Midnight Psychosis

The bedroom was still; filled with the drowsy atmosphere of the early afternoon. Dash stood by the quilted bed, contemplating, driving the other visitors out of her mind as well as she could.

She'd woken up that morning to find Fluttershy beside her, forelegs still wrapped around her, unconscious. She remembered the cold panic that shot like lightning through her chest when she felt the heaviness of her limbs, before she hurriedly checked her breathing. Sometime during the night, she'd gone through another episode, without Dash noticing at all. What kind of help was she?

She didn't go out and get the others immediately; instead, she waited for a few minutes in case the unconsciousness would dissipate quickly. But after a half-hour of worry and waiting by her side, she decided to go out and find as many of their friends as she could. It was only her better willpower that kept her from walking past the library.

It'd only been a few hours, unlike last time, but it was still rather uncomfortable to have so many visitors in such a short amount of time. And for what? To see a comatose pony stay comatose? Still, her friends had a right to know.

Dash gathered her thoughts away from the others and looked down at her marefriend, whose face was calm. Terrifyingly calm. Dash nervously reached down and laid a hoof on her neck, and sighed, relieved, when she felt a steady pulse.

Suddenly, a wave of energy swept through Fluttershy, stiffening her limbs and wings and arching her back all of an instant. Dash gasped and stepped back as a burst of dim purple light burst from her marefriend's forehead, but quickly returned to her bedside as her eyes shot open.

Before long, the bed was surrounded by all five visitors. She blinked, and sat up, looking around the room blindly. Finally, she looked down at her hooves and whimpered, tears beginning to fall down her face. Without hesitation, Dash wrapped her forelegs around her as she began breaking down into sobs.

"Fluttershy, are you... there?" Rarity asked quietly.

There was no reply. Fluttershy buried her face in her hooves as well as she could and continued sobbing quietly. Dash sighed and grasped her tighter, pulling her closer to herself and holding her head to her chest. With another sudden motion, Fluttershy returned the embrace.

Dash looked up at the other four. "You guys... this is kind of personal," she said softly, shaking her head. "Sorry."

"It's okay, sugarcube. We'll get going," Applejack replied. "Tell us if something turns out."

"Thanks," Dash called out as the four began to file out of the room. She turned her head back to her marefriend, finally allowing herself a much-needed wipe to the eyes. "Shy? You okay?" she asked quietly.

She held her tighter, not expecting any answer, but felt a wave of shock and relief when she heard the quiet, almost-whimpered reply: "Uh-huh."

All of a second, she felt herself go through a few hour's worth of panic. "Are you in there? Are you hurt? Is - do - Shy, talk to me!" she said, her voice rising in volume slowly. "Do you know my name?"

"I - I do, Dash," Fluttershy replied, still hiccuping and sobbing. "And - and know you're there, but - but I can't feel anything at all and - and I can barely - and -"

"Shy, open your eyes!" Dash interrupted, holding her forelegs tightly in her own.

Fluttershy did as she was told, and Dash gasped. Her pupils were eclipsed by bright waves of violet which dissipated in a moment like a swarm of insects fleeing the light. "I can - okay. I th-thought for a moment I'd gone b-blind again," Fluttershy said, chuckling to Dash's surprise. Tears were still streaming down her face.

"Do you even feel, like, sad, Shy?" Dash asked quietly, still holding a foreleg around her.

"N-no. Why - why would I?"

Dash stared in obvious shock at her marefriend, whose small smile had turned slightly nervous behind the veil of tears. "Dash? What's wrong? Is - is something the matter?"

Dash couldn't decided whether to be relieved, scared, confused, or all three. She suddenly noticed the silence of the room around her and how it brought Fluttershy's spectral sobs to the front of her thoughts. She looked back at the doorway for some kind of help, but everypony had left.

"Fluttershy, you're crying."

She looked around the room with a hiccup. "Am - am I?" she asked, her tone reverting to its normal softness. "Am I?" she asked again, to herself more, and touched her face.

Dash winced. She wasn't sure what effect this kind of thing would have on her yet. Even at this point it was hard to determine things without Twilight's help. To her partial relief, she put her hoof back on the blanket and curled up a little bit, before leaning over onto Dash's other foreleg.

Dash smiled. "You're okay. I don't think anything's wrong," she added, not entirely sure whether she was lying. She sighed and gave her a quick nuzzle, wincing again at the sharp sob that filled the room. "I'll - I'll go get you a glass of water. Uh... sit tight."

She was about to take off before she looked back at her wing with a heavy sigh. But another sob from Fluttershy set her back on track, and she trotted out to the kitchen.

As she turned a corner, she was caught by surprise and almost lost her balance. Twilight was standing there, staring at her hooves and leaning fretfully against the wall. She gasped when she saw Dash recoil. "I - I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

Dash straightened herself out quickly, blowing a few loose hairs back into place. She didn't answer, but instead brushed past her and trotted into the kitchen. She heard hoofstep behind her and rolled her eyes, grabbing a glass from the cabinet. However, she was stopped by a hoof before she got to the sink.

"Dash, listen. I came across a -"

"I don't need to hear it, Twilight. I thought you left," she added monotonously, throwing her a single glance.

"I can't!" Twilight sputtered. "I need to tell you about something I found out from -"

"I don't have time," Dash replied, lingering slightly on the word 'time'. "I need to get back to Fluttershy."

Twilight almost winced, but sturdied herself before she could. For a moment, there was no sound in the room other than the soft running of the faucet. She began again, steadily. "When I was doing some -"

"You should leave."

"What's wrong with you?!" Twilight shouted, catching Rainbow Dash entirely by surprise. The glass slipped out of her hoof and fell to the floor with a crack and a splash. Twilight ignored it. "I've been doing all I could over the past few weeks to figure something out for Fluttershy and you still toss me to the side like I'm not important!"

Dash felt her stubborn anger contract suddenly as she noticed the fresh tears in her friend's eyes. She remained silent. "I know what I did was stupid and selfish, but it - but I - I apologized over and over! I did what I could and you still act like I'm the most terrible pony alive! I can't fix it any more!" She paused to draw a shuddering breath, and Dash took this as her own second wind.

"Because you did the most terrible thing!" she shouted in response, at the same frequency. "You ruined her life! You caused her so much - you did - you - she was innocent! She didn't deserve anything you gave her!"

"SHE'S MY FRIEND!"

The cry echoed through the room before Twilight dissolved into sobs. "I - I didn't mean to," she said quietly, choking on her words. "I - I thought th-that I could handle it... but... but..." she trailed off. "I thought you were my f-friend."

Dash's second wind had disappeared like her first. She stared for a moment at the mess of a unicorn before her and only then noticed the bags under her eyes, or her shaking hooves. She really had tried to make things right. It really was a mistake. Where did they stand? Were they friends? Could they be friends? "Twilight, I -"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence before Twilight turned tail and ran. There was the sound of the cottage door slamming and all was silent again. Dash couldn't take her gaze away from the door as she sank to her back legs. What have I been doing? What's wrong with me?! She felt herself tear up, but didn't try to hold them back. Celestia, I'm stupid. I'm the most terrible pony alive.

She barely had time to meditate when she heard Fluttershy's sharp sobs echo from her room. She rubbed her eyes, and stood shakily, before grabbing another glass of water and trotting back down the hall.

She looked into the room, to see her marefriend sitting upright, wiping at her own face under a scowl. Dash leaned against the doorframe and looked away, sighing. "You... heard."

Fluttershy nodded, still scowling. "You -"

"I'm terrible." She just noticed the sincerity in her own voice, and felt the tears return. "I did a horrible thing, and I don't know how to fix it. And I know how she feels."

Fluttershy nodded again, but slower, and her scowl disappeared. "We... aren't doing well as Elements of Harmony right now," she commented quietly, giving Dash a bittersweet grin as a few tears fell down her face. She didn't smile in return. "Come here."

Dash approached her bedside, setting down the glass of water on the nightstand. She turned to Fluttershy and felt a sharp pain on her forehead. Fluttershy retracted her hoof. "That's because you didn't listen to me or her."

"But I was -"

"I told you h-how bad she felt, but you kept on ignoring her. I know it was for me, and I-I'm not being ungrateful, but that isn't... well, you know."

Dash nodded, and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. "I don't know how to apologize."

"Let her be today. T-tell her tomorrow."

She sighed. "... Are you okay, though, Shy?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm trying to stay angry at you." She reached a hoof around her, pulling her close. "But we need to lean on each other."

Dash felt herself smile, if only a little bit. "... Can we... you know... relax?" She felt Fluttershy nod and climbed into bed, putting a hoof around Fluttershy, who turned around. Something's better than nothing.

"... Hey," Dash said quietly after a minute or two. "You should drink your water. You're probably wasting liquids and stuff with -"

"You need it more than I do," Fluttershy replied.

"Wh... why?"

Without turning, Fluttershy reached over her shoulder and passed a small bottle to Dash. "Your medication."

Dash paused. "Where did..."

"Twilight d-dropped it off for you this morning."

At this, Dash broke. She grasped her marefriend tighter, curled up close, and sobbed into her shoulder. It took minutes before Fluttershy rolled over and returned the embrace.