You awoke in a cold sweat, the fear from your all-too-recent nightmare still holding claim over your soul. With your heartbeat sounding in your ears, you quickly looked around the room, failing to find comfort despite not seeing any imminent threats. The windows were shut, the main door was locked, and the ponies around you were sleeping soundly. Crickets outside played their gentle song for all to hear, offering a soothing accompaniment to a peaceful evening. A gentle breeze rustled leaves outside, but otherwise the night was silent.
By all means, everything was fine.
But at that moment, nothing felt safe. No pony was safe, and no one for that matter. There was no escape, no hope, no-
"Are you okay?"
This drowsily-uttered statement came from the purple unicorn just to your right, slowly wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"What's goin' on?" Came a southern drawl from your left. That obviously belonged to Applejack.
Great, now two ponies were awake because of you.
"Is it wakey time already?" Make that three.
"What's wrong, dears?" Came a posh voice. That's four.
"It's not morning yet, is it?" You vaguely heard a timid whisper. Great, now it's a party.
The absence of a sixth voice was a bit surprising, though its owner was known for being a heavy sleeper, as evidenced by her noticeably loud snoring. It was a miracle anyone was able to sleep with her around.
So naturally, Pinkie lightly knocked a hoof against the offender’s head until she woke up.
"Wha-who-guys, what's the deal?" Rainbow Dash asked groggily.
With a bit of time now to wake up, you began remembering the events of the previous night: Twilight had invited you and her friends over to her library for a sleepover. Amidst the smores-making, story-telling, and fun-having, you'd never had an experience quite like it!
After going around sharing humorous stories from that week, you'd all gone off to sleep for the night, nestled gently in sleeping bags.
Well, except for you. You'd made a regrettable decision that now led to your current situation.
"It was just a nightmare." You informed everyone, bringing your thoughts back to the present.
"Ah see," AJ replied, now slightly more awake, "anything you wanna talk about?"
You paused for a moment in thought. You really didn't want to discuss what you saw.
"Not really." You replied.
"Well it must have been something awful." Fluttershy gently added, "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"It's nothing, really." You reassured, hoping to put this behind you and get some sleep.
"It didn't sound like nothing." Twilight commented, her tone growing more concerned. "You were tossing around like you were about to be put in Tartarus."
You sighed. This was a losing battle, wasn't it?
"Please," she continued, "just tell us what happened."
You glanced up at Twilight's eyes. Beside the fear you could see genuine care deep down, a feeling you were still getting used to since your arrival in Equestria.
"Okay." You said with another sigh.
You then recounted the contents of your nightmare, of how Twilight and company had been part of a series of horrific experiments at the hooves of a crazed doctor, and how you were about to be last the test subject before you woke up. All the ponies in the room listened patiently as you told your story, though Rarity seemed to have something particular on her mind. Once you'd finished, she waited a moment to be patient, then spoke up.
"Darling," she began, worry evident in her tone, "did you read another one of those dreadful 'grim-dark' fanfictions before bed?"
You paused, unable to answer the question truthfully. The silence said everything.
Applejack placed a hoof over your shoulder. "You know you shouldn't read those things, sugarcube." she advised, "They only give ya night frights."
"And they're not true, either." Twilight continued, her eyes showing a mix of concern and compassion, "None of us are in danger because of each other, or anypony else, and neither are you."
"Besides," Pinkie interjected, "do you even have any idea how awful it would taste to use ponies for cupcake ingredients? It'd be super-terribly-yuckerific!"
There was a pause as all ponies glanced at the party pony with varying looks of confusion.
She continued unfazed, "But I wouldn't hurt anypony or anyone, especially you."
"Nor would I ever do experiments on my friends." Twilight continued.
"And we all know how rainbows are made." Dash added, "I literally took you guys to the factory and showed you every step."
"The point is," Rarity interjected before any other ponies could add their takes, "those stories are completely wrong. You've spent enough time around us to know that by now."
You sighed. "I know, it's just the storyline was really interesting, and I kept hearing about the ending. I wanted to know what happened."
"And was it worth it?" Rarity asked, an eyebrow raised.
You rubbed your shoulder uncomfortably. "No, not really."
"Well anyway," Twilight continued, "I think we should all try to get some sleep now that that's over with."
You and all of Twilight's friends agreed, each slowly getting back into their respective sleeping bags. All was silent and peaceful once more.
For a few minutes.
Still wide awake, you glanced over to see if the other ponies were having better luck finding that elusive sleep. Your gaze caught on Twilight, and her eyes were noticeably open as well.
"You can't sleep either, huh?" You asked.
She sighed, "I'm afraid not."
"Same here." Came the familiar voice of the party pony.
You lay awake and spoke barely above a whisper, "Is everypony else having trouble sleeping, too?"
There was a small chorus of replies as the other ponies confirmed your suspicions.
"So now what?" You asked, once more looking to Twilight for any kind of leadership.
The purple pony placed a hoof against her chin in thought. Finally, her eyes sparkled just slightly at an idea.
"Anypony up for midnight milk and cookies?"
Author's Note
This story was written in response to my own experience reading a grimdark fanfiction, one that I'd heard many good things about. After finishing it, this story came naturally as a sort of literary response to what I was feeling.
Hope you enjoyed it!
