If I Could Sleep

     Delta, coming home from her trip to the psychiatrist, which was always late in the day and early at night, laid down on her bed to rest. Her mother, Beta, trotted in. "Hello, Delta," she said in her soft, soothing voice. "How are you doing? Your father and I have been very worried about you lately." She moved a loose strand of her long, black mane out of her pale blue eyes.

     "You have her mother's mane and eyes," her father always said, but she also her father's coat. Her father, Alpha(see the pattern?), is a red unicorn with a white mane and green eyes, and her mother, Beta, is a brown earth pony with a black mane and pale blue eyes. So, Delta has a red coat, a long, shoulder-length black mane, and pale blue eyes. She never liked her coat color. She thought it made her look too mismatched.

     Delta gave a weary smile. "Yeah, mom. I'm fine. Tell dad not to worry." Beta nodded at this.

     "Okay, hun. Just tell us if you need anything, okay?" Beta smiled and walked out the door. "Sweet dreams!" she said from the hallway.

     Delta rolled her eyes a bit. "As if I ever had those." She rolled over in bed to face the wall. She stared for a minute or two, then gulped. "I guess I have to sleep sometime..." she said, and she closed her eyes. In a matter of seconds, she fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A small white unicorn filly with a black mane. That was all that was know about the filly from across the road. Her name was Paranoia, and she, well, had just that. She never came out of her room, unless it's at meal times, and she always has the lights on. Her light blue eyes were always bloodshot from lack of sleep. She knew that something was hiding in her closet. She knew it was going to get her at some point.

     She stumbled into her room at midnight, for she was downstairs staying away form her closet. She fell on her bed, exhausted. She heard a knock.

     She turned around, startled out of her weariness. She squinted at the closet door, almost sensing that something was about to get out of there. Grabbing a pad and quill, she stared at the closet. "When I die, they'll at least have a description of the beast in my closet," she said, dreading the moment. "Let's go, beastie. See what you can do."

     Nothing happened.

     Paranoia frowned, squinting at the closet door.  She didn't want to get any closer than she already was, so she just sat and stared. She blinked, and looked around. When she looked back, the closet door was open. She swallowed hard. The dark room was dimly illuminated by her soft blue glow as she levitated a flashlight to herself. Her magic wasn't strong enough for an illumination spell, so she had to use the flashlight. She clicked it on. She immediately wished she hadn't.

     It was twice as tall as her, and ten times as mean. It's eyes were completely white, and it's coat color was white as snow. It stared down at her, grinning psychotically. Paranoia clicked off the flashlight and galloped for her life. The monster followed her.

     She sprinted downstairs, almost tripping on a saddlebag on the steps. She went into the kitchen, and hid in the cupboard. She exhaled shakily, trying to stay as quiet as possible. It was dark, but she could hear the monster stomping through the house, looking for her. She heard it right outside the cupboard, and it stopped. It stood, breathing heavily.

     It began to walk away.

     Paranoia waited for a moment more. Inhaling sharply, she opened the cupboard door. It was gone. She climbed out and looked around the kitchen. No monster in sight. She trotted out of the kitchen and into the family room. Still no monster. Finally, she checked the dining room. Nope, nothing. She sighed, and trotted upstairs. I guess it was all just a dream, she thought, reassuring herself. She knew that wasn't the case.

     Paranoia slowly trotted up the stairs, scared and... well... paranoid. She didn't want to go back up to her room, but if she didn't, she'd be forced to stay downstairs until night came again. She opened the door to her room slowly. It creaked softly.

     The beast was still there, waiting for her to come back upstairs. It had been wanting to give her false hope, and it succeeded. Paranoia was paralyzed with fear. The monster made it's move. She was grabbed and pulled through the doorway.

     The monster grinned psychotically again, but this time was interrupted in killing it's victim by the victim's screams. It stopped and stared at Paranoia. She was screeching at the top of her lungs, and was flailing around.

     Paranoia tried to escape, but couldn't. She then stopped yelling and opened her eyes. She saw that she was in a magic field, much like her own. In fact, it was also blue! She turned to face the monster. Looking at it closely, it was a white pony with a black mane exactly like hers. She frowned. "Are you just... me?"

     Unfortunately the monster didn't answer her question. It stared at Paranoia for a moment longer, the lifted her up in it's magic field. It smiled as she got closer to it's mouth. It chuckled, then snapped Paranoia's neck. Her body went limp, and the monster swallowed the unfortunate little filly whole.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Delta woke up screaming yet again. Her parents both ran straight into her room. She was sobbing on her bed, her mane fallen over her eyes. Her mother sat at the side of her bed and hugged Delta. Alpha, her father, sat on the other side. He sighed, and checked the alarm clock in Delta's room. "It's happening earlier. They're getting quicker."

     Delta nodded, still sobbing into Beta.

     Beta looked at Alpha. "It also means they're getting shorter." She looked down at Delta. "There might be a stop for this after all, little one."

"We'll just have to wait and see."