Silent Ponyville: Loving Memory

Silent Ponyville: Loving Memory
Chapter 2

“Mommy... Mommy...? Mommy!”

“Hmmm, wha-?” Derpy looked up from her plate. She had apparently nodded off while eating her hearty breakfast of blueberry muffins and sliced apples. Derpy hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep in days, and dark bags had formed under her eyes as a result. “What is it Muffin?”

“Mommy, you don’t look so good, you okay?” Dinky looked up at her from across their dining room table. The room was sparsely decorated with a few pictures and muted, cheap wallpaper. The table itself was very small, only allowing a few inches of room between both ponies’ plates.

The mare cleared her throat, “Yes, I’m alright...” Her bad eye began to roll upwards to look at the ceiling, which was a normal occurrence for the mare. She suffered from a condition called Strabismus, which was when one eye’s muscles became weakened to the point that the eye itself sometimes drifts away from where she wanted to look, but she didn’t really mind it too much. She could still see out of her bad eye; it was just much harder to control it.

Dinky tilted her head to the side and said with a smile, “We have to hurry Mommy! I’m going to be late for school and you’re going to be late for work!”

‘She’s such a warm child,’ Derpy thought to herself with pride, ‘Good grades, well behaved... I’m such a lucky mare.’ “Don’t worry so much Muffin, I’m almost finished.” Every room in the Doos’ house was furnished similarly. That is to say, all of the rooms hardly contained any furniture, and all of the furniture they did possess was cheap and falling apart. All, except for the items within Dinky’s room. Derpy spared no expense in raising her child or keeping her happy. Within reason, she bought everything the small unicorn asked for, and she was always rewarded with a smile and a “Thank you Mommy!” every time, without fail. Just hearing those words made Derpy swell with pride.

“I just can’t wait for school today!” Dinky said with a squeal, “Miss Cheerilee said that we’re going to learn a new game to play out on the playground!” The foal was literally vibrating with energy and excitement for the day ahead.

Derpy smiled, “Yes, I think Miss Cheerilee told me about it when I dropped a package off at her house yesterday. I’ll bet that that package had something to do with it too,” she let out a small chuckle, “Hope you have fun today, kiddo.” Despite all of her attempts at peppiness, she just couldn’t muster up the energy to be her normal, cheery self. Derpy had been having nightmares for the past few weeks now. Not just your run-of-the-mill “Spooky” nightmares, but the real deal. The kind of nightmares that’d make a grown stallion wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, and she did just that. Every night she’d fall asleep for a good few hours, only to wake up with a start and a muffled scream. The fresh memory of her nightmares would linger within her mind for a few moments, but, like all other dreams, they quickly faded away. Last night had probably been the worst. The only details of the previous night’s dream she could muster were purely cosmetic: the white walls, the rusty smell of blood, the white mattress...

“Mommy!” Dinky cried, shocking her mother out of her sleep-deprived stupor.

“Huh?”

“I said, is anything really big happening at work today?” the foal began to look worried.

The mare began rubbing her hair with her fore-hooves as she thought, “Well, the Post Office received a large set of letters from Mayor Mare to be sent to everyone in Ponyville, and we also received a pretty important package from Manehatten right before we closed last night. I believe it was to be sent to the clinic, so...” her face brightened, “I’ll get to see Redheart and Sparkler today!” Despite Derpy’s friendly nature, she didn’t really have many friends. Redheart and Sparkler were the only exceptions.

“Mhmm!” the foal said with a nod, “Maybe they’ll wake you up a bit Mommy, you’re starting to scare me...” She tilted her head, “Seriously, why did you get out of bed last night? You ruined our animal fort.”

Derpy gave her daughter an apologetic look, “I’m sorry, Muffin, but Mommy had another nightmare. I didn’t want to wake you by thrashing about in my sleep, so I got up and went back to my room.”

Dinky frowned, “You didn’t actually sleep though, did you?”

She sighed, “No, mommy didn’t get to sleep after that.”

Dinky took a big bite out of a muffin and mulled over her mother’s response before swallowing, “Maybe you can ask Nurse Redheart for some sort of medicine, or maybe Sparkler’ll know a spell to clear the nightmares away.”

Derpy nodded, “I hadn’t thought of that... That’s actually a great idea Muffin, I just might ask them- Oh! Mother of Celestia, look at the time!” She had just so happened to catch a glimpse of the clock on her wall; the time was around 7:30 in the morning. “You’re going to be late for school!”

“You’re right!” the unicorn filly shouted before jumping from her seat. “We need to go now!” her already high pitched voiced cracked into a squeak as she shouted.

By the time Derpy had stood up, the small filly was already at the door. “Alright, I’m coming!” she said with a smile as she followed her daughter into the hallway of her house. “Item check!”

“Wha? But Mom!”

“No buts, we need to make sure you have everything before we leave.” The mare smiled, “Backpack?”

Dinky sighed and shook her body to emphasize her point, “Wearing it,” the backpack was bright orange with a few girly doodles stenciled onto the pockets.

“I can see that, how about pencils?”

“Sharpened, and organized by length.”

“Oh, nice touch. How about... my kiss?” the mare craned her neck forward and tilted her head.

The foal beamed before happily planting a nice, wet kiss of her mother’s cheek. Derpy laughed, and began furiously planting small kisses all over her daughter’s face. “Mom! Mommy! Stop! You’re going to- haha! You’re going to mess up my hair!”

Derpy chuckled and stopped her barrage, “Alright, alright Muffin. I’ll stop.”

“Let’s go! Onward!” the foal cried happily as she cantered out of the door and into the slightly busy early morning streets of Ponyville.

“Let’s!” Derpy said with a smile as she followed her pride and joy.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Love,” Cheerilee began, “can anypony here tell me what ‘love’ is?”

“Oh, oh! I know!” shouted an ecstatic filly sitting in the front row of desks, “I know Ms. Cheerilee!”

“Hmmf, know-it-all...” whispered a very bored pink unicorn in the middle row.

“Yes, Twist?” the pink schoolteacher said. The room was fairly small. At the head of the class was a large desk for Cheerilee’s use, a large and very ornate chalkboard, and a typical waste bin that hadn’t been emptied in quite awhile. The walls were covered with paintings of the royal pony sisters and various other important historical figures, and small bookcases filled with storybooks ran along both sides of the room. In the center of the room were nine desks, arranged in a three by three square. A little colt or filly sat in each desk, save for one.

Twist beamed, “Love is what a pony feelth when they find thomepony thpecial that they care about a whole lot, like a coltfriend or fillyfriend!” she said in her annoyingly nasally voice.

“Very good, Twist!” Cheerilee nodded, “But is love isn’t always limited to that kind of relationship, anypony else want to give another example of love?” A small, white coated, unicorn filly to the right of Twist in the front row raised her hoof. “Yes, Sweetie Bell?”

“Well,” began the filly, “I love my sister Rarity. She takes care of me when my parents have to go away, and she’s usually nice. I wouldn’t trade her for a thousand diamonds.” She smiled happily.

“Feeling love towards your siblings is a wonderful example of ‘love’,” Cheerilee began pacing back and forth in front of the class, “but that’s not everypony a pony can love is it? Anypony else have an example?”

A bright orange pegasus filly in the back row lifted her head up from her drawing. It was a poorly made picture of a pegasus mare with a multi-colored mane zooming through the air, though it looked more like a blue blob than anything else. “I know!” she shouted without even bothering to raise her hoof, “I absolutely love Rainbow Dash! The way she zooms through the sky preforming death-defying tricks without a care! She’s SO AWESOME!” The filly was bouncing up and down in her seat in excitement.

“Ahem!” Cheerilee cleared her throat loudly and stared the filly down, skillfully admonishing her without words. The filly took the hint and quietly lowered her head to hide a few muffled choice words. “Yes, Scootaloo... I suppose you can love your role models...” She sighed before regaining her usual cheery face again, “Anypony else? Yes, Diamond Tiara?”

The snobby pink filly lowered her hoof, “Well, I love my tiara!” Across the room, a grey filly with a stylish mane and a cutie mark in the shape of a spoon began to pout and looked deeply hurt. “My daddy gave it to me when I got my cutie mark, and I’ve almost never taken it off since. My daddy also pays somepony to polish it daily when I take my evening bath.” Scootaloo began making gagging noises with her mouth, causing Diamond Tiara to flush with anger, “Ugh, I guess some ponies just don’t enjoy the finer things in life...” She stuck her nose up in the air, and Scootaloo began to laugh.

“AHEM!” both fillies ceased disturbing the class, “No, Diamond, that’s not the kind of love I’m talking about,” Cheerilee had to fight an almost irresistible urge to roll her eyes, “but good guess.”

“Uh,” a yellow filly said as she raised her hoof, “Ah think Ah know another one.” She wore a large red bow in her hair that enhanced her cuteness exponentially.

Cheerilee smiled, “Yes, Applebloom? What’s your example?”

“Well,” she began, “me an’ mah friends stick together, an’ we shore do care a lot about each other. We spend nearly every day together, an’ we really have fun.” Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo both wore large smiles on their faces, “An’ Ah think that counts as love... No, Ah know that counts as love.” Happiness radiated off of all three of the fillies.

“Very, very good, Applebloom!” Cheerilee nodded her head before adding, “Friendship is one of the greatest and most important ways a pony can love another pony, but there’s one more relationship that I can think of that is comprised of all of the most powerful aspects of love. It’s a relationship that can be more powerful than even the Elements of Harmony...” she paused for a few seconds for effect, “and does anypony know what that could be?” All eight of the fillies and colts in the room turned to look at each other to see if anypony else knew the answer, though nopony raised their hoof, “Really? Okay, here’s a hint... Chances are, everypony in here has experienced one side of this love at some point in their lives.”

Still, nopony raised their hooves. “Hmm, alright,” Cherilee grinned, “It’s the love between a parent and his or her child.” A rousing chorus of “Oh!”s and “I knew that!”s echoed throughout the classroom. “Mhmm, nothing a pony experiences in their lifetime is as pure or as wonderful as a father’s approving touch or a mother’s soft voice singing them to sleep.” The teacher grabbed a piece of chalk with her mouth and began writing something on the chalkboard. When she was done it read, “Filly/Coltfriend, Siblings, Role Models, Friends, Parent and Child”.

“This week,” the teacher began after she put the piece of chalk down, “we’re going to be studying these and a few other examples of love. But we’re going to start,” she smiled warmly, “with the love between a foal and their parent.”

Most of the colts in the room sighed in boredom, and almost all of the girls began to squeal in excitement. Scootaloo was the only filly who groaned.

“We all know that parents are supposed to take care of their little colts and fillies. They’re supposed to nurture, love, and provide for their foals, but they’re job also includes making sure that they don’t become spoiled or entitled.” Everypony in the room glanced towards Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon without really meaning to, and they, in turn, looked at each other. “Ahem, back up here,” she said as she suppressed a giggle. Everypony complied, but the damage was already done. Both of the spoiled fillies were angrily moping in their seats and whispering vicious and sometimes derogatory things under their breath. “But, my little ponies, did you know that you help your parents?”

Murmured arguments flew across the classroom, “Really?” said one, “There’s no way!” said another, “Other than popping my mom’s back every once in awhile, I don’t really do much for them,” said another.

“Quiet please,” she said, silencing the foals before continuing, “Yes, you do my little ponies. Having a foal is a big responsibility. For some parents, having a foal shocks them out of making bad decisions like using drugs or acting inappropriately. For others, it’s a chance to right wrongs that had happened to them in their foalhood. But for other parents, it’s a gateway into happiness. However bad your life was before having a foal, you’re given a chance to bring happiness to what is essentially a small piece of you. Now, that doesn’t mean you should have a foal before you’re ready, it’s one of the hardest things a pony can ever choose to do, and one should certainly take all precautions to prevent it from happening before you and your partner is emotionally and financially ready to handle it- Yes, Sweetie Bell?”

The foal had raised her hoof partway through her teacher’s speech, “Um, Miss Cheerilee? I don’t mean to get off topic, but where do foals come from?”

Cheerilee turned pale, “Uh... Um...”

“Well,” Applebloom chimed in, “Granny Smith says that they pick ‘em out of hollows in apple trees.”

“You feather-brain,” Scootaloo chipped in, “My dad says that foals are made when ponies f-”

“Okayyyyyy Scootaloo!” Cheerilee half screamed, “Let’s drop this subject, shall we?”

“But I was just going to say that foals are made when ponies fall in love...”

“Oh, well... Yes, that is true Sco-”

“and then they do something called ‘sex’, and when I asked my dad what that was he said that it was when-”

The teacher’s already reddish face flushed in a brilliant blush, “Moving on!” Scootaloo tried to continue, but Cheerilee screamed, “MOVING ON!” once more, silencing the filly and the now very confused class.

The door suddenly swung open. A little lilac unicorn filly rushed into the room and to her seat. In the doorway stood a grey pegasus mare who’s left eye was lolling upwards toward the ceiling, while her left was focused on Cheerilee. “Sorry I’m late, Miss Cheerilee,” the unicorn filly said as she situated herself in her desk at the back of the classroom.

“Oh, that’s quite alright dear,” Cheerilee said with a smile before turning towards Derpy, “I’ve been expecting you!” The fuchsia mare pulled a small basket out from under her desk, “Do you think that you could deliver this to my daughter at the clinic?”

Derpy happily nodded, “Of course, Miss Cheerilee! It’s no problem!” She took the basket away from the teacher. She noticed that the teacher looked rather embarrassed. Before leaving, she placed the basket on the ground and blew a kiss towards her daughter, who reciprocated it with a hearty wave. She picked the basket back up, and left the way she came.

The teacher cleared her throat and continued the lesson, “Alright, now... Why don’t we all give the class examples of how your parents have made a difference in your lives, and how you’ve tried to return that love to them? Why don’t we start with...? Ah! Diamond Tiara! Why don’t you stand and tell the class about your father and mother?”

The filly stood up and began with a snobby harrumph, “Well, MY daddy always gets me whatever I want. So I know he loves me. I’m not so sure about my mom, she’s always yammering away at daddy with things like, ‘She doesn’t need another toy,’ or, ‘We’re ruining her. She’s being spoiled rotten,’ and other crazy stuff like that. I’m not spoiled,” Scootaloo rolled her eyes, “Seriously, I’m not. Like my daddy says, I’m just... strong willed.”

Dinky paid the others no attention. She was hard at work on coming up with a few examples to share with the class about her mommy before she was called. When she was finished, she had written out a few sweet lines in her childlike bad-mouthwriting, “My mommy is the greatest mommy in the whole, wide world, maybe even the whole of Equestria! She sings to me, reads to me, and even helps me draw sometimes when I’m having a bad day. I never, ever want to leave her side. I want to bring as much joy into her life as I possibly can, and I know that she wants to do the same for me. I love my mommy. I love my mommy more than anything ever.”

__________________________________________________________________________

The basket’s handle tasted faintly bitter in Derpy’s mouth, and its contents were hidden by a piece of cloth that was tied to both ends of the handle to prevent it from falling off, but from the smells wafting up into her nostrils from the basket she could tell she was delivering Sparkler’s lunch.

Derpy had opted out of flying to the Clinic, for fear of dropping the present Miss Cheerilee had entrusted her with. She happily cantered down the main street of Ponyville, nodding at passing ponies that happened to greet her. She was sporting a fairly large burlap sack on her back full of letters and gifts to be sent to numerous ponies throughout Ponyville from their friends, distant relatives, and the occasional long-distance colt/fillyfriend. Derpy had been Ponyville’s resident mailpony for as long as she could remember, largely because nopony else wanted to take the measly paycheck. She only made enough bits to keep her and her daughter fed with a bit left over to splurge on toys, but she loved it.

Her eyes were drooping though, and she wore a tired frown. Within the past week, she had probably gotten a total of eighteen hours of sleep. Thankfully, she had not experienced any hallucinations or anything else that might hurt her job, but she was just so tired. She pretended to be at least half-awake for her daughter, but now that she was alone…

The clinic came into view. Its architecture matched the rest of Ponyville’s: large, colorful, and based around whatever its function may be. This building in particular was shaped like a medical cross laid flat on the ground. Cherry-colored wood-paneled walls with an even darker red wood for a brazen contrast to accentuate the exterior decorated the building. The building itself wasn’t very large; there were only twelve rooms inside of it. The entryway led into each of the building’s other rooms, two were reserved for administration, one was reserved for supplies and equipment, five were for regular checkups and such, two were for emergencies, and the last room served as the maternity ward. The clinic had a few doctors and nurses on staff, but mostly relied on volunteers for most of the cleaning and organization.

Derpy lazily nudged the double doors open and stepped into the hospital’s entry hallway. Her hooves produced loud clunking noises as she cantered across the tiled floor to the registration area in the center of the cross. The receptionist, a pink unicorn mare with a purple mane, cheerfully greeted her when she got closer, “Hey there, Derpy! Come to visit us today, have you?”

“Yeah...” Derpy said lazily after setting the basket down on the counter, “and your mother asked me to give you this, Sparkler.”

“Oh, thanks Derpy!” the unicorn eagerly uncovered the contents of the basket with her magic, revealing a still warm apple pie that Cheerilee had undoubtedly bought at the Apple family’s apple stand that morning.

“So,” Derpy began lazily, “how’s the exciting life of a nurse?”

“Well, we’re a bit understaffed right now, so I’m filling in for Spring Green as the receptionist today, and it’s boring...” Sparkler chuckled, “but at least I get to greet everypony that comes in. How was Mom today?”

“She looked like she had her hooves full with handling her students,” Derpy snickered, “I’m still not sure how she managed to raise you and your sister without having a conniption fit!”

Sparkler finally noticed her friend’s decrepit appearance, “Derpy?” she asked, “Are you sleeping well?”

The grey mare sighed, “That obvious huh?” She nodded, “Yeah, that’s actually my other reason for coming here, I wanted to see if Redheart had some sort of remedy for nightmares or something.” She lowered her head and rested it on the desk, displacing a few of the papers that lined it, “It’s getting so bad that I’m having problems flying straight. I’m worried that I’ll crash into some tree or maybe even a stall on my rounds.”

Sparkler tilted her head, “So, you’re having nightmares huh? Like, how bad are they?”

Derpy snorted. Her good eye turned upward to look at Sparkler while her bad eye floated off to the side, “Bad. Really, really bad. I’m not even sure what they even mean...” she shivered for a second, “They just feel so... real... but every time I wake up, I forget almost everything about them. The only thing that sticks is that they’re horrifying and that I always experience an incredible amount of pain before I wake up.”

The pink mare’s eyes widened, “Wow... That does sound bad... Heh... Um, well...” Sparkler felt very awkward just hearing about the older mare’s dreams. She cleared her throat, “I’m sure that Ol’ Redheart can help you.” She noticed a mare coming out of a door in the hallway to her left, “And look, here she is!”

Redheart was a mare with a snow white coat and light pink hair. Her eyes were clear blue, and her flank was adorned with a cutie mark with four red hearts poking out of the corners of the cross. On her head was a nurse’s cap that was emblazoned with her namesake. She was a relatively old mare, well into her forties.

She cantered up to the desk and greeted her friend and co-worker warmly, “Hello Derpy, hello Sparkler, how are you both doing today?” her voice sounded wise, but sweet and youthful.

“Well,” Sparkler began, “Derpy here was just telling me that she’s been having trouble sleeping.”

“Not really surprising,” the nurse said, “what with you working so hard lately, though you do look positively tired.”

“Yeah...” the mail-mare sighed, “That’s actually why I came; I was wondering if you knew any remedies for nightmares, anything at all would help.”

Redheart bit her bottom lip; she could tell that Derpy was absolutely exhausted and was very surprised that the pegasus could even stand, “I... I’m sorry Derpy, but... There’s really nothing we could do beyond prescribe you sleeping pills.”

Derpy shook her head, “I’ve already tried a few... No matter how much I take I wake up just a few hours after I fall asleep... Isn’t there any kind of drug you could give me that’d prevent me from dreaming?”

The nurse shook her head, “I’m sorry, but there’s no drug that can eliminate dreams. Now, you could take a large dose of very powerful sleeping pills, but it would be illegal to prescribe you that strong of a sleep medication unless you had a clear medical reason.” The pegasus’s head drooped, “I suppose you could try asking Zecora...” Derpy raised her head once again in hope, “Oh, but she’d be in the same predicament, I don’t think it’s some sort of disease or curse...”

“Well,” a bit of venom had slipped into Derpy’s voice, “what else can I do? I can’t take another night of this... I just can’t,” her body sagged in defeat. A wide spectrum of emotions flashed across her face, ranging from frustration and anger to sadness and fear. Her ears drooped down low towards the ground, depressing even her onlookers.

Before Redheart could answer Sparkler threw in her two cents, “You could go to the library.”

Both the pegasus and the white earth pony turned to look at their unicorn friend, ““What?”” they both said at the same time.

“For some reason, our library has information on subjects you wouldn’t normally find in any other library. If you look there, there’s a chance that you’ll find something about getting rid of nightmares.”

“That’s...” Nurse Redheart gave her co-worker a quizzical look, “how do you know that?”

“Let’s just say that I needed a ton of research on a few very difficult assignments in high school,” she sighed, “I pretty much lived there my senior year...”

For the first time that day since she had left home, Derpy looked energetic, “That might work! Thanks girls!” she turned to go.

“Wait, that’s it?” said a surprised Sparkler, “No pleasant chit-chat? No happy get-together?”

Redheart chuckled, “Let her go, Sparkler. Don’t you want her to feel better?”

“Oh!” Derpy turned back around, she wore a broad grin on her face and her happiness was so great that she could even control her bad eye, “You guys have the night shift tonight, right?”

Both nurses nodded. “Yep,” Sparkler said with a grin, “another night of fighting off sleep, checking vitals of sleeping patients, and keeping Dr. sleepy-head up.”

“Oh shush,” Redheart berated with a smile.

“Alright! I may come tonight, but I doubt it, so just watch for me, okay? Just in case!” she quickly dashed down the hall and burst through the clinic’s double doors.

“And... there she goes,” Sparkler let out a dry chuckle, “Hope she feels better.”

“Yes...” Redheart frowned, “She’s been through a lot, and she deserves a little happiness.”

“Huh, what do you mean?” she asked as she cut a few pieces out of her pie with a knife that was included in the basket. She floated a pair of Styrofoam plates out from within her desk and placed the two pieces on their respective plates.

“It’s... not my place to say. She’s just had a really hard life.”

“Well, yeah. I kinda remember her telling me about her mom, that sucked.”

Redheart was silent for a long time before saying, “It’s... not just that... she-”

“Oh! Wait!” Derpy’s voice called down from the end of the hall as she ran back with a package under her wing, “Forgot to drop this off!”

When Derpy reached the pair of ponies, Red Heart took the package from her, “Oh, thank Celestia… We’ve been waiting for these for weeks now, thank you Der-“ The mare had already run back down the hall.

“You’re welcome!”

“And there she goes… Gotta love her energy,” Sparkler smiled and shook her head before reclaiming her seat behind the counter, “Ah well, back to work, eh Red Heart?”

The old mare smiled and agreed before turning and walking away.

___________________________________________________________________________

‘Alright, Twilight... You’ve stayed up a good eighteen hours attempting to figure out any details about this spell, you deserve a nice, long rest... No... Library duties... need to be done... darn...’ Twilight Sparkle internally debated.

She was sitting at a desk on the lower floor of the library which was located in the center of Ponyville within a very large, hollowed out tree. There were hundreds upon hundreds of old tomes and manuscripts lining the shelves all around the lower floor, bringing to mind a great sense of orderliness. Yes, the entire library was a cathedral for order, but the area around Twilight’s desk was a mess. Various reference materials littered the floor around her chair and every free space on her desk was crammed with scrolls that were covered in notes. Whole sections of these notes were crossed or scribbled out, as if the mare had been on one train of thought only to find out that it was completely wrong. At the center of this controlled chaos was a fairly large old tome. It was turned to a page that only had one spell on it; it was labeled “Mind Delve”.

The mare herself was slumped over the book. Eyes red with weariness, she sighed in defeat. Her mane was matted and disheveled, and a dried trail of drool could be seen connecting her lip to her chin. She groaned and smacked her head against the table, “Spike!” no answer, “Spike! Please get me some coffee, or maybe a bucket of cold water, something!” Still, she received no answer. “Ugh...” she sighed.

The purple mare drug herself out of her chair and made her way to the stairs, “Spike? Please... I really need some help.” She trotted up the stairs sluggishly. She could hardly believe that she was still able to walk, let alone stand after the previous all-nighter. The second floor of the library felt more like a living area than a library. Both of the beds were dressed and made, and the small basket at the foot of Twilight’s bed didn’t look like it had been slept in for a long while.

“Where…? Oh... Well duh, Twilight...” the mare grimaced. Spike gone to Rarity’s to help her out with a new dress. He had a full day of being used as a pincushion for “the most beautiful unicorn ever” to look forward to. She sighed and plopped down face first on the nearest bed, “Heh... He probably left before Celestia even had a chance to lift the sun an inch off of the ground...” Sleep was flooding her mind, “I’ll rest, and then maybe clean up a bit... Or I could make... breakfast... first...” The mare began to snore softly.

Seconds later, Derpy opened the front door. “Hello?” she said as she crossed the threshold into the messy library. The room smelled of musty, old parchment and fresh ink. “Anypony home?”

Derpy knew that Celestia’s personal protégée was lodged here, and had met her a few times on her mail route, but she had never taken the time to introduce herself. She seemed nice enough though.

The mare was certainly surprised at how unclean the library was, and guessed that its residential librarian had left. “Huh, I guess nopony’s home...” the pegasus mare sighed. She began glancing over each of the sections of books in the library, reading off a few of the various book titles, “Supernaturals, The World According to Berry Bubble, Ponytheus Unbound, Flown with the Wind, Celestia Shrugged... Ugh... nothing here about dreams...” she plopped down in Twilight’s chair that was situated beside her desk, “I thought this library was supposed to have everyth- Hello... This is interesting...”

Derpy examined the book that was laid out before her. It was a very average looking book, no embellishments added to the cover, and it even looked newly printed. She rubbed her fore-hoof over the smooth paper and flipped the right side over examine the book’s spine. The title, in very plain lettering, read, Dreams: A Psychological Understanding.

The mare made a very foal-like squeak in delight as she flipped back to the page that the book was opened to originally and began examining a few of the spells written there, “Alright, useless... Useless... Huh... A Mind Delve spell, huh?” A chill ran up her spine, ‘Wh- what was that?’ she thought before chuckling to herself softly, ‘It is pretty cold in here...’

The description was simple. Basically, the spell would allow one to enter their subconscious mind to face or fix whatever that was wrong. Beyond that, there were no other details about the spell. No historical uses, no previous iterations of the spell, nothing.

Derpy put the book in her mailbag and began searching for a pencil on the desk. When one was located, she bit down on the end and wrote a message on one of the blank pieces of paper stacked neatly in one corner of the desk, ‘Miss Sparkle, I’m sorry that I couldn’t stay to properly check this book out, but I need to get back to my rounds pretty quickly. I need it to solve a nightmare problem I’ve been having. I’ll probably have it back to you by tomorrow evening. Thank you, D. (Hooves) Doo.’

She placed the pencil back where she found it and stood up. The mailbag pulled down harder on her back from the weight of the book, and yet the mare eagerly cantered across the room and through the door, bringing with her that accursed tome.

Upstairs, Twilight still lay in her bed, snoring softly in a calm rhythm. Not even a cataclysmic event could wake her from her deep sleep. “Darkarts... book... Mmmmf... -nd Del-... Pinkie...” she said in her sleep. Even in her dreams she could not escape the questions that plagued her.

___________________________________________________________________________

Derpy could feel sleep setting in as she flew over Ponyville. The horizon glowed brilliant orange ahead of her, and the sky was clear of clouds. Home was her destination; she had just delivered the last batch from letters to Mayor Mare to the entirety of Ponyville. Election season was coming up, so the mayor thought she might as well start early to bolster her chance at being Mayor again. This increased Derpy’s workload drastically, and her already sleepy state only made the work more tedious and tiring.

The mail mare’s flying was erratic. Every once in awhile she would dip in altitude or veer off course for a bit, but she would carefully correct her mistake before anything drastic happened. The bag on her shoulder made her journey all the harder, pulling her down periodically and putting pressure on her sore bones. The only things that kept her awake at this point was the ever increasing excitement for getting rid of her dreams, and the anticipation of seeing her daughter again.

Coming home was always the high point of Derpy’s day. No matter what had happened, no matter how much work was thrust upon her over the course of the work day, Derpy’s face would always light up when her daughter greeted her with a smile and a kiss. All fatigue would evaporate from her eyes, and her joints would cease to hurt. Even her bad eye would sometimes cooperate with her directions and focus on the shining ray of light that was her daughter. Dinky was quite literally the apple of her eye.

She coasted down gently to the front door of her house and retrieved a key from a pocket within her mail-bag. She knocked a few times before unlocking and opening the door. “Dinky!” she said excitedly as she peeked her head in, “I’m home!”

The entryway of her house was full of the same dull and muted colors that plagued the rest of her house. A few drab, grayish paintings hung on the walls and the wooden floor had a shaggy rug with brownish-red patterns flowing over it. Dinky was sitting on the rug with a pumpkin-colored crayon hanging out of her mouth. The wooden floor in her immediate area was covered in pieces of paper, each sporting a different, colorful drawing. The brilliance of the colors contrasted heavily with the reserved room’s palate.

“Mommy!” the filly squeed before running up to her mother excitedly, dropping the crayon in the process.

Derpy stepped through and shut the door before embracing her daughter with her forehooves. The filly’s fur was soft, like velvet. “Hey, how was my little muffin’s day at school today?” the mare said with a warm smile.

“Oh!” the filly was practically bouncing, “I got to say some things about you today Mommy!”

“Really?” Derpy said with a tilt of her head before breaking the hug and nuzzling Dinky’s cheek, “What’d you say?”

“Well,” Dinky started to think really hard, “I said how much I loved my mommy, I said how good my mommy takes care of me, and how I never want to be away from her!” She followed her list with a peck on her mother’s cheek, “Did I do good, Mommy?”

The mare’s smile grew wider and wider, “Oh yes, Dinky, you did really, really well.” She sighed happily before saying, “I have the greatest daughter in the whole of Equestria...”

“Well, I have the best mommy who ever lived!”

__________________________________________________________________________

Derpy’s night dragged on. She cooked a delicious meal for the two of them, played a few board games with her daughter, and even told a story to Dinky before tucking the filly in bed for the night. Before the mare could leave her daughter’s room though, the filly called out to her, “Mommy?”

Derpy smiled and walked back to the bed, strategically maneuvering around the toys that were strewn across the floor, “Yes, Muffin?”

“Do you think that you could... Um...” Derpy signaled for her to continue, “Maybe... you could sing to me, like you did when I was little?”

The mare chuckled, “You’re still little Dinky,” she said sweetly.

“Hey! I’m not that little! I’m a big girl now! But... please?” she looked up at her mother with big, doe eyes.

“Alright,” the mare began, “I’ll sing. What do you want me to sing then?”

“Umm... What was that song you used to sing to me when I small?”

“Uh... The Itsy Bitsy Spider?”

“No! Mommy, the one from when I was really little!”

“Ooooohh... , that’s the one... Wow, I haven’t sung that in years... You ready?”

The filly nodded, and the mare began.

“You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy,
When skies are grey.
You’ll never know, Dear,
How much I love you...”

The filly’s eyes closed a little bit into the song, and she was already drifting off into a deep sleep.

The smile on Derpy’s face softened a bit as she leaned down to sing the last line.

“Please don’t take my sunshine away...” she kissed her daughter on the cheek, “Good night, Dinky...” The mare crossed the room once more and quietly exited through the door.

The house outside of her daughter’s room was dreary and devoid of life, and Derpy’s room was no different. The bed was a double, but the left side looked as if nopony had ever slept in it since it was bought. No pictures hung on the grey walls, and the only things that sat on the bedside table were a cheap alarm clock and an even cheaper lamp.

Derpy crossed the room to her bed and plopped down on the thick, itchy quilt that covered the mattress and sighed. She hadn’t sung that song to her daughter in a very long time. She actually remembered singing it to her while standing over Dinky’s cradle when she was really little. The mare smiled and looked over to where the cradle still sat in a corner of her room. It was pretty old-fashioned, but in great condition and repair. She had taken care of it over the years. ‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘Dinky’ll use it to care of her colt or filly... maybe...’

Without covering herself up, the mare drifted into a deep, much-needed sleep...

__________________________________________________________________________

It felt as if her entire being was being launched out of her body as she screamed bloody murder into the night. Her entire body was coated in sweat, and the foot of the bed was covered in what she could only guess was her urine. Now fully awake, she desperately fought to forget the horrors she had just witnessed.

Derpy began to break down into tears as she felt the remaining shreds of her sanity begin to wane. As her entire body shook from violent sobs, she shook her head, ‘I can’t take it anymore I can’ttakeitanymoreIcan’ttakeitanymoreIcan’ttakeitanymoreICAN’TTAKEITANYMOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRREEEEEEEE!’ She launched herself into the air and literally flew down the hall.

Dinky exited her room just as her mother passed, “Mommy!? Mommy, what’s wrong?!”

As Derpy quickly slipped her mailbag around her neck she spat out a reply between sobs, “M-Mommy’s going out for a bit, Muffin. I-” she had to force a whimper back, “I’ll be back by morning. Stay here and wait for me.”

Before the filly could answer, Derpy slammed the door and took off into the night sky. Little did she know, Dinky followed her as quickly as her little legs could carry her. She’d never be able to reach her mother’s destination before her, but she could at least find out what was wrong. The filly knew exactly where her mother was headed, and she planned on meeting her there.

___________________________________________________________________________

“The night-shift is so boring!” said a very annoyed Sparkler.

Nurse Redheart just rolled her eyes, “It’s required for every nurse to at least have one night a week where she works double shifts. Besides,” she said with a chuckle before biting into a fresh carrot, “nothing ever really happens at night, so we’re free to have a bit of leisure time.”

The two mares were seated around the reception desk in the main hallway of Ponyville’s hospital. Sparkler had her head situated on a pile of paperwork, and Redheart had her nose in a book. They both snacked on a small pile of carrots that had been left for them by a recent patient of theirs’. Sparkler’s eyes were already drooping from fatigue, but Red Heart didn’t look tired in the least. In fact, she looked positively energetic.

“I really like this book...” Redheart said absentmindedly as she turned the page with a forehoof.

“You’ve said so a million times in the past hour alone...” Sparkler said as she raised her head, “What’s it about anyway?”

“Well,” Redheart cleared her throat as she entered into her book-dissection mode, “It’s called I am the Cheese. It’s about a young colt on a quest to find his father, and at the same time about a stallion being interviewed by a therapist. I’ve already read it a few times over though. I definitely recommend reading it, if only for the ending.”

“Whoa, whoa hold up... You’re rereading a book?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Because reading is boring!” Sparkler groaned, “Why would you want to waste time on books?”

Redheart raised an eyebrow, “Waste time? Art is never a waste of time, unless it wasn’t made to teach something in some way, shape, or form. One can learn many things just by opening your mind to new things. Besides,” Red Heart chuckled wisely, “I’d never make it through these night-shifts without them to distract me!”

It was at that moment that Derpy burst through the door directly ahead of them. Her mane was still matted from sleep, her eyes were swollen and bloodshot from tears, and her mail-bag was swung wildly over one shoulder. Her chest was heaving painfully fast as she forcefully sucked down air.

“Hey!” Sparkler quickly exclaimed, “Derpy, what’re you doing here?”

Redheart had immediately put her book away as soon as the pegasus burst through the door. She quickly thrust herself to her hooves and ran to meet her, “”Derpy! What’s wron-?”

“I can’t take it anymore!” the mare collapsed on the floor in a heap. The stress, the fatigue, and the panic had finally caught up to her after all this time and she couldn’t stand. “It won’t stop! It won’t stop! Dear Celestia please MAKE IT STOP!” The mare broke down into tears as she curled into a ball.

Sparkler stood up and cautiously walked towards her friend, “Um... Derpy? Y-you okay?”

The pegasus sniffed and let out a few more sobs before shaking her head, “No... No I’m not...” She buried her face in her forehooves, “The dreams... They just...” chills ran up and down her spine, “won’t... stop... They never stop... Not even for one night... I can’t think straight anymore... I don’t want to think straight, I just want to sleep... Sleep for more than an hour or two... They keep getting worse... and worse...” her voice became progressively higher, “ and worse and worse and WORSE AND WORSE AND-!”

“Calm down!” shouted a pained Redheart, “You’re hurting me!”

Derpy realized that she had grabbed on to Redheart’s leg at some point and was now squeezing it in a tight hug. “Oh,” she let go and bit her lip, “sorry... I... I-I don’t know what happened...” Blood flowed back through Redheart’s now numb leg, “Sorry...”

“Hey...” Sparkler leaned down and nudged the mare’s face, “Calm down...” Sparkler softened her tone to comfort the panicked mare, “Now... Did you go to the library, like I suggested?”

Derpy wiped her snout and sniffed, “Mmhmm...”

“Okay, did you find anything that could help?”

Nurse Redheart had always been impressed with Sparkler’s bedside manner. The normally crass and brazen personality always seemed to shrink and filter away every time she encountered somepony that she knew was in trouble. Redheart couldn’t help smiling as she watched her co-worker comforting one of her dearest friends.

“Y-yeah... Actually,” Derpy stuck her snout into her mailbag and retrieved the brightly colored tome, “I found a spell that I think could work, but I was going to wait till tomorrow before asking for help, but...” she bit her lip and lowered her head.

“Another dream, am I right?” Sparkler asked. Derpy nodded, “Well then, Derpy,” the pink unicorn smiled, “we’ll just have to help you right now. Now, why don’t you show us this spell of yours?”

The two mares helped Derpy to the registration desk and sat her down. Sparkler floated the book over with them and laid it out on the table. “Alright, Derpy, what page is it on?”

Derpy flipped to about half-way through the book and pointed at one of the spells, “Here. This is it.”

Both nurses quickly read through the small spell, “Is this... hard? Or easy?” asked a fairly confused Redheart.

“Actually, it’s pretty easy,” Sparkler stated in surprise, “I mean, it seems like it’s supposed to put the target in his or her own mind, which is usually a very difficult thing to do, but the way it’s made... It’s like it was made for anypony to be able to use...” Sparkler concentrated and let a bit of energy flow through her horn, “Alright, let’s try-”

“Wait!” Redheart interjected, “Look at this one,” she pointed at a spell on the opposite page. The description said that its purpose was to show the subject’s dreams to the caster, “Wouldn’t it make more sense if we had a diagnosis on her condition before we thrust her into her own sub-conscious?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” Red Heart began, “If we know what she’s going through, we could decide whether or not this would be safe.”

“Huh...” Sparkler let her horn go dark, “when you put it that way-”

“NO!” Derpy staggered to her hooves and moved away from the pair, “Just put me in there! You can’t see them! You can’t!” Her eyes went wild and her breathing sped up once more. Her eyes were wide and her normally lazy eye was pointed straight at her friends.

The two mares stepped away from the desk and attempted to calm her down. “Derpy, it’s fine...” Redheart began.

“We’re not gonna judge you based on your dreams,” Sparkler finished.

“I... you...! Ugh...” she shook her head and plopped down on the floor, “You just can’t see them...” she sighed as she tried to calm herself down, “They feel... real... I can barely remember them, but... I just know that they...”

“Derpy...” Redheart sat down beside her, “How long have I known you?”

The mare sniffed, “A-about six years...”

“Yes and how long have you known Sparkler here?”

“Two... I think... Maybe three years...”

“Mmhmm, have either of us been critical as to what you’ve thought or what you’ve done in all of that time?”

“No...”

“No. That’s right. Well, you’re worrying about something that isn’t your fault. You didn’t make your dreams.”

“I...” the words got caught in her throat, “I know, but...”

“But no matter what happens, no matter what Sparkler would happen to see in there, I doubt she’d judge you in any way for what she sees. Isn’t that right Sparkler?”

Sparkler smiled warmly as she nodded, “She’s right. Nothing I could see in there could change any opinion I have about you, Derpy. You’re my friend.”

Derpy breathed in and out a few times before relenting, “Alright... I’ll... let you see one... Just ONE though... No more...”

Sparkler smiled and floated the book from the desk, across the room, and up to her face. She studied the dream spell a bit before saying, “Alright, if I cast this it’ll just give me the last dream you had. The one that happened earlier tonight.” She set the book on the floor and sat in front of Derpy, “Now, are you sure you’re ready?”

Derpy started to hyperventilate for a moment before she forced herself to calm down, “I’ll be fine... Just... go. Do it now.” She closed her eyes prepared for the inevitable horror that would ensue.

“Don’t worry,” Red Heart whispered, “it’ll be fine.”

“Here we go then...” Sparkler said as she filled her horn with magic. She slowly bent her head forward and lightly touched Derpy’s forehea-

___________________________________________________________________________

Within an instant Sparkler was in a different place. Leather straps held her legs and neck down on a very cold sheet of metal. It was pitch-black, and the slab of metal she was laying on was moving. All around her she could hear things breathing heavily as they pushed her along.

“Hello!?” she said in Derpy’s voice, “What’s happening? I can’t move!”

The sound of un-oiled wheels emanate from below her, a very loud, sharp noise that grated on the mind. Her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. The walls looked like they were tiled, but no matter how hard she tried she could not see the ceiling. She could only make out an outline of the ponies pushing her cart, but she wouldn’t really classify them as ponies. The way their bodies were shaped was odd, almost as if-

The cart stopped abruptly, so abruptly Sparkler could feel gravity pulling on her innards. The mare began breathing very quickly, “Heheh... Guys? This is funny and all... but... Heh, could you all stop for a second, you’ve had your laughs!” She began chuckling nervously, “Guys? Gu-!?”

A very bright light flipped on above her, blinding her momentarily. When her vision righted itself again, she realized she was lying on a hospital gurney. A very sterile, smooth, clean gurney.

The figures were standing beyond the circle of light around her. They sounded like they were conversing, but the words they said were distorted beyond recognition. They didn’t sound like ponies at all.

She began squirming around, attempting to break free of her bonds. “This isn’t funny anymore, guys! Let me go!”

A very loud buzzing noise came from the abyss above her as a red sign lit up a ways above her. It said, “Operation in Progress”.

Loud, metallic clanging could be heard from all around her as her captors prepared various instruments. “Hey, HEY! Operation?! Why!? What’s going on!?” she began fighting fiercely; “I’m fi-” she finally looked down at her stomach. It was bloated to a very large size, so large that it looked like the skin was going to rip apart. As soon as she saw it she could feel something moving within her, as if something was fighting violently to get out...

“Ah... AH...!” she began screaming. She just realized that she was in pain, an excruciating amount of pain, and the volume of her screaming matched it. Sparkler began fighting even harder to break her restrains, screaming wildly all the while.

The figures began moving in towards the light, giving the mare a full view of their horrible visages. Each one had no eyes, just black, bloody, and scabbed over orifices. They had no fur, and it looked as if their skin had begun to rot on their bodies. The place where their cutie marks should be had been ripped off, leaving two large, gaping holes in their sides. Within said holes, Sparkler could see half-rotted meat that was covered in coagulated black blood. Their mouths held no teeth, and their cheeks had been sliced open, letting their jaws hang down to their neck. A few of them looked like they had once had wings or a horn, but in the case of the pegasi their wings had been chopped off, leaving small nubs poking out where they should’ve been, and for the unicorns they had large, gaping holes in their skulls where their horns should’ve been. All of them had various surgical tools in their mouths, each one more sharp or horrifying than the last.

Sparkler screamed even louder. She could feel herself let go of her bladder and a pool of urine began forming around her lower region. Before she could fight it away, one creature came up quickly to her head and slipped a metallic ring around the top of her skull and chin. Before she could pull her tongue back in, the creature tightened the instrument, forcing her to squeeze her mouth shut very quickly. The mares severed tongue fell down onto her chest, and her mouth filled with blood within a few seconds. Her mind screamed in agony.

The mare fought even harder, but the creatures came up to her sides and forced her to hold still. Their skin felt cold. Their skin felt dead.

Tears and snot began streaming down her face, mixing with the blood that came from her now severed tongue. A few trails of blood filtered out through her lips to follow. The thing in her began fighting even harder to get out, and she could now see an outline of it within the bloated skin.

An ex-unicorn creature approached the gurney holding a large, rusty knife and a couple others followed suit holding clamps. Sparkler began to shake her head violently in protest. The poor mare didn’t have a coherent thought within her head.

The ex-unicorn violently stabbed the knife into her stomach, piercing more than just a few vital organs, and began to saw her chest open. A creature untied her head and lifted it up so that she could see. The inside of her body was just as rotted and bloody as her captors’. The blood flowing from her abdomen was black. She could see every slow motion of the knife as it slid up, and down, up, and down, until it reached her pelvis. The ex-unicorn stabbed the knife into the mare’s leg while his two assistants helped pull her skin apart and place clamps down. Another creature approached from the side and reached two cold, hard hooves into her abdomen, clearly trying to fish the parasite out of Sparkler’s body.

After a few agonizing minutes, it finally worked the being free and yanked it out. She could see that the ‘foal’ wasn’t formed completely. It itself was large, but two of its legs were smaller than they should have been and its head was bent inwards, curving the creature’s eyes in weird angles. The ‘foal’s skin was blackened by the dark blood it grew in. Its left eye was pitch black, and its right eye had somehow been smashed within the womb; black ichor and chunks of the under-developed eye dripped from its small socket. The ‘foal’ immediately began screaming and hollering in a distorted, unrealistic tone, so loud that Sparkler’s ears began to ring.

Just a moment after its ‘birth’, the ‘foal’ was snatched away by each of the creatures. All of them were fighting for a piece of the child. Loud screaming and grunting echoed throughout the room as they desperately tried to pull the ‘foal’s body apart. After a few attempts, a couple of the larger ones succeeded in ripping off one of the more formed legs. Another pulled off an underdeveloped leg. Finally, the ‘foal’ let out one more ear-splitting cry as the head beast managed to tear the being’s deformed head clean off. Black blood and shredded pieces of the ‘foal’s body flew all over Sparkler’s body, but before she could register this fact a large group of the creatures swarmed around her and began gnawing at her body. Flesh was ripped away violently as she tried desperately to scream in pain, but the vice wouldn’t let her. Blood pumped even more furiously from her severed tongue and flooded down her throat. She drowned in her own blood just as one of the creatures began chewing up her lungs...

___________________________________________________________________________

Sparkler began vomiting up the entire contents of her stomach onto the sterile hospital floor beside Derpy and Redheart. Tears flowed down her face freely as she sobbed between retches.

“Sparkler!” Redheart leaped to her hooves and began trying to comfort the young mare, “Oh, dear Celestia, what in the Heck did you see?”

Derpy just shook her head, “I told you two...”

Sparkler bellowed in pain and fear. Unlike Derpy, she could still remember every minute detail about the dream. There was no filtering system when it came to that dream spell, you experienced the dream. Every facet of her experience was engraved in her memory, and it took its toll.

“I TOLD YOU!” Derpy cried angrily, “It’s like that every, single, night! I told you both that it was too horrible to see!”

“Come on,” Redheart said as she tried to help Sparkler to her hooves, “let’s get you to the desk, we’ll help Derpy tomorrow-”

“No...” Sparkler said before letting out a violent sob, “I’m helping her now...”

“”What?”” both of the other mares exclaimed at the same time.

“Nopony, should EVER have to go through that... It’s... It’s...” she broke down into sobs again and grabbed Derpy around the neck with her forehooves. “I’m going to do it now... I’m not gonna let you see another one of those... Oh sweet Celestia, what the Hell WAS that!?”

“I... I don’t know...” Derpy whispered before giving her friend a sad smile, “Thank you...”

When Sparkler broke the hug Nurse Red Heart knelt down beside them, “Well, I’ll be here for you both. Just...” she swallowed, “be careful...”

Both mares nodded, Sparkler lit her horn up again, and placed it to Derpy’s forehead...

___________________________________________________________________________

Twilight Sparkle finally woke up from her very long power-nap. Her hair was matted in odd angles, but she felt very refreshed. “Spike?” she said as she lowered herself off of the bed, “You here yet?” She descended the staircase and looked around the bottom floor of the library, “Guess not... Huh...”

She calmly sat down at her desk ad sighed, “Well, back to beating my head against a brick wa- Where’s the book?” She had just noticed that her copy of Dreams: A Psychological Study was missing. This was followed by a frantic search for it around her desk. ‘Where is it where is it where is it... Wait, what’s this?’

She had found Derpy’s letter for her, and had gotten through about half of it before she heard a knock at her door. “Uh, come on in! We’re open!” she said without turning around.

The door opened, revealing a very tired, very depressed Derpy Hooves framed by a bright, sunny day. Over her shoulder was her mail-bag, weighted down by a familiar object. She quickly cantered up to Twilight’s desk, pulled the book from her bag, and plopped it down on the table beside Twilight.

“Wha? Oh! Oh, hey, Derpy! Um...” she turned and noticed that Derpy didn’t look too good. The pegasus’s face was downcast, and her bad eye was pointed downwards.

“Sorry... I just wanted to borrow it for a bit... I-” she stopped herself, “I’m done with it... I fixed what needed fixing...” she turned to leave.

“Wait!” Derpy stopped, “Did... did you use a spell from the book?”

Derpy silently and slowly nodded.

“W-what was it? Was it something called a Mind Delve?”

Without answering, Derpy crossed the remaining portion of the room and exited the library.

‘Hollow... I just feel...’ Derpy thought as she closed the door, ‘hollow... There’s no going back... I need to see them... See them, one last time...’