You stirred awake as you felt the speed of the car drive across the highway. The tightness of your tuxedo stiffened your movement as you looked around. Slowly, you began to listen to the car’s engine hum, the wheels bumping up and down, and eventually, the sound of a phone dialing up a number.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrng…
You focused and remembered that you had your head on the lap of one of your friends, Fluttershy, whose fingers were gently combing through your hair.
“Hello? Mr. Anon, sir? It’s a bit of a busy night tonight, so I was thinking if your son could stay over at my place for the night and then you could pick him up after the service.” She said. Your body trembled a little as she said that. “Thank you.” She hung up the phone. She looked down to you and smiled. “Hey little guy, you’re gonna be with me tonight, alright?” She asked. You nodded your head. The only light in this night was her beautiful smile.
You continued to lie down as you listened to Fluttershy and the driver of the car, Rainbow Dash, about a lot of technical stuff that you couldn’t wrap your head around. However, your body couldn’t just sleep, and so you just laid down as your head rested on Fluttershy’s soft black dress.
When you and Fluttershy got to her home, a rather cozy cottage in the middle of the woods just near the highway, you followed her inside. You weren’t a stranger to Fluttershy’s house. In fact, your father would often have you come over to her house. Though, then again, he would do that for most of the ponies you grew accustomed to.
Including…
You frowned as Fluttershy went to the couch in the living room to get it ready, arranging the throw pillow on it to act as your head pillow.
“I’ll get you something comfortable for you to wear, okay?” Fluttershy asked you. While you didn’t say anything, it was obvious that the question was rhetorical, as she went upstairs anyways. You took the time to take off your tuxedo. With each article of clothing removed, you could feel your body move a little more fluidly.
“Catch!” Fluttershy shouted as she threw down a pink sweater. You grabbed it and immediately fell in love with how fluffy it was. You rubbed your head against it. For a moment, you forgot the troubles you have had this past week and just focused instead on the softness of the sweater. That’s when you heard Fluttershy go downstairs. “You should rest. Tomorrow’s gonna be busy.” She said. You were pulled out of that comfort and realized you were still in this situation. You pulled off the final remaining piece of clothing, your white shirt, with such a strong force that one of the buttons popped off.
You didn’t care. If anything, Rarity could fix it up with little to no charge. It helped that your dad had personal connections to her. You marched over to the couch as you put on the sweater. It dropped down to well over your knees, your fingers just barely out of the sleeves. You hopped over to the couch. Fluttershy knew you well enough to know you could tuck yourself in. This wasn’t your first sleep over, after all.
You laid down, back towards the couch so that the cushions were up against your back. They helped you relax a little before you went to sleep.
The smell of frosting was such a pleasant smell. You adored every odor that emanated from the cake, especially since they were telling of what sort of taste they would have. Pouring the icing on the cake was your favorite aunt, Pinkie Pie. She would give you hugs and kisses every time you visited and you never felt bothered by them. You approached her as she was making the cake. She gave a soft giggle as she handed you the pastry bag she had.
You stood on a stool next to her and began to add more frosting to the top of the cake.
“You can do anything you want and it’s always going to look nice. Cause you did it, and you’re wonderful, and you have to believe that.” She said. You smiled. You always loved how she’d give you advice and you always loved how you’d visit her every time your parents took you to Ponyville for a vacation. You were about to turn to Pinkie Pie and say thanks, but you noticed something off.
Pinkie Pie’s fur was gray. It wasn’t gray like your mom’s fur was, but rather it was a shade of gray that bordered on a mixture of yellow and green. She turned to you, her smile turning into a frown. Before you could say anything or ask if she was okay, she turned completely gray and her body crumbled up into ash before scattering.
You looked around to see where she was before you looked down on the cake. What was once a pastel yellow color was now green. The icing you had put in it was now brown instead of blue. As you stared into the cake, it slowly transformed. The green became grass and the brown became dirt. You were looking at a bird’s eye view of something. Something being dug up, perhaps? You felt your body flying towards the ditch that was made, almost like you were going down a roller coaster, before you suddenly stopped and looked at what was inside the ditch:
It was Pinkie Pie, now back to her normal color. But, there was something off about her. Yes, you’ve seen her sleep before, but it wasn’t like this. She would be having a huge smile on her face instead of a natural line. Her arms would be splayed across the bed instead of clasped over her chest. And more importantly: she wouldn’t be wearing some fancy black dress.
Though, you knew why she was sleeping like this, and each time you came to that conclusion, it hit you like a bullet to the chest. Your legs felt wobbly. You tried to rearrange your footing, but you stepped back and fell off the stool. The floor below you shattered as you fell endlessly in a bottomless pit, all the while you kept on screaming out:
“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!”
Your fall continued, though now you felt rumbles. Your body shook about as you kept on shouting. Eventually, you broke down as a bright light flashed over you.
“Hey, wake up!” Your eyes forced open as Fluttershy was kneeling to you, hands pressed onto your shoulder. She was wearing a pink hoodie with white pull strings, though telling from her lack of pants, this was the only thing she was wearing.
“F-fluttershy…” You murmured.
“You were having a nightmare, weren’t you?” She asked. You nodded.
“Was it about…” Fluttershy couldn’t bear to finish the sentence. Especially since she could figure it out just from you wincing. “Oh, come here, you poor thing…” She held you as you cried into her chest. She stroked your back as you continued to sob.
Eventually, you stopped crying, but you obviously couldn’t go back to sleep after a nightmare like that. You got up from the couch as Fluttershy sat down next to you. She held your hand and frowned.
“It hurts, doesn’t it? To lose someone you love?” She asked. You nodded. “I remember how hard it was when Angel died… He was so nice.” She said before shedding a tear. “But I learned to move on. Your aunt would not want you to be sad. She always wanted everyone to smile and celebrate life. But… I understand if you can’t help but feel upset. It must be really hard to accept this.” She got off the couch, turned around and looked at you. She knelt down and smiled as she made a heart shape with her hands.
“But don’t worry. I’m here for you. And so will everyone else. Rainbow, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, your mom, your dad, everyone will help you though this. Okay?” She said. Though you were tired, you suddenly had a burst of energy course through you. You leaped off your couch and gave Fluttershy a huge hug. She held you back. You whispered into her ear. She took no time to respond. “Of course you can sleep with me!” Fluttershy proceeded to carry you upstairs to her room.
She put you on what you considered the comfiest bed in the world. You nearly sank into the mattress, though Fluttershy managed to help level out the mattress with her body. You snuggled closely to Fluttershy. You still couldn’t sleep, so you murmured out something.
“Tell me a story.” With that, Fluttershy smiled.
“Okay… You wanna hear the story of how I first met your dad?” She asked. You nodded. “Your dad first came to Equestria loooooong before you were even born. He came to Ponyville looking for help. I was the first pony he saw. Oh, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw him come out of the Everfree Forest. I mistook him for a wild animal and I took him in to take care of, though when I found he was talkative…” She blushed. “I was so shy. Every conversation he tried to have with me, I was barely audible... Eventually, he met the others, but if it weren’t for me, he probably would have been stuck in the forest.”
You felt Fluttershy’s body rub against you. She was so furry and soft that you began to instantly fade into a sleep while a nice, soft cherry aroma filled your nostrils.
“I… I never told anyone this… but… I had a crush on your dad. But I wasn’t able to get my feelings straight in time before he met...” She said, though she soon found that you were fast asleep. She frowned slightly before kissing you on the forehead. “Goodnight…” She said.
Of course, you didn’t obviously get better over the course of the week, but you weren’t the emotional wreck you were when you were told the news that your aunt died. People were there to help you go through with the loss, just as Fluttershy had said. You even asked your dad if you could stay with Fluttershy for a while.
Your dad just smiled and said you could. He sat you down and told you how she took care of him when he first came to Equestria, almost exactly like how Fluttershy told her story. So you stayed with Fluttershy. At first, it was for a week, but eventually, with all the friends you’ve made in Ponyville, you stayed for a month.
When it was time to go back to the rock farm, you gave Fluttershy the biggest hug you could ever give and thanked her for giving you some company. As you went home, you had a large smile on your face. Every so often, you’d take the train to Ponyville to visit Fluttershy and the others. You were able to move on from Pinkie’s death with their help.
You were happy, because they were there for you…
