The Oldest Lullaby

by flutterdash1

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Berry Punch, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Pipsqueak
Length: 11392

A foal sitter is caught up in events far above his comfort levels that will take him even farther away from home. Along the way he will meet monsters and legends, and the stories he once told to little fillies and colts will come to life around him.

A foal sitter named Shut Eye had the great misfortune of one too many run-ins with the Princess of the Night. His special talent, magic that lets him enter and alter dreams, makes him uniquely suited to performing duties that Luna needs assistance with.

When a child goes missing and a nightmare becomes reality, Shut Eye will have to travel far and face terrors none could have ever imagined.

Published 2015-04-30 03:50:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-11-20 23:21:46 UTC

Hush Now

“Phoebe lifted the scroll and read aloud, for all of her friends to hear, ‘All shall fly in the Fields of Pegasy, where even wingless ponies can touch the sky. With horn, and hoof, and wing, life shall soar through eternal spring. Peace and love will reign in the Fields of Pegasy’ Everyone cheered with joy at the proclamation and took off into the sky…”

Shut Eye looked up from the book at the young blue pegasus curled up in bed. Tail Wind was asleep now, a small smile on his face as he breathed in a soft, even pattern. The book in front of Shut Eye closed and floated over to the small table beside the bed where the green aura surrounding it vanished.

Tail Wind’s parents were out attending a party for the Summer Sun Celebration, which he was just a year or two too young to be able to reasonably stay up all night. Shut Eye was a professional Foal Sitter and gladly took the duty of watching the colt over attending the party. He did not particularly enjoy loud crowds and late nights. He was very comfortable staying at home and relaxing on his own.

Shut Eye went down the hall and into his kitchen. The refrigerator opened and a couple of apples floated out and over to the counter where a peeler was already in position. As the apples were skinned, Shut Eye put a pot of water on the stovetop to boil. The apples went in, along with some berries and cinnamon. He placed the lid on the pot and turned the heat down to let the fruit simmer.

Walking back down the hall to the guest room where Tail Wind was asleep, Shut Eye entered without turning the light back on. He stood next to the bed and closed his eyes, his horn glowing green as he cast the spell that would open the colt’s dreams to him.

Unsurprisingly, Tail Wind was dreaming about the Fields of Pegasy. Shut Eye watched the young and energetic colt fly. The sky was clear and blue and Tail Wind did flips and rolls as he flew, laughing and giggling as the flowers followed in the breeze. They swirled and danced in his wake, a rainbow contrail of roses and violets, honeysuckle and babies breath, tulips and daffodils, daisies and lilacs, and flowers that Shut Eye did not know off the top of his head.

He stood on a low mound of grass under where Tail Wind was flying. Shut Eye could not be seen by the child unless he wanted to show himself. This was Tail Wind’s dream, though, and Shut Eye did not intend to intrude. He was just checking up. Making sure that the colt was not having a nightmare.

When Shut Eye was confident that Tail Wind was having a happy dream, he closed his eyes and faded out of the scene. When he opened his eyes again, he was once more standing beside the bed. He smiled at the sleeping foal and left the room, returning to the kitchen to check the fruit.

Now that it had softened considerably, he put it all in a blender and pureed it before spreading it out on a couple of cooking sheets in thin layers then putting it into his dehydrator. With that done, Shut Eye went to bed. He would miss the sunrise, but that was fine by him. Next year he would try to stay up for it.

Laying in his own bed atop two mattresses and under two blankets, Shut Eye quickly fell asleep. He was a great sleeper. So good, he could get almost any pony to fall asleep. Of course, there was magic involved, but it was also all a part of his special talent. The three “Z”’s on his flank were testament enough to this.

His own dreams were far less fantastic than most would believe. Having complete control over his sleep and dream states, he could have a night without dreams if he so chose, or do whatever he wished. As all things, however, having the ability to do anything quickly got boring and wound down to just doing what would make that time most beneficial. He sorted his days thoughts and memories.

The market appeared around him and he walked towards the only stall visible. Dreams were amazingly low in detail when you were able to really pay attention and analyze them. The crowd around him was only four or five faceless ponies of bland colors and grey, vague blotches for cutie marks.

Shut Eye could have recalled more information if he wanted and filled out the details, but frankly he did not care who had been around and what other stalls there were when he went to the market earlier. He just wanted to watch himself get his groceries so he could remember what he got and what he forgot.

The carrot stand had just run out by the time he got there, so he made a mental note to go out and get more tomorrow. Tomatoes, apples, bread and flowers he was able to get, and fresh milk. He needed to clean out his freezer this weekend.

“And here I thought the Moon was boring.” A voice cut through the dreamscape like a knife through butter. Shut Eye looked around, having never had an interruption like this in his dreams for as long as he could remember.

“What’s that?” he asked, looking around the dull white void that had once been a visage of Ponyville. “Who’s there?”

“Aww, is my little pony curious?” the voice asked, echoing through the void as everything became darker, quickly fading into an empty darkness that felt cold. Shut Eye shivered as the voice cackled and laughed.

“I’ve never met a nightmare I couldn’t stop,” Shut Eye said, calming down as he tried to focus his magic. Though he had long since grown bored of manipulating his own dreams, he was more than capable of doing so. In his dreams, his power was stronger because his power was part of the dream, and so long as he willed his power to increase, there was no limit to what he could do.

The slow cackle only increased in humor as the green aura around Shut Eye’s horn glowed brighter. He was trying to silence her but to no avail. He even tried to remove his own ears but it did not change the fact that the confident, mocking laughter still penetrated his mind.

“You have never met a true Nightmare” The voice said out of the inky blackness. A soft blue glow appeared a short distance in front of Shut Eye. It slowly took a more distinct shape, resolving itself into a breastplate with a thick crescent moon upon it. Long shoes of matching blue metal became visible as well, along with an elegantly curved helmet.

The black void around these moving blue trinkets suddenly burst open as a wave of deep blue night sky, twinkling with starlight, appeared as a veil behind the floating accessories. It was only when the bright, teal eyes opened and the alarmingly white fangs of a smile appeared that Shut Eye realized he was looking at another pony. But not just any other pony.

This mare was taller than others. As large as Princess Celestia, or near enough. Her long, lanky features moved in a smooth, silken grace as she approached him. Her coat was as black as the void that surrounded them, and her starry mane billowed in an undetectable cosmic breeze.

This was Nightmare Moon. An old mare’s tale taken form in his dream. However, this was not the Nightmare Moon he had always imagined as a child. This one was more regal looking and far less monstrous. Yet despite the lack of blood dripping fangs, tufts of matted fur and glowing red eyes, she seemed so much darker. So much more sinister.

“Not somepony you were expecting to see?” she asked, “You seem as surprised as my dear sister was. I am no figment of your imagination, my little pony. I am very, very, real.”

Quiet Now

There was no such thing as a ‘normal’ pony. All ponies were unique, different, and special in their own way. Even Shut Eye, a tan coated unicorn born in Manehatten and moved to Ponyville, who seemed as normal as anypony could be, was not as normal as many would think. For one thing, he was genuinely happy with his life. It was a great life. He loved his job and he loved where he lived. He had never experienced the loss of any loved ones nor any major disappointments. If he ever had any complaints, it was either with his slightly extra weight or when walking behind two slow ponies in a grocery store who blocked the entire aisle when he was in a hurry.

Foal sitting was a near constant source of joy and peace for Shut Eye. Playing games with them, seeing wonder in their eyes as he told them stories, made them their favorite snacks for good behavior, and taught them what he could about good behavior and habits, watching them grow into fine young ponies over the years, it was like a living dream. Even the little nightmare ones came around eventually, typically after they had a nightmare ended by Shut Eye’s intervention.

For all of his traversing of the dreams of ponies, he had never come across a nightmare that he could not turn into something enjoyable. Giant scary clown? Not so scary when it was a laughing clownfish in a tank. Surrounded by darkness? Just pull the blindfold off and look at the candy on the floor from the pinata you broke open. Falling? More like bouncing on a trampoline.

Shut Eye was not experiencing a nightmare this time. He was speaking to the embodiment of the Night. Beautiful and terrible as the cosmic void, reminding him of his insignificance and solitude, how everyone he ever knew and loved was just a spec on a spec floating through the unfathomable infinite emptiness that dangled above their heads.

“In awe?” The tall, dark mare asked, walking around him slowly, her bright eyes gazing upon him with amusement and something else that Shut Eye could not quite identify. Contempt? Disgust? He could not tell as it was not something he usually saw in another pony’s eyes. Least of all directed at him. But he read more than a few novels in his off time, and if any of those stories would have described someone as looking at another character with contempt or disgust, Shut Eye could not imagine a more appropriate look than what Nightmare Moon was giving him.

“You… you can’t be real…” Shut Eye stammered.

“Oh, can’t I?” she said, smirking as she turned about and circled around Shut Eye again. “Just an old mare’s tale, right? Just a shape on the moon to haunt the dreams of fillies and colts.”

“I’m dreaming…” Shut Eye said, trying to back away.

“Oh no, that is where you are wrong, my little pony,” Nightmare Moon said, suddenly looming tall and mighty over him, her green eyes now glowing with a bright white light. “You are having a nightmare!” she yelled, her voice loud and forceful. Shut Eye stumbled backwards, end over end, rolling from the power.

Slightly dazed, Shut Eye stood up on uncertain legs as Nightmare Moon appeared before him again, looking less amused and more spiteful.

“Tell me about yourself,” She said, “I would know who dared to intrude upon the realms of dreams and sleep, my realm, in my absence.”

“What?” Shut Eye asked, stepping back again. Nightmare Moon vanished, allowing the darkness to close in around Shut Eye once more. He attempted to cast a spell that would wake him up, but he could not even see the glow from his horn.

“Dreams and nightmares were one of my responsibilities before I was banished,” Nightmare Moon’s voice echoed around him. “The moment I returned, I could feel the intrusion into my domain. You and hundreds of ponies like you. Your kind have twisted and torn the dream web nearly beyond repair.”

Once more she appeared, this time looking like she had when she first materialized. Beautiful and terrible, but not so terrifying. Just intimidating as she glared at Shut Eye with her narrowed green gaze.

“I have matters to attend to before I undo the damage that has been done,” She said, “But when the Elements are mine, you will feel my wrath.”

“The… what?” Shut Eye asked before Nightmare Moon erupted with sapphire light. The magic washed over him like a wave of scalding water, knocking him through the back empty air of the dream.

With a gasp, Shut Eye woke up in his bed. He was shaking. He caught a glimmer of blue out of the corner of his eye but saw nothing except for his open window. He tried to close it with magic, but the moment he attempted it there was a sharp, burning pain in his horn.

“Ahh!” he cried out, lifting a hoof to his head. “Why did that hurt?” Shut Eye got out of bed and headed to the bathroom adjoined to his bedroom. Over the sink was a mirror, and when he stepped up to look in it he was surprised to see thin blue streak that ran the length of his horn, across the tip, and then down the other side.

The mark would not come off with soap and hot water either. After scrubbing it for several minutes, until his horn chafed a little, Shut Eye gave up and dried off. While the towel was wrapped around his head he heard his alarm going off and ran back to his room to silence it.

He noticed through the window that it was still dark outside. A few months ago, that would have been normal. But at this time of year the sun should have been peeking over the horizon by now. He checked his clock again before leaving his room to check the clock’s in the rest of his house.

They were all agreeing on the time. “Why is it so dark…” he muttered curiously.

“Mister Shut Eye?” a small voice said from the hall. Shut Eye turned and saw Tail Wind. The colt looked alert and frightened, his eyes large and full of tears.

“Tail Wind? Is something wrong?” Shut Eye asked, going over to the young pony as he began to cry.

“I h-had a bad dream,” Tail Wind sobbed. Shut Eye hugged him and tried to comfort him, leading him over to the couch to sit down. “Th-the princess was caught by a monster!” Tail Wind continued as Shut Eye took a blanket out of the closet to wrap around the child. “And everything got all dark.”

“There there, it was just a bad dream,” Shut Eye said. He tried to cast a spell to put Tail Wind back to sleep so that he could give him a good dream, but the moment that his horn sparked with green energy he felt the sharp burning pain again. Shut Eye quickly ended the spell and winced, biting his lip to prevent swearing.

The doorbell rang and Shut Eye got up to answer it, making sure Tail Wind was okay before leaving him. “I’ll be right back” he said.

At the door, Shut Eye opened it without his magic, not really wanting to experience that horrible pain again, and was only slightly surprised to see Tail Wind’s parents, Light Breeze and Gale Force.

“Good morning, Shut Eye,” Gale Force said, looking past Shut Eye into the house. “We’re for Tail Wind,” She said, as if that needed explaining.

“Mommy!” Tail Wind’s voice called from behind Shut Eye. The colt had heard his mother’s voice and come running. Shut Eye stepped aside so the foal could jump into his mother’s hooves.

“He had a bad dream,” Shut Eye said, feeling rather odd having to admit that. Typically bad dreams were a thing that fillies and colts stopped having after spending a night under Shut Eye’s care.

“Its no wonder,” Light Breeze said as his wife and child headed back down the front walk from Shut Eye’s house back to the street. “Nightmare Moon’s returned!” he said, eyes wide and voice pitched.

It's Time To Lay Your Sleepy Head

Foal’s tales were fake. Everypony knew that. They may have had some basis in history, some common threads through shared pony experiences over centuries, told and retold until the smallest bits of luck were epic feats of bravado and overweight stallions with pimply faces and a gimp leg were tall stallions with flanks chiseled from stone with flowing manes of gold. It was perfectly fine, and rather natural, to believe in the stories, the characters, the morals, and even the events.

When somepony tells you that a character from a foal’s story was real, depending on the situation, it is usually expected for there to be some scoffing at that pony’s attitude. Or laughter at an expected jest. It was rarely, if ever, taken seriously.

When Shut Eye was told that Nightmare Moon had returned, though, he did not laugh. He did not scoff. He stood there, quietly, eyes widened with surprise. His dream had been real. More than that, he realized, it had not actually been a dream at all. Nightmare Moon had returned and shown herself to him. She had a personal issue with what he had been doing with his entire life and it had not been a figment of his imagination.

Tail Wind and his parents left. They were going to go home and hole up together until this unnatural night passed. Shut Eye stood rooted to the spot. His horn tingled. Or maybe it only seemed like it tingled. He touched it with a hoof idly before shaking his head and leaving as well, shutting the door behind him. He left a light on since he would need it to see when he came back.

His first instinct had been to go inside, lie down, and sleep this nightmare away, but the fact that it was a nightmare - the Nightmare - kept him from following that train of actions. Instead, he would check in on his friends.

Carrot Top was the closest to Shut Eye, both in terms of where she lived and how well they got along. Even in the surprisingly dark night, with all of the streetlamps having burnt out, Shut Eye made it to her house in less than ten minutes at no more than a brisk walk.

He knocked on the orange door and looked around anxiously as he waited. The lights were all on inside so he assumed that she was home. A squirrel running out of the bush beside the door startled him, but when the door opened he calmed down. Like Shut Eye, Carrot Top was a green maned pony, but her coat was more of a yellow than tan, with a slight greenish tint to it under certain lighting.

Peeking out the door at first, Carrot Top was surprised to see Shut Eye. “Hey Shut Eye,” she said, looking around with a furrowed brow, “Er, kind of late for a visit, isn't it?”

“It’s past seven.” he said. When her eyes widened and she looked around again, Shut Eye knew that she had not heard about Nightmare Moon’s return yet. “Can I come in?” he asked.

Inside, Shut Eye followed Carrot Top to her living room where she pushed a half dozen books off of the sofa so he had room to sit. There were always books littering Carrot’s house. The day they met she had been reading a book and not paying attention to where she was walking, leading to an inevitable collision that just happened to involve Shut Eye and his moving cart.

Shut Eye explained to Carrot Top his not-a-dream. Of all of his friends, she was the only one to really take dreams seriously. Even Shut Eye, who walked the dreams of other ponies, took a more cynical view than Carrot Top of a dream's deeper meanings. A by-product of being able to edit and alter dreams and nightmares at will.

"So it's still night outside because Nightmare Moon is really back?" she asked after Shut Eye had told her what Tail Wind's father had said. Shut Eye nodded, but also shrugged.

"I think so... I wasn't at the celebration party. I kind of hoped you would be there and would know what's up."

"Ooh sorry," Carrot Top said, smiling sheepishly for a moment before frowning, "I meant to go but when I heard it was at the library I remembered that The Modern Mini Farm Guide was overdue so I came home to get it. I had a few hours to waste so I thought I'd skim through it again and... well I guess I just lost track of time because the next thing I know you were knocking on the door."

Shut Eye rolled his eyes. Carrot Top was always researching farming techniques, when she wasn't actually farming. They needed to know what was going on though.

"Is Zippity Zip in town?” Shut Eye asked. She would never have missed a party if she was, and if they were lucky the could get her to settle down long enough to tell them what was going on and how Nightmare Moon was involved.

“Nnnno….no I don’t think so,” Carrot Top said, looking towards the ceiling for a couple of seconds before continuing, “I think she was going to Canterlot today...or maybe Manehattan.”

“Oh,” Shut Eye said, now recalling that Zippity had told them she would be out of town most of the week making deliveries, “Right, I remember now.” he said, sighing. “Time Turner is probably locked up at home, and I wouldn't begin to know where to look for Berry Punch after a party.”

“How about Bon Bon?” Carrot Top suggested, “I know she went to the party.”

“Yeah, I could stop by her place.” Shut Eye said, “If she’s still awake.”

“It’s past seven in the morning,” Carrot Top said.

“Yeah, but everypony was up late for the Summer Sun Celebration party,” Shut Eye said, “I’m probably one of...maybe…a dozen ponies in Ponyville who slept for more than an hour, and probably the only one who got a full night of sleep.”

“Well not a full night.” Carrot said, “You were sort of dream-vaded.” She chuckled at the term. Shut Eye rolled his eyes and shook his head, chalking the terribly lame joke up to staying up all night reading.

“Leave the jokes to Berry Punch.” he said, “And go get some sleep. I’ll tell you what’s going on in a few hours.”

“Alright,” Carrot said, leaning forward to the table and nosing open a book. Shut Eye pushed the book closed with his hoof.

“Don’t make me put you to bed.” he said.

Rolling her eyes, Carrot Top said “Even when you could use your magic you couldn't get me to bed.” She smirked but Shut Eye did give any indication of being amused at her joke. She frowned at him. and then sighed. “Fiiiiine. Bed.” She said, walking up the stairs. Shut Eye left, but he was almost certain that he heard hoofsteps quickly running down stairs again when he shut the door. He knew he would find Carrot Top asleep on her couch with a book under her chin when he came back later.

The night was colder when he stepped back outside, and the air more still. Instead of getting closer to sunrise, as it had been earlier, it felt like it was getting later. Nightmare Moon’s endless night was getting deeper. Where was Princess Celestia? Surely she would stop this.

He was passing the library on his way to Bon Bon’s home as a group of ponies emerged, the one in the lead reading a book as she walked. He watched them walk away and thought It’s a good thing Carrot Top isn't a unicorn, or she would always have a book in her face.

Hush Now (refrain)

Fear of the dark was not something to be ashamed of. It extended beyond the limits of foalhood fear. The dark was mystery. The dark contained the sum total of every unknown, uncertainty, and fear for a pony. The dark was perhaps the most legitimate fear anypony could have. Night was not dark, however. Night had its own light.

Even the still darkness that Shut Eye walked through, there was light enough to see. It was actually quite pleasant out. Chillier than he was used to, but nothing he could not tolerate. After he adjusted to it, it was actually quite comfortable. The sky was clear and stars twinkled overhead, though their light was nothing compared to the Moon.

Shut Eye only just noticed that there was something different about the Moon. He stopped in his walk for a minute as he struggled to define what was different. When he finally realized that the Mare on the Moon was no longer grinning down from its lofty perch he felt a chill run down his spine and an unpleasant tingle in his horn.

The realization made him glad to reach Bon Bon's house as soon as he did. Knocking on her door, Shut Eye looked skyward again, enraptured by the sight of the clear white moon and its milky light. He looked away only when the door opened a crack and he saw Bon Bon's sky blue eye looking through the gap.

“Shut Eye!” She said, throwing the door open. She reached out, grabbed Shut Eye around the neck and pulled him into her house. “You’re just the pony I need! You’re time couldn't possibly be any better!” she said.

Shut Eye stumbled inside, caught off guard by the pushiness with which Bon Bon was shoving him through her home, and by the fact that she seemed so utterly thrilled that he was here. They were friends, yes, but Bon Bon had never been so...enthusiastic about guests. Before he could ask her why he was such a welcome guest and “just” the pony she needed, he was in her living room and saw, lying unconscious on her couch, was Lyra.

“What the...?” Shut Eye asked, walking quickly over to Lyra. Bon Bon was by his side as he looked down at the sleeping unicorn, her legs occasionally twitching. Lyra’s eyes were not shut gently, either. She was grimacing in her sleep, almost as though she were in pain.

“What happened to her?” Shut Eye asked, looking at Bon Bon. She kept her eyes on Lyra, tears welling up in them.

“I don’t know,” She said, “I thought you might have an idea. You’re the sleep guru here. Nightmare Moon just sort of flew through her and she passed out. I carried-”

“Nightmare Moon?” Shut Eye asked, “So she really is back?”

“Yes…” Bon Bon said, looking at Shut Eye as though he had said something stupid. “You weren't there?”

“No,” Shut Eye said, “I was foalsitting. What happened? What is going on?”

Bon Bon swallowed and took a slow breath, calming herself down before she told Shut Eye what had happened that night.

“Lyra and I left the party at the Golden Oaks library when it ended and walked with everypony to Town Hall. Inside, w-we waited for Princess Celestia. But she...she wasn't there. Rarity went to look for her b-but before we could do anything...Nightmare Moon appeared. Everything went dark a-and...and she told us that Celestia was gone and she would...she would make night last forever.”

Shut Eye nodded as Bon Bon spoke, reaching out and patting her back as she struggled not to choke on her own terror. Shut Eye’s own stomach was all knotted up as well. He was worried about Lyra, worried about Bon Bon, and worried about what Nightmare Moon might be up to. The entire situation would be almost unbelievable except that he had seen Nightmare Moon himself in his dream. Or, not really a dream. A….something. Whatever it was, she had been able to manipulate it in ways he could not, and even did something that made it almost impossible for him to use magic.

“Pinkie Pie and...and some other ponies all left the hall. Everypony else, Lyra and I too, were...frozen, sort of. Like...we just couldn’t move,” Bon Bon continued, “Then Nightmare Moon vanished...well sort of.” She paused for a moment to catch her breath and recall the details of the night. “She...she became this weird blue mist and descended upon everypony. That was when we all started running. The mist passed through Lyra on its way out the door...I-I think it was following Pinkie Pie and her friends. Lyra passed out and I carried her back here,” Bon Bon finished, reaching out to put her hoof on Lyra’s forehead.

“She’s breathing but she’s been twitching like that. I thought she was having a bad dream or that Nightmare Moon gave her a nightmare or...well I know it sounds stupid, but I thought you could maybe wake her up?”

“Wake her up?” Shut Eye asked, looking back down at Lyra. Waking ponies up was easy. Even non-magically. But this was not something Shut Eye would trust to just dumping a bucket of water on her face. If he could use his magic it would be doable as well. He knew plenty of spells to end sleep. But for the last few hours he had been without magic because of...well, because of whatever Nightmare Moon had done to his horn.

“I....I don’t know if I can,” he said. Bon Bon gave him a pleading look and Shut Eye recounted the morning’s events. He told her about his dream being invaded by Nightmare Moon, how she had told him that he had been damaging the “Dream Web”, whatever that was, and that when he woke up he had difficulty using magic, pointing out the blue stripe on his horn.

“Oh…” Bon Bon said when Shut Eye had finished his story. She looked back down at Lyra, who squirmed and let out a soft whimper.

Seeing Lyra laying there, lost in a nightmare, and looking at the expression of pain and worry on Bon Bon's face, it was all too much for Shut Eye. He had to at least try, didn't he? For his friends?

“I can try,” Shut Eye said. Bon Bon gave him a teary smile and thanked him while stepping back. The mystique of magic to those who could not use it often caused them to give the caster “room” in which to work. All Shut Eye needed was to be within a few feet of his target and be given a couple moments of silence so he could focus on the spell.

He was doubting his ability to cast even one spell, let alone more if any attempts failed. So he chose his first attempt carefully. He was going to use a rather basic spell. The first dream intrusion spell he had ever learned. It was not as subtle as most other spells he knew, and it stood a good chance of just waking Lyra up outright, as bursting into a pony’s dream was highly disruptive. Normally he used more intricate means to slip in unnoticed so that he could observe passively. With this spell, he would be a part of the dream.

Shut Eye inhaled slowly, and then closed his eyes as he exhaled. The moment he began to cast the spell he felt the sharp burning pain in his horn. He inhaled sharply and gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw harder and harder as the pain increased. It felt as if the spell was corked and pressure was building in his head. The pain did not last long, though, and after half a minute of agonized determination he felt himself falling into darkness.

Quiet Now (Refrain)

A hard concept for many ponies to grasp is the sheer unreality of dreams. They are beyond explanation. They were not imitations of reality with a few twists and tweaks to adapt them to your unconscious mind, nor were they wild and crazy expanses of random objects and flashing, swirling colors. These were constructs of Hollywood and Las Pegasus. Ponies with no experience or understanding of the subject matter, aiming to make a cinematic and visually appealing experience that was both entertaining and brought in the bits.

Dreams were the random assembly of thoughts taken form. Thoughts were organized words, so to describe a dream would be like saying “Pickles this foot at Barney midnight.” They were wild, unbridled, and infinite freedom to create and destroy. Dreams were the realm of creation, and nightmares were the concentration of destruction. That was Shut Eye’s experience, at least. And from what he was seeing right now, this was definitely a nightmare.

The air around him was permeated by this dark, red mist. No… not really a mist. It’s more of a… more of a haze he decided. It was more than just filling the air, though. Shut Eye could feel the miasma of hate, pain, and rage affecting the very essence of the dream. This was more than a normal nightmare. This was something powerful, something forced into Lyra’s mind. Nopony could be this filled with loathing and pain, least of all somepony as kind as her.

Shut Eye could not see far in the dark red fog. What few things he could see were vague and obscure shapes. They cast long shadows of deepest, blackest darkness, as though they were the substance of void of eternity that hid between the stars themselves. The contrast between the dull red veil and the infinite blackness in the cast shadows may have been more shocking to Shut Eye if the lines between the two were not so blurry.

Everything around him was out of focus. Just slightly. It reminded him of the time he had tried on his father’s glasses; everything became blurry and smudgy, and he could not walk quite right. Unlike such foalish antics, however, movement here was painful. His joints ached with each step, and his muscles burned as if he had been running for miles and miles. Maybe he had. There was no sense of time or distance in dreams. A moment could be a year and mile a mere inch.

“Lyra!?” He called into the nightmare realm, trying to find her so that he could wake her up. His voice fell flat to his own ears and caused them to ache some. Shut Eye swallowed a couple of times while clenching his jaw and he felt his ears pop somewhat and then the pressure feeling vanished. The moment he called for Lyra again he felt the same pressure in his ears. It was very uncomfortable and very distracting.

He continued to walk, looking around the hazy red emptiness. Occasionally he would call for Lyra and then stop to pop his ears and rest. He could not move for very long or very far before the accumulated irritations and aches became near overwhelming. The strange images that floated through the red haze made travel even more confusing.

Shortly after he arrived, a strange stony landscape began to fade into and out of Shut Eye’s vision. It was dark and grey and dusty. The landscape changed as he walked, small craters appearing or being filled in. But the vision came with more than just the sensation of cold and dust underhoof. It came with a painful loneliness and a burning hatred. Shut Eye did not know why he was so angry. It was alarming. But he felt as though he had been abandoned and betrayed, and it hurt more than the aches and pains he was feeling in his body.

The strange horizon went away in time, though, and Shut Eye was free to wander the pain filled nightmare again. He did not know how much time was passing in the real world because dreams operated outside of time. He could spend what seemed like days or weeks in a dream and wake up without an hour having passed. It felt like a long while had passed when a new scene began to unfold in the unfocused haze before him.

It was a fight. He was one of the combatants, or at least he saw it from one of their perspectives. A bright figure came at him and struck him, trying to hold him down. But Shut Eye felt his own power and he knew he could overcome this adversary. But it was not just some adversary. It was someone special. Someone both loved and hated. This fight was not what he wanted, though. He only wanted what he was owed but this… this… whoever this was had taken it all and kept it. Righteous fury coursed through him, but then an array of light, all of the colors of the rainbow, exploded before him and enshrouded him.

When the harsh bright glare cleared, Shut Eye was back in Lyra’s nightmare. He shook his head and blinked repeatedly. That had been… he did not know what to make of it. The red haze around him began to darken further. A deep dread filled him as something green appeared, as if from a great distance. A dark, sonorous, thundering laughter crossed the spreading void.

Then it was upon him. Once again, Shut Eye felt himself experiencing a fight. Unlike the one against the bright figure, this one was completely dark, and Shut Eye felt that he wanted to fight it. He needed to defeat this darkness. It was a cancer on the world and would spread and consume. The dark force attacked with black magic and Shut Eye felt the sharp cut of the sweeping gestures it made.

Then temptation. The darkness enshrouded him. Shut eye could not discern what the low rumble was saying, but it was a voice. It spoke a language he could not understand, but he felt its meaning. The shadow wanted to give him power. To join forces with it. To stand together… but it did not understand. The shadow thought it was of the same ilk. It did not comprehend the sheer folly of its own audacity.

Before he could laugh at the fool, the dark vanished and he was back in the red realm. Shut Eye was once more himself. He remained completely motionless, rooted to the spot, afraid that if he moved again he would fall into the mind of another.

Were those the dreams of other ponies? Is this nightmare connecting the minds of Nightmare Moon’s victims? Shut eye thought to himself as he slowly looked through the dark red miasma, his eyes slowly turning one way and then the other. A long dark shadow caught his attention because it was moving slightly. Only minor movements, but it was more movement than he saw in the red haze.

Shut Eye followed the shadow through the nightmare. He did not have to travel far before he could see the caster of the shadow. In the distance, a bright teal spec. It was Lyra, the only thing that was not red or black in this bleak world of pain and hate. Running, Shut Eye felt as though his muscles were going to explode as he drew nearer and nearer.

“Lyra!” he called out as he got closer, stumbling as he ran from his slowly cramping legs. He made it to her in moments, panting with exertion, his entire body awash in minor pains and aches. Unlike everything around him, Lyra was properly in focus, and the red mist did not seem to surround her.

She was curled up on the ground, slowly rocking and whimpering. Shut Eye’s excitement at finally finding her was quickly lost as he saw what state she was in. Tears were streaming down her face and she looked as though she were in pain. He reached out to nudge her, trying to tap her shoulder. When his hoof made contact with her she cried out in pain and fear.

“Don’t leave me!”

It's Time To Go To Bed

There are many types of pain. Physical pain comes in as many varieties as there are body parts to experience it. Emotional pain comes in many, many more forms. Some of which can do more harm than any amount of physical pain can ever achieve. A broken leg, a sprained wing, a burn, a scratch, an amputation, all of these things and more were as nothing compared to the pain of losing a loved one, or having the love of another taken from you.

Shut Eye was in pain. His muscles ached. His joints burned. He could barely keep his eyes open. Every time he tried to open them, they ached with strain. Whenever he tried to use magic, he felt an intense burning pain in his horn. These were all of the physical manifestations of pain he was feeling in this dream, this nightmare, that Lyra was trapped in.

“Lyra... “ he repeated, stepping closer to the curled up and sobbing mare. She ignored him. Or she could not hear him. He did not know. There was little that he could do, though, besides try and get her to wake up. With protesting joints, he knelt down beside Lyra and settled on the ground. Once he stopped moving, the pain went away and he could unclench his jaw to speak again.

“Lyra… it’s okay. You do not need to be afraid. You’re not alone.” Shut Eye was not used to comforting full grown adults. He had to, from time to time, when they were caught in particularly vivid nightmares, but in those cases the subject of their fear was clear. This was very… vague. Vague and dark, and very literally unclear. The red miasma of fear and hatred already made it hard to see things more than a few yards away, and the dark shadows were disorienting at best what with their appearence of being empty voids that were as easy to fall into as walk through, but everything Shut Eye could see was very out of focus.

For lack of a better plan, he reverted to trying to comfort Lyra as he would comfort a foal. He needed to find out what exactly was worrying her if he had any hope of calming her down enough to wake her up.

“Shhh, its okay Lyra. Its okay,” Shut Eye repeated, “It’s okay. Nothing here can hurt you. It’s just a bad dream. Just a little bad dream.” He gently stroked her mane as he spoke. Her shuddering began to lessen and Shut Eye felt he might be able to get her to wake up at this rate. Of course, this was a nightmare from Nightmare Moon so it was hard to know for certain. But he had to hope.

“B-Bon Bon,” Lyra muttered. Shut Eye might normally have made himself look like Bon Bon in this dream in an attempt to further comfort Lyra, but any more magic was out of the question. The constant pain and discomfort he was currently feeling was already pushing his limits of concentration.

“Bon Bon is waiting for you,” Shut Eye said. He tried to get his leg under Lyra so that he could lift her up and get her on her own hooves.

“She’s lying to me.”

Shut Eye had to think quickly. One of the reasons he never snuck into ponies’ dreams without permission was because it was far too easy to get sensitive information from them unwittingly. Bon Bon was Shut Eye’s friend, and he did not want to jeapordize that friendship by sticking his nose into hers and Lyra’s business, purposefully or inadvertently. Lyra did not know she was still having a nightmare. Her thoughts were unconstrained and she was more likely to say something she would not have otherwise said.

“Everypony lies,” Shut Eye said, trying to keep her from speaking too much more. If Bon Bon came to him with her problems, he would listen and he would help. He did not want to get involved without invitation, however. “Sometimes it’s the only way we can-AAAHHHHHHHHH!”

Shut Eye collapsed, feeling as though his mind had been physically assaulted. Figuratively ‘struck’, literally ‘down’, the red and black of Lyra’s nightmare realm vanished instantly. Instead, Shut Eye now saw half a dozen ponies floating in the air in front of him. He had no idea where he had gone to, and his gaze was fixed unblinkingly, disbelievingly, at the ponies before him.

They were surrounded by a bright light that grew brighter as Shut Eye stared. His eyes were glued to the figures, unable to look away or close. Then a beam of light, prismatic in its multicolored brilliance, arced through the air towards him.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!” he screamed, but the voice he heard was not his own. He would never forget the beautiful and terrible voice of Nightmare Moon as long as he lived, he was sure of that. He screamed in her voice as the rainbow completely enshrouded him. Everything seemed to explode in a dazzling light and he felt as though he were being ripped into pieces.

Then there was nothing.

Something cold and wet splashed across Shut Eye’s face. He flinched, opening his eyes and shaking his head. He saw Bon Bon and Lyra looking at him, both frowning. Worry filled their eyes.

“Shut Eye? Are you alright?” Bon Bon asked, stepping a bit closer as the bucket that Lyra was levitating drifted away.

“Uh… yeah, I think so,” Shut Eye said, blinking uncertainly. He shook his head and felt the water whip off. “What happened?”

“I was going to ask you that,” Bon Bon said, smiling. There was an evident air of relief on her face, and on Lyra’s. “After you cast your spell on Lyra you were really quiet for a few minutes, then you muttered a lot and then you screamed and fell over. The blue stripe on your horn, er, evaporated off, I guess, and Lyra woke up.” Bon Bon turned and gave Lyra a hug. Lyra returned the hug and the two kissed affectionately. Shut Eye, meanwhile, stood up off of the sofa that he had been laid on.

“We picked you up off the floor and put you on the couch,” Lyra said, “We didn’t know what else to do. You’ve been out of it for over an hour. When you started muttering again I got the idea to splash you. Sorry.” She gave him a sheepish smile.

“No, er, thanks. I needed that,” Shut Eye said. Not really a lie, but not really the truth either. The time between him passing out from the pain to the present seemed like an instant, not a couple of hours. He reached up to touch his horn, feeling it, as though the stripe had been tangible in the first place.

“Really Shut Eye, are you alright?” Bon Bon asked, “You saved Lyra, if there’s anything I can do for you just ask.”

“Me too!” Lyra said.

“No, really, I don’t think I-” Shut Eye was trying to explain that he was not entirely sure he did anything, that the nightmare ended in some other, really bizarre way, when he was cut off by both mares giving him a kiss on either cheek. Shut Eye blinked in surprise as a blush formed, and he gave them a bashful smile.

“Er… I think I just need to get home and get some sleep,” He muttered, heading for the door.

“You sure?” Bon Bon asked.

“Yeah,” Shut Eye answered, stopping at the door to wave to them. “Have a good day.”

“You too, Shut Eye!” Lyra said, waving back.

“Thanks Shut Eye,” Bon Bon said. Shut Eye gave them both a smile and left. The sun was high in the sky, probably Celestia trying to catch up for the lost hours. Everyone in town was out talking and celebrating, but Shut Eye was not the type of pony to get involved in mass celebrations. He did not do crowds or parties too well. All he wanted was a good night’s sleep at this point, and the moment he got home and crawled into bed, that is exactly what he got.

Drift Drift

Punctuality was not exactly something that Shut Eye forced upon himself or prided himself in. Rather, it was a quirk of his personality that he was typically always ahead of schedule. The idea of being ‘just in time’ or, worse, ‘late’, caused near panic attack levels of anxiety in him. More often than not, if it was not some vital function he was required to attend, if he found himself in a position where he knew he would be late then Shut Eye would rather find a good excuse and skip attending. When the function was a requirement, he worked hard to ensure he was very early. Sometimes hours early, just to be safe.

A simple meeting with friends was not a major function, however, and Shut Eye’s anxiety levels were kept in check. He still arrived at the coffee shop early, but only by a few minutes. He liked to be early so that he could pick a table outside. If Zippity Zip had arrived first, she would have just taken the first table she could sit at after getting herself a half a dozen cups of coffee.

Shut Eye borrowed from two neighboring tables one chair each to add to the table he had unofficially ‘claimed’ for himself and his friends so that all six of them could sit together. The waiter appeared and set up a large sun umbrella to give them shade just as Bon Bon arrived.

“Good morning Shut Eye!” Bon Bon said, giving him a hug.

“Good morning Bon Bon,” Shut Eye said, hugging her back. “You beat Zip, I’m surprised.”

“I saw her a bit ago,” Bon Bon said as she took a seat next to where Shut Eye sat down. “She was heading to Time Turner’s, I think," Both of them smiled at the thought. Whenever Time Turner was around Zippity Zip too long, the introverted stallion started to get jittery and anxious and very irritable. It was pretty funny.

Time Turner arrived a few minutes later, looking rather winded. “Sorry that I am late,” He said, joining them all at the table.

“Its ok Turner,” Bon Bon said. "Berry isn’t here yet.”

“I was working with Derpy when Zippity Zip showed up. Derpy dropped the… uh… well, it was a bit of a mess,” Time Turner explained. "Zip had to run off to Trottingham for work so she will not be able to join us.”

“Awww,” Bon Bon said, frowning. Shut Eye frowned as well. Zippity Zip enjoyed her job a little too much at times, and often forgot about invitations to brunch, or anytime with her friends.

“We’ll just have to do without,” Bon Bon said with a sigh. “Just us and Berry Punch when she gets here.”

“Oh?” Time Turner asked, looking up from the brunch menu. “Is Carrot Top not coming?”

“He said she was busy today,” Bon Bon answered. "She really overworks herself like Zip”

“Not like Zippity Zip does,” Shut Eye commented. "Carrot Top isn’t nearly as happy about it.”

“I must concur with Shut Eye,” Time Turner said, nodding. "Carrot Top always seems so… ” he gestured vaguely with his hoof as he searched for the word. "...miffed about work.”

“That’s why I wanted us all to take a small break,” Bon Bon said. "Have a nice brunch, enjoy the magic show, spend some time together.”

“Magic show?” Shut Eye asked.

“Yeah,” Bon Bon said. "There’s a magic act in town today. The Great and Powerful Trixie. We were gonna go meet Lyra there.”

“Oh that sounds like a wonderful time!” Time Turner said brightly. Shut Eye nodded in agreement, having not seen a magic show since moving to Ponyville. They all ordered their meals while waiting for Berry Punch, but by the time they were almost finished it was silently agreed that she, too, was not going to be joining them. Unlike Carrot Top and Zippity Zip, though, this was a bit less surprising. She had probably been out late again.

“Well, we’d better get going," Bon Bon said. "I don’t want to be late.”

“I’ll get the check,” Time Turner said, waving down the waiter. "It is my turn, if I recall," Shut Eye nodded to affirm Time Turner’s memory. Shut Eye had paid last week and was not exactly rolling in bits. Foalsitting was a great lifestyle, but it was hardly a high paying job. Not in Ponyville, at least.

The three of them set out towards the center of town. Bon Bon was asking Time Turner about what he was working on when Zippity Zip had shown up to make a mess. Shut Eye did not know a lot about what Time Turner did, but he knew it often involved a lot of science, chemicals, things that went kaboom and wizz-pop, and overall just gave him a headache whenever he talked about it in too much depth, and gave him a general feeling of unease whenever he visited Time Turner’s home where it all took place.

They arrived at the center of town as a loud series of pops and some flashes emerged from an unfolding stage. A periwinkle unicorn appeared from the smoke and began to wax eloquent on the stage.

“Watch in awe, as the great and powerful trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!”

A large away of sparks and firecrackers and flashing lights dazzled Shut Eye and Time turner. Shut Eye looked to see where Bon Bon was but saw her slipping away into the crowd, probably looking for Lyra. He returned his eyes to the stage as The Great and Powerful Trixie summoned a bouquet of flowers out of thin air.

“Marvelous," Time Turner muttered next to him. "I wonder if that was a sleight of hoof with an invisibility charm, a summoning incantation, or actual magical creation. The first two are easy enough to replicate with a simple voxel engine and…” Shut Eye quickly lost the thread of what Time Turner was trying to ‘explain’, though it seemed his friend was mostly talking to himself anyway, so Shut Eye did not feel guilty focusing instead on the show.

Shut Eye could not see it, but somewhere in the front of the crowd were a few hecklers. Or at least, that’s what Trixie intoned when she looked down and called some of the ponies ‘neigh sayers’. Shut Eye grew excited when Trixie issued a challenge to the hecklers. He loved it when members of the audience were part of a show. Not himself, of course. He was far too shy for that. But seeing a performer ad-lib their entire act around audience members was always awe inspiring.

After Trixie put on a show about her conquest of the Ursa Major, Applejack the apple farmer went up on stage first. She put on a rather fantastic lasso show that Shut Eye would have liked an encour of, but then Trixie one-upped her by hogtying the farmor. He laughed at the display, along with most of the crowd. Time Turner was not laugh, though, he was staring at the stage with peculiarly sharp eyes and doodling symbols in the dirt with his hoof. Shut Eye could see his jaw working, as if he were trying to write with a pencil that was not present.

One of Ponyville’s weather pegasai went up on stage next. Shut Eye knew her name was Rainbow Dash, largely because she was perhaps the most egocentric mare in town. He did not hold that against her, though. For all of her boasting, Rainbow Dash did live up to everything she claimed. Or at least, everything Shut Eye had heard her claim. So far he had only really her her claim the best or fastest flyer in Equestria. If she tried to claim fastest pony, though, he would feel obliged to talk Zippity Zip into challenging her to a race.

Rainbow performed a rather exceptional series of aerial acrobatics that Shut Eye thought was suitable for a Wonderbolt’s show, Trixie responded by using the very rainbow that the pegasus had created to spin her around like a top. Up next was a white unicorn that Shut Eye was pretty sure was named Rarity, but he was not entirely certain. He did recognize her as the owner of the boutique shop, though.

She created a rather elegant dress with just the curtain of the show and also did up her hair in a mere couple of seconds. Very impressive magic, if not too much for showmanship. Shut Eye figured that owning a dress shop would make magic around dresses pretty routine for the mare, but he was not one to judge. Trixie had accepted the challenge, after all, so it was up to her to upstage the newcomer rather than the newcomer to necessarily be fantastic. Trixie’s rebuttal was quite amusing, and the green seaweed-like hair that Trixie had turned her mane into caused the white mare to run off screaming.

“Hey Turner, Carrot Top’s here," Shut Eye said, pointing over to Carrot Top who looked rather miffed from Rarity’s comment. Time Turner had not heard him, though, and was still muttering to himself, so Shut Eye worked his way through the crowd towards her. That became rather easy because the show had, apparently, ended and the crowd started to disperse.

“Well hello Shut Eye,” Carrot Top said with a smile when she spotted him.

“Good morning Carrot Top,” Shut Eye replied. The two shared a short hug. “How are you doing?”

“Well enough,” Carrot said with a sigh. "I’m sorry about missing brunch. I was… what is Time Turner up to?” she asked, looking over his shoulder. Shut Eye looked back over and Time Turner was using a large stick to write on the ground now. He rolled his eyes and sighed, but smiled.

“I think he’s trying to mathematically figure out Trixie’s act," He said. "Let’s go stop him… or get a pencil and notepad. We won’t hear the end of it if someone tries to walk over his notes.”

Off To Sleep

Tail Wind and his friend Pipsqueak were just falling asleep while Shut Eye began to clean up the play room. Pipsqueak was particularly tired, not having had as much fun as tonight in a while. After lunch he had met up with Tail Wind and his mother to go to Shut Eye’s, who proceeded to play cops and robbers with them in his backyard. That, then tag, then hide and seek, then just some general running around and faux-racing took them to dinner, after words he got to play with Shut Eye’s toys for a while before they watched a Daring Do movie.

Pipsqueak did not remember falling asleep. The next thing he knew, he was running through the jungle, following a faint trail in the shrubbery and brush. The large and crumbling Temple of Arakinus Fobus loomed ahead of him, and in it was a thousand thousand doubloons. Those doubloons were all Pipsqueaks. He was the first one to find the Temple so he had Finders Keepers rights to the loot.

The temple inside grew darker and darker as he walked, and the echoes of his hooves fell flat. A dim red glow appeared in the shadows around Pipsqueak and a black menacing thing started to come to him. The young colt ran. He ran from the cave of the monster. He ran through the jungle. He ran up the mountain. But no matter how far her ran, the many eyed black beast chased him.

“Help!” he cried into the darkness all around him. The spider legged monster just laughed a deep, rumbling laugh that brought to Pipsqueak's mind the image of boulders falling down a mountain. The laughing was stopped by a loud boom. Something had come down on the great beast that shook the world and caused Pipsqueak to bounce on the ground.

Looking up, Pipsqueak followed the massive tan pillar that had squashed the monster like a bug and saw a titanically large stallion. Clouds floated around his head and the sun rose over his horn.

“Whenever you see a big bad bug, just squish it” Shut Eye said, looking down at the ant-sized Pipsqueak.

“M-m-mister Shut Eye?” Pipsqueak asked, both surprised and in awe at his foalsitter’s sudden appearance.

“Fee Fi Foh Fum!” Shut Eye roared before lowering his head and kneeling down so that his eye was on level with Pipsqueak, who had suddenly been elevated by a hill. “I spy a teeny tiny pony.”

“I’m not teeny tiny!” Pipsqueak said.

“Then why were you running from an itsy bitsy spider?” The gargantuan stallion asked.

“It wasn’t itsy bitsy,” Pipsqueak argued, “It was ginormous!”

“It didn’t look ginormous to me” Shut Eye said, “It looked like any itty bitty spider.”

“Because you’re ginormous too!”

“I can’t be ginormous,” Shut Eye said, “You were able to put me in jail earlier.”

“That’s because you’re a robber and I’m a cop” Pipsqueak said as he walked around Shut Eye’s jail cell, clanking each bar with his night stick. There was a loud DING DONG that shook the entire world.

“What was that?” Pipsqueak asked.

“Sounded like aliens” Shut Eye lied as he began to recede from the dream, “Looks like a job for Superpony!”

Pipsqueak flew off into the sky as the dream faded around Shut Eye. Shortly he found himself standing in the guest room beside the bed where Pipsqueak was sleeping soundly. Shut Eye smiled, glad he stopped the colt’s nightmare before it got out of hand. He glanced over at Tail Wind to make sure he was sleeping well as well. The doorbell rang again and Shut Eye left the guest room, casting a muffling spell over the door so that the doorbell would not wake up the foals.

Shut Eye walked down the hall and out into the main room to open the door, wondering who was ringing the bell at midnight. Don’t they know how late it is? Shut Eye thought in a rhetorical manner. Of course they would know what time it was. At the very least they would know it was after dark. That was just… plain obvious from the lack of sunlight. When he opened the door, though, he was less surprised at who his guests were.

Standing on the doorstep was a rather tired looking little Berry Pinch, and a laughing, swaying Berry Punch.

“Shug Eyyyyyyyyyyyye!” Berry Punch said, wrapping one foreleg around Shut Eye in a hug while the other held a bottle of wine that she took a long drought from. “I did think you’d be here *hic*.”

“Mommy lost the key to the house” Berry Pinch said before yawning, “And I accidentally let the door shut behind me when I came out to let her in.”

“Yeaaahhhhh, little pipsqueak ‘ere locked us out.” Berry Punch said, rolling her eyes and giggling “But foals will be *hic*” she lifted the bottle to her mouth and poured the last few drops down her throat before tossing the bottle away. “Aaaaaaaanyways, I was wonderin’ ef you shtill had the spare *hic* I gave you.”

“Yes I do,” Shut Eye said, stepping to one side, “Come in, come in.” He let both mother and daughter enter before shutting the door behind them. “Berry Punch, why don’t you have a seat at the table and I”ll get you a drink” He said while gesturing for Pinch to head down the hall.

“That’s *hic* shwell of you Shug Eye” Berry Punch said as she hobbled over to the table. He followed Pinch down the hall but stopped her as she made to open the door to the guest room.

“Pipsqueak and Tail Wind are here tonight” he said softly, guiding her into his room. Shut Eye helped her up onto his bed and pulled the blanket over her as she shut her eyes. This was not the first time she had come over to his house in the middle of the night when her mother was drunk and she no longer put up a fight about wanting to get back home.

Once she was sleeping Shut Eye shut his bedroom door and returned to the kitchen where he found Berry Punch looking through his refrigerator.

“I can’t find your stash” she complained.

“Don’t worry, I have some vodka for you” Shut Eye said as he closed the refrigerator door. “Come on out to the living room and have a seat.” As he helped her out to the living room to get her laying down on the sofa, he used his magic to fill a glass with water from the sink and place a couple of alka seltzer tablets into it.

She was sipping the water while laying down, thanking Shut Eye for his hospitality. He walked across the room to the large closet and used his magic once more to fetch a blanket and pillow from the top shelf. He did not give them to Berry Punch just yet as he knew she would resist “bed time” since she was an “adult”, but he put them on the chair nearby before taking a seat on the sofa beside her.

“Mmmmm this’s like when we firs’ did it” She said with a mischievous smile. She rolled over from her more prone position to lean against Shut Eye. Shut Eye rolled his eyes but smiled.

“Yes it is,” he said, “But I think I was a little more drunk then.”

“Ha!” She laughed, slapping her hind leg with her hoof, “You shure were! Ahh college. Those were the best years’v m’life.” Shut Eye watched her wave a hoof in a grandiose manner as she fell over, her glass empty.

“Let me get you another drink,” Shut Eye said. He used to ask her about Pinch whenever she brought up the ‘best years of her life’ but he had long since gotten tired of the tirade of self pity that the subject brought up. He returned to her with a fresh glass of ice water, and slid a small wastepaper bucket by the sofa in case she started to lose what little she may have eaten that night.

She was laying down again when he got back, though, and looked sleepy. He set the glass down beside the sofa. Seeing his horn glow, Berry Punch muttered, “You’d better not be tryin’ to put a sleep magic on me. I’ll go to bed when I damn well want.”

“I’m not,” Shut Eye said, pulling the blanket off of the chair and sliding it onto the couch, covering Berry Punch with it.

“Just resting my eyes” She muttered. Shut Eye carefully used one hoof to lift her head and slide the pillow under her. She pecked him lightly on the lips as he did this and he put that down to her misreading his intention. He kissed her forehead in return and took a few steps back, waiting until he heard her breathing start to even out.

Shut Eye used his magic to loosen the bulb in the lamp near the couch so that it was a lot dimmer of a light but still enough to see by should she wake up. Walking back to his room, Shut Eye looked in on Berry Pinch. She was sleeping soundly, and he probed her dream for a moment to verify that she was not having a bad one. He double-checked on Pipsqueak and Tailwind since he was still up and then returned to the living room, making himself comfortable on his recliner so that he, too, could fall asleep.