My Dear Shy - Rick's Lament

I have just woken up after having an horrific nightmare; a nightmare so twisted I can't comprehend why I dreamt it in the first place.

I'd rather not want to talk about it, but I feel that I should write it down as it could be some sort of correspondence.

The dream began with me standing in an oblivious grove.  Surrounded in complete and utter blackness.  I couldn't decipher where I was, or what forest this was.  All I knew was that I was bewildered and lost.  No matter how much I walked or ran, I always ended up back to square one.  This was the kind of nightmare I dread most.  You never know what could happen when you least expect it.  The thing was was that nothing happened.  For the remainder of what felt like an hour, I was still mindlessly wandering these unknown woods.  That was... until I encountered a familiar shadow figure just beyond a few feet from where I stood.  I continued taking a cautious step by step until the figure was visible to see.  The figure had a butter-yellow coat with a pink mane and tail, it was enough to identify who it was.  It was certainly my dear Shy, just standing amongst the misty darkness which surrounded the entire area around us.

With another step, the sound of a twig snapping underneath my foot alarmed the mare to quickly turn around toward the noise's whereabouts.  At first I expected a deformed face with eyes gouged out like from what you see in a horror movie, but this wasn't the case.  She was precisely like she was when I last saw her; those blue sparkling orbs, her soft and pointy yellow ears, and last but not least her beautiful face.  The only wrong thing I noticed was the look of fear in her eyes.  It was as if she was blankly staring at a monster.

I took a split moment observing my body, and strangely enough I was also the way I always was.  Again, what shocked me the most was that shadows were bleeding from my body.  Almost like ink in water.

Perhaps this was the main reason Fluttershy was acting so afraid and reluctant.

As I took one last step, I knelt down to one knee with an open palm stretched out.  "Flutter...shy..." I said with a deep and dark voice that even I had an unsettling chill going up my spine.

Fluttershy stared at me dumbfoundedly.  She seemed to know it was me, but in a way she was timidly hesitant to make an approach.  Curiosity appeared to have gotten the better of her as she faltered step after step until she was barely inches away from my hand.  I reached my hand out further, and in turn it earned a small flinch from her.  She almost took a hop back at my sudden movement, yet she retained her stance once I managed to connect my fingers to the surface of her face's left cheek.

I heard a swift 'brrr' out of her lips when my fingers made contact.

With a gentle, fatherly stroke of my hand Fluttershy was swarmed with a sense of longing and she returned the affection by rubbing her face against my bare and clammy palm.  All of a sudden... I started losing self-control as the hand that was currently stroking her began working its way down towards her throat.

And that's when things were taking a turn for the worst.

The minute I realized I was losing my ability of self-control, it was too late as the hand swiftly grabbed hold of Fluttershy's neck and gripped the base of her throat so tightly that it was choking her to death.  I slowly rose both to my feet, meanwhile lifting the helpless mare off the ground as she desperately squirmed to break free.  I knew this was wrong.  I wanted to cease this violent act I was committing.  But I had no control whatsoever.  Pretty much all I could do was witness my daughter's death before my very eyes.  The worst of it was that I'm the one who's killing her....

Soon... her body weakened, and later her limbs went limp as her frantic squirming came to a deathly end.

I sensed the life was completely drained out of her, but apparently that wasn't enough as I made one final act of cruelty to assure she was gone for good.  I-... my hand... no.  No, it's too unbearable to finish.  This was beyond gruesome than anything I had ever seen, even by human standard; I... squeezed my hand tighter until the bone in her throat made a loud 'crunching' sound.

And just like that... I released my grip and allowed her lifeless body to collapse onto the cold ground.  At that moment, my eyes were leaking tears.  I smeared a tear with an index finger, but I then saw that my finger was now coated in crimson.  To a horrified conclusion, I realized I was crying out tears of blood...

Trembling down to both knees, sulking in bottomless regret, I stared up at the non-existent sky and let out a demonic bellow.

And that's when I woke up.  Never, in my life, would I dare go back to sleep after having a nightmare such as that...  What father would be demented enough to dream themselves killing their own daughter...  What sort of message was it supposed to bring?