Is It Just Anxiety? - Chapter 1

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"... Every time I enjoy my friends’ company, I can’t help but feel like it’ll be the last time..."

>March 19, 3014, Iteration 0<
>Anthroville Park, 5:08 PM<

Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all sat on a large blanket on the field, talking and chatting their day away cheerfully.

All, but Fluttershy, who seemed to bite her lips nervously, as she stared off into the sky.

“Flutters.” Rainbow Dash called out. She was unresponsive. The others noticed as well, before Twilight chimed in quietly.

“She’s been awfully anxious lately…” Twilight said in a worried, hushed voice.

Rainbow Dash hummed quietly, before she decided it was time to talk about it.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash then yelled, waving. Fluttershy jumped with a small yelp, as her beady eyes darted to Rainbow Dash in alarm.

“P-please don’t yell like that Rainbow Dash… I almost had a heart attack!” Fluttershy said in soft detest, clutching her chest.

“What’s wrong, Fluttershy? You’ve been like this for almost two weeks now.” Rainbow Dash inquired.

“Like what? I’m not like anything. I’m totally fine.” Fluttershy stammered.

“We know you’re a scaredy cat, but c’mon, you’re never this edged up.” Rainbow Dash

“Sugarcube… Whatever’s wrong, you can tell us. We’re here for you.” Applejack said. The others nodded in agreement, all eyes on Fluttershy. She only looked back and forth between the 5, at a loss for words. She seemed to grow more uncomfortable.

“Is it because I didn’t let you have enough cake on my birthday yesterday?? Aww, y’know I’m sorry Fluttershy! There’s still more at the Sugarcube Corn-” Pinkie said, but was cut off by a groaning Twilight.

“Pinkie, your birthday was yesterday. She’s been like this for four days. It’s not the cake.” Twilight said. Pinkie sat down with a simple ‘oh’.

“It’s just that… It’s been three months, and they still haven’t found out a way to properly quarantine that parasite… What if it reaches here? What if it reaches Equestria…?” Fluttershy said, becoming more uneasy.

Pinkie’s excited demeanor seemed to disintegrate with Fluttershy’s statements. She became much more solemn, kneeling silently on the picnic blanket.

“Fluttershy, we talked about this. Princess Celestia is the most important ruler, on the most important planet, also being the planet that we live on, just as an FYI. They wouldn’t even let the parasite get within 3 planets’ range of here.” Twilight said with her matter-of-factly tone, and signature scoff.

Fluttershy seemed unconvinced, as her uneasy gazes turned back to the sunset sky, as if to watch the galactic kingdom Celestia ruled over very carefully, cautiously.

“Fluttershy, darling, there haven’t been any news reports on the parasite yet. Last we heard, it was being held at the edge of our galaxy by Princess Luna and her forces. We both know her and her squadrons are fierce combatants. Nothing would fell them.” Rarity reassured, her hands on Fluttershy’s shoulders.

“Something in me…” Fluttershy began, stroking her hair anxiously, as she watched the beautiful mix of colors of the sunset.

“Something in the back of my head just keeps on telling me that we shouldn’t be here, guys… Something’s telling me that we’re not safe here.” Fluttershy sighed, pulling her knees close and hugging them, as she breathed a deep sigh into her legs.

She felt guilty plaguing them with her recent feelings of extreme anxiety. They had been trying their best to calm her for over ten days now, but nothing was working, and she began to feel bad that her anxiety would ruin their time together.

“Fluttershy, just try ‘n relax, huh? You’ll be fine.” Rainbow Dash reassured, rubbing her back. Pinkie Pie stood, walking over to Fluttershy.

“Yeah, and no matter what, we’re all here for you! We’ll never leave your side!” Pinkie Pie supported, lifting Fluttershy out of her fetal position and forcing her into a hug. Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile, as she tumbled onto the ground with the eccentric Pinkie Pie.

After more of her playful rambling, Pinkie finally laid down next to Fluttershy, both staring at the setting sky.

After a while, the rest of the girls laid down as well.

Rarity yawned loudly.

“It’s been quite the day, so if you girls don’t mind, I’m gonna catch some under-the-sunset- shuteye. I hear it can do wonders for complexion!” Rarity said, closing her eyes.

“What complexion? You’re a marshmallow, sugarcube!” Applejack laughed. Rarity’s brows furrowed, as her eyes reopened.

“Why, you little-!”

Applejack stopped her by removing her hat and putting it over Rarity’s face, laying back again.

“Shush now, Rares. Just get some shuteye like you said.” Applejack chuckled.

With a small blush, Rarity tugged the hat back just a bit, before both closed their eyes.

“I think this is a perfect opportunity to brush up on my Sociology: Road To Dissecting Personality book!” Twilight giggled, as she began to reach for a book. She was quickly interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who grabbed her waist and pulled her close.

“I don’t think so. This is like, quality friendship time and stuff, so let’s try and enjoy it without the reading, huh? Besides, Celestia told you that reading ain’t due for like, another three weeks.” Rainbow Dash chuckled, holding Twilight close.

Twilight’s cheeks began to burn, as she could do nothing but stare down at the picnic blanket. Perhaps she could slack on her Friendship classes for now.

Fluttershy watched the two pairs of lovebirds interact. She knew they weren’t officially in a relationship or anything, but they may as well have been, in her opinion. They had such chemistry.

Getting her fill from admiring the two, Fluttershy turned over to Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be absorbed in her own world of thought, completely oblivious of the actions happening beside them. For her own sake, Fluttershy decided to focus on Pinkie Pie, rather than the other two couples.

She was, admittedly, a bit attached to Pinkie Pie; her constant exuberance helped her to battle through the anxiety she’d been diagnosed with ever since they received word of the ‘parasite’ three months ago.

Plus, despite her constant randomness and erratic-behavior, Pinkie Pie was a pretty sensible, heartfelt, kind, and interesting person. She sometimes sounded almost as intelligent as Twilight herself, and was clearly capable of more than just her silly behavior.

Though, lately, Fluttershy noticed that Pinkie Pie seemed to be almost forcibly hiding these traits; well, more like she was forcing her erratic, fun and silly behaviors over her normal ones. It made Fluttershy curious, as this was only a recent behavior.

While Fluttershy was deep in thought, she hadn’t noticed that Pinkie Pie began looking back at her. Fluttershy gave a small ‘eep!’, before she turned back to the sky, feeling her cheeks hot with embarrassment.

“Still worried about that parasite stuff, Fluttershy?” Pinkie Pie asked, still staring directly at Fluttershy. She shifted closer to Fluttershy, so that they were only a few inches apart. Her tone seemed serious, which somewhat triggered caution in Fluttershy.

“Yeah… It’s like my body just won’t stop nagging…” Fluttershy said, turning to meet Pinkie Pie’s gaze.

As Fluttershy turned, further caution was triggered, as Pinkie Pie had the most solemn face she had ever seen her with.

“I feel like…” Pinkie Pie began. But as she stared into Fluttershy’s face, her entire sentence changed.

“No – we’ll be fine, Fluttershy. There’s no need to worry. Like I said, we’re here for you — I’m here for you.” Pinkie Pie said.

Fluttershy stared on curiously. It was that weird side that Pinkie Pie had been repressing, showing all over again.

“Hmm…” Fluttershy said, feeling her anxiety start to flare up from Pinkie’s strange behavior.

As if on cue, Pinkie perked right back up, and pulled Fluttershy to her.

“But no time for worrying, we’ve gotta nap like everyone else, or we’ll be all out of juice for the wake-up party!” Pinkie Pie said with enthusiasm.

“But I’m not tired…” Fluttershy said softly. Her anxiety had woken her up, truthfully.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t nap! Look, it’s easy, just put your head down and close your eyes!” Pinkie Pie said, as she put her head down next to Fluttershy’s.

She then hugged Fluttershy’s body.

“It helps if you have a body pillow, too! If you don’t mind, I’ll use you this time.” Pinkie Pie said with her huge smile, as she hugged Fluttershy tight, nearly squeezing the life out of Fluttershy.

Fluttershy couldn’t help but blush by the sudden close proximity. She slowly and weakly brought her hands just over Pinkie’s shoulders.

“Don’t be shy. I’m just a pillow.” Pinkie chuckled, her eyes closed, as her breathing softened.

Making herself comfortable, Fluttershy began to close her eyes, too. After a few seconds, she, like the rest of them, fell into a short slumber.

As Pinkie felt Fluttershy’s body soften in her arms, she let her mind wander. She looked past Fluttershy’s hair into the darkening sky, not daring to move. She didn’t want to wake Fluttershy, who had not been receiving much sleep these last counting days.

Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but think of what she really wanted to say to Fluttershy:

"...Every time I enjoy my friends’ company, I can’t help but feel like it’ll be the last time..."

Pinkie Pie only closed her eyes once more, trying to quell the sinking feeling in her gut. She would force herself to sleep, and take her own advice of "not needing to worry" —

However, she couldn't help that she felt like this would be her final enjoyable nap. Her arms around Fluttershy tightened.