not alone.” She closed her eyes and her magic surround herself and Dinky. “The world may seem like a dark place when somepony you love have passed on. Your parents have left behind a void that you can never hope to fill. But Dosey will never leave you behind. You are just as important to her than anything else. Remember that. Now go.”
Luna levitated Gwendolyn back to Dinky’s arms, then released her from the realm of sleep.
Her sight was blurry, the sounds faint. When everything was clear, she found herself in her own bed, being held by somepony. Dosey cried softly, her tears falling from her eyes to Dinky’s face.
“... Dosey?”
Dosey released her, and her eyes were wide with astonishment.
“Dinky! Thank goodness you’re alright!” She kissed her cheek and was in a frenzy of emotion. She wrapped herself around the filly, not letting her go for a second. “I heard you screaming, and I came to check on you! I tried to wake you up, but… but you wouldn’t move! You were whimpering, and crying and… and I feared the worst!”
The sisters held each other for eternity. Dosey refused to leave her alone again, so she once again chose to remain by Dinky’s side for the rest of the night. For the very first time in ages, Dinky no longer feared going to sleep. She closed her eyes, dreaming the dreams she once had, of rainbows and sweets, and the love of the sister who laid by her side.