A Troublesome Life

I opened my eyes to find myself in a dark room. I looked around. There was a barred window. I sit up, and look around. The room was padded and the door made of some sort of grey metal. I looked around, and tried to stand, falling to the ground with a muffled thump. I tried again, falling onto my muzzle. I sat against the bed and looked down. I was wearing a straight jacket. I… smiled. I began to laugh hysterically, rolling around and convulsing.

Then I woke up with a start.

I shot up and looked around, panting. I was back in the boutique. I sighed.

“What a ridiculous nightmare.” I said quietly to myself. I stood up and looked outside, the early morning sunlight blinding me. I closed the curtains again, and rubbed my eyes. I went through my daily routine, the nightmare still on my mind. What did it mean? I decided later I’d go check if Twilight had a book on it or something. I looked in the mirror. I had dark rings under my eyes, and my eyes were bloodshot. I furrowed my brow in confusion. I had gotten plenty of sleep, yet I looked as if I was up all night. I sighed and let it slide. I walked down and was asked if I had slept well. I merely waved a hoof and said ‘fine’.

I walked out the door, feeling more awake and more confused about the nightmare. I had began to get a bit paranoid, yet, I’m not sure as to why. The nightmare wasn’t the least bit scary, just… unnerving. It was creepy, but, it seemed like my paranoia was a cause of, perhaps, a deeper meaning? I continued to walk on to the library, hoping that there might be a book on dreams or psychology that could help me.

I knocked on the door and waited. I stood for a couple minutes until Spike answered the door, rubbing his eyes with his claws. I offered a smile and he scowled.

“May I come in?” I asked politely. He continued to give me a glare. I just walked past him. I began to look at the books, confused as to how they were organized. I thought they’d just all be alphabetically laid out, by author or title. I found out later that it was by genre, title, sub-title, author’s surname, and then by pages. It was confusing, and I couldn’t find a thing. I thought back to times in libraries where I was never able to find a book I wanted. Same thing happened here. After a few minutes I gave a frustrated sigh. I looked back at the little dragon.

“Can you help me find a book?” I asked. It was more of an order, as I didn’t want to deal with any bull shit. He nodded and walked up to me.

“What are you trying to find?” He asked simply. I looked at the books, seeing if I could find it by a glance. No dice. I looked back at the lizard.

“A book on dreams and nightmares, or one on psychology. I prefer the prior.” I say, casually. He raises a brow, but still goes to a shelf. He takes down a couple books. I take them, and read some of the titles. I nod, pleased. I flip through one of the books, seeing if there’s anything on my predicament. Nope, next book. I read a few books on sections that were related. Finally, I looked in the final book of the pile, hope nearly lost. It was about what things could symbolize in dreams. I looked for laughing. It meant I’m an optimistic or relatively happy individual. I furrow my brow. That wasn’t at all what it seemed, but, okay. I continue looking for the little things that were in the dream. Lots of movement; energetic. A sort of cell or imprisonment; you feel trapped. I scowl. None of this is helpful. None of it makes sense when you put it all together. I close the book, and put them on a nearby table. I let out a sigh of defeat. I checked the most helpful of books once more. Still nothing in it helped.

The door clicks, I look over and see Twilight walk through the door.

“Oh, hi, Strum.” She says, a bit surprised, no doubt, about me being here. I nod to her and stand.

“Hi.” I say, groaning a bit as I stand up. She looks at me, seemingly a bit worried. I decide to ask The Question, the most important of questions; the one I’ve given much praise.

“What?” I say, confused as to why she’s staring at me.

“You look terrible.” She says simply, with a hint of worry in her voice. I wave my hoof.

“I’m fine.” I say, a bit rushed. I speed over and hide the books from her vision with my own body. It wasn’t an embarrassing topic, it’s just that I don’t want to answer her questions or become some sort of lab rat for psychological tests. Done it once before and it didn’t turn out well. She tilts her head at my rash actions. She levitates the books from behind me.

“No!” I yell, hopping up onto the books, knocking them out of her magical aura. I fall with a thud. It hurt a lot more when it was on wood and not a padded floor. I regain my lost breath, and look at her reading some of the books’ titles. I drain of color and hop up. She looks at me, confused. I sigh, and awkwardly try to walk out the door. I get dragged away by magic and the door closes with a click. I can’t help but think back on that one dream with the two mares. I get held up by my tail, and levitated face-to-face with Twilight. I look at the ground, feeling a bit of panic. Any small height can scare me, even this one. I’m taller than Twilight, but this still scared me.

“Explain.” She says simply, levitating one of the books into my view. I rub the back of my head.

“Well, I had a nightmare and wanted to see what it was about. It was unnerving and made me a bit paranoid, so I wanted to check and see if it had a hidden meaning.” I said. Again; the truth is better than a shit lie. She looks at me, still a bit worried. She hovers me back onto my hooves. I feel more at-ease being planted on the ground. I look at her, worried if she’ll hook me up to a machine.

“If you’re having problems, I’m sure you can just talk to your friends about it, I’m sure they’d understand.” She states, still a bit worried. I blink a moment, not at all expecting that.

“Well… uh… thank you.” I say awkwardly. She offers a smile, but I just still stand baffled. I swear she was looking at me expectantly. I clear my throat.

“I’m sure I’m fine, so… yeah.” I say. I can only imagine her mentally slumping. I smile to her, trying to show that I’m all right. She came closer, putting a hoof to her chin. She squinted, examining me. I moved my head back a bit. I give a nervous smile. She looks me dead in the eyes. I try for a wider smile. She leans in, still looking me in the eyes. I move back more, smile wiping off my face. She moves closer yet again, and I move back. Bad thing; I lost balance and fell backwards. I rub my newly throbbing head. I look up, and my eyes widen seeing Twilight towering over me. She brings her head down, still staring at me. I hold my legs close to me.

“Uh… I’m uncomfortable.” I say simply. It was the truth… Well, most of the truth.  She brings her head up and steps back, blushing.

“Sorry.” She says. I stand up, thinking that she probably wasn’t sorry. I brush myself off, and say goodbye, leaving the library. I begin to walk to the market.