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                 The Surrogate's Nightmare                 
                      -by JackRipper-                      
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                         Chapter I                         
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Chapter I
Our past doesn't define who we are, but the steps we take to determine our future does. The concept of fate is a lie, as those with true strength can overcome even the largest obstacle. And only the strongest, those who triumph above the rest, will be remembered forever.
Tick.
Ivory Tower grumbled as he shifted his hooves and lifted his head off his desk.
Tock.
He lazily glanced over at the clock to check the time, 11:30 AM. He groaned as he laid his head back on his desk, it wasn't even noon yet? He already had six ponies rush into his office today, and he would most likely see more within the next hour or so.
Tick.
He subconsciously snagged the flask of whisky on his desk and unscrewed the cap. The smell of the alcohol gave him a small amount of vigor as he opened his eyes. Right before he was able to drink from it, his assistant walked through the door.
Tock.
"Don't you think it's a little early to be drinking Ive?"
He grumbled as she walked over to the filing cabinet on the opposite end of the room and started sorting the recent patient files, it looked like she was carrying some kind of container. "I'm going to need it if every day is going to be like this, it's worse than yesterday!"
She gave him a small smirk as she walked over to his desk, "It's true, yesterday we only had three patients before noon, but who knows, maybe there won't be anymore today?"
Ivory let out a small huff and gave her a small smile, "Yeah, I wish."
She giggled a little, "Well at least we'll make more bits this way, coming in without an appointment and such." She took the small container off the top of the filing cabinet and handed it to him. Strong and black, she knew how he liked his coffee. "Here, try this instead, it might not be that much better for you, but it might wake you up more."
Her deep blue eyes stared at him in anticipation as he drank from his coffee, "You have any nightmares Crystal?"
Crystal Clear lost her smirk and gave him a concerned look, "No, but as far as I know, almost everypony in the town has them except us, why do you think that is?"
He stared idly at the grey floor, hoping he would find an answer. Nothing, he couldn't think of anything that would shake a community of ponies this much, and it frustrated him to the core. "I have no idea Crystal, but one way or another, I'm going to find out."
Her grinned returned to her, "That's the Ivory I know! Always seeking to solve the problem. They don't call you shrink for nothing!"
She walked over to the entrance of his office and turned to face him, "One more thing Ive, try to lay off the alcohol for a bit okay? Do it for me." She left the room before he had the chance to reply. He inwardly sighed, he didn't want to make a promise he couldn't keep.
The cold water shook him awake as it splashed across his face, the faucet gave a small squeak as he turned it off. He looked up at the smudged mirror. Same pure white coat and dark brown mane, the only thing different was the dark bags under his eyes and the 5 o'clock shadow that had formed. Sure he could shave, but he couldn't exactly remove the stress of overworking. These ponies lack of sleep caused him to loose sleep as well, but for different reasons of course.
He shook his head as he walked out of the bathroom. While walking back to his office, he could hear the sounds of idle chatter emanating from the front desk where Crystal Clear was working. He sighed once more, he would have his seventh client come in within the next five minutes or so. He chuckled a bit, at least it was noon.
Just as he predicted, Crystal walked into his office three minutes after he sat down. She gave him a sheepish grin, "Hey Ive, I've got another patient for you". Ivory rolled his eyes, "Yeah whatever, just bring them in and I'll see what I can do.
Not even thirty seconds later, a timid yellow pegasus with a light pink mane stopped in the doorway of his office, he noted the dark bags under her eyes. "H-Hello D-Doctor" she squeaked. He sat up and pulled up a chair to face his desk, "Hello Ms. Fluttershy, would you please have a seat?"
She made her way towards his desk and cautiously sat down, looking in his direction but never making eye contact. "Um, I'm sorry to ask, but how do you know who I am?"
He hastily shoved his flask of whisky into one of his desk compartments, he noted that he placed it in the top right compartment, nearest to the surface of the desk. "Sorry, it's kind of hard not to know who you are, being the Element of Kindness and all."
She blushed profusely and looked away from him, trying to diffuse the awkward tension. "O-Oh I p-probably s-should have assumed th-that's how you knew m-my name."
He sighed and gave her a comforting smile. "Please Fluttershy, you came here of your own volition seeking help, it's what I'm here for and I'm going to do whatever I can to help you through it."
The small smile on her lips lasted only a second before turning into a frown once more, "Actually, I never really w-wanted to come, my friend Rarity insisted on it, s-sorry."
His smile didn't falter, "But you had the courage to show up, and that's all that matters, right?"
This actually caused her to smile a bit and reveal her face from her mane, "I-I guess you're right, sir."
He stopped her right there, if he wanted her to be able to talk to him, then needed to get comfortable and familiar. "Please Fluttershy, call me Ivory."
She relaxed a bit and sat back in her chair, "Okay, Ivory."
He pulled out a piece of parchment and levitated a quill in front of him, "Okay Fluttershy, would you mind telling me what issue you're having and when it started happening to you?"
She hesitated a few seconds before answering, "I've been having these awfully bad dreams, and they don't seem to w-want to go away. It  started about a week ago. At first I had one every other night, b-but now it's like I have one every time I sleep!" she squeaked.
He clicked his tongue and scribbled on the parchment, he was out of town last week visiting Manehattan for a conference. It was also when everypony's nightmares had started, Fluttershy was no different. He had only arrived back in town two days ago, but he was quickly swarmed with concerned ponies shortly after going back to work.
He moved on to the next question, "Has anything happened to you in the last week that may have caused these nightmares?" He already knew the answer, he just wanted to confirm his suspicions.
She shook her head, "No, n-nothing I can recall anyway."
All of his patients have had no history of medical problems, save for Berry Punch's alcoholism. They all seemed to have had nightmares of the same consistency within the same time window, and all of this happened while he was gone. He was beginning to think something insidious was going on, and he didn't like where this was going.
He decided to ask this last question differently, normally he would ask if anything like this has ever happened before, but he knew what her answer would be, he wanted to try this at a different angle.
"Fluttershy, is there anypony that would want to hurt you?"
She lost her composure and started stammering once more, "N-No, n-not that I-I know of, w-why? Y-You think somepony wants to h-hurt me?" she said as she struggled to keep the tears out of her eyes.
He started to panic and tried to calm her down, "No not at all Fluttershy, you're a great mare! There are more ponies with the same nightmares as you, I just want to know if you know anypony who might know anything about this."
This caused her to blush a bit, "Twilight might be able t-to help you, but she is probably having the same nightmares as everypony else."
Princess Twilight Sparkle, Of course! He needed to see her immediately, she would prove to be invaluable if she knew anything that may help him diagnose this problem.
"Thank you Fluttershy. Here, I am going to prescribe some medication to help you sleep at night, it's not much, but it should help." She smiled as he passed over a bottle of blue pills. "These should help you fall asleep faster and will calm you down, use them once a night ten minutes before bed."
She gave him a sincere smile and thanked him as she walked out the door.
He rested against his back against the uncomfortable brown leather chair as he pushed his coffee away from him. Was she busy at this hour? She probably received plenty of complaints at this point, but he needed to find her as quick as possible. He was certain she knew something about this.
Tick.
He put his head back on his desk and attempted to snag his whiskey flask off his desk only to be met with emptiness. Where did he leave it?
Tock.
"Fuck."